thedrifter
12-03-06, 06:29 PM
Fairfield Harbour residents come through once again as volunteers
December 03,2006
Nancy Stewart Special to the Sun Journal
SUN JOURNAL
“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
The above quote is so true of what 24 Fairfield Harbour households experienced this past Thanksgiving.
Last December Joan and Bruce Shattuck moved here from Connecticut. When Thanksgiving was approaching they thought about their sons in the military. Since they were away from home for Thanksgiving they always worry about them being alone. They have one son, a Lt. Col. in the Army, stationed in New York. He has been having other soldiers over for Thanksgiving dinner for the past five years. In addition they have a son in Afghanistan and another going to Iraq soon.
From personal experience they came up with the idea that perhaps they could find a way to host service personnel and take the worry away from other parents. Joan also remembered when she was growing up her Mom always found someone that didn’t have a place for a meal and invited them over.
With all of this in mind, they started by calling Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune. Dealing with the government they were shifted from one office to another. The Shattucks were determined and persistent and finally connected with civilian Susan Goodrich at Camp Lejeune. Goodrich worked diligently with them to accomplish their goal of having Marines join residents of the Harbour for Thanksgiving dinner.
They then put out the word in the Harbour about their project. As usual the request was well received by the residents. There was one meeting and many e-mails sent back and forth to coordinate this activity. Harbour residents Jim and Anita English, not hosting a Marine, generously donated a centerpiece for each host family. Bill Rust, owner of Thompson Flags, loaned red, white and blue banners to place on the railings at the homes of the host.
Thus “Operation Thanksgiving Dinner for the Marines”came into being.
The number of Marines varied from time to time. At one point they had Marines from Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune coming. Then two days before Thanksgiving, due to a miscommunication, it was learned there were only 12 Marines staying on base at Cherry Point and their commanding officer was hosting them for dinner.
At this point they had 36 Marines coming from Camp Lejeune. This was around noon. What a day of surprises this was, because around 5 p.m., the Shattucks received a call asking if they could take more Marines from Camp Lejeune. So they regrouped and said they would be happy to have 57 Marines including the bus driver.
They ended up with 24 households agreeing to host at least two Marines for Thanksgiving. The Adams, Andersen, D.Brown, Dorety, Gaudette, J.Johnson, Manning, Merriman, Shattuck, Steward, Sterling, Ober, Richards, Wiltrout, Watrous, Ashe, Dodd, Jarvis,N. Johnson, Peterson, B.Young, Del Grosso, Senchack and Huebner families graciously hosted two to four Marines each, arriving at 11 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m.
When the Marines first arrived, they appeared to be “shy” but that didn’t last long. Their day started by being greeted at the community center with many Harbour residents waving American and Marine Corps flags. Each family took their guests home to a delicious home cooked meal, football games and a lot of conversation.
The Marines have asked to be able to stay in touch with their new friends from Fairfield Harbour.
As Joan explained, the Marines were only told two days prior to Thanksgiving to make sure they had casual clothes and that they were going to do something for the Holiday.
You can only imagine what a wonderful surprise it was when they found out the day before Thanksgiving it wasn’t going to be a work detail but dinner with families.
Joan said, “I feel wonderful about what we were able to do. When you think about what the Marines and all of the military do for us, this was the least we could do for them. My husband and I look forward to doing this again. It is wonderful to be able to reach out to those who couldn’t be home for the holiday. I am also thrilled about the wonderful sense of community we have here in the Harbour, and feel fortunate to have such great neighbors.”
Nancy Stewart is the public relations chairperson of Fairfield Harbour.
Ellie
December 03,2006
Nancy Stewart Special to the Sun Journal
SUN JOURNAL
“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
The above quote is so true of what 24 Fairfield Harbour households experienced this past Thanksgiving.
Last December Joan and Bruce Shattuck moved here from Connecticut. When Thanksgiving was approaching they thought about their sons in the military. Since they were away from home for Thanksgiving they always worry about them being alone. They have one son, a Lt. Col. in the Army, stationed in New York. He has been having other soldiers over for Thanksgiving dinner for the past five years. In addition they have a son in Afghanistan and another going to Iraq soon.
From personal experience they came up with the idea that perhaps they could find a way to host service personnel and take the worry away from other parents. Joan also remembered when she was growing up her Mom always found someone that didn’t have a place for a meal and invited them over.
With all of this in mind, they started by calling Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune. Dealing with the government they were shifted from one office to another. The Shattucks were determined and persistent and finally connected with civilian Susan Goodrich at Camp Lejeune. Goodrich worked diligently with them to accomplish their goal of having Marines join residents of the Harbour for Thanksgiving dinner.
They then put out the word in the Harbour about their project. As usual the request was well received by the residents. There was one meeting and many e-mails sent back and forth to coordinate this activity. Harbour residents Jim and Anita English, not hosting a Marine, generously donated a centerpiece for each host family. Bill Rust, owner of Thompson Flags, loaned red, white and blue banners to place on the railings at the homes of the host.
Thus “Operation Thanksgiving Dinner for the Marines”came into being.
The number of Marines varied from time to time. At one point they had Marines from Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune coming. Then two days before Thanksgiving, due to a miscommunication, it was learned there were only 12 Marines staying on base at Cherry Point and their commanding officer was hosting them for dinner.
At this point they had 36 Marines coming from Camp Lejeune. This was around noon. What a day of surprises this was, because around 5 p.m., the Shattucks received a call asking if they could take more Marines from Camp Lejeune. So they regrouped and said they would be happy to have 57 Marines including the bus driver.
They ended up with 24 households agreeing to host at least two Marines for Thanksgiving. The Adams, Andersen, D.Brown, Dorety, Gaudette, J.Johnson, Manning, Merriman, Shattuck, Steward, Sterling, Ober, Richards, Wiltrout, Watrous, Ashe, Dodd, Jarvis,N. Johnson, Peterson, B.Young, Del Grosso, Senchack and Huebner families graciously hosted two to four Marines each, arriving at 11 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m.
When the Marines first arrived, they appeared to be “shy” but that didn’t last long. Their day started by being greeted at the community center with many Harbour residents waving American and Marine Corps flags. Each family took their guests home to a delicious home cooked meal, football games and a lot of conversation.
The Marines have asked to be able to stay in touch with their new friends from Fairfield Harbour.
As Joan explained, the Marines were only told two days prior to Thanksgiving to make sure they had casual clothes and that they were going to do something for the Holiday.
You can only imagine what a wonderful surprise it was when they found out the day before Thanksgiving it wasn’t going to be a work detail but dinner with families.
Joan said, “I feel wonderful about what we were able to do. When you think about what the Marines and all of the military do for us, this was the least we could do for them. My husband and I look forward to doing this again. It is wonderful to be able to reach out to those who couldn’t be home for the holiday. I am also thrilled about the wonderful sense of community we have here in the Harbour, and feel fortunate to have such great neighbors.”
Nancy Stewart is the public relations chairperson of Fairfield Harbour.
Ellie