The heart of a small town was on full display this past Friday, March 15^th , as hundreds came together at the Allen School to honor the memory of a young girl that few, if any, knew. Twelve-year-old Rhindi Isaacs of Konawa was killed a week earlier when the school bus she and her junior high softball teammates were on was hit by a drunk driver. Rhindi was the only fatality on the bus while the driver and passenger in the other vehicle both died at the scene.

It was the idea of Michael Bailey to help the Isaacs family fi nancially with a small fundraiser. That idea grew as people volunteered to help and donations started rolling in. By the time Friday evening ended nearly $85,000.00 had been raised through donations at the dinner and items for sale in the silent and regular auction.

Since the dinner and auction had originally been planned for aid to the Isaacs family that was never changed but a 50/50 raffle was held and donations were also accepted for the others on the team and the coach/ driver of the bus. Kudos to Oliva Warren Manuel, winner of the 50/50 raffl e, for donating her winnings of $1600+ back to the injured girls.

And praise to all those who attended, donated and/or purchased items, ate and donated, and made the evening such a success. To list all those who worked and helped would be impossible but recognition must go to Michael and Becky Bailey, Raven Fargo, and the Allen school, its employees and student organizations who worked to set up, serve and clean-up. The theme of KonawaStrong must be accompanied by AllenStrong.