By Jeff Mullin, Senior Writer

The impact Vance Air Force Base has on military families, as well as families in the community as a whole, will be recognized Monday at Community Development Support Association Smart Start Northwest Oklahoma’s Spirit of the Family Awards luncheon.

Vance has been selected as the 2009 recipient of the Spirit of the Family Award.

Col. Chris Nowland, commander of the 71st Flying Training Wing, will accept the award on behalf of Vance at the luncheon, set for noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Gantz Center on the Northern Oklahoma College Enid campus. Lt. Gov. Jari Askins will be a special guest.

Tickets are available for $12 each. Contact either 1st Lt. Agneta Murnan, 71st FTW Public Affairs chief, at 213-7478, or Paula Waters, CDSA Smart Start North-west Oklahoma coordinator, at 548-2268.

Unlike past years, when multiple awards have been presented, Vance will be the only recipient this year.

“Vance does such a great job through its Airman and Family Readiness Center to help families going through major transitions in their lives,” said Waters.

There has been a special emphasis placed on military families this year since it has been designated the Year of the Air Force Family, but the Vance A&FRC has long offered programs helping military families with financial management, transition assistance, deployment preparation and relocation. In addition, the center offers families help with spouse employment and volunteer opportunities.

In considering Vance for the award, Smart Start Northwest Oklahoma also considered the impact the base has on the local community.

“I have heard people from the base talk about how much they appreciate the way the Enid community supports them,” Waters said. “But you look at the way Vance supports their families, and the way those families and Vance enrich the Enid community through our schools, churches and volunteer activities. That makes Vance an ideal candidate for the Spirit of the Family Award.”

The award is for the civilians who work at Vance as well as the military personnel, Waters said.

“It takes everyone working there to support families,” she said. “Our main goal is to make sure they feel honored and appreciated and receive a warm show of support from our community.”

Angie Haring is a Vance spouse and mother of three who has been here since July 2008. Just two weeks after the family moved to Vance, her husband was deployed.

The atmosphere at Vance, she said, was much different from that of the large base from which the family moved. That base, she said, didn’t do a good job of letting families know what services and programs were available.

“Here they are all about keeping the family connected, keeping the family healthy,” she said. “Once I came here I felt like we were very welcome.”

Haring cited programs such as spouse groups that meet monthly to support one another and to exchange information. As a mother of two teenagers and a 3-year-old, Haring has seen the benefit of Vance’s youth programs as well as those for smaller children.

She called the Vance fitness center “wonderful,” particularly the area for mothers to work out that includes a play area for their children.

“We can work out and watch the kids at the same time,” she said.

Vance also offers counseling services, the commissary, the clinic and many more.

“They have so many programs we can’t use them all,” she said, calling Vance, “a little home away from home. They whole atmosphere at Vance is very family oriented.”