No doubt, you will hear stories about people doing great things to respond to flooding in the Red River Valley. I'd like to tell you one more story, as it relates to the Essential Air Service battles you continuously fight for Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport.
The 600-plus skilled nursing residents in Fargo nursing homes were evacuated to nursing homes all over North Dakota.
This included 28 who were relocated to Dickinson, Hettinger, Mott and Bowman. When it was first thought that it was time to repatriate residents to Fargo, the prospect of the long bus ride caused the Department of Health Incident Command Center to ask about air transportation back. MDU Resources and Butler Machinery volunteered their corporate aircraft for such a mission. However, MDU's plane holds six passengers, and Butler's holds nine. As the administrator/CEO of St. Benedict's and chair of the Dickinson Municipal Airport Authority, I was called to help work out the logistics of this challenge. I immediately put in a call to Chuck Howell, CEO of Great Lakes Airline, wondering if Great Lakes would donate a plane and flight crew. Chuck's answer was an immediate and resounding "yes" but he knew he'd have a challenge to find a plane and crew. Within one hour, they found a plane and crew, and within four, logistics were arranged.
At the last minute, because of the second crest forecast of the Red River, plans for Butler and Great Lakes to fly residents back to Fargo had to be abandoned (in the end, MDU's planes were too small, which in no way negates how thankful we are that they were willing to help!). Great Lakes and Butler indicated that they remained willing and able to help, if the repatriation plans still required air transport. In the end, the second plan did not lend itself to returning by air. Regardless, these selfless organizations immediately put themselves out to give, in a big way. Especially with our EAS partner -- Great Lakes -- I thought it important for you to know.
Each EAS cycle, we've talked about the strength of our partnership with Great Lakes. We sure saw that this time, with their actions at this time of need and crisis. I hope that this information is helpful to you. We'll certainly help remind you, when it again becomes time for us to work with the DOT, on subsequent rounds of EAS funding.
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Jon Frantsvog, St. Benedict's, Dickinson
Editor's note: Frantsvog also sent this
letter to Sens. Byron Dorgan and Kent
Conrad, along with Rep. Earl Pomeroy.
