Salvation Army blackout

High winds that blew through Van Wert on Thursday were not friendly to The Salvation Army’s Christmas fundraising and gift distribution efforts. Major Art Barter said winds blew a tree behind the Salvation Army building on South Washington street (below), causing an outage that left workers trying to distribute Christmas gifts to needy families in the dark – literally. Being good soldiers, though, Salvation Army employees continued with the distribution using flashlights and candles to provide light for the work (above). Such as not the case for The Salvation Army’s kettle operations, Major Barter said, adding that he halted that fundraising operation because high winds were blowing the kettles off their stands. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time for that operation, the major said, noting that funds raised through the kettles were just beginning to catch up after starting slowly earlier in the season. (photos by Dave Mosier/Van Wert independent)