SMSgt’s family wins contest to visit North Pole, Santa

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tim Bazar
  • 314th Airlift Wing Strategic Information Flight
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  What started as a simple essay on the sacrifices a Little Rock Air Force Base family has made in recent years turned into a winning contest submission and a family trip to North Pole, Alaska, to visit Santa and attend the first-ever "Top of the World" Toy Summit.

Tanya Spillane, wife of Senior Master Sgt. John "Mickey" Spillane, 29th Weapons Squadron superintendent, had all but forgotten she submitted an essay to www.operationhomefront.net on how amazing her military family is when she received a call the day before Thanksgiving informing her she and her family would be heading to Alaska as winners of the contest.

"When I got the call, I wasn't sure what was going on," said Mrs. Spillane. "Naturally skeptical, I told the person I'd have to call them back. But once it sunk in, I shared the news with my family."

"I didn't even know mom wrote an essay about us," said Sydney, 8. "When I told my friends, they all asked if they could fit inside my suitcase. But I told them my suitcase was too small."

Mrs. Spillane wrote about how strong and special Sydney is - she started a toy drive at her school, donating more than 200 toys for Arkansas Children's Hospital - and described the challenges they face when her husband deploys. Sergeant Spillane has been deployed eight times and has missed several of Sydney's "firsts" through they years.

"He cares so much about his family and his troops," said Mrs. Spillane. "He's written songs on deployed life and made a CD for his troops to help raise their morale."

The trip, sponsored by America Supports You and Operation Homefront, in conjunction with Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., was awarded to five families from the contiguous 48 states for their submissions. Flights, hotel accommodations, transportation, cold-weather gear, gift bags, snacks and even a chauffeur were provided to the winners free of charge. They also got a $100 gift card to Wal-Mart to purchase anything else they needed for the trip.

"We really got the royal treatment," said Mrs. Spillane. "Everything was setup for us and we didn't have to pay for anything. It was a really special gift to my family."

Once the Spillane family arrived in Alaska and got checked in to their hotel, they ventured outdoors to see the sights and look for moose.

"We were determined to see a moose during the trip," said Mrs. Spillane. "But it wasn't as easy as it sounds."

They hiked trails and saw steaming, hot springs rivers ... but no moose, Sydney said.

Day two of the trip brought an early rise for the Spillanes. After all, they were on a mission - serve as toy testers and "Ambassadors of Fun" to help plan for the holiday season; and see Santa Claus, of course.

During the Toy Summit, children got to play with the hottest toys for this year, sit on Santa's lap and sign a "Declaration of Nice," promising to be good, and not naughty, for another year.

Little did Santa know that Sydney had a secret plan in the works.

"I was so excited to see Santa," said Sydney, "that I wanted to give him a present back. So I gave him a Razorback hat."

"It was so funny," said Mrs. Spillane. "We heard someone in the back of the room yell, 'Go Hogs!'"

Turns out it was Scott McCall, vice president and divisional merchandise manager, or Chief Toy Officer, from the Arkansas-based Wal-Mart.

After all the children had tested their share of toys, signed the declaration and sat on Santa's lap two, three, four times, the Spillanes packed up and headed an hour south to Mt. McKinley to watch the sun set. On their trip back to the hotel they saw the moose they were determined to see.

Satisfied, they retired for the night; ready to return home and share the stories and photos of their trip to see Santa in North Pole.

But as they packed up and headed to the airport to return home, they got their final treat - a first-rate view of the Northern Lights.

"It was unreal," said Mrs. Spillane. "It was the perfect ending to our trip. This will always be a special holiday season for us to remember."