Bruce Hanson stood aside, watching as dozens of Columbus Air Force Base personnel flew through a massive gift-wrapping project with what could only be described as military efficiency.
Plastic bags of clothing flew out of boxes and onto folding tables where they were placed in gift boxes. The boxes were wrapped in green or red gift wrap and moved to the side of the room, each according to which school its recipient attends.
“As you can see, this isn’t our first rodeo,” said Hanson, a member of the Happy Fund Board since 1995.
In fact, it is the 60th “rodeo” for the event known as the Happy Irby Christmas Fund, named for the late George “Happy” Irby. A former airman, Irby was tending bar in the base’s Officer’s Club when he placed a tip jar on his bar in 1958. Just before Christmas, Irby emptied out the jar and used the money for gifts for a handful of needy kids in the community.
Sixty years later, one of the oldest Christmas events in the Golden Triangle is a far cry from its tip jar days. Now, the Happy Irby Christmas Fund relies on two annual fundraisers — a golf tournament in the spring and a wine-tasting event in the fall.
“The number of children we can help has grown a lot over the years,” Hanson said. “Obviously, to do that, we had to grow the fund side. Several years ago, we realized that we needed to grow a fund year-round so that this would be sustainable. What we are doing today is the result of a year-round effort.”
This year the whirlwind project — the shopping began at 6 p.m. Tuesday and the last package was wrapped by 9 a.m. Wednesday — spent $13,000 to provide clothing to 350 elementary school students selected by the county’s nine elementary schools.
The neatly wrapped presents were delivered to the schools before lunch and will be distributed to the children before the Christmas break.
About 40 airmen, along with a couple dozen family members, made quick work of the gift-wrapping. The group included Col. Samantha Weeks, the 14th Flying Training Wing commander at Columbus Air Force Base and designated gift-wrapper at home for her family of four.
“Of course, it’s me that does the wrapping,” Weeks said. “My mom was the director of the Red Cross in our hometown, so I’m very familiar with Christmas wrapping. Actually, I find it relaxing to do it.”
Weeks said participating in Wednesday’s gift-wrapping project is one of many things the base does to help create a sense of the Christmas spirit for base personnel.
“We do have a lot of single airmen here, and it can be difficult during the holiday season when you are separated from your family,” she said. “So this helps us get into the spirit.”
Beyond that, it’s chance for the base to reach out to the broader community.
“The biggest thing that Columbus Air Force Base gets out of this is the ability to connect with our community and give back,” Weeks said. “We serve our country, This is another capacity in which we can serve our community and people.”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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