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| Virginia Prison Staff Cooks for National Guard |
| By The Post |
| Published: 02/03/2003 |
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A plan that started out as a way to honor 11 corrections officers deploying Jan. 24 with the 189th Engineer Co., Virginia National Guard quickly evolved into an appreciation dinner last night for all 112 soldiers in the unit. Warden Stan Young, at Wallens Ridge State Prison, said initially he was looking for a way to show appreciation to prison staffers who will be headed for Ft. Eustis to begin an undetermined stretch of active duty. 'We have 11 corrections officers in the 189th, and some others that are in the Guard unit at Gate City or in the Navy Reserves - all in all, 17 people that are connected to military units,' Young. 'I started out talking to staff about a luncheon for them before they left. 'But when we started thinking about all the people in the community who were also in the unit, and all the ones around the region, and we thought about how we owe all these folks a tremendous amount. They are patriots serving our country,' he said. In discussions with Major Tim Yates and several lieutenants, it was decided that Wallens Ridge folks would feed not only the prison's own soldiers, but the entire 189th, Young said. 'This is home-cooked food, not prison food. It's all either purchased or donated,' he added. The meal would be transported to the armory and served by volunteers from the prison staff, planners decided. The prison Employee Association provided the money to purchase the meat for the main course. Grills were borrowed from First Vantage Bank, in Wise, and Bland Correctional Center. A grill at Wallens Ridge will also be used, along with about 300 pounds of charcoal and some hickory logs. Yates took on the chore of contacting area businesses and food vendors to come up with a few donated food items to help supplement what the employees would prepare. 'The only thing asked for was plates, napkins, barbecue sauce and drinks, and then we said people could give whatever else they wanted to give us,' Yates said. From the first phone call, the response was overwhelming. 'We were thinking barbecue and the trimmings. We ended up with a buffet that has about anything anybody could want. We got 400 chicken breast fillets, 500 hot dogs and buns, 250 hamburger buns, 40 cases of soft drinks, nine cases of chips, several cases of cookies, baked beans, 15 pounds of cole slaw, eight gallons of barbecue sauce and several hundred sets of paper plates, bowls and plastic eating utensils,' Yates said. 'We also got $950 in cash, which we used for the extras we'll need at the dinner, and a gift for each soldier. They're going to get beige t-shirts that have the Wallens Ridge motto, 'Respect all, fear none,' on one side, and a sand dune with Operation Enduring Freedom - The Big Sandbox 2003' on the other. Those cost $530, but we raised enough through donations to pay for that, and have money for other things. Anything we have left goes in the package fund,' he noted. |
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