Cheerleaders Visit Soldiers During the Holiday Season

By Joe Gacioch
StLouisRams.com

You see them on Sundays on the sidelines at the Edward Jones Dome. They perform dance routines and pump up the crowd throughout the game. Fans can’t ignore the Rams cheerleaders during home games, but it is what they do off the field that deserves the most attention and praise.

Being a Rams cheerleader does not just entail performing at 10 games during a given season; in fact, a majority of the cheerleaders’ time is spent giving back to the community. The squad averages more than 550 hours of community service and 850 appearances in the bi-state region each year, but one of the most impactful community service activities the cheerleaders participate in is national and international military visits.

Recently, Rams cheerleaders Aundrea, Kayla, Raven and Shannon spent a weekend visiting military personnel in the Seattle area. The cheerleaders spent their weekend at two local military bases: Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. The four girls chosen to represent the Rams cheerleaders on this military visit were busy the entire weekend, hosting meet and greet sessions, signing autographs and selling copies of their 2011 swimsuit calendar.

“Anytime I am asked to represent the St. Louis Rams Cheerleaders, I am extremely honored and grateful,” third year veteran Shannon Ward said. “I feel very passionately about reaching out to our U.S. military and showing gratitude to the men and women who serve our country. It is very special to be able to personally say thank you on behalf of the St. Louis Rams organization.”

When the group landed in Seattle, they went right to Fort Lewis for two autograph sessions that afternoon. They were able to tour the facility and the hangar where Black Hawk helicopters are kept, and they learned how they function from the military men who service the helicopters. After touring the hangar, they went into a simulation center where they had the opportunity to test various equipment and weapons soldiers currently use. The following day the four girls hosted autograph signings at department stores at McChord and at Fort Lewis, and later that evening they attended a holiday show at Fort Lewis. The Rams cheerleaders have been invited to bring a larger group of girls back to Fort Lewis next summer to dance and perform for the soldiers.

“It was a lot of fun to talk with the different families and people who came by,” Ward said. “Everyone we met at the bases was very kind and very grateful we had come to visit.”

The Rams cheerleaders visit military bases two to three times a year, and for some girls, like Ward, this was not the first opportunity they had to meet and thank military men and women for their service. Ward visited Fort Lewis in 2008, and she was selected to go overseas and visit troops in Iraq and Kuwait in 2009.

“I am so honored to give my thanks to our U.S. military, and I am always surprised by the amount of people who come to me to say thank you for coming to visit them,” she said. “It is a very surreal experience.”

While military visits typically involve signing autographs and posing for photos, each trip prents different elements, making them unique in their own way. Ward explained that this visit to Fort Lewis was unique because it was so close to the holidays. They were able to talk with the various troops about when they were going home for the holidays, who they were going to see and what they would do with their time off. The girls were also able to autograph their fair share of Rams holiday gifts.

“I think it is very important that we take time out of our lives to visit the bases and personally say thank you,” Ward said. “I am honored that I had the opportunity to be a part of this trip and personally show my gratitude to these wonderful men and women.”