Jerry Lujan
No, this is not about dancing; it is about tasks that take two to complete.
I have breakfast with Moose Creighton once a week. At those breakfasts very often he will say, “I picked up some things from Big Lots (or the Golden Goose) and need to deliver them,” then he would show me a large number of shopping bags in the back of his car. The donations all go to the unemployed veterans and families of the Arizona National Army Guard, the 162nd Air Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard and the Marine Corp Reserve and Navy Reserve Units in Tucson.
An article in the January Saddlebag Notes described Moose’s efforts to ensure that the veterans and their families don’t go without the necessities of life. He has an affinity for the troops and their families and takes this task very seriously. He is a founding member of Tucson Troop Support Group and has been doing this for several years
When he recently went out of town for three weeks, he asked me to make the pickups from the Golden Goose and Big Lots and see that they were distributed to the troops. I said I would. I really didn’t comprehend the amount of donations Moose was picking up each week. Was I in for a surprise!
On a pick up from Big Lots the trunk of my car was filled to the point I could barely close it; the back seat was completely filled up to the tops of the front seat; the passenger side seat was filled up past the dashboard. At another time when I picked up from the Golden Goose, it took two of us to load the box of donations in the back of my van. I noticed several rolls of toilet paper in one pick up. That is an item often overlooked in donations.
How do these donations come about? That is where the Dance Master shines, persuading the Dancers – the Goose and Big Lots and others – to make donations for unemployed veterans and their families. Moose had told me in the past that he was a “pretty good scrounger” when he was in the Marines and he continues to be pretty good. Based on how I have seen him operate, that is an understatement.
If you haven’t been to Big Lots, I suggest you check it out. They have everything imaginable on their shelves and at pretty good prices. When you go, please thank the workers for the very generous donations. And the next time you are in the Goose, please thank the volunteers there for the plentiful donations which help our unemployed veterans and their families. Let them know that these donations are very much appreciated. All of the donations are food; no cash donations are made.