Thursday's Internet Edition, August 28, 2008.
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Christopher Carpenter gives a bicycle he won to Terry Sloter, grandmother of Marshall Sloter, who lost his home to fire. Christopher’s uncle and Marshall’s mother both are with the National Guard unit from Spencer currently deployed to Iraq.
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Publisher - When Christopher Carpenter won a new bicycle at his school carnival, he knew right away what he wanted to do with his prize.
“He said, ‘I want to give it to Marshall,’” his mother recalled.
Christopher, the 7-year-old son of Chris and Gemini Carpenter and a first-grader at Walton Elementary/Middle School, was the big winner at the Spring Fling sponsored by the school’s PTO on May 9.
The grand prize was a shiny new, red 16-inch Huffy RockIt with training wheels that any kid would love.
“Boy, was I surprised,” he said of the moment his name was drawn. “I was like, ‘Whoa.’”
The following Monday he and his mother brought the bike to Spencer to give to Marshall’s grandmother, who does billing for a local chiropractor’s office.
Marshall Sloter is four years old and lives just outside Marietta, Ohio. He is the only child of Robert and Carla Sloter, both members of the same National Guard unit in Spencer as Gemini’s brother and Christopher’s uncle, Gabe Boggs.
Gabe and Carla were both serving with the local unit in Iraq, while Robert remained behind to take care of the armory in Spencer.
Carla returned home on hardship leave after the April 24 fire destroyed the family’s home and all their belongings.
After the fire, Christopher and his sister, Chloee´, 5, wrote notes to try and cheer up the little boy they had met at gatherings for families of the guard members.
But words aren’t always enough, and Christopher had another idea after his good fortune at school.
The Sloters are staying with Robert’s parents, who live next door to the home that burned. His mother, Terry Sloter, works for Dr. Bruce Dye in Parkersburg and Spencer, and is in Spencer one day a week.
She was surprised when the Carpenters showed up at Dr. Dye’s office last week with a new bike and the helmet that came with it.
“I was impressed,” Marshall’s grandmother said. “It was very thoughtful.”
After Christopher took a few spins on the bike around the chiropractor’s waiting room, just to demonstrate that it worked, he turned it over to Terry, who was happy that someone who barely knew her grandson thought of him after his family’s misfortune.
“People have been dropping things off, like clothing and toys,” Terry said. “It’s amazing, and very humbling.”
Anyone who wants to help the Sloter family can contact Christopher’s grandparents, Art and Janie Boggs, who are active with the family readiness group that assists local Guard families. They can be reached at 577-6074.
