365 True Things: 128/Service

When my questing group (see #106) meets, we talk about changing, celebrating, and serving. I once protested that I don't "serve" very much—my fellow humankind, my community—but they reminded me about Search and Rescue (#119). Which, yeah, it's true: that is a sort of community service.

J.D. (the horse)

Part of SAR involves serving the team and the Sheriff's Office, too—by doing public outreach. This evening was one of those times: National Night Out. It's a sort of community open house,  held annually for thirty-two years now as a way to enhance the relationship between us folks and law enforcement. (And yes, that relationship could use some help nowadays, generally speaking.)

Bomb squad robot

I went with two teammates in one of our big yellow rescue trucks to a large grassy area in Carmel, and we hung out talking with people. Mostly it was families with young kids, which was nice to see. There were a bunch of firetrucks, the California Highway Patrol, and various Monterey County Sheriff's Office teams: the mounted unit, the bomb squad, the dive team, probation, a K9 representative (Kilo), and us, Search & Rescue. We assembled our wheeled Stokes litter, gave out "sheriff's deputy" stickers and badges to the kids, let them pet Nadene's retired search dog, Indy. It was low key. I guess people take something useful home from it.

Zip-lining it

Last Saturday, our team was out at the Carmel Valley Fiesta, a big block-party-in-a-park put on by the Rotary Club. We go every year: it's a major fund-raiser for us. There, we put up a zip line and give the kids a pretty thrilling ride. "No hands!" "Honk the horn!" we yell, encouraging them to be fearless. And Bob brings his snakes—this year, a couple of large rosy boas and a beautiful albino ball python—which are arguably an even bigger hit. It's a good time. And although traffic seemed a bit slow Saturday (I was only there in the morning), it apparently picked up in the afternoon, and we netted close to $1,000. So yay.

There are various other public outreach events throughout the year. I don't go to everything, but I'm always glad when I do. And I'm happy to represent not just the Search & Rescue team, but also the Sheriff's Office. I know there are bad cops out there, and there may even be some bad eggs in our very own SO, but all the officers I know are good people who work hard at a job I know I'm glad I don't have to do.