My cell phone rang late one afternoon; the call was from Capt. Kelli Williamson one of the chaplains at Minot Air Force Base. The 91st Missile Wing was in the midst of an intense exercise, one that would tax every member of the 91st with extra hours and longer days.
Having done a story before on the job of the chaplains’ group during these exercises, the message I received from them was not unfamiliar. “For some of our younger Airmen, this is their first experience with the types of situations they will have to deal with” explained Capt. Williamson “and they experience a tremendous amount of on the job pressure. We try to help them cope with the pressure and keep them centered.”
I can imagine that just having someone to talk to and unload on is so very important. A lot of these Airmen, and of course we know that Minot has the most first term Airmen in the Air Force, would have had a support system a year ago when many of them were still in high school. But now it’s different, they are Airmen on their first assignment.
The chaplains at Minot Air Force Base not only provide and important sanctuary presence but normally they would also have provided snacks (hey these are young folks, they always love to eat) as part of their therapy. But this year is different, this year we are in the midst of a government shutdown and funds for such non-essential items just aren’t available.
Let’s take a step back a bit, and explain that the chaplains’ boss, in their words, is Col Joseph Edington, Commander of the 91st Maintenance Group at Minot Air Force Base. Col Edington and I talk often at Honorary Commander and Military Affairs functions. Having those conversations set the groundwork for a very special story. Big picture, Minot and Minot Air Force Base have a very unique relationship. I heard about this special relationship a number of times at a recent Air & Space Force conference.
It was Col Edington that suggested to the chaplains that maybe Rod Wilson from Downtown Minot could come up with something as simple as cookies to thank our Airmen for their hard work this past week and let them know we care. “So, Mr. Wilson (I tell them it’s Rod, but it has never worked) what we are asking for is cookies for these Airmen to acknowledge their special efforts” says Capt Williamson. At this time in the conversation folks, I am thinking 3-4 dozen, maybe a 100. How many cookies would it take? “Well, we are thinking around 500”…and then there is a short pause “well maybe closer to 350.”
I won’t go through all of the steps that lead to delivering 350 cookies to the Minot Air Force Base on a Thursday afternoon. I will just tell you that my email to the Downtown Minot merchants, and in particular Casey Klein at Cookies for You, described the urgency of the situation, and how we would need to find a way to pay for these cookies (always take the positive side, right) for Minot Air Force Base.
Well, someone made a virtual motion to pay for the cookies, someone seconded the motion, and we waited for at least 4 more affirmative votes. Hey people are busy. This was Wednesday, and they needed the cookies on Thursday. And this is where Casey stepped up and said “I’m just going to put the wheels in motion to bake an extra 350 cookies. We’ll worry about the money later.” My Maddock math tells me that we needed roughly 30 dozen cookies and that a dozen cookies is normally around $18.50 per dozen. No matter how you look at it, Casey and Cookies for You was going to be on the hook for $500.00 (roughly) in cookies.
And then the silver lining. Vote after vote came in, and the motion passed, unanimously. The money for the cookies would come from the Downtown Business and Professional Association. But again, before the motion passed, Casey had offered to provide the cookies for $1.00 each.
In a community like downtown Minot, you don’t have a lot of people who could step up to the plate and bake 350 cookies in 24 hours. That’s why you rely on people like Casey and the staff at Cookies for You. The rest of us help out where needed to raise funds to promote Downtown Minot. We don’t bake cookies, well at least I don’t bake cookies, but we know the importance of community and reaching out to a young Airmen at the Minot Air Force Base and making him or her feel at home.
This story really has a super special ending. My next door neighbor and I were talking yesterday. He is a member of the 91st MW team. When I told him about the cookies he said, “You couldn’t have done anything better for all of those kids, except maybe give them a couple of more hours of sleep every night.” My neighbor went on to explain that he had been putting in 16 hour days, all the way through Saturday to execute the exercise. I think that is called dedication, and I see it every time I am on base. Special people, doing special jobs and keeping all of us safe.
And oh, did I happen to tell you that the sense of urgency was created because the cookie request call happened when I was traveling, and it just plain slipped my mind. Still, whether it was 6 hours’ notice, or 6 days’ notice, the results was the same. Cookies delivered and message sent. Even though it was caused by a government shutdown the cookie caravan was one of those very special silver linings.
Places to be…
The Dickens Festival in Garrison. We had a flyer in our paper about the Dickens Festival in Garrison, North Dakota. It’s a special hometown event with entertainment, food, smiles and warm handshakes. Go to dickensfestival.com…It’s Where Christmas Begins.”
And…the annual Festival of Trees sponsored by Dakota Hope Clinic. Another special Christmas event. More information at festoftrees.com.
Today’s Chuckle
These days if you build a better mousetrap, the mice will all start a class action suit against you.
