May 11, 2010

Death Isn't FAIR


Dylan here.

Usually my schedule is full of friday night plans but tonight I decided to head over to the fair at Liberty University. It was put on by the Jubilee Center of Lynchburg to raise awareness of the center and what it does. I myself have a strong connection to the center. My brother who is 6 years old goes there on a regular basis. It provides services such as educational, athletic, vocational, and summer camp programs.

There was a hugely unusual and tragic event that took place tonight, but I'm not going to tell you about that until later in the blog because if I told you now then you wouldn't read what else I have to say. As for the fair itself, there were lots of attractions and games. I participated in these:

- Ferris Wheel
- Bumper Cars
- Magic Show
- The Scrambler
- Ring Toss
- and many more of those rigged carnival games that you can never win!

There were also a bunch of local businesses selling their products at booths around the fair. A portion of their profits went to the Jubilee Center.

NOW FOR THE REAL NEWS

Unfortunately this carnival was not all fun and games. A young child fell from the ferris wheel and died. I talked to some people there and found out his name is Ben Ritter. This poor kid was on the ferris wheel when the car he was in fell off of the structure and he plunged about 100 feet to his death. No one knows what exactly went wrong but I suspect that the company that they rented the Ferris wheel from would be held responsible for this situation.

I did a bit of research and learned that there is going to be a memorial service at TRBC (Thomas Road Baptist Church) September 7th at 6 p.m. It is open to the public and I would encourage all to attend in support of the grieving family. Directions to TRBC can be found here.

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