SUN CITY – The time of food and merriment is upon us once again. Soon the sounds of families coming together over turkey dinner will fill the air, along with the smells of roasted turkey and sweet cranberries.
Jerry LaBonte (left), N.12, along with Jack Gilhooly, founder of “Buck in the Boot,” show off the well known boot. (Photo by Rebecca Vazquez/Sun Day)
However, some people will not get to be with their families on Thanksgiving. Instead of gorging themselves on the banquet that is Thanksgiving, they will be watching over us, ready to answer a call at a moment’s notice.
Jack Gilhooly, N.12, believes the men and women of fire departments across the country are heroes that deserve a little taste of Thanksgiving while away from their families, working the holiday in fire stations. Gilhooly decided that the best way to honor these men and women was to bring Thanksgiving dinner to them.
He started his neighborhood donation program called Buck in the Boot 12 years ago, and it has been going strong ever since. And yes, the boot is a real fire fighter’s boot that Gilhooly received from retired Huntley Fire Chief Jim Saletta.
That boot is used to collect donations from neighborhood residents during various meetings and get-togethers.
“We organized the neighborhood, and we [figured we had to] do something for a good cause,” Gilhooly said.
After collecting from neighbors, Gilhooly uses the money to purchase the Thanksgiving Day dinner from local stores. Jewel provides the turkey and mashed potatoes. Tom’s Market provides a pie for each firehouse. Joe Caputo & Sons donates two giant-size fruit baskets. This year, Saletta will be providing ice cream.
“It’s going to be first class,” Gilhooly said.
The Buck in the Boot program is “more or less a thank you to the fire department for answering all of the calls here in neighborhood 12, and all over Sun City,” Gilhooly said. “Just figured the easiest thing to do was bring dinner to all of the firefighters on Thanksgiving Day, and also we include the police officers who are out on patrol…I’ve never known an officer who wouldn’t accept a free lunch.”
