BY CHEYENNE CRACRAFT, JUNIOR JOURNALIST
Shea Riecke, 18, competes in the showmanship preliminaries with her mare, Cowgirl in Jeans.
Shea Riecke, 18, from Monmouth, Oregon, says that her proudest moment unrelated to the AQHYA is when her brother, Bill, came home after a nine-month deployment with the Marines in Iraq.
She is competing at the Ford AQHYA World Championship Show in halter, showmanship and horsemanship with her mare, Cowgirl In Jeans.
And she has a unique good luck charm that she carries with her when she shows.
“When my brother stepped off of the bus after being deployed for the first time from Iraq, he was given a war medal that every troop receives after being deployed,” Shea explained. “ I was 13 at the time, and he gave me the original one that he received. He told me that I would always keep it and that one day I would understand what it really means."
“At the time I was so young that I really didn’t understand it, but ever since then I wear it when I go show,” she added. “I put it in my boot just as a remembrance of everything that he has done.”
Shea’s brother was deployed two times to Iraq. Thankfully, he was never gone during the holidays, but the Riecke family had a friend whose son was gone over Christmas. And that led to the beginning of a very special organization.
"She decided to send him a holiday in a box,” Shea said. “My mom thought we should send it to all of the troops that were from our area.”
With help from a few other Marine families, Shea and her family sent every soldier a stocking for Christmas. Each stocking was filled with socks, candy and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
“We ended up getting so many donations that we had to become a non-profit organization,” Shea explained. “My mom created the organization, ‘Operation Santa,’ in 2004. Now it is in every state, and it’s huge.”
When Operation Santa first started, Shea’s house was a complete disaster.
“We had to sew all of the stockings, pack the gifts and wrap them,” Shea explained. “Now we have coordinators that are able to schedule the packing parties, so they do all of the stressful work for us.”
There are several ways for families to get involved in supporting our deployed troops.
“Either connect with one of the family members that is a part of our organization, or contact us,” Shea said.
Anyone can come to packing parties, write letters to the troops or donate money. Log on to www.marinecorpsfamilyfoundation.org to get involved in supporting our troops.
“There are tons of ideas suggested on the Web site that will tell you how to support our troops,” Shea explained. “Pick an idea and just run with it. Just to be there and help is great.”
Operation Santa’s main job is sewing stockings for the deployed troops.
“We send the stocking pattern out to everyone, and if they want to they can sew some,” Shea said. “Everyone in Iraq gets a stocking, so all the help we can get is greatly appreciated.”
Shea believes that prayer and support is the best way to deal with the hardships our troops face while overseas.
“Mostly you just have to stay strong and be there for them, because they are supporting us,” Shea said.
Some people cannot support the family members they have in Iraq because it is very expensive to mail boxes these days.
“If you are having a hard time staying in contact, or you can’t afford to send stuff to them, just contact us. There is someone that can help you in every state,” Shea explained. “Everybody is dealing with this right now, so there are support groups everywhere.”
Shea feels that the best part about Operation Santa is the reward at the end of it.
“We send the troops packages with fake trees, stockings, ornaments and gifts,” she said. “A lot of the troops send us pictures and videos with everything we sent them in the background. When you finally see pictures or videos of them with all of this stuff, it is the greatest reward possible.”
