Spouses come together

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashley Williamson
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

The United States Air Force is not the world’s greatest Air Force just because of our hard-working Airmen; it takes the love and support of their spouses.

To show appreciation to the spouses, Team Seymour held its inaugural Spouses Dining-in, March 5, 2016, at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

Spouses spent hours preparing and decorating movie-themed tables for each squadron, such as “Snow White,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Harry Potter.”

Two hours before the night began, the tables were judged by Col. Mark Slocum, 4th Fighter Wing commander, Chief MSgt. Shane Wagner, 4th Fighter Wing command chief, and Sarah Merritt, the Arts Council of Wayne County executive director, to choose their favorite design. After each table underwent meticulous scrutiny, a favorite was chosen: the “Alice in Wonderland” table.

“My husband has been retired from the USAF for a few years, so it was fun to be involved with an event like this,” Merritt said. “The tables were very impressive. They were so elaborate; it looked like people put a lot of time and effort into it.”

More than 200 people in costumes matching the theme of their table arrived and were greeted by a red carpet and approximately 25 “paparazzi.”

The dining-in provided a chance for spouses to meet and socialize in a relaxed environment. As the event went on into the night, each squadron performed their own skits pertaining to the movie their table represented. In addition, a puppet show and dialogues were also performed during the event.

“I got involved with the event with the other spouses in my squadron. We had multiple meetings and practices for decorating and skits,” said Crystal Earll, spouse of Master Sgt. Andrew Earll, 4th Security Forces Squadron First Sgt. “The event was to get all the spouses together to have a good time. It was wonderful, and it was better than I anticipated.”

Because the Spouse Dining-in was such a huge success, plans for another are being made for next year.