Volunteers get things done!

If you want to get things done, ask a volunteer to help you — or better yet, become one yourself. That’s what John Gerke did when he retired from IBM in 1999, moved to Sisters, and joined the Sisters/Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District.

Believe me, he has got a lot done since he became Chaplain; he also took on a calling in Sisters Community Church that took him to Africa and somehow finds time to follow up on his life-long love-affair with nature as a birder of considerable talent.

Years ago, in another life, John was a duck hunter (so was I, so don’t hold it against him). In the late ’70s, there was a big drought up in Canada that knocked waterfowl populations into a cocked hat. In order to reduce the shooting of ducks and geese, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife set a point system in place for harvesting waterfowl.

A hen mallard, for example was worth 90 points, while the drake was only 25. (Shows how we males rate, doesn’t it?) That meant John had to pay attention to what he was shooting. When he allowed the hens to go by in safety and shot only drakes, he could hunt longer.

However, as John watched waterfowl closer he began to enjoy the watching more than the shooting, which (as in my case) led to appreciation for living birds over dead ones.

Today — in addition to hooking his granddaughter into birding — he is a serious and very talented birder who volunteers on the winter raptor count, Audubon Christmas Bird Counts and many other birding projects.

As a volunteer with the Sisters/Camp Sherman Fire Department, he wears many hats. Last year, for example, in his capacity as Chaplain he traveled 5,681.5 miles, spent 946.4 hours responding to 364 incidents — 85 of them critical incidents. Serving as an EMT-B (“B” is for Basic) and as a firefighter he traveled 878.5 miles and spent over 308 hours doing it.

John also has had the heartbreaking responsibility of accompanying a Deschutes County Deputy to the home of a person that was killed to notify the loved ones. That is not easy, no matter how you cut it.

That sort of dedication does not come without working at it. Little did John and his lovely wife, Anne, know what they were in for when Ken Enoch, Assistant Fire Chief, came rolling past John’s home out in Squaw Creek Canyon Estates trying to locate someone to volunteer at the new Squaw Creek substation.

John thought this would be a wonderful way to, as he put it, “Give back some of what I’ve been given in this life.” He accepted Ken’s missionary call to become a fire department volunteer.

John’s not alone; there are 35 active non-paid volunteers who respond every time the Big Bell goes off, along with the paid staff: Fire Chief Tay Robertson, Assistant Chief and Fire Marshall Dave Wheeler, three paramedic and three shift commanders. All this is held together by two hard-working women in the front office, Susan Houck and Julie Spor, and they’re all paid through your tax dollars — money well-spent!

(At this point, I have to let you in on a firehall “insider.” When your name is mentioned in the paper you have to buy ice cream for the crew — so to make it easier on John I have included a few other names.)

John somehow finds time to do humanitarian work in Africa on top of all the work he has to do at home. Last year he traveled to Uganda with fellow volunteers from Sisters Community Church to help on a Medical Mission. While John was there, he and Anne became sponsors for five-year-old Maxwell Chemunwa (above).

To show the extent of John’s dedication to his role as a volunteer medical missionary you have to take into consideration his love affair with birding; not once in Africa did he shout, “Stop the bus!” when trying to get a better view of “Lifers” from the bouncing seat — magnificent once-in-a-lifetime birds such as the Pin-tailed Whyda; White-crowned Shrike; Red-cheeked Cordon Bleu; Red Bishop and others

That is dedication to volunteering!