Flying Vikings take children to 'North Pole'

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Darrell Habisch
  • 934th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Minneapolis, Minn --  For the past decade, children from Eau Claire, Wis. have been treated to a special trip, flying to the North Pole to meet Santa, Mrs. Claus and the elves. This year's Operation Santa, courtesy of the 96th Airlift Squadron and the AT&T Telephone Pioneers, 'flew' more than 20 special needs children and their brothers and sisters to the frozen Arctic Dec. 6 to receive presents and get that last-minute wish list in. 

Operation Santa is the brainchild of Gloria Grabowski, an AT&T employee and Telephone Pioneer member. The Telephone Pioneers consist of current and retired ATT employees dedicated to community service. The volunteers work with local schools to identify and send invitations to children to participate in Operation Santa. 

"This is organized chaos and we love doing it," she said. 

The 96th AS crew, including aeromedical technicians from the 934th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, fly a C-130 to the municipal airport at Eau Claire, where the children are waiting in the terminal. Following a safety briefing, the children and their parents are led to the waiting aircraft for the quick flight to the North Pole. The engines are started and the aircraft taxies up and down the runway traversing thousands of miles to that special place to meet the bearded one. 

Upon arrival at a decorated hanger, Santa and Mrs. Claus greet the aircraft on a motorcycle, complete with red sleigh sidecar. Next, everyone disembarks to a room where Santa and the elves await. 

"It's a great feeling," said Larry Bradford, a retired ATT employee "the kids really believe they're at the North Pole. They are so excited." Continuing, he explained that last year, due to inclement weather moving into the Eau Claire area, the 96th AS crew had to leave the party early to beat the cold front back to Minneapolis. "Many of the children started crying, because they didn't know how they were going to get back to Wisconsin with the plane leaving without them. We had a little explaining to do." 

Toni Dervitz, a 10-year Operation Santa veteran, said she "loves to see the kids' faces. We know we're very fortunate and we want to share some of that with others. I remember one mother saying that this will be the only gift her child would receive that year for Christmas, she was crying." 

Mother and daughter elves Kristi and Alison Drew both said it was fun to interact with the children and watch them open their gifts. "We know we're very blessed to be able to do this," Kristi said. 

The lead elf at the 96th AS is Chief Master Sgt. Tom Foss, who has worked with Grabowski from the beginning. She was already working with the 394th Engineer Battalion, Army Reserve, who continue to bring a Humvee to the event and supply personalized name tags to all the children. "But she needed a plane to fly the kids to the North Pole and somehow, she got in touch with me," Chief Foss said. The commander gave the mission a green light and it's become a tradition, he explained. "If we can make their lives a little brighter, then that's what we need to do." As Chief Foss is ending his military career soon, this may be his last trip to the North Pole. "But I may continue to volunteer next year," he said. "It's been very rewarding."
Rain Warren, daughter of Paul and Sheri Warren, received an invitation letter from her school, River Heights Elementary in Menomonie, Wis. Rain was diagnosed with myotonic muscular dystrophy. "Going to the North Pole and seeing Santa is all she can talk about," her father said. Rain received a baby doll, crayons and a coloring book. 

"Santa knew my favorite color," Rain laughed.