August 20th – Dave Gerboth, Salem’s Fire Chief
The Salem Fire Department: 167 Years of Dedicated Service, Continuously Evolving to Meet Community Needs
The Salem Fire Department is a comprehensive, all-hazards emergency response organization that evolves and adapts to community service challenges and needs. The presentation will discuss the services that the Salem Fire Department provides to the community, historic and current staffing levels, volume of incidents, the transition to ambulance service, how we are adapting to service demands and the future of the department.
Program Chair – Ryan Collier
Meeting Location: Rotary Pavilion, Riverfront Park
President’s Message
Gather at Riverfront Park for Fire Chief’s Presentation
Location, Location, Location. That is what they say, right? This week’s meeting will be held at the Rotary Pavilion at Riverfront Park. It looks like the weather is supposed to smile on us with the high for the day predicted to be 85 degrees and the weather picture for the day is a sun ball! The Rotary Pavilion (2004) is just one of several examples of our Club’s impact on that park property. We also have pride in Rotary efforts to financially support the development of the now 26-year-old playground at Riverfront Park. And of course our latest and greatest impact/contribution to the Riverfront Park landscape is the Gerry Frank | Salem Rotary Amphitheater at the south end of Salem’s largest city park.
Our program presentation this week will be from one of our newest members, Salem Fire Chief Dave Gerboth. Dave is a very active person. His job, by nature, makes him active. His fitness level and his general interest in physical fitness allows him to go for long bike rides, participate in gym exercise, and earlier this summer complete the Salem Ironman. I am excited to hear what Dave has to say about the newly expanded responsibilities of the Salem Fire Department along with his general overview of public safety services in Salem now that he is completing his first year as our Fire Chief.
The Rotary theme for the month of August is MEMBERSHIP. The definition of membership is the state of belonging to or being a part of a group or an organization. In our group or organization we cause change locally and globally. Local impact can be seen throughout the non-profit landscape of our city. We have supported many non-profit organizations with monetary grants and our hands-on projects have been helpful as well. REMEMBER TO SIGN UP FOR THE HANDS-ON PROJECT AT HELPING HANDS RESOURCES HAPPENING MONDAY, AUGUST 18 FROM 5:30PM TO 7:30PM. WE NEED UP TO 10 ROTARIANS! Globally, Rotary has had unprecedented impact with the delivery of Polio vaccines and many, many other impactful programs focused on Water, Hygiene, Nutrition, and basic life skills. Each of us should be proud to be a member of Rotary. Please be on the lookout for others you encounter who would make good Rotary members. Not only members, but also doers. We are a club that gets things done. We do UNITE FOR GOOD.
Our lunch meal at this week’s meeting will be prepared by Adam’s Rib Smokehouse. There will be hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, fruit, and cookies. The cost to each Rotarian and guest will be $20 to help offset the cost of providing an on-the-spot prepared meal.
Be thinking up your bell ringers for this week. Last week one of our guests of Rotarians was a past club president who was responsible for creating the concept of bell ringers and moving the club away from fining members to raise money. Thanks to Dr. Terry McDonald, club president for the 1985-86 Rotary year. Look around you and call out another Rotarian for a service- above- self action, give recognition to a birthday or anniversary, or announce what a good time you had on a summer vacation.
President Doug Parham
Rotary Club of Salem
2025-2026
