So glad we decided to go back to the Minneapolis - St Paul area ... It was worth the effort!
Any time you get both sides of the house ... Fire & Police ... It's a great day!
We had been here once before, and met up with the St Paul FD but somehow missed Minneapolis.
Don't get me wrong, that was a really nice visit, there were lots of firefighters on hand and we left with several boxes of shirts. But, we did miss MFD.
So, last September when I met up with Mike, a member of the MFD Honor Guard at the IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial in September, I gave him pure grief for standing us up. He looked at me like my hair was on fire ... Oh wait, umm, like I was out of my mind ... Nope, that one won't work either, dang! Anyway, he was shocked to hear that we had not made the hook up with them on the tour.
Well, suffice it to say, there is no doubt that we have plenty of support up in the twin cities! Our standard visit is one stop in each city, we hit nearly half a dozen in the greater MPLS -St Paul area!
From the first stop at the Minneapolis PD where we ticketed the cops, to another MPD stop to get even more cops on board ... And we were just getting started!
The media showed up for us. Thank you, Tom Aviles with WCCO-TV.
While we were at the second police stop, Minneapolis Fire pulled in and played with us for a bit. You can feel the great camaraderie between the forces there and we always love seeing that. Great senses of humor out there, and we were just beginning our day!
Part of our fun was following our hosts, June & Taylor ... Sheesh! lol We had a lot of ground to cover in little time, and they got us to our stops on time and in one piece, so no complaints here. But it is our journal so we reserve the right to pick on anyone we like! Seriously though, we want to thank them both for being so helpful to us, leading us in, setting us up in a nice hotel, and taking us to the Mall of the Americas, offloading the van for us, and just being outstanding support for the mission.
Finally we got to meet up with Mike and the guys at Station 4. They may be the most professional guys on call, but they also know how to have a good time for a good cause!
They did some fun photo ops with Sharen and stunt bear. And we got to meet Dom ... He's kind of a big deal. Honestlythough, they were all a lot of fun and very respectful of our efforts. Hope to catch up with some of them in Colorado Springs at the Memorial this year.
But our stops did not end here, June had an extra visit planned for us, a true heart stop. We headed on over to Fridley ... I think it's a direct translation from the word friendly. These folks were great! Both fire and police were there for us, and were so willing to play along and pose as we needed. Any Fridley Troops will love seeing this kind of support from their hometown.
After all of this, it was dinner at the Mall of the Americas ... Dang, that is a big mall! lol We were barely inside when we realized it was Sunday after 6pm and there would be very little we would actually see. Never the less, it was a lot of fun, and a great change of pace from the road.
Thank you all for the outstanding generosity, support and hospitality. Minnesota rocks!
**Now, start those shirt collections! We need all of you to step up for the Troops this year. The official drive begins September 11th ... But, you can start early!
Salute!
lj
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