Posted on 06/19/2015 1:32:44 PM PDT by Altariel
Edited on 06/19/2015 1:38:56 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Tribune staff Published: June 15, 2015 | Updated: June 15, 2015 at 08:32 PM
A 6-year-old boy who forgot his stuffed tiger Hobbes at Tampa International Airport when he went on vacation earlier this month got a big surprise upon returning home.
Hobbes had been busy while he was in Houston.
When the boy discovered he left behind his handmade tiger, his mother Amanda Lake called the airport to see if anyone could help find it.
A janitorial crew recovered Hobbes near a play area in a terminal and brought it to lost and found. Airport staff alerted Lake that her son Owen’s favorite stuffed animal was in good hands.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Tony D’Aiuto, manager of the Airport Operations Center, had an idea.
Hobbes would get a tour of the airport, which D’Aiuto document for a picture book.
“I pitched this idea a couple of months ago after I saw a similar idea where someone took a stuffed lion around a museum,” D’Aiuto said in a release from the Airport. “This seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
On his lunch break, D’Aiuto photographed Hobbes on several adventures, including buying gelato, working out in the employee gym, hanging out with firefighters and riding a luggage cart in the Marriott hotel.
D’Aiuto wrote a storyline to go along with the photos and used a Walgreens coupon to print the hardbound photo book.
When Owen arrived home from Houston on June 11, the book was waiting in lost and found with Hobbes.
As Airport Operations Center manager James Parker showed the book to Owen, Lake teared up.
“It was very, very sweet,” Lake said. “We already told him over and over that Hobbes was on an adventure so it was nice to get back and show him that Hobbes really had been on an adventure.”
“Thank you to everyone at Tampa International Airport who took such great care of Hobbes. It was such a nice surprise.”
Somehow, a lot of gobbledygook was ensnared when copying.
Here is the article:
A 6-year-old boy who forgot his stuffed tiger Hobbes at Tampa International Airport when he went on vacation earlier this month got a big surprise upon returning home.
Hobbes had been busy while he was in Houston.
When the boy discovered he left behind his handmade tiger, his mother Amanda Lake called the airport to see if anyone could help find it.
A janitorial crew recovered Hobbes near a play area in a terminal and brought it to lost and found. Airport staff alerted Lake that her son Owen’s favorite stuffed animal was in good hands.
But the story doesn’t end there.
Tony D’Aiuto, manager of the Airport Operations Center, had an idea.
Hobbes would get a tour of the airport, which D’Aiuto document for a picture book.
“I pitched this idea a couple of months ago after I saw a similar idea where someone took a stuffed lion around a museum,” D’Aiuto said in a release from the Airport. “This seemed like the perfect opportunity.”
On his lunch break, D’Aiuto photographed Hobbes on several adventures, including buying gelato, working out in the employee gym, hanging out with firefighters and riding a luggage cart in the Marriott hotel.
D’Aiuto wrote a storyline to go along with the photos and used a Walgreens coupon to print the hardbound photo book.
When Owen arrived home from Houston on June 11, the book was waiting in lost and found with Hobbes.
As Airport Operations Center manager James Parker showed the book to Owen, Lake teared up.
“It was very, very sweet,” Lake said. “We already told him over and over that Hobbes was on an adventure so it was nice to get back and show him that Hobbes really had been on an adventure.”
“Thank you to everyone at Tampa International Airport who took such great care of Hobbes. It was such a nice surprise.”
Frankly my dear i don’t give a crap or something like that
I was hoping the kid’s name was Calvin.
Thanks for sharing.
I loved this story.
He has quite a bedtime book for the rest of his childhood. Maybe even for his kids.
People at Tampa Airport deserve kudos for this. Decent folks.
5.56mm
That’s a great story, thanks for posting. hey, I still miss my little stuffed walrus I had as a wee child, so I think these folks were quite kind to take such good care of a toy.
Aww. Great story. Nice people.
I little harmless fun and sign of our common humanity.
In this crummy world we live in today, reading a story like this reaffirms my faith in humanity.
The picture of TSA having their way with the toy was thankfully left out of the book.
Cute story.
It certainly must suck to be you and living in your world..glad I'm not in it.
Cool story, I love hearing more good stuff that actually occurs in life..........
Some one pi55 in your cereal?
Good for them. They did a “Flat Stanley” for the kid with his stuffed tiger.
There was a multi thousand comment thread dealing with Frodo and the LOTL rings where his "Flat Stanley" was being sent around the world to various FReepers who posted their photos with him.......
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