7 minute read
Memorial Day service, OR Town Park
Photo courtesy of Mike Keating Oak Ridge resident Gary Blackburn (back row, far left, in red sweater), Danny Yanusz (to Blackburn’s right), Special Events Committee member Caroline Ruch (middle row, second from right), Oak Ridge Mayor Ann Schneider (middle row, far right), and members of BSA Troop 600 participated in the Memorial Day service at Oak Ridge Town Park May 31, in addition to other Special Events Committee members and members of the Northwest Guilford Woman’s Club. About 115 citizens, including several veterans, were also in attendance. OAK RIDGE – Oak Ridge resident Gary Blackburn was the keynote speaker at the Town of Oak Ridge’s Memorial Day service, held in Oak Ridge Town Park on May 31. Blackburn served with the U.S. Air Force Security Service from April 1961 to November 1964 in the Far East, and later as a member of the Air Force’s 48th Intelligence Squadron. He retired from Eastern Airlines and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and served as Oak Ridge Military Academy’s commandant of cadets and as director of public alumni relations for seven years. His published books include “Unlikely Warriors,” which he co-authored, and “Those Gentle Heroes,” which was released last December.
In his comments, Blackburn offered a touching nod to “the gentle heroes” who have served our country and said it is our duty to remember them.
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He also shared an excerpt from a poem written by U.S. Army Capt. Michael O’Donnell, a helicopter pilot who died in Vietnam in 1970, three months after writing this poem:
If you are able, save them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.
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A heart for helping
children with cancer
by ANNETTE JOYCE OAK RIDGE – Casey Crossan experienced a life-changing tragedy in April 2018 when her 11-yearold son Conner passed away after a two-year battle with osteosarcoma, a bone cancer that predominately affects children.
To deal with her grief and “make Conner proud,” Crossan took up the fight against the horrific disease that took her young son’s life. She’s passionate about keeping his legacy alive while helping other children and their families who have been dealt a similar hand.
During Conner’s illness, Crossan became involved with MIB Agents, an organization that seeks to “Make It Better” for kids with cancer by providing items of comfort and entertainment during treatment, offering peer-to-peer support for kids and their families, and arranging end-of-life wishes for kids when treatment options have been exhausted.
In 2019, Crossan came up with the idea for the Mailbox Bows campaign to raise funds for MIB by making and selling large gold bows that people place on their mailboxes during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September
Along with family, friends and various groups including the Northwest Guilford Key Club, Crossan spent hours making bows. In the last two years she’s sold nearly 1,000 locally. “We’re planning to do it nationwide this September,” the Oak Ridge resident said. “Our goal is to sell 4,000 bows across the country.”
Crossan believes in MIB Agents so much that she took a full-time job as director of development for the nonprofit last December and is continuing to look for ways to raise both money and awareness.
Still, she wanted to do more. Deciding to focus especially on helping children deal with treatments and long hospital stays, she and her husband, Bryan, used Conner’s college fund to establish a nonprofit which they named C3, which stands for courage, compassion and control.
C3 provides young cancer patients with a way to “tune in to tune out.” Through their foundation, the Crossans put together boxes that include a set of noise-cancelling headphones, a tablet or iPad and a gift card that gives the child the opportunity to purchase games.
Every few months, the Crossans deliver a supply of the boxes to the hospitals where Conner was treated – Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem and the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Crossan also finds time to serve on the Patient and Family Council Advisory Board at Brenner Children’s Hospital, which serves as a sounding board for hospital policy makers, and she is involved with leading and assisting two virtual bereaved parent support groups.
But that’s not all – she also serves on the board of directors for the SPCA of the Triad, a nonprofit animal rescue organization based in Greensboro. She and Bryan spend their weekends there, walking, grooming and just loving on the animals.
“Conner loved dogs, and this is something both Bryan and I can do to honor him,” she said.
During COVID, Crossan rescued a pregnant dog and as a result ended up fostering her and her six puppies until they were ready for adoption – all seven canines have since been placed in loving homes.
Crossan is also a member of the Northwest Guilford Kiwanis and will take over as president this fall. She loves the idea of being involved with the group for its camaraderie and the opportunity for another way to help children.
Photo by Annette Joyce/NWO Oak Ridge resident Casey Crossan seeks to eradicate childhood cancer and improve the lives of young cancer patients.
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