By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—Free backpacks and school supplies were provided to some 500 families at Saturday’s Back to School Bash event sponsored by the Trinity United Methodist Church and the Henry County Sheriff’s Office.
One of the organizers Deputy Michelle Brewer of “The Shed”, a program of the sheriff’s office that provides free supplies to local families, called the event a definite success. “We started out with 275 backpacks, but we had to go back to the store for more twice. There were people already lined up at 4 p.m. and the event didn’t start until 5. It was bigger than we thought it would be.”
Trinity United Methodist Church Minister Rev. Dennis Vance said, “If we’ve helped someone today, we’ve all done our jobs. Our church was already planning to do a Back to School event, but Alicia Jones got together with Michelle Brewer and we worked together on a bigger event.”
In addition to handing out free school supplies, the event included live music from Erv and Andrea Dutton, Marly Trosper and Jimmy Tubbs; giant inflatables, including a water slide, corn hole games and free hot dogs. Boy Scout Troop 22 helped with parking.
Brewer said, “Every school system has been involved in this. We’ve been handing out supplies to kids from every school in the county. I think it helped that the church offered rides to people—that really got a lot of people here who might not have been able to.”
Photos: Michelle Brewer getting wet hugs at the water slide; Billy Hopkins and Deputies Daniel Powell and William Whitaker at the grill; Erv and Andrea Dutton and Jimmy Tubbs entertain. (Shannon McFarlin photos).
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