Posted on 08/05/2002 7:46:33 AM PDT by Texas Mom
Rescue spurs aid donations
By PATRICK BUCHNOWSKI, THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT August 05, 2002
SIPESVILLE – The influx of cards and letters offering support for the Black Wolf miners and Sipesville firefighters has astonished this leafy community. And the firefighters have found something else inside – checks.
So far, the fire company has received 150 to 200 cards and letters of support as well as donations to help firefighters achieve their dream of building a modern station and replacing their battered and worn 150-year-old structure.
While how much has been raised in the 10 days since the rescue hasn’t been divulged, this much is known: It’s at least $26,000.
Fire company President Michael Brant said Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who broadcast a live show from the fire hall, donated $1,000. And country-western signer Travis Tritt kicked in a $25,000 donation to the new building.
Moreover, Tritt treated Sipesville firefighters Saturday to a concert in Columbus, Ohio. They hopped a charter bus that he paid for. “Geraldo donated a check and got us started,” fire company treasurer James Shroyer said in a telephone interview.
“It’s amazing,” Brant said of the outpouring. The drive for the new building began five years ago.
Since nine miners were pulled from 240 feet beneath the earth in a dramatic three-day rescued the ended July 28, donations toward the $750,000 project have intensified, Brant said in a telephone interview.Support for the firefighters and miners have come by way of cards, letters and e-mails from around the world, Shroyer said.
“A lot of the cards and letters are really quite moving,” he said. “After all this settles down, we’ll go over them again because there are a few that stood out, very emotional.”
A week after throngs of rescuers raised nine blackened men from the depths, Sipesville is slowly returning to its tranquil self.
Residents trim their gardens and cut their lawns in the summer heat and occasionally stop to give directions to carloads of curious travelers searching for Quecreek. Shortly after the rescue, the Salvation Army in Somerset was flooded with telephone calls from people wanting to donate to Sipesville, said Marilyn Albright, service center director.
“We received so many in the beginning we had to contact the fire hall,” Albright said in a telephone interview. Donations for the fire company may be sent directly to the fire hall. Donations to help the miners and their families may be mailed to AmeriServe Financial in Somerset.
Brant said firefighters are being sensitive to the miners. “We don’t want the miners to have the opinion that we’re building our building off of their tragedy,” he said.
Construction for the building had been delayed each year because of lack of money. With the help of state grants and the donations, the company now hopes to break ground next year, Brant said.
“If we don’t break ground it will never get done,” he said. “If you don’t dig a hole, you’ll never fill it.”
©Tribune Democrat 2002
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