Looking Back

Wednesday, September 11, is Patriot Day, established to honor the nearly 3,000 victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and to recognize the bravery of first responders who risked and gave their lives that day.The following was published September 18, 2001, the first issue of The Fairbury Journal-News following the disaster. Our Everyday Problems Seem Pretty Small NowEditorial by Vicki CheckThe staff at the Journal is in for a tough week this week. Today we are putting out the Germanfest preview, Thursday is Farming Tool and Friday we have extra circulation, which is always a challenge. You know what? A couple of weeks ago we were almost dreading the upcoming week and now I have a whole different outlook on it. There are a lot of people who will never go to their jobs again or see their family members. We really need to step back and look at our lives and appreciate what we do have and learn not to complain about the “little” things.We receive letters every so often complaining about this or that and sometimes it is difficult not to let them bother you. We're told that “you can't please everyone, so don't worry about it.” But saying that and doing that are two very different things.I know lately we have been wishing that our recent rains had come a little earlier to benefit crops, while other people may complain because their child does not get enough playing time or a team is not doing quite as well as they may have hoped they would. All of this now seems to be pretty small compared to what people in New York and Washington are experiencing Even one of my favorite show hosts, David Letterman, had a tough time trying to put on a show last night. Both Letterman and Dan Rather couldn't get through it without breaking down. Our president says the best thing to do at this point is to just get on with our lives; again, saying it and doing it are two totally different things. People in this area who have children, nephews, nieces, or other family members or friends that are in the various branches of the Service have to have a lot of concern for their safety, and rightfully so. Stuffed With ToysBegging for Bears, an organization that helps out in disaster areas, recently asked the local Wal-Mart store to place a box in their store to help with collection of the stuffed animals. Local people pitched in with over 1,000 assorted stuffed toys, including an assortment of bears, rabbits and other animals. The toys were to be picked up on Monday and taken to New York City and Washington, D.C., to help young children who are dealing with the disaster. Shown, left to right, stacking the donations are Wal-Mart employees, Jan Riddle, Suzie Logan and Virginia Korte. Therapist Raises More Than $2,000In just two hours Keri York found out just how much Fairbury and the surrounding community cares about this country. Last week after the tragic events at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and hijacking that resulted in a plane crashing in Pennsylvania, York decided to try to raise some funds for Red Cross relief in those areas.“I had hoped for $200 in the two hours I was going to work,” York said. In those two hours she raised over $2,0000. To date she has raised $2,074.27 for Red Cross relief efforts after the terroristic attacks. York, who owns and operates Therapeutic Dimensions in Fairbury, wanted to help out and decided to donate a few hours of her time to raise some money. She set up a work area at Ray's IGA. in Fairbury and gave massages for freewill donations.“I just couldn't believe the number of people who came in and dropped off money. The people's generosity in this town was amazing,” she said.After raising over $2,000 she had done only four massages.“Everyone came in and dropped off money. Many businesses and people drove down just to drop off some money,” York commented. One man, she reports, drove from Friend just to drop off one check, while another woman wrote her check for groceries $10 over to help out York's cause.“I knew she didn't have a lot and it almost moved me to tears,” York said.York, a licensed massage therapist, didn't donate her time as a therapist, however.“I did this more as a former Marine and EMT than a massage therapist. Massages were the only outlet for me to help,” she said. Staff Sgt. James Peeler of Lincoln was in the area at the time and stopped by to she support for York's cause.“The unity everyone had was just amazing. Everyone was so generous and it was just amazing,” York said.

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