Michael Venezia always dreamed of becoming a firefighter, but after graduating from Coral Shores High School in 2010, he put that aspiration on the back burner and pursued another passion, fishing.
“I branched off and bought a skiff and got a slip at Bud N’ Mary’s,” recalled Venezia of how he started his backcountry fishing charter business, Boned Up Charters, roughly 12 years ago.
Early on in his professional angler career, Islamorada Fire Chief Terry Abel approached Venezia about possibly joining the fire department.
“He said ‘This could be a great thing for you, you could start this and still fish,’” he recalled of their conversation. Chief Abel had been in Venezia’s shoes and thought the fire department would be a great fit for him.
“It’s feast or famine fishing,” recalled Abel. “I used to do it before the fire department as well out of Bud N’ Mary’s, and when the fishing’s great, it’s great, you’re rolling in the money and when it’s not you’re like ‘man I hope I squirreled away enough money to pay my rent this month,'” added Abel, who is now going on his 31st year with the Islamorada Fire Rescue Department. He’s been chief since 2013.
But at that time, Venezia declined the opportunity.
Fast forward to a few years ago and that’s when Venezia decided it was time to pursue his lifelong dream. The turning point came when his father, a retired firefighter from Hollywood, Florida started having health problems. Although never an ideal situation for anyone, it could have been much worse. At least his father had retirement and medical benefits.
The fishing guide realized he needed that stability as well, if not for himself, but for his young family.
“I started thinking about the end goal. We have two boys, they’re 4 and 6. I needed to go ahead and just jump both feet in, go for it,” said Venezia of his decision to join the Monroe County Fire Department’s Hot Shots Academy in 2023, which he successfully completed.
The next step was earning his EMT certification. Venezia enrolled in a course; the price tag was roughly $3,800.
The husband and father of two young boys needed financial help to bridge the gap and the Upper Keys Rotary Foundation stepped up to help.
“We support academic students that are well past graduating from Coral Shores High School,” said Frank Derfler, Upper Keys Rotary Foundation scholarship chair.
Derfler added that the foundation provides scholarships for academic and technical education alike for students in the Florida Keys. The Gigantic Nautical Market, now in its 30th year, is Rotary’s biggest fundraiser.
“We have helped many of our local firefighters get their EMT certification and now we’re helping four get this advanced certification,” Derfler said.
Venezia, who is 32, is now enrolled in that advanced certification course, a three-semester paramedic program at the College of the Florida Keys.
The total price tag is roughly $10,000 and once again, the Upper Keys Rotary Foundation is there to help.
“I wouldn’t be in the position I am in now and doing paramedic now if it wasn’t for Rotary,” added Venezia.
Islamorada Fire Rescue hired Venezia on full-time in April 2024.
“I would just say to Rotary, thank you, thank you, thank you and for everybody that’s involved, keep doing it and keep putting the fundraisers out there and keep doing the Gigantic Nautical Market and make it bigger and make it better,” Venezia said.
Derfler said helping Venezia and others earn their EMT and paramedic certifications will benefit the entire community.
“If you wind up horizontal some day and you wake up and you see Michael’s face right above you, you should say ‘thank you Rotary,'” said Derfler with a laugh.
If all goes according to plan, Venezia will become a certified paramedic this December. Once he graduates, he has no plans of going anywhere else. The Upper Keys is his home, and this community is his family.
“I will be here working for Islamorada. I really don’t have any plans to go anywhere else. I’m vested in Islamorada,” Venezia. said “They sponsored me through the Hot Shots program; Rotary has sponsored me through EMT and now through paramedic. So I feel like it’s my duty to stay here and serve the community that has provided for me to be able to do all these things.”
“We strive to get everybody to the paramedic level, so we facilitate whatever we can to help them achieve that goal; it’s what it’s all about,” Abel said . “We love it when we can foster them from our community and keep them in our community.”
