What started as a gesture to adjust to their neighborhood has turned into a communitywide project for William and Mary Andolsek of the 1200 block of Paddock Hills Avenue.

        When they moved here a year ago, this was their first time living away from military families and military housing in 19 years.

        Mr. Andolsek is a colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. The Army transferred him here to be trained in pediatric radiology at Children's Hospital.

        “This was our first experience at living in a civilian community,” Mrs. Andolsek said. “We have been used to military families, which are very close. We can relate to the firefighters when they said they are all brothers. When a person in the military feels pain, we all feel pain.”

        She said since the terrorist attacks they felt they had to do something to show support.

        “We invited friends over and started painting wooden hearts in red, white and blue,” Mrs. Andolsek said. “We glued a pin and ribbons on and pretty soon we had our own patriotic symbol.”

        It spread through the neighborhood. Their children, Hanna, 8, and Michael, 10, took the symbols to Fairview German Language School, which they attend. Teachers and students liked them. In two weeks, the Andolsek children had raised $150 for the Red Cross.

        “I wasn't sure when I first moved here if I could stay if my husband was transferred and we had to stay behind. Now after this project and the show of love and support, this neighborhood is also my family,” Mrs. Andolsek said.
       --------------

        Emergency service personnel from Cincinnati, Dayton, Indianapolis, Columbus, Louisville, Lexington, Huntington, Charleston and surrounding communities will be given free admission to Paramount's Kings Island Theme Park the last three weekends of the 2001 season.

        Firefighters, law enforcement officers, paramedics and emergency medical technicians may present their badge or ID at a special booth at the park's entrance and receive up to four complimentary tickets for themselves and their guests.

        The park will be open and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 3 and 4.

        Tim Fisher, general manager and executive vice president of PKI, said the heroic events surrounding the Sept. 11 tragedies remind all of us how important the emergency workers are.

        John W. Williams, a former professor of music at Wittenberg University in Springfield, will present a patriotic/sacred concert at 10 a.m. Sunday at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Pleasant Ridge, 6120 Ridge Ave.

        Mr. Williams is a former director of the May Festival Chorus and has been a guest lecturer at the College-Conseratory of Music. He has performed as a soloist for Robert Shaw, Aaron Copeland and John Nelson.

        The Rev. Mendle Adams, pastor, said a free-will offering will go to the “Hope From the Rubble” campaign of the National United Church of Christ, to provide long-term pastoral counseling and support for survivors and families of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

        The Southwestern Ohio K-9 Search and Rescue Team has a new equipment trailer, thanks to friends and former co-workers of a University of Cincinnati graduate who is missing in the World Trade Center attack.

        Friends of Cathy Salter dedicated the trailer in her name at a ceremony Saturday in New Miami in Butler County. The inscription on the $4,000 trailer reads: “Scent from Heaven in Memory of Cathy Salter, World Trade Center, September 11, 2001.”

        Ms. Salter, 37, was the claims manager at AON Insurance Group in Cincinnati before transferring to the company's New York office in February, 2000. She was last seen on the 98th floor in the second tower.

        Her friends began raising money for the vehicle after reading a story in the Enquirer about Worf, the search-and-rescue team's most experienced canine that became traumatized after working to find the dead and missing at the World Trade Center.

        Worf's owner, Mike Owens, who heads the team, removed the dog from the site and retired him.

       Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs Monday-Friday and Sundays. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are committing random acts of kindness that are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at (513) 768-8362; at ahoward@enquirer.com; or by fax at (513) 768-8340.
       
       

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