ARE YOU PREPARED? Come celebrate National Preparedness Month on Monday, September 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM, the first day of Climate Preparedness Week. The Concord Free Public Library, Concord Health Department, Concord Fire Department and Central Middlesex Medical Reserve Corps (CMMRC) cordially invite you to join us in the Goodwin Forum at the Main Library to learn more about preparing for climate extremes and possible consequences.
This program will cover preparing a plan, go bags for you and your pets, sheltering, important papers, phone numbers and medications to name a few. Deputy Chief Latta will present, from his many years of experiences and responding, the reality of what being unprepared can look like. Lois Luniewicz, Coordinator for the CMMRC, will review emergency preparedness plans. Each participant will leave with a plan template, a magnet to affix the plan to the refrigerator and a better understanding of why being prepared makes sense-for everyone!
Assistant Chief Walter Latta Jr. has been a member of the Concord Fire Department since 2018. Prior to Concord, he served as a Firefighter and Captain with the Maynard Fire Department. He serves as a Logistics Manager for the Massachusetts Task Force One, a FEMA Urban Search and Rescue team. He has been deployed to Puerto Rico for Hurricane Irma and Maria, Oregon Wildfires, and several other disasters throughout the country. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration, and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program. Assistant Chief Latta is credentialed as a Chief Fire Officer by the Massachusetts Fire Service Commission.
Lois Luniewicz holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology, with a chemistry minor, has completed classes towards her Masters in Environmental Health and acquired multiple certifications in Emergency Preparedness. She is both a Massachusetts Certified Health Officer and Registered Sanitarian as well as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist through the National Environmental Health Association. Her career has included disciplines in the environmental field as an Engineering Assistant and Bacteriologist/Chemist, Public Health and Food Safety. She was also Chair for the Westminster Conservation Commission for fifteen years. While Health Director for the Town of Grafton, she was co-founder of the Grafton Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) and following her retirement has held positions as Coordinator for the Worcester Regional MRC, Regional MRC Coordinator for Hampden County and is currently Coordinator for the CMMRC. She is also a member of the Worcester and Hubbardston CERT Teams.
No registration required.
