By Ray Lenarcic
The other day, I was listening to the best dang gospel singer ever, Alan Jackson, performing Amazing Grace. Every time I hear that renowned classic, I think of my daughter Jennifer’s rendition at the McCleod children’s funeral at the iconic St. Mary’s Catholic Church in my hometown of Little Falls. Douglas, Jonathan, Daniel, Kelly, Christopher, and Shannon Rose, aged 10 to 2, perished in a housefire on December 22nd, 1991. A pile of newspapers stacked near a space heater had ignited.
The kids could have been poverty’s poster children, having to endure regular taunts from their peers because of how they were dressed. Despite the fact that their single mother did the best she could to provide, the McLeod’s were “poor as church mice.” That fatal night, the children were babysat by a 14-year-old neighbor. Their mother herself, as a gesture of goodwill, was babysitting for friends so they could attend a Christmas party. In a cruel twist of fate, when he discovered the fire, the babysitter couldn’t call for help-he had to run next door. The McCleod’s didn’t have a phone.
While the children might have been lacking in material possessions, they certainly were not in terms of moral character. The kids never missed Sunday mass, and the three oldest boys were cast to play the Three Wise Men at the Christmas Eve play. As a poignant example of character, the oldest boy, Douglas, worked odd jobs during the summer and instead of spending the earnings on himself, he bought pizzas for the lifeguards at the city pool (including Jennifer) because they were so nice to him. In perhaps the bitterest of ironies, the presents, including new clothing, coats, and their special gift of choice provided by sponsors of the Kris Cagwin Volunteers’ Adopt-A-Child Program at H.C.C.C. and stored in the cellar, escaped the fire’s ravages. In the wake of the tragedy, KCV students organized a charity in the children’s memory. They named it “Never Again.” Its goal was to raise enough money to purchase Sparky the Firedog, one of the most effective means of educating children regarding fire safety. They had a special Christmas ornament created, The Six Angels of Christmas, pounded area pavements, and achieved their goal. Sparky still “lives,” maintained by the Herkimer Fire Department.
The second fire tragedy, also at Christmastime, to effect the Falls was personal for me. Almost three years earlier, December 23, 1988, three former Little Falls residents, Kris, Joshua and Jennifer Cagwin died in a fire at their home. Kris had been one of my favorite students at HCCC. His mom, Valdean, graduated with me. To say that he was unforgettable would be an understatement. Bright and personable, the Brad Pitt look-a-like was the quintessential b-buster. Upon entering my office one day, I noticed written on the blackboard –“God thinks he’s R.J.” Another time, I was reading his exam essay and in the middle of a sentence were written three expletives. I called him in and asked for an explanation. His response-“Just wanted to see if you really read these.” In his memory, we renamed my community activism club, Students for a Better World, the Kris Cagwin Volunteers. In the years that followed, the students contributed to the betterment of Valley communities in more ways than I could possibly identify in this article. Recently, I ran into Vietnam combat vet Dave Davis. While catching up, he reminded me of our march protesting cuts in the VA budget back in the mid-80s; 150 students, myself and the late Prof. Gary Ruff, with 6 Nam vets, including John Frazier, “ walking point” from the campus to Eastern Park in the Falls. Heading up the big hill outside of Herkimer, Dave’s little son Dewey was getting tuckered out. A student bent down, picked him up, and carried him on his shoulders the rest of the way. Kris Cagwin. HCCC art teacher Guy Corriero’s drawing of Kris and Dewey became the organization’s symbol.
With school just beginning, I’m appealing to the parents and grandparents of area elementary school children to honor the memories of the McCleod and Cagwin children by doing the following on the 22nd and 23rd of every month:
On the 22nd: Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. If you don’t have one of the other or both, contact your local fire department.
On the 23rd: Practice your fire exit plan. If you don’t have one, create one.
And teachers. Make a large poster of the above and display it in a place where the children can see it EVERY day. Also, ask the children to bring in a copy of their exit plans.
Finally, for the parents. If you can imagine for a second what Mrs. McCleod and the Cagwins went through, then you’ll follow my advice. Don’t think for a minute, God forbid, that it couldn’t happen to you. It’s been said that little things mean a lot. Taking these fire safety measures seriously is a classic example of the saying. In the process, you’ll be doing your part to guarantee that tragedies like these will never happen again and that Douglas, Jonathan, Daniel, Kelly, Christopher and Shannon Rose and Kris, Josh and Jennifer will not have died in vain.