Country singer Gretchen Wilson donates two signed guitars to help her hometown emergency volunteers build a new station
By Adam Jadhav ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri)
Copyright 2006 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Country music star Gretchen Wilson, of “Redneck Woman” fame, is once again giving a bit back to the tiny Illinois town where she once tended bar and sang for customers.
Wilson, whose smash hit proclaimed her “just a product of my raisin’,” has donated two signed acoustic guitars to help the fire and emergency volunteers of Pocahontas, Wilson’s hometown. One guitar is planned for auction and another for raffle at the town’s fall festival next month, in both cases to raise money to build a new fire station.
Wilson, who also sings the song “Pocahontas Proud,” previously donated $15,000 to build a Little League concession stand. The baseball park is now named in her honor.
Beyond the material gifts, Wilson’s rise to stardom has given the village of fewer than 750 people about 40 miles east of St. Louis something larger: a claim to fame and a spot on the proverbial map.
“She did good for herself,” said Mayor David Clark. “And she’s doing good for the town.”
Wilson was unavailable for comment, her publicist said.
Her two autographed guitars will be a major selling point for the town’s festival — starting at 10 a.m. Oct. 14 in the town square. The fest also will feature pie- and hot dog-eating contests, a chili cook-off, pumpkin painting and carving, and more. The auction is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The festival is intended to help the Pocahontas-Old Ripley Fire Department and EMS Volunteers raise dollars to build a new station. Right now, about 30 emergency workers are crowded into a building that can barely hold them and their equipment, said paramedic Kory Schaefer.
For example, the meeting room cannot physically accommodate all the staff at once.
“It’s just not meant to hold this much,” Schaefer said.
Many of the firefighters also will be auctioning themselves off, agreeing to give their time — something like four hours for yard work or cooking or whatever — to the highest bidder.
Schaefer said one of the volunteers contacted Wilson’s managers and the star didn’t hesitate to send the guitars. Organizers of the festival say they’re thankful for Wilson’s contribution as the volunteer department tries to raise some of the $500,000 needed for a new station.
“She does try to help out as much as possible,” Schaefer said. “Most of us are really proud of her and what she’s done.”