The Ramblings of a Recovery Nut: Recovery class up in cheese country.

this past week i was

Fortunate enough to attend a training class up in Pewaukee Wis. Who�d of thunk that those cheese heads actually know how to tow, (just kidding) no, but seriously- the bears are going to kick the packers butts. Anyway- I have been to many training classes in my career and this was one of the best. I had a lot of fun and I really learned a lot. Honestly my only complaint was that it wasn�t longer and they tried to cram a lot in a short time. This class was done by a group of towers that got together to teach others what they know. In the first � of the day, we learned in a classroom and the second 1/2, we had some hands on demonstrations. Mike DeHaan, was the lead instructor and facilitator. The Classroom took place in the Waukesha County Technical College. This was a very nice facility. And they have a large open field in the rear of the school for fire and police training and a Truck driving school. Perfect place to rollover a truck or two. In the classroom portion of the day we were instructed by Bob Young and we all became certified in Highway watch- a very important watch group that keeps an eye on suspicious activity and more specifically terrorism. Mr. DeHaan had a section on laws and rules that pertain to the towing industry and more specifically, how they apply in Wisconsin. Tony Lundin and I were from Illinois and there was 1 other person from Iowa, everyone else was from Wisconsin. Dave Whealon had a portion of the classroom time to go over safety, chains, brakes, equipment, ect. I have to say, Mr. Whealon's portion of the class was not as exiting as the action recoveries, but he was by far the one I learned the most from. He also had the job of teaching the techniques used everyday. This guy knows his stuff and he is one of the best. After his portion of the classroom, we broke for lunch and then went out to the field. We split up into groups (3 or 4) and we had stations set up with each recovery situation. The instructor of each demo showed us the key points and went over hook ups, things to watch for, dangers, ect. After each group went around to each demo, we went around again as 1 large group and we actually preformed the recovery.

The instructors and demos were as follows:

1) The towing preparation and road service- Dave Whealon � Whealon Towing from Fond du lac, wis

2) Light Duty Recovery and proper loading - Tim and Todd Menzel, Prairieland Service Center, Sun Prairie Wis and Steve Davis, Davis Citgo Service, Janesville ( this was the only demo I missed because I was busy talking towing with some other owners.)