For the past few years there has been a mitten tree located at the corner of Main and 31 in the hamlet. On this Christmas tree mittens are placed with the first name, age, and wish of a needy Gasport youth. Giving souls would take a mitten, find a gift for the kid and drop it off at Absolut Care or the Elementary School for delivery to the family.This year, due to economic conditions associated with the recession, there were more mittens than in years past and many mittens that were left unaswered. With only four days remaining before the mid-December deadline, there were more than 100 mittens left on the tree!
Andrew Drum of Drum Oil, who you may also recognize from Zion Lutheran's choir and the Gasport volunteer fire department, saw this tragedy about to occur and did something about it. He gathered the mittens and rounded up some friends to help him shop for all of the gifts, courtesy of a donation from Drum Oil.
Mission accomplished: the gifts were purchased and delivered on time and now over 50 families who were looking at a stressful Christmas saw a little bit of happiness in their day, courtesy of Andy and Drum Oil.
If you see him about town, thank him for his efforts. It's guys like him -- and small family-owned businesses like Drum Oil -- who make you glad to live in Gasport...a place where people still care for one another and real heroes still exist.
