Associated Firefighters of Illinois Honor Guard, Annual Convention Naperville, IL February, 2020

In February of 2020, the Associated Firefighters of Illinois (AFFI) Honor Guard held it's Annual Convention, which includes the training and induction of new members. My brother, Jay Coburn, invited some of his family to attend as guests, and I was one of them.  I attended the Opening Ceremony, the Dinner/Induction ceremony, and the After Party. 

Disclaimer: I did this on my own, without the knowledge/permission of the AFFI or the AFFI Honor Guard. Copyright for the HG logo is the property of the AFFI Honor Guard.

I'm finally getting around to posting lots of pictures and video.  Please note, the AFFI had its own videographer and photographer, so I did not feel compelled to capture the whole event.  My apologies if I stopped the camera right as you would have appeared.  For instance, I stopped right as then new AFFI president Chuck Sullivan was introduced, and turned it back on just before he left the stage, missing his speech entirely.  I think I might have been eating dinner.  It also appears I got the entrance and the exit of District 8 inductees, but not the induction itself (maybe dessert?).  Anyways, again, my apologies if my timing excluded you.

I've posted videos from the Opening Ceremony and the Dinner/Induction ceremony on YouTube.  There's also video of the bagpipes at the After Party. One of the features of the ceremonies was a description of the history of the use of bagpipes at firefighters' funerals, and also the method by which it is played at those funerals. I thought that was interesting enough that I pieced together some clips for a separate video.  It's kind of redundant in that it includes one playing of AG at a formal ceremony, followed by a playing at the after party. As solemn as the ceremonial playing is/was, I was more moved by the one at the after party.  Brought tears to my eyes.

Also, I want to explain one of the videos, as some might feel that it shows a lack of reverence for the fallen.  I can see that, if you don't know the back story. The back story is explained at the end of the video from the Dinner/Induction, followed by the video.  But I've also posted it by itself, as it was a bit of fun and frivolity that people might not want to sit through a 30-minute video to see. Basically, as part of the training for the inductees, a coffin is at the training site so that they can practice putting it on the gurney, etc.  As a prank, some of the folks decided after the training to place the coffin on the bed in my brother's hotel room. Making lemonade from lemons, my brother enlisted some of the pipers to accompany him as he was wheeled, in the coffin, into the After Party.  So no disrespect here, just a little fun.

Now I realize that this part is probably going to subject my brother to some ribbing, (after all, that's who most of you folks are, right?) but I'm going to do it any way.  I would like to add  that as one of ten children, 4th AFFI Honor Guard Commander Jay Coburn has a large family and extended family that are proud of his role with the Honor Guard, his work as a firefighter, and just him in general.  Love you, Jay.

You'll find the photos below the videos.

This is a link to the photo album from the Convention.  Click on the photo and you will be taken to the album.