Posted on 05/03/2014 8:32:49 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
After losing his father to the fertilizer plant explosion that almost destroyed his hometown, Parker Pustejovsky is spearheading the effort to recover—and he’s barely old enough to read.
WEST, Texas — One year ago on April 17, five-year-old Parker Pustejovsky lost his father in the fertilizer plant explosion that wrecked the small Texas town of West. Joey Pustejovsky was one of 10 first responders to die trying to put out the fire that precipitated the blast. It wasn’t long before young Parker declared he would rebuild the city park, stripped bare by the explosion—and he’d do it by selling hot dogs.
Word of Parker’s plan spread quickly in the tight-knit Czech town, known for its famous kolache bakery on Interstate 35 between Austin and Dallas. His grandparents and late father’s friends helped him create Parker’s Park Project and plan the hot dog sale that would raise $83,000 in the course of just a few hours on a July afternoon. Last Saturday, Parker’s Park Project unveiled the preliminary design for the playground and held a silent auction, run by the cast of A&E’s Storage Wars: Texas.
Parker’s grandparents never thought they would raise that much money the first time around, but the real surprise was in the figure itself. Their son Joey, Parker’s father, had been born on August 3, 1983, weighing 8 lbs. and 3 oz. In a deeply religious town that residents insist was touched by God on the night of the explosion—the three schools destroyed in the blast were empty, and only two people died inside buildings, despite the fact that hundreds were either totally obliterated or severely damaged—everyone was sure Joey was there, holding his son’s hand as the little boy traded hot dogs for $2,000 Visa gift cards and $100 bills.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
My eyes are all watery...
Yes, this story had the same effect on me!
GOD’s mysterious ways. Misty eyed.
A boy selling hot dogs? Where are his permits? Wait ti the IRS finds out how much money he made. Did he apply for the proper 501(c) designation?
Texas, yes. But, more accurately, it's what most small towns are made of.
Remember Greensburg, KS? The small town that was virtually level by an F-5 tornado. There was the same kind of "can do" spirit there.
Places like West and Greensburg are the heart and soul of America -- places that liberals will never understand.
What a wonderful and inspiring story! And it didn’t involve government and no one shut him down!
Knowing those Texans from Czechoslovakia, they couldn’t have stooped them.
So very true!
What an uplifting story. Parker, GOD is looking after you and your dad is smiling in heaven.
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