Making Something Good Out of the Bad

SEELEY LAKE – Doug Janison was short just one ingredient he needed to host an ice cream social for the firefighters at the Rice Ridge Fire Camp. Janison, managing partner of Houston's Too Catering, had 30 gallons of ice cream, caramel and chocolate sauce, plain M&Ms, Oreo cookies, Spanish peanuts, rainbow sprinkles, whipped cream and cherries. However, he needed people to serve. After reaching out to Seeley-Swan High School, the Leo Club stepped up to the plate.

It's not every day a local student group has the opportunity to serve ice cream to firefighters and be given $1,000 for their service as a thank you to the Seeley Lake community. Tuesday, Sept. 12 the SSHS Leo Club, the youth branch of Lions Club International, helped firefighters feel a little more at home with an ice cream sundae after dinner.

Houston's Too Catering, based in Idaho Falls, Idaho, has been the caterer at the camp since Aug. 2. This is the longest time the company has been on a single fire in the company's 13-year history and this is the most firefighters they have fed during a 42-day period.

Firefighters are served a dessert every night but usually it is something pre-packaged.

"I saw hamburger night coming up and yesterday [Sept. 11] being Patriot Day, I thought, man, we need to have an ice cream social," said Janison.

Janison's crew includes 15-20 chefs and servers. Since they are all busy during dinner, Janison did not have anyone available to serve the ice cream and toppings.

"We wanted to do it right and really treat the firefighters," said Janison. "Firefighters were able to get an actual sundae. Some of these guys just go from fire to fire and they don't even have time to even stop at the gas station. We are trying to bring a little home to them as much as we can out here."

But it wasn't just the firefighters Janison wanted to treat. He also wanted to make a donation to a local organization.

"We travel all over and we see the impacts on communities," said Janison. "With the start of the school year and I've got kids of my own, I thought man if I was in this situation and couldn't get back to my home...this was the least we could do for the local community."

After getting approval from the Incident Commander, Janison spoke with the Incident Management Team liaison with Seeley-Swan High School to find out if there was a group willing to serve ice cream during dinner, from 5-9 p.m.

SSHS Principal Kathleen Pecora asked SSHS Leo Club advisor and Lion Mary Stone if the Leo Club would be interested.

"That's what Leos do," said Stone. "We are a community service group. So I said of course we would love to do that."

The Leo Club members were given a tour before they started serving. Leo Club Director and SSHS junior Jory Towe was surprised and impressed with how organized the camp was. The club met people from all over the country including Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, Arizona and Michigan.

Towe was thankful for the opportunity to serve the firefighters and show their appreciation for all the work they had done, even though she said everyone that got ice cream were the ones saying thank you.

"It was [Janison's] way of giving back to the community and it was our way of giving back to the fire camp," said Stone.

"We are excited for the crews when they come off their shift tonight," said Janison. "They probably haven't seen something like this and if they have it has been a while. It's going to be fun for them to get a fresh sundae."