To the Editor

(Letter to the editor of the Red Wing Republican Eagan, October 15, 2001)

To the Editor,

On September 11 our lives changed. On October 12, I was heartened about our future when I chaperoned a dance at Red Wing High School.

The idea for the dance came from three young men who wanted to do something for someone else. Kyle Mehrkens, Kale Olson-Reed and Chris Warrington went to Mr. Sonju and said that they would donate their time as DJs if they could have a dance. He thought it was a great idea and suggested that they find an organization to sponsor it. The Interact Club (the high school service club which is a division of Rotary International) and advisor Ms. Heer took on the task.

As students entered, the young women and men of Interact gave each one a piece of paper shaped like a star or part of a red or white stripe. After signing their names, the students formed an American flag on the Cafe wall. Then they danced energetically in small groups of friends, slowly in pairs and in a huge group of line-dancers. They played hackey-sack, drank pop, ate candy, laughed and generally had a great time. Every student who attended was mature and courteous. Every single one.

At the end of the evening, they realized that they would be able to donate over $800 to the Lumina Foundation for Education which has established the "Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund." This fund will provide education assistance for post-secondary study to financially needy children and spouses of those killed or disabled as a result of the terrorist attacks. The Lumina Foundation will match their contribution, so over $1600 will be donated to the fund because of the selfless generosity of these students.

This community should be proud of these students. We know that we put ourselves in the hands of the next generation, and America can rest easy on that front. We are in good hands. By the way, the DJs ended the dance with the song (God Bless the USA) "Proud to be an American". Me too.

Susan Gillmer
Rotary/Interact Liason