AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2020 - 64

Participation is its own reward
Volunteer coordinator Dean Greenblatt, a former airline
pilot turned lawyer, has participated in Operation Good
Cheer for many years. "I used to work on the ramp," he
recalls. "Each year this gentleman volunteered
in his Cessna 150; he could only hold one box
of presents on his passenger seat. I saw him
year after year. The last time I saw him
he was over 90 years old. I found out
he passed away. He had never missed
a year. His family said it was the most
important day of the year for him."

Some of the children at the airport are foster kids getting
their first peek at what will arrive on Christmas day. Chad
Saxton of Eagle Village tells of a foster teen in his organization who quietly held on to her gift. "You know how kids grab
and rip open packages? She just held it and slowly unwrapped
it, telling me that although her mother had tried hard, she'd
never been able to give her a Christmas present. This was her
first gift," he said.
"While the event is exciting, with so many people having the
spirit of giving, it's really about creating an environment where
these kids feel loved on Christmas morning," said pilot Jerry
Fullmer. "The sad reality is they have been removed from their
homes and have been abused and neglected. Many have been
abandoned and don't know what it feels like to have someone
who has their back. Well, they will know that we have their back.
We want them to experience the feeling of hope."

Santa s at the controls
Pilots will strip down the interiors of their aircraft to have room
for as many gifts as possible. "For this one event, they'll turn their
airplanes into tramp freighters-sleighs! Santa's at the controls,"
says Greenblatt.
Gifts range from clothing to bicycles and have been as large as
full-size basketball hoops and four-wheelers, says Brackenwagen.
Each is individually wrapped by a team on site. And sometimes
rewrapped if deemed unsightly. "The pilots come with Santa
hats on; everyone takes this event very serious," she said, adding that the thank-you notes she receives after Christmas bring
her to tears. "One teen wrote she couldn't believe that someone
cared enough to spend their own money and buy a gift for her. My
Christmas wish is that every single child knows they are loved."
"Nobody really knows the entirety of the program and how
many people it touches," said Greenblatt. "Volunteers, pilots,
donors, gift wrappers, children, truckers-my estimate is at
least 25,000 people. And, of course, you couldn't pick a better
time of year to fly in Michigan; we have all the weather there
64 | AOPA PILOT December 2020

is, but somehow the day before can be terrible weather but the
day of the event it's fine. In 2018 it was warm, and we worked
in short sleeves."
Air traffic controllers volunteer their time on Saturday morning because while PTK may see 600 operations in an 18-hour
period, it only sees this kind of activity once a year, said ATC manager Rob Wagner. He has manned Operation Good Cheer for the
past 15 years. "It's the busiest day of the year," he said.
"People know to come to PTK on the ﬁrst weekend of December
each year," Brackenwagen said. "It's a joyful day."
AOPA
EMAIL julie.walker@aopa.org

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2020

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