Sioux Falls airport crew member makes global news with juggling act

McKenzie Hettich and her family were traveling for the first time since the pandemic – heading to Arizona in early March to visit family – and they were being cautious.

So while waiting to board their Delta Air Lines flight at the Sioux Falls Regional Airport, “we just decided to stay away from as many people as we could,” she said.

That led 4-year-old Maddex to amuse himself looking out the window, where he quickly spotted some pre-flight entertainment.

A member of the crew below had seen the little boy in the window and started juggling for him with the wands typically used for marshaling aircraft in and out of the gate.

“We’re just sitting there waiting for the plane and saw this lady juggling out there and got the biggest kick out of it,” Hettich said.

“It was just a really cool little experience.”

Hettich grabbed her phone and shot this short video.

And then, of course, she shared it on social media, where someone from a Fox television affiliate discovered it.

While Hettich was in Arizona, it got picked up by the Fox station there, “and then Fox News in L.A., and we had a social media company out of Australia that wanted to get the rights to the video. And just looking at the posts, a lot of people have liked and commented, so it’s crazy it’s gone that far.”

So who is the now-viral airport juggler?

Deb Snyders — who teaches second grade at Central Lyon Elementary in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and learned about her newfound internet fame while working parent-teacher conferences on a Monday night.

“When I was done, I checked my phone, and it was blowing up,” she said. “It just kind of blossomed after that.”

Snyders started working at the airport several years ago when her daughter started college in Florida. While talking to a ticket agent, she decided to apply and nearly instantly was offered a job.

“I was just looking for a job at the airport because she’s in Orlando and I want to go see her, and I can get all these flying benefits,” she said.

She now works 20 to 25 a week, including some evenings after a day of teaching and on weekends.

“I love it,” Snyders said. “I love it for so many reasons. It’s so different from teaching. I love teaching, but at the end of the day, I can walk away from this. I don’t have anything to bring home with me.”

She also has taken full advantage of those travel benefits, flying everywhere from Aruba to Amsterdam and visiting every national park.

On any given shift, she might offload baggage, clean planes, marshal in the plane and push the plane out.

“I like that it’s not a very traditional role for a woman,” she added. “Even though there are a lot of women out there, it’s unique.”

Which brings us to the juggling, speaking of unique. Snyders learned how to juggle on a break from college using fruit from a 4-H fundraiser.

“I’m not even that great, but juggling balls is super easy,” she said. “And maybe a year ago, I started thinking out on the ramp I can juggle. So I started practicing. I’m not perfect. I drop them a lot.”

The wands she uses are different weights, adding to the challenge, and forget trying to do it in a South Dakota wind.

“But if I have time and see little kids, I often will juggle for them on the ramp,” she said. “Maybe six months ago, I was juggling for some little kids, and the pilots were holding up papers like it was a diving event, like a 10, they were holding up numbers.”

She has messaged back and forth with Hettich since the viral social media post, telling her she enjoyed seeing Maddex in the window.

“It’s like you’re in a fishbowl. When you’re on the ramp, people can see everything you’re doing,” Synders said. “I didn’t realize she was videoing, but I saw the little boy there and motioned to give me a second, and I walked over and grabbed some wands and juggled.”

For Hettich, who works in the hotel industry, the gesture had special significance.

“I really appreciate people going above and beyond to make a travel experience something to remember and just thought that was a really neat thing she was doing. She obviously loves her job,” Hettich said.

“I think everybody’s nerves are still pretty high (traveling), so for somebody like her to be doing that when we’re all having to wear masks and still be cautious and protective, I thought that was a really amazing thing.”

As for Snyders, she plans to continue her airport act whenever time and weather allow.

“I do work really hard, but the travel motivates me a lot,” she said. “And the fact that my family gets to use it. They’re just really enjoying it. It’s opened up so many fun things.”