Red Sleighs Over Montana delivers toys to rural families
Santa with Austin, Aiden and Torrie Lynn Kennedy. (Megan Kennedy photo)
It started as a coffee-talk conversation a couple of years ago, and in 10 days, it happened. The Museum of Mountain Flying at the Missoula Montana Airport came up with the volunteers and asked for donations, and the Red Sleighs Over Montana mission to deliver toys to rural families started taking flight.
“This whole thing really was kind of on a whim,” said Forrest Gue of Minuteman Aviation when it happened in 2020. Collect new toys for boys and girls and deliver them to kiddos in rural Montana, by Santa himself, of course.
This year, another COVID-Christmas could easily sap the joy out of the holiday for families still struggling financially, so on Dec. 21, when first responders were all dispatched to I-90 attending to vehicle accidents, Santa sneaked into the Mineral County Airport in a cloud of rotor wash snow to make a drop of goodies and have hot chocolate with those on the ground.
But his visit was short because this was the day that multiple stops were needed from each helicopter or fixed wing aircraft delivering to Superior, Plains, Thompson Falls, Shelby, Anaconda, Eureka, Butte, Drummond Cut Bank, Choteau, Libby, Stevensville, Philipsburg, Deer Lodge, Seeley Lake, White Sulphur Springs, Potomac, Lincoln and the Sunset School up past Greenough.
The aircraft, fuel, pilots, elves (toy-loaders), shoppers and money came from volunteers. They bought, wrapped, and organized all the gifts, filling the museum's floor leading up to the delivery day.
”I don't want to take credit for their great program. I was just contacted and asked to coordinate gathering a group of kiddos”, shared Amy Kelsey. She, along with a small group of parents, grandparents and eager children welcomed Santa last Tuesday. Those in attendance received their gifts and then Kelsey and her elves took the bag of presents to be distributed to children in the county.
The Museum of Mountain Flying was established in 1993. Its mission is in part, "To preserve for future generations, the legends, lore and historical legacy of pilots and other individuals whose pioneering aviation exploits helped bring America's Rocky Mountain West into the Air Age."
They might be working on an amendment to include "spreading happiness" after another much appreciated Red Sleighs Over Montana.