The feel-good story of the day.

November 14, 2001 1:34 PM

The feel-good story of the day. Columbia, S.C. middle school children raise enough money (and then some) to buy New York City a fire truck to replace one lost at the WTC. What's more, it repays a favor from just after the Civil War. Also covered here (CNN) and here (S.C. paper, 'The State').
posted by msacheson (6 comments total)

:-)
posted by verdezza at 1:47 PM on November 14, 2001

A very cool link. Of course, 120 miles down the road here in Charleston, my grandmother always used to say, "Dear, Sherman burned Atlanta and Columbia for a reason."

And we have a ton of jokes about Columbia, but I'll spare you.
posted by ebarker at 2:11 PM on November 14, 2001

Having lived in Columbia for 2 and a half years, I can safely say that it is deserving of burning. Atlanta's a nice city, however. But nothing compares to Charlotte.... the gem of the south.
posted by jammer at 2:21 PM on November 14, 2001

This is so cute, I think I'm going to vomit.
IS very cool, though.
posted by Su at 2:58 PM on November 14, 2001

ah, colatown makes it into metafilter yet again. Almost makes me homesick. Almost.

Jammer, I spent 6 years there. I hated it until the 4th year. The dirty old town can grow on you like a fungus.

If any southern cities are deserving of a good burn, I'd say Charlotte and Atlanta are at the top of the list.

Pico Iyer does a beautiful job of tearing Hotlanta to shreads in his book The Global Soul.

Then again, Rem Koolhaas called Atlanta "The New Rome."

Apparently Suburban Sprawl is the next big thing in architecture.
posted by shoepal at 3:23 PM on November 14, 2001

This one is particularly sweet given the payback. But Lousiana and elsewhere have all contributed trucks; and in some cases, they've been politely refused because they don't meet the high and uniform standards set by the FDNY. (A non-standard truck presents training, maintenance, and repair & upgrade issues.)
posted by dhartung at 3:36 PM on November 14, 2001