Scott Guscette

In September of 2001 I received a phone call from a West Metro State Trooper - Al Thompson. Al told me about one of his fellow troopers that lived in Belle Plain - Scott Guscette. Scott had a young family, and he had come down with cancer. Al had heard about our Lodge #6 spaghetti dinner, and was wondering if we could help him out with a fundraiser for Scott and the family. Neither Scott or Al were FOP members, but helping other cops with a fundraiser seemed to me to be the right thing to do.

I secured the Minnetonka Community Center for free. I had lots of contact with Al, making suggestions on how to set things up.

When the date was set in December, I had a family trip planned, so I would not be available to be there that night. Bruce Anderson and Gary Cayo offered to be there that night to help out, if necessary. Well, it was REAL necessary. Tour buses with the entire populations of towns showed up. I do not recall how much Al and crew made, but I know that it was a lot.

After the event, Al called to thank us for the help. I asked if there was anything else the FOP could do. It being close to Christmas, he did mention that money was still tight for the family, and no one - either with the family or in his group - had time to Christmas shop. I asked him to send us a list. More in part II.