The Costco Connection - September 2017

S CO T T K ELLY

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THE PLANE PEOPLE
FROM “AWAY”

COSTCO MEMBER
Dan West and his
fellow passengers
were several hours
into Delta Flight 15
from Frankfurt to
Atlanta when the
pilot said a warn-
ing light had come
on and they needed to land in Gander,
Newfoundland and Labrador.

This was September 11, 2001, and
West, who lives in St. Louis, Missouri,
was among a cabin full of people who
had no idea what had transpired earlier
that morning. He says, “I was very ex-
cited, as our vacations had taken us to
all 50 states, more than 100 countries
and all of the Canadian provinces
except Newfoundland.”
His flight was one of 38 planes to
land at the small airport, and passen-
gers were kept on board for more than
24 hours while officials searched their
bags and belongings.

Once passengers could deplane, they were taken to nearby towns and put up in schools and anywhere else there was room. West and his wife, Sylvia, ended up with a family in Lewisporte, where, West says, “The little village gave everything and expected nothing in return. Those people were absolutely wonderful.” He adds that locals donated toothbrushes, towels, medical supplies and medical attention if needed.

Three days later, when they were on their way back home, West’s fellow passenger Shirley Brooks-Jones got on the plane’s PA system and asked for donations to help the students in the area. They raised $15,000 in pledges and have handed out $51,000 in scholarship money since 2002. Scholarship winners are given $275 that can be applied to any postsecondary school. The funds even get a mention in the Broadway musical Come from Away, which is about the “plane people” who landed in Gander.

West, who helps raise money for the scholarships ( tcfapp.org/Donation/ FundFree; enter “Lewisporte” as the fund name), says students are reminded that the scholarships are “because of what your parents and grandparents did. They’re our thank-you to those people.”—Stephanie E. Ponder

OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS Click here for a song written and performed by Newfoundlander Glenn Fudge, with a video by Dan West. (See page 10 for details.) Dan West

LIF E TO U C H

AS SOON AS the officiant says, “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” most couples go on to the reception. On July ;, Michael Kelly and his new bride, Kris, of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, went to Costco.

“My love of Costco started well before
it was Costco,” explains Mike. “When I
moved to Virginia from Minnesota [to
take a job with the CIA], I became a mem-
ber of Price Club in ;;;;. I was hooked
then and have been ever since. I’ve just
been enamored. I’ve become a little bit of
a Costco freak.”
Kris was converted during their court-
ship. “We did a long-distance relationship,
and I would fly to Virginia every other
week,” says Kris. “I was on the ‘dark side’
before meeting him—going to Sam’s Club.
He went to Costco every day when I visited.
He knew everybody and everybody knew
him. I became his Costco wife before I
became his anything. It was kind of a
standing joke when we were dating.”
Mike recalls that while he didn’t
exactly propose marriage at Costco, he
made a proposal of a similar kind. Two
years ago, he took Kris to a Costco wireless
kiosk to put her on his cellphone plan.

“I knelt down and proposed to her to be
my Verizon wife,” he laughs. “Everyone
gathered around, thinking it was the real
deal, but instead of a ring, I gave her a cell-
phone. My Costco wife was now my
Verizon wife as well—locked in for a two-
year contract!”
They did, eventually, get their rings at
Costco. After the wedding service, Mike
said, “Let’s go to Costco.” In his tuxedo
and with Kris in her wedding dress, Mike
lifted her over the threshold of the Eden
Prairie warehouse, and their first act as
newlyweds was shopping at Costco.

Kris says, “Mostly everything we have is from Costco.”—Steve Fisher

DID YOU MEET your significant other at Costco? Did you bond over your joint Costco obsession? Does Costco have a major meaning in your relationship? For a chance to be featured in the February