Thanks to my new friends
TOM HESS / HUNGRY HORSE NEWS
It wasn't easy getting to the Christmas At Our House Dinner, the free turkey, ham and all the fixin's served annually for the last 20 years at the Kalispell Armed Forces Reserve Center.
The snow and slick roads didn't bother me. After all, I learned to drive in Colorado, and no matter what my first Montana winter throws at me, I'm ready. (Check with me in April or May to see if my boast was justified!)
No, the difficulty I had in reaching Kalispell came after I locked my keys in the car while covering the Wreaths Across America ceremony at the Montana Veterans Home cemetery that morning.
As I waited for a towing service to show up, I received the offer of warmth from Howard and Barbara Crawford of Columbia Falls. They were headed for the Christmas dinner in Kalispell, too, but invited me into their vehicle to stay dry while I awaited my rescue.
As the minutes ticked by, the Crawfords shared with me their passions — for veterans, for freedom, for Jesus. They gave me a copy of a biker Bible, "Hope for the Highway," a slim volume that includes the New testament, and the Proverbs and Psalms. And they invited me to their church, Christ Lutheran of Whitefish.
After the tow truck driver opened my car door, the Crawfords guided me through the back roads to the Armory for dinner.
Having received the Crawfords' generosity, I got to experience more of Montana's hospitality at the dinner.
My new friends Peter and Edwina Bergen of the North Fork had invited me. Because of my forgetfulness, I was terribly late. They had already eaten, but they waited anyway. And they got to see my amazement at the sight of the 495th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion of the Montana Army National Guard preparing, cooking and serving dinner to an estimated 2,307 people, free of charge.
As I waited in line, I shook hands with and introduced myself to the man who had made it all happen — Lt. Col. Mark Boettcher, a gracious, courteous, servant-hearted man who seemed pleased by the turnout.
Of course, many of you already know just how generous our community can be. Gladys Shay writes often in the Hungry Horse News about Church Women United, which donates money and items to many local efforts, including the Armory's Christmas dinner and restoration of the Shay engine. (Gladys writes about that in her column this week.)
Even in a slumping economy, with stubbornly high unemployment and troubling federal deficits, our community seems to take no notice. People here give freely. It inspires a big-city newcomer like me to reconsider my own priorities, and to offer a heartfelt "thank you" to everyone who has reached out and made this Christmas season so meaningful.