Team Vance members assist local veteran

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  A veteran in Enid, Okla. benefited from the transforming power of more than 40 volunteers, mostly from Vance, and an organization called "Christmas in Action." October 25, the veteran's house got a new coat of paint, new porch supports, a new brick patio, landscaping and a dump-truck full of debris hauled away. 

The Vance volunteers, lead by Capt. Brian Colby of the 32nd Flying Training Squadron, started work at 8 a.m. By 4 p.m. the job was complete. "We scraped and painted the entire outside of the house," Captain Colby said. 

This is his third year working with Christmas in Action and the first time he served as a house captain. "It was kind of like herding kittens... except the kittens were all smart, and very well motivated, which made my job easy," the captain said. 

Vance volunteers came from the 32nd FTS, 5th FTS and 3rd Fighter Training Squadron. "We didn't have any trouble rounding up volunteers," said Captain Colby. "We put out the word and tons of people responded, and we needed them all." 

The volunteers painted all the windows on the veteran's house, hung a new front door, installed and painted trim boards, repair the back door and installed a new flag holder.
This was the first year Christmas in Action was conducted in the fall, said Lt. Col. Phillip Marshall, T-1 flight commander with the 5th FTS and president of the board of directors with the Enid Christmas in Action organization. 

"In April in Enid, we compete with the March of Dimes, tax day and the tri-state music festival," Colonel Marshall said. "The weather in Oklahoma is tough to compete with in the spring." 

Fortunately, October worked out very well for weather. "The sun was shining all day Saturday," said Captain Colby. "It was a lot of fun and a lot of work. The local Christmas in Action folks provided all the materials and the tools we needed." 

The veteran's home was one of 10 houses selected for this year's attention.
Christmas in Action began in 1972 in Midland, Texas, when a Sunday School class started working on houses in the nieghborhood of one of the participants, Bobby Trimble. When a lady whose home benefited from the program was asked what she thought, she said, "Lordy, it was just like Christmas." 

The annual round of assistance became known as "Christmas in April." In 2000, to become more religion-neutral, the name was changed to "Rebuilding Together." In 2001, the organization in Midland decided to change their name to "Christmas in Action." 

According to Colonel Marshall, the name was chosen because it brought back the Christmas spirit, and all the organization's tools were engraved with CIA.