Tri-County Leathernecks organize Toys for Tots drive despite membership decline
WAYNESBURG – When the Tri-County Leathernecks formed its organization 35 years ago at a meeting inside Caputo’s Dry Tavern Inn, the group had 44 members sitting around the table making plans.
Over the years, the group’s biggest event has been to organize the annual Toys for Tots drive to offer Christmas cheer to underprivileged children in Greene County.
Last year, the organization helped 900 kids and families, the largest number of children they have ever assisted, said John “Buzz” Walters, who serves as commandant of the Leathernecks.
But the group was met with sad news just a few months later when founding Tri-County Leathernecks member Murray Williams died in March at age 93.
Observer-Reporter
Observer-Reporter
Tri-County Leathernecks members Buzz Walters, left, and Murray Williams, are shown at a Toys for Tots distribution event in 2014.
“Murray was my right-hand man,” Walters said of the Toys for Tots drive. “I depended on him to do a lot of different tasks.”
Walters thinks back to Williams manning the toy distribution center at the Greene County Fairgrounds, the largest site of the four in the county. Williams also put up donation boxes throughout the Waynesburg area.
“Murray was in charge of it,” Walters said of the distribution site. “Now he’s gone.”
Of those 44 original members who gathered inside Captuo’s Nov. 10, 1982, just Walters and Dick Saxby remain. Korean War vet Dick Herrod of Nineveh died in 2015. Still, the two surviving members and countless volunteers are moving forward with plans to collect toys again this year for another distribution day next month.
The annual fundraiser dinner was held Nov. 4 at the Moose Lodge and numerous donation boxes have been set up at organizations and businesses across the county for the 35th annual Toys for Tots drive. People can donate unwrapped toys from now until Dec. 15 when teams of volunteers fan out to the four distribution sites to display the toys.
C.R. Nelson/Observer-Reporter
Observer-Reporter
Tri-County Leathernecks members Murray Williams, left, and Buzz Walters, ride in a vehicle during the 2015 Veterans Day Parade in Waynesburg.
The distribution day this year is scheduled for Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. to noon. Parents must bring Social Security information of the children and proof of income.
The following locations will distribute the toys: the Greene County Fairgrounds in Franklin Township, the Carmichaels-Cumberland Fire Department in Carmichaels, St. Thomas Church in Clarksville and the Bobtown-Dunkard Fire Department in Bobtown.
For more information about donating toys or volunteering for the drive, contact Walters Takedown Tire Shop in Rogersville at 724-499-5332.