Let’s start this story with the creation of the SWF Day Off concept. Last December, we had the SWF Night Out for cancer patients and their spouses. We supplied them with free gowns, tuxedos and make-up. We took them on a limo ride to see the Christmas lights and then to a catered prime rib dinner. We will be doing this event again this year and plan on making it an annual event. Since we had a night out event, I decided we should have some day off events. The concept is for cancer patients and their families to do something fun together and take a day off from dealing with cancer.
I decided since the Wild Adventure Corn Maze was dedicated to the Foundation, I would work with Richard and Kris to see if we could set something up. With their help, we set up a Saturday morning where the families could come out a couple of hours before the maze opened. They could have the maze and the games to themselves. I also decided I wanted to cook everyone a Dutch oven dinner. We choose October 13th for the day of the event.
We started handing out the free tickets to the families, and as the day approached I calculated we would have around 70 people. The next step was to plan the menu and buy the food. There is an unwritten rule when it comes to Dutch oven menus. It must include Dutch oven potatoes and peach cobbler, or you will lose your Dutch oven license. So the menu was potatoes, sweet and sour chicken, and cobbler. I decided I would start serving food around 11:00 so I wanted to pre-cook the potatoes and chicken on Friday. We decided we would cook the cobbler at the event, so it would be nice and warm. Tony Eckman and his Dad Gary offered to bring out some extra Dutch ovens and a camp chef to help finish cooking the meal and serve it. Kristi and I finished pre-cooking the potatoes and chicken by 11:30 Friday night and everything was ready to go.
Saturday morning, the weather was cold and windy. I was worried we wouldn’t get many people. By 10:30 there were only a couple of families that had shown up. I joked that we may only feed 17 instead of 70. Pretty soon, more and more families started showing up. I had people I know come up and talk to me, and people I hadn’t met come up and introduce themselves. We had a really good turnout and I was very pleased.
The purpose of putting on this event was for families to take a day off from cancer and build some terrific memories with their families. I watched the kids enjoy the zip lines and the rest of the games. I noticed the families walking around together and enjoying themselves. I witnessed the smiles on everyone’s face. I am very proud, gratified, and honored to say Mission Accomplished. This is another example of the Real Reward.
This event would not have been possible without the hard work and support of some very special people. I want to thank Tony and his Dad for taking care of cooking and serving the meal. They did a fantastic job. I also want to thank Cassidy and Morgan for all of their help with the families and the games. Most of all, I want to thank my girlfriend Kristi for all of her hard work and support. I would have been lost without her. I am blessed to have such great people in my life. I know this made my Angel Shannon happy also. I will always LOVE AND MISS YOU sweetheart.
Next week: Bridal Fair 2019
P.S. When Cassidy and Morgan showed up, Tony and his Dad were busy cooking and Kristi was getting everything set up on the tables. “Do you see how everyone else is working except me?” I asked them. They both grinned and said, “Yeah.” “That’s called management,” I replied.