From AFAD spectator to AFAD chairman

Ted Thompson recently took over as the chairman of the yearly Air Force Appreciation Day celebration.

When Ted Thompson and his family first moved to Mountain Home, they were quickly introduced to the community's largest annual observance.

When they attended their first Air Force Appreciation Day celebration, Thompson never guessed he would one day lead the effort.

Earlier this year, the university instructor was named the new chairman of the local military appreciation event. He succeeded Randy Valley, who oversaw the appreciation day event for 15 years.

Thompson's first exposure to Mountain Home and the local Air Force base actually began during his assignment to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. Once a month, he flew here to train with the men and women of the local fighter wing.

After three years, the 12th Air Force commander offered him an assignment to Mountain Home Air Force Base to become the wing's vice commander.

His first experience with Air Force Appreciation Day came just three weeks after he and his family arrived here. It started with the commanders' social and the yearly corn shucking event involving base and city leaders.

But it was the parade -- which today remains the state's largest -- that really caught his attention.

Retiring from the Air Force following his assignment here, Thompson and his family moved back to Arizona. Dissatisfied with that move, they moved to England.

More than four years later, the love of Idaho's great outdoors convinced Thompson and his wife to return to Idaho, where they had a number of close friends. In 2010, he accepted a job with the Embry-Riddle University campus at the local base, where he serves as an instructor.

Remembering their love of AFAD, they felt a need to get involved in the yearly event.

"We enjoyed it so much that we wanted to be a part, so my wife and I volunteered to do what we could to help put on the celebration," Thompson said.

They started by helping serve food during the free barbecue in the park. They were also part of the team that helped set up the serving and eating areas.

In time, Thompson stepped up to schedule the dozens of volunteers that help serve these meals each year.

Following last year's event, Thompson was offered a more significant role in the AFAD.

"Several of my friends suggested that maybe I should be the chairman," he said.

Putting AFAD together represents a tremendous number of challenges each year, Thompson said. Just trying to coordinate and finalize all the details is a challenge by itself.

He credits a great team of volunteers who work hard every year to make everything appear seamless.

"There are a lot of people doing a lot of hard work putting together the bits and pieces of this celebration," he said. "AFAD is a huge effort to put together, and I know how dedicated these people are."

It requires countless volunteers that work behind the scenes within a dozen subcommittees to keep things running smoothly each year. Those individuals handle every aspect of AFAD, from the fun run and corn shucking the night before the celebration to everything that happens the day of the community party honoring the local military.

And then there's the yearly parade, which by itself represents its own challenges, according to Thompson.

"We have Idaho's largest parade, so there's a significant effort in lining up all the participants, lining up all the volunteers to help and taking care of all the things that happen during the parade itself," he said.

He admits it's tough to gauge how many volunteers work behind the scenes to make AFAD a reality each September.

"I hesitate to take a guess," he said.

The serving line alone includes at least 60 to 70 individuals, all of whom step forward willing to help, but he knows that many more people show up to offer their help as well.

"Even I don't understand the depth of what they do except that we couldn't do it without them," he said regarding all the volunteers that help each year. "These people have been doing this for so many years, they know what they're doing and they do it very well."

In many cases, those hard-working individuals are also working full-time jobs while giving up their free time to support AFAD, he said.

"I'm just honored to be a part of that," he added.

One of the initial challenges associated with the yearly celebration is raising funds to offset all the costs, he said.

It takes about $28,000 to cover the expenses associated with AFAD each year. About $10,000 of that amount is allocated to pay for the food and other necessities during the barbecue luncheon.

He credits the generosity of local individuals and businesses, all of whom are "very giving and always willing" to give what it can to support AFAD.

"None of this happens for free," he said. "You don't provide a free lunch for 5,000 people without help from the community."

Unlike larger cities like Boise and Twin Falls -- neither of which host military appreciation events on the scale of AFAD, Mountain Home is unique -- according to Thompson. It all comes down to this community's deep military roots.

For the past 54 years, the community has nurtured those roots by hosting the military appreciation event. In addition to the economic benefits associated with the base, it's home to some of the nation's best individuals, "so it's important for all of us to show that appreciation," Thompson said.

To meet AFAD's growing demands, the committee sets aside funds to make needed improvements. For example, organizers helped fund needed upgrades to the electrical services in the park to accommodate all the vendors that set up various booths each AFAD.

And they always try to set aside a little bit of money each year to carry over into the next year's celebration -- just in case.