Jim Tipton Recognized for Excellence in Food Service at Fort Dodge, Iowa

It's been said "the way to a soldiers heart is through his/her stomach." Generous homecooked meals served with care and thought made quite an impressions on the 115th Maintenance Company of the Utah National Guard. Jim Tipton, Plankinton, and his employee, Dave Tanner both of Pirogues Catering of Mitchell were commended for their excellence in food preparation at Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Two Medals of Excellence were awarded to Mr. Tipton, one from the Captain of the Unit and the other from Major General Brian L. Tarbet. A plaque with a photo of the entire unit was also presented to Jim with a caption of "Thanks for a job well done."

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served daily for 2 weeks from July 11th-24th, feed over 90 hungry soldiers creatively. Breakfast was eggs, cakes, meat, potatoes and meals consisted of salad bar with fried chicken, meatloaf, roast beef, pasta, parmesan crusted pork loin as some menu items. Using the "can do" attitude, Jim didn't take a fryer with him thinking the facility had one, needless to say they didn't so he managed to do fried chicken on a tilt grill.

Over the past several years, only 4 of the commendations have been given. Jim's reaction to the honor was, "I was about tearing up. We appreciate what the soldiers do and we try to think about that every time we served them a meal. We tried to go above and beyond"