BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Bonnie McEwan has greeted early risers venturing to the Cracker Barrel General Store in Hopkinton for coffee, the newspaper and pastries for nearly two years.

Then in January, she was called to serve her country as part of the U.S. Air National Guard Reserves in Iraq.

“She is a wonderful employee and a wonderful person,” said Marilyn McGuire, who owns the store with her husband, Paul. “We do miss her dearly, and I know her customers miss her bright face in the morning, but we keep in touch through e-mail.”

A special folder has been placed near the entrance of the Cracker Barrel displaying Mc-Ewan’s e-mail address and several correspondences between her, the McGuire’s and other employees and local residents.

“I talk about everything in there,” said McEwan of the e-mail folder. “Descriptions of the area, my job, the climate, homesickness …”

Still, McEwan said she is keeping busy on her second tour of duty.

She wrote in an e-mail to The Bow Times:

“I am with an Air Force Unit, an Aerial Port Flight. I am the only individual from my unit. We have 11 units combined to make up this Aerial Port. 32 people total, 24 hour coverage. Six days on, one day off, twelve hour shifts. We are working closely with the Navy to provide airlift to mainly the Marines. By providing airlift we save numerous lives by cutting down on the convoys.

“I believe in what I am doing over here and proud to serve my country.”

Back in Hopkinton Center, many appreciate her service, but also wish she were still home.

“Bonnie is surely missed, by all of us, including the customers here at the Cracker Barrel,” said Paul McGuire.

Her absence has been so noticeable, in fact, that a local group of Girl Scouts, Hopkinton Troop 2362, started asking those who bought their cookies to donate a box to send to McEwan and her fellow soldiers in Iraq.

The Girl Scouts, who are in sixth grade and have been together since kindergarten and plan to stick together through high school, last year collected more than 300 backpacks stuffed with clothes, toys and other goods and sent them to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

This year, troop leader Janet Bloom said they saw another great opportunity yo help.

“They love it and they love all the community service,” said Bloom. “We are wickedly proud of them because they’re always there for the town and always there to do service no matter what.

“They sold over 1,200 boxes of cookies, and what was great is they were able to collect over four cases of cookies and send them to Bonnie.”

McEwan said she couldn’t express her gratitude enough.

“The Girl Scouts have just been awesome in their support and not just from my home town either,” said McEwan.

“We have received enough Girl Scout cookies to share with our fellow Marines, Army and Navy counterparts. It really makes us feel appreciated and close to home.

“Smiles mean an awful lot around here,” she continued. “The support has been absolutely unbelievable.”