Page 144 - Abilene Living

Bushes. When Governor Bush ran for President, Tom fantasized about the possibility of one day being able to cook at the White House. He got that call April 2001, to cook for the President and Congress at the Congressional Picnic. For the cattle rancher from Buffalo Gap, it was a dream come true but he couldn't tell anyone about it. “Anything you do for the President is Top Secret.”

PLANNING AT THE WHITE HOUSE

The planning for the Congressional Picnic took place in the Roosevelt Map room, a fact that still astonishes Tom to this day. During this meeting the White House head chef and the party planners offered to hire staff to serve the food, with the promise that they would wear cowboy hats. Tom insisted on bringing 20 of his own staff. “I wanted real cowboys that knew how to take their hat off in front of a lady.” Many of his staff have been working with Tom for 20 years, he calls them family and says. “Without them I would not be where I am today.”

SEPTEMBER 11TH

On September 11th , Tom was watching the news, getting ready to meet his crew to cater the event that day at the White House, it was 8:46 A.M. that morning. As he watched the news he saw smoke coming out of the north tower of the World Trade Center. At 9:03 A.M. a second plane hit the south tower. His crew was at the East Gate of the White House waiting for him, when the third hi-jacked plane was still in the air and heading straight for Washington. All of a sudden, staff secretaries, guards, and forists came running out of the White House, telling Tom's crew to “Run!” They watched as the plane turned and hit the Pentagon. Everyone ran back to Tom's hotel room. They were scared and confused, just as many of us were that day as we watched it unfold on our TV screens. We didn't know if this was the beginning or the end of the attack, for an attack of this magnitude to happen on American soil was unfathomable for most of us watching from home. For Tom and his family and crew, who were right in the middle of it, they didn't know what was going to happen next. Tom told them

“After you live through that experience it makes you count your blessings

and you forget sometimes howmany

you have.”

[Tom Perini on his appreciation for life]

The planning for the Congressional Picnic took place in the Roosevelt Map room, a fact that still astonishes Tom to this day. During this meeting the White House head chef and the party planners offered to hire staff to serve the food, with the promise that they would wear cowboy hats. Tom insisted on bringing 20 of his own staff. “I wanted real cowboys that knew how to take their hat off in front of a lady.” Many of his staff have been working with Tom for 20 years, he calls them family and says. “Without them I would not be where I am today.”

142 Abilene Living Magazine