I'm Bob Halverstadt, I'm 80,
I'm from Blairstown, New Jersey,
and I recently became a volunteer firefighter.
I retired from The Daily News about eight years ago,
and I've been an EMT for 26 years.
I heard that they were starting
a training class at the Warren County Fire Academy
and I told the chief to sign me up.
(cheerful music)
When I told my wife I was going to start training
at the Warren County Fire Academy,
came as no surprise to her
because she knows that I like to keep active.
The skills portion was very difficult.
We had live fire drills,
search and rescue in near zero visibility,
hose operations it was very exhausting.
I was at least 50 years older than all the other recruits.
When they found out how old I was,
they looked at me and said, "Why?"
When a fire call comes out,
we're usually home 'cause this is an unmanned station.
You could be just sitting down for dinner,
but when we get toned out for fire
we just say "Bye-bye," and we go to the firehouse,
we put on our gear, we get in the engine,
and we head out to wherever the call is sending us.
The weight of the equipment probably weighs between
60 and 70 pounds and see you really not used to it.
And then when you add on additional tools
and you start erecting holes into a building,
it could add up to 100 pounds of extra weight.
Volunteer firefighters and EMS don't get paid.
We do it for, because we want to, we don't expect anything,
but when we get a thank you,
it's wonderful.
I never thought of myself as being old,
age really meant nothing as the saying goes,
"Age is just a number."
If you feel good
and you wanna do something for your community,
go ahead and do it.
I don't look at myself as old,
I kinda look at myself as just being older.
I have nothing, but thanks, gratitude
and respect for you my friend.
I think it's very special.
A lot of people think you're very special.
We wanna share this with you.
Let's watch this all together.
Hey Bob, you're on the Rachael Ray Show,
how lucky are you?
Hey Bob, it's me, Brian.
Hey Bob, George here.
Hey Bob, it's Scott Johnsen
the chief of Blairstown police.
I just wanted to say thank you
for being such an inspiration to myself
and your fellow squad members.
You show up at night, you show up during the day.
You're always there to help.
Especially during this COVID time
you've been there in full strength, helping us out.
Then you joined the fire department.
You're absolutely a treasure to this community.
Keep up the good work, Bob.
All right, I just wanted to say
what an honor it is to serve our community with you.
And hopefully when I get to retirement age,
I can stay as active as you.
Thanks once again. It's great to have you part of the team.
I've worked with you for
a little over 10 years now, maybe 12 years.
You've always been an inspiration to me.
Every time you come on calls, you're always smiling.
You're always happy. You're always greeting people.
I think, you know pretty much everybody in town
at this point.
Just wanted to say, we're very proud of you
back here in town,
your commitment to the community,
with the fire department and rescue squad,
doesn't go unnoticed. Love you.
Hope you have a good time on the show.
We'll see you when you get back to town,
we love you, Rachel.
Hey, love you guys too. Wasn't that nice, Bob?
How much- You guys.
I'm blushing here. You guys.
I never expected that. Let me tell you that.
Ain't that sweet?
I blush pretty easily.
I gotta take care of my faces.
You do. You have rosy cheeks, your do.
Yeah.
So I want to say that your community
is giving back to you, Blairstown Inn,
I think you and your wife love this place? Yes?
Yeah, the Blairstown Inn.
Yeah. Well, Blairstown they're giving you guys
a $250 gift card 'cause they want you and Carol to have
a romantic night together, isn't that lovely?
I don't know how much- That is really great.
I think that there's more food
than you and Carol could probably eat in one night.
I would have a filling (chuckles).
(jiggling music)