Claxton fruitcakes have now contributed to world peace, or at least they've made Lieutenant Colonel Glenn Bramhall of Spartanburg a popular American in Afghanistan.
Bramhall is commander of a unit of 300 soldiers from all branches of the military who are there to train and mentor the 3rd Brigade of the Afghan National Army.
The Americans train the Afghans to use tanks and armored fighting vehicles.
Bramhall left for Afghanistan before the height of fruitcake season in the South. So his mother-in-law mailed two Claxton fruitcakes to her son-in-law's compound outside of Kabul.
The US commander shared his "Southern delicacy" during teatime with an Afghan general, who devoured it and demanded to know which "secret" bakery in Kabul baked the cakes, because his people had never had such a delicacy.
Bramhall gave him his second cake and promised more.
He called home and told his wife to please send more fruitcakes.
It was January. Christmas was long gone. But his wife, Faith, went from grocery store to grocery store in search of more.
"There just were no more fruitcakes in this town," she said.
Then a Bi-Lo grocery store manager told her to check with the Civitans, who traditionally stock stores with Claxton fruitcakes to raise money for the service club. Faith called Sandy Sanders, a longtime Civitan, and asked for 5kg of cakes.
Then Sanders called to say he had been to the warehouse and could send at least 10kg.
"Later, he called and said, `What about 25kg?'"
He called again and upped it to 50kg.
In the end, Sanders and the Civitans mailed 70kg of fruitcake -- or six cases -- to Bramhall in Afghanistan.
"The delivery caused riots, fights," because everyone wanted some, Bramhall said.
Bramhall has since e-mailed Claxton to let them know that their fruitcakes have been part of the "peace-keeping" effort in Afghanistan.
Dale Parker, the vice president of Claxton Bakery Inc in Claxton, Georgia, said he got the e-mail and was surprised and pleased to see that the fruitcakes were contributing to his country's effort.
"I bet he'd be a good fruitcake salesman. Maybe he could be our Afghanistan representative," Parker joked.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
RSS