January 2012

Vol. IV, No. 4 

Strong Bonds

Deployed Spouse

Retreat
Jan. 13-14, 2012
Metro Area

Registration full.

Freedom Award Nominations Due
Jan. 16, 2012

Learn how to nominate your employer here.

Martin Luther

King Jr. Day
Jan. 16, 2012

Clearwater Yellow

Ribbon Kickoff
Feb. 8, 2012

Clearwater American Legion

Strong Bonds

Couples Retreat
Feb. 10-12, 2012
Metro Area

Registration full.

C 1-171, TUAS,

NTM-A and 45th BCT Augmentees FRA
Feb. 11, 2012
Metro Area

Family Readiness Academy.

Valentine's Day
Feb. 14, 2012

President's Day
Feb. 20, 2012

B 2-211 and TMDE 

60-Day
Feb. 25, 2012
Metro Area

Reintegration event.

BCT FRA
March 3, 2012

Owatonna

Family Readiness Academy.

BCT FRA
March 4, 2012

Worthington

Family Readiness Academy.

BCT FRA
March 10, 2012

Brainerd

Family Readiness Academy.

BCT FRA
March 11, 2012

Metro Area

Family Readiness Academy.

45th BCT Augmentees

30-day/MIRT
March 31, 2012

Metro Area

Reintegration event.

Strong Bonds

Couples Retreat
June 22-24, 2012
Metro Area

Register here.

Strong Bonds

Couples Retreat
July 27-29, 2012
Metro Area

Register here.

Strong Bonds

Couples Retreat
Aug. 24-26, 2012
Brainerd

Register here.

Strong Bonds

Single Soldier

Retreat

Sep. 7-9, 2012
Brainerd

Register here.

If you're a fan of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon's Facebook page, you certainly took note of General John Vessey Jr. Minnesota Chapter of AUSA's "Minnesota Wives to Army Wives" contest. Seventeen videos were submitted, and more than 5,000 votes were cast to send three spouses to the set of "Army Wives" in South Carolina. The final votes have been tallied, and the winners are Andrea Curley, Samantha Koktan and Tammy Estes.

Andrea, one of the last contestants to enter the contest, was our top vote-getter. Receiving 700 votes in less than three days, Andrea and her husband, Sgt. Nik Curley, live in Farmington. He is deployed to Kuwait with the Minnesota National Guard's Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 34th Infantry Division. He's been in the service for 11 years and recently re-enlisted for another six. Andrea's favorite TV show, ever, is "Army Wives." 

Samantha came in second with 589 votes. She is married to Sgt. Joe Koktan, and the two have been married for two years. Their child, Jerrica, is five months old. Joe is in the Army Reserves, part of the 364th Public Affairs Operations Center at Fort Snelling, and is deployed with Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 980th Engineer Battalion, to Afghanistan. Samantha has fought and survived pituitary tumors and Hodgkin's lymphoma - she's looking forward to a break.

The final top-vote getter, with 584 votes, was Tammy. She and Sgt. Thomas Estes, married for nearly 10 years, are a seasoned military-family, undergoing their fourth deployment. Thomas is with the Minnesota National Guard's Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 135th Infantry, and is deployed to Kuwait. With three kids, Tammy's friends, other "Army Wives," are the ones she depends on.

The contest was very close. The fourth and fifth place finishers, Savahna Sperle and Cindy Sabatke, were less than 50 votes away from the top three spots.

To be eligible for the "Minnesota Wives to Army Wives" contest, entrants had to have a spouse currently on deployment, and they had to live in Minnesota or the Servicemember had to belong to a Minnesota unit.

To each and every military spouse in Minnesota and our neighbor states, thanks for your service - especially the brave ladies that shared their videos and made the "Minnesota Wives to Army Wives" contest a smashing success.

The Deployment Cycle Support, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon team stepped out of their normal duties last month to visit residents at the Hastings Veterans Home.

The visit started out with a game of bingo hosted by the DCS staff. The cafeteria tables were filled with veterans, past and present, sharing stories and thanking each other for their service.

Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Stenger, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon support specialist and a veteran of the Bosnia campaign, sat next to a World War II veteran and swapped war stories.

"I think it's important for veterans of all ages to connect," said Stenger. "Veterans enjoy talking to someone that can relate to them, someone who's been there."

After bingo, prizes were handed out and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon staff visited the rooms of more than 120 veterans, handing out personalized dog tags as a thank you.

"I'd definitely like to visit them again," Stenger said. "Visiting the veterans lets them know that we remember and appreciate them. We're thankful for their service."

Although the mission of Deployment Cycle Support and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is different from that of the Veterans Home, they both focus on the reintegration and support of Servicemembers and veterans.

The Hastings Veterans Home focuses on rehabilitating residents and reintegrating them into the community by providing a wide variety of services for veterans suffering from chemical dependency, mental health illnesses, dual disorders, homelessness and/or the debilitating effects of aging.

Ask a Servicemember how you can help, and they'll say, "Take care of my family."

The Military Family Care Initiative is here to address that concern - and now, the MFCI is on Facebook!

Here, registered users will be able to discuss the MFCI process, share success stories and interact with one another in a way that is just not possible on the website. Click the image to find your way to the MFCI's Facebook page.

The Camp Ripley Family Assistance Center, along with fire departments from Camp Ripley, Little Falls and Randall organized the 3rd annual toy drive for local military families last month.

It all started in 2009 with a challenge from Gold Cross Ambulance, out of St. Cloud and Little Falls, to its employees to collect toys.

Sgt. 1st Class Brent Ambuehl, a casual Gold Cross employee who is also a member of the Little Falls Fire Department and a Camp Ripley employee, took the challenge and ran with it. After incorporating the Camp Ripley FAC, Ambuehl was able to secure Wal-Mart, Coborns and Little Falls Fleet Supply as collection sites for the toys.

In 2010, the Randall hardware store became a collection site and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans matched monetary donations that were used to purchase more gifts.

"It just keeps getting bigger and bigger each year," said Yvonne Zappa, Camp Ripley FAC specialist. "This year, we fed more than 42 families and they left with as many toys as they could carry." 

Firefighters were committed to doing something extra for a family going through a deployment, and to help make that happen the Camp Ripley FAC connected them with the Berg family. As her husband Paul serves half-a-world away in Kuwait, Melissa Berg and daughters, Katrina, 5, and Martha, 8, were excited to see Santa pull up in front of their house in a fire truck.

"In previous years, we thought it would be fun to have Santa Claus ride in the fire truck and personally deliver the toys to a family," said Ambuehl. "We approached the house and started the lights and sirens, acting like we were rushing Santa there. The girls were in the windows, waving and jumping up and down with excitement."

Berg expressed how much she appreciated the support from the community and the Camp Ripley FAC.

"This toy drive has been an honor to be a part of and there is a long list of folks that make it happen every year," said Ambuehl. "I hope we keep it going for many years to come."

This toy drive is just one of many across the state that ensured a happy holiday for Minnesota's military children.

Guest columnist Don LaCroix from the South St. Paul Yellow Ribbon Network.

The city of Spring Lake Park has been working hard to keep its Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Network active and sustainable. Since their proclamation, the network has accepted requests from neighboring cities that don't have a network to support Servicemembers in place.  

Networking event for Yellow Ribbon Network volunteers at Cragun's Resort in Brainerd, Feb. 24-26, 2012.

Reservations are required. Call 800-CRAGUNS, or click the above image for the event flyer.

During a deployment, military spouses become accustomed to taking everything on themselves. Whether it's cooking, cleaning, fixing the car or shoveling, they're ready to tackle it all. So much so, that they can sometimes forget to reach out for help.

Kelly Guralnik, spouse to deployed Sgt. Ilya Guralnik of the 34th Brigade Combat Team, is on her second deployment. Her hands are full with two children, work and going to school. When both toilets in her house broke, in true military spouse fashion, she set out to Home Depot in Maple Grove to fix them herself.

With the help of Home Depot employee Amy Hoffman, Kelly chose two toilets.

"I asked Amy if she could offer me any advice on how to install them," said Kelly. "I mean how hard could it be to replace a toilet?"

Having experience replacing toilets herself Amy knew that just carrying the toilets inside would be a challenge for Kelly.

After getting approval from her management, Amy came back with an offer Kelly couldn't refuse. Home Depot sent Amy and Dave Nilan to deliver and install the new toilets. The job turned out to be a difficult one, so they even called in Home Depot's plumber Larry Fritze to assist them on the job. Home Depot also provided the replacement parts.

More than five hours later, a very thankful family had working toilets.

"Her husband is off doing something wonderful for us and I'm just so thankful that Home Depot could help," Amy said.

Thanks Maple Grove Home Depot for going above and beyond.

To whom it may concern

Shortly before Christmas, a deployed soldier received five packages from a business in his hometown. He wrote back shortly after, beginning his message with, "To Whom It May Concern:"

I recently received five packages from the AmericInn located in Waconia, my hometown. The packages were loaded with stuff from businesses and a few families in the area. I'm writing to thank you for the packages and let you know that we appreciate the gifts.

We'll continue to use the stuff, especially the toiletries. I'm sure not a single guy will have to buy that stuff for awhile! The fact that the food was somewhat healthy was a big hit as well.

I hope this email gets out to all the families and businesses that helped put the packages together. I want them to know all their hard work did not go unseen, and that the packages made it to us unscathed.

- Sgt. Benjamin Lentz, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 34th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team