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Football Officiating => NCAA Discussion => Topic started by: TXMike on August 30, 2012, 07:36:29 AM
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Great gesture by Mr. Parry's wife: tiphat: :thumbup :bOW ^TD ^good aWaRd
http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/08/29/news/local/doc503d740a833c5085717773.txt
Remembering Dave Parry: Parry's wife donates $10,000 to Hoosier Burn Camp in his memory
By Stephanie Kuschel
Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, August 29, 2012 5:07 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Patricia Parry of Michigan City presented a cashier’s check for $10,000 to Mark Koopman, the executive director of the Hoosier Burn Camp, Tuesday morning at the Bike Stop, located at 609 U.S. 20.
Mrs. Parry said she was making her donation in memory of her late husband, Dave Parry, a former Michigan City Rogers Raiders athletic director and longtime NFL official.
“I talked to my son, and we decided that this is something that Dave would have done,” Parry said. “He has been a mentor and surrogate father to a lot of athletes, and he would have helped.”
Parry’s donation was in support of the Michigan City Fire Department’s upcoming raffle of a children’s pedal plane to raise money for the camp. In May, the fire department announced it would be selling 5,000 tickets for $2 each, with a goal of raising $10,000 by September, when the raffle would be announced.
“Mrs. Parry came into the Bike Stop, saw the pedal plane in the store, read all of the information, and was very touched by what it was all about,” Michigan City Fire Department Battalion Chief Daryl Westphal said. “She bought $100 worth of tickets that day, and then called up the fire department and said she wanted to buy all of the tickets.”
Westphal added that Parry did not want to take the pedal plane for herself and that raffle tickets would continue to be sold at the Bike Stop until Sept. 11, when the winner of the raffle would be announced and any additional contributions from the raffle would be given to the camp.
Gene Wright of Michigan City, who made the pedal plane, said he started making similar planes for his grandchildren about 12 years ago, “to see if he still had it,” after he started using a wheelchair.
Then, last year, after Central State Manufacturing and members of the Michigan City Fire Department helped put a new roof on his house, Wright made two pedal planes, one for each organization, to show his appreciation.
On a recent visit to one of the Hoosier Burn Camps, Wright said he had been affected by the young campers and was very happy the fire department had chosen to raffle his plane to support the camp.
“The enthusiasm, the innocence ... You wouldn’t even know they had injuries because of their spirit,” Wright said.
Koopman, who accepted Parry’s donation on behalf of the Hoosier Burn Camp, said the program is meant to help young burn victims build confidence and independence, while meeting other children who have gone through similar experiences. He said, every year 150 to 200 young people participate in various activities funded through the program, which is entirely funded through donations such as Parry’s.
“I don’t know how to describe what Mrs. Parry’s donation will do,” Koopman said. “It’s beyond description.”