Turkey Day Dinner

Thanksgiving Day 1971, I believe, was the first time the personnel at the Minot Air Force Base invited senior citizens from Minot to the Base for Dinner. Nine buses were used to transport 300 seniors to the Community Center on Base for Thanksgiving Dinner. The nine bus caravan was led by Ward County Sheriff, Olaf Haaland and included a wrecker in case any of the buses broke down. Eugene Benson was the director of the Military Affairs Committee for the Minot Chamber of Commerce and also the director of the Senior Citizens Activities Center. Base commanders, Col. Harvey B Logan, 862^nd Combat Support Group and Col. Grover C Graves, 91^st Missile Wing extended the invitation. The base commanders at the time hoped to make this an annual event and as time has shown, it is.