Throughout the pandemic, most news has, for obvious reasons, focused on the damage the pandemic has wrecked upon the travel industry.
But every now and then, there are stories of kindness and generosity, despite the hardships of the pandemic.
This is one of those stories.
Julie Pflaumer of Destinations by Julie in Rozet, Wy., who leads a travel advisor Facebook group, found a way for an elderly client and his two friends to fly high - both literally and figuratively.
It all started when Pflaumer posted an item on the page regarding her frustration in not being able to fulfill a customer request, through no fault of her own.
The client, Jack Henderson, a veteran and pilot in his 90s who lives in Florence, Ore., had hoped to attend the Reno Air Races in Nevada in September 2021 with two buddies, who are also veterans and pilots in their 90s.
"I called him back and told him air tickets would not be released until the spring and he sounded defeated," she said.
One of the men had fallen ill, and Henderson thought the trip was too risky a venture due to their age.
So Pflaumer got to work. She began researching options closer to home and found Aero Legends, a company that offers bi-plane experiences in Florence, where the three men lived in an assisted living residence.
Pflaumer ran the idea past the Facebook agent group members, noting that she would like to pay for the excursion herself.
And that's when the donations started rolling in. "One gentleman said, 'You can count me in,' and then it was just a domino effect," Pflaumer said, adding the group raised more than enough for the bi-plane tour for all three men and donated the remaining funds to the assisted living residence.
"A lot of credit goes to the agents who pitched on," Pflaumer said. "I couldn't have pulled it off without them. It warms my heart. These people have been a big support, not only with travel but our personal lives as well."
To sweeten the pot, the Aero Legends pilot was once rookie of the year for the Reno Air Races.
And one of the three men was planning to book a bi-plane experience with Aero Legends to spread his wife's ashes from the sky. "He was simply looking for the right time," she said.
A friend of Pflaumer's, who works at the assisted living facility, gathered the three men together and presented them with the gift certificate for the bi-plane excursion.
"They all about fell out of their chairs. They were thrilled and grateful," Pflaumer said, which is something that Henderson himself confirmed.
"I just couldn't imagine something like that happening," Henderson said. "To tell you the truth, I was in shock - that people would do something like that. I am eternally grateful. We're overwhelmed with the thought and the deed, and we appreciate it deeply."
The ability to provide the men with the bi-plane experience has special meaning for Pflaumer, who before becoming a travel advisor four years ago worked in a Wyoming open-pit coal mine.
"I ran the largest heavy equipment on the face of the earth," she said, adding she was a second-generation miner and her husband still works in the mines.
"I have always loved travel and planning it myself," she said.
"Working in the mines for 10 years, I worked with men who were older. The honest truth is I've had to go to a lot of funerals. Sadly, a lot of them didn't make it to retirement."
One friend, who was planning to travel the world with his wife upon retirement, had a heart attack and passed away. "That one hit me really hard," Pflaumer said "He worked overtime the week died and had pushed his retirement out one year."
That was when Pflaumer made the decision to become a travel advisor. "I built my whole business around shift workers and oil field workers," she said.
"I don't want to watch people's dreams to dissolve."
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