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Over Coffee
I may not know much about football, but I do know a lot about people who support causes with the intention of “giving back” to society after they’ve made good.
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| TOM HERTER |
In fact, during the last 35-plus years, I’ve probably written more than 100 stories about people like that. So, when a mutual friend invited me to lunch with football legend Tom Herter I wasn’t as attracted to his Super Bowl background as our server (who asked for his autograph as soon as we finished eating) or as another lunch guest (who used her cell phone to photograph his Super Bowl ring) as I was in his charity, Sky Dreams Foundation.
Tom, who lives in Mt. Dora, met recently with several people (including some from South County) at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on Interstate 75 near Dade City to discuss adding his name (and power) to some of their charitable causes and ask them to join him in his. I was invited to tag along to meet some of the movers and shakers as fodder for future stories; in other words -- to hear first-hand about good works being planned for the future that could affect residents of the communities I cover in this column as well as others in faraway places.
Even though none of the ideas discussed at that lunch are solidified enough to print, I can say that having lunch with Tom Herter was a memorable experience in itself.
Since lunch isn’t exactly “coffee,” and the restaurant isn’t in our coverage area, I thought I’d cheat a bit and tell you about it here anyway since South County is full of football fans who might want to know more about Tom than the fact that he was awarded his Super Bowl ring after aiding the Washington Redskins in their 1982 27-17 win over Miami in Super Bowl XVII and was later part owner of the Daytona Thunderbirds.
Tom said football wasn’t something he thought about until he was nine. His dad, a physician, didn’t like him doing things that could cause bodily damage. At 14, however, Tom picked up the pigskin anyway and “it was like magic in his hands.” So he snuck off to quarterback with his friends and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I threw a 37-yard pass and it ended up in the newspaper and my dad found out, so I started studying football,” he said with a smile. Following his time at the University of Tennessee and Belford University in California, he coached, played and worked with the NFL as an agent and scout.
More recently, he has acquired the franchise for Pak Mail Centers of America Inc., in 10 northeastern states and founded the Solid Rock All Pro Sports Team. The Solid Rock is made up of 11 NFL alumni who travel to schools, houses of worship and civic groups to tell kids how sports involvement can focus both discipline and academics to help achieve goals in life. The group also identifies deserving players for scholarships.
You’d think those interests, his wife Jeanette, two sons, a daughter and three grandsons would fill up his time, but no, Tom has more dreams to fulfill.
Now though, the dreams aren’t his own, but those of gravely ill children all over the world.
As founder and executive director of Sky Dreams Foundation, begun in 2005, which he describes as a cross between Angel Flight and Make a Wish, he has flown many critically ill children to places where they can receive specialized treatment, including the Mayo Clinic and St. Jude’s Hospital.
Sky Dreams has been responsible for flying terminally ill children to throw out the first pitch at a major league ballgame; getting a 91-year-old dying man the shirt worn by his all-time hero, Kayshawn Johnson; and spending more than $1,200 in fuel to send a jet to pick up a young girl from a Hospice House to see a woman’s fast-pitch softball game; her lifetime dream.
“That was very sad though, because she died before we could get there,” Tom said. “Of course, we had to have a lot of telephone conversations first, with her doctors and Hospice House and that took time.”
Obviously mindful that anyone nearby could know of someone his foundation could serve, he gave me his card, which lists both the telephone number 1-800-419-2180 and the Web site, www.skydreams.com.
The meatloaf was good, but the conversation was better and I left the Cracker Barrel sure that I would hear more about Tom’s foundation as time goes by. Don’t you just love it when you see somebody in a newscast doing something good for a deserving person or charity and you can say- “hey, I had lunch with that guy!”
So I didn’t have coffee, which means I cheated using my time with Tom as the subject of this column. But the thought’s the same: whatever can affect readers is what is important to me.
* Perhaps you have something you’d like to share. Or maybe you’d rather tell the community about your favorite charity or cause: or sound off about something you think needs change. That’s what “Over Coffee” is about. It really doesn’t matter whether we actually drink any coffee or not (although I probably will). It’s what you have to say that’s important. E-mail me any time and suggest a meeting place. No matter what’s going on, I’m usually available to share just one more cup. Or maybe you’d like to tune into the new radio show I’m hosting, “The Uncensored Reporter.” It’s available across the country on both AM and FM radio but so far I haven’t found out the call numbers for our area so I just direct everyone to www.themicroeffect.com on their computers Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-to-4 p.m. It’s a call-in show so maybe you’ve got some ideas or comments you’d like to share on the air. Just click on “Listen Live” and give it a whirl.
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