COMMUNITY NEWS

REACHING OUT TO THE WORKMAN'S
Spaghetti Dinner Benefit April 20th At WHS  
By Mark Hallburn
Publisher
PutnamLIVE.com

Imagine losing your husband and soul mate in a coal mine accident. It                            happened to Sharon                                Workman when Greg                          Workman was killed                                  March 12^th. Suddenly,                              Sharon became a                                   single mother.

It’s a nightmare that                                   no one wants to                                     imagine. But for                                      Sharon, it's a cruel                                      reality. Her reality took                                   a wicked turn for the                                   worse when her only                                child, Kristen, was                                    critically injured in a                                    head-on collision on                                   Route 34 March 31^st.

While Sharon is                                  grieving, now she has to care for her teenager who instead of playing sports and planning her senior prom, is recovering from injuries and surgery at CAMC.

It happened in a split second. One moment Kristen is a star pitcher for Winfield’s Lady Generals, using softball to work through her grief. The next second she is badly injured. After an hour-long rescue and an ambulance ride, Kristen is in ICU.

Greg Workman was one of the Lady Generals’ coaches, devoting countless hours helping the team’s pitchers.  Now Greg’s girls are mourning his death while praying for their teammate. Suddenly softball is just a game while the girls are learning some very tough lessons about life.

“It’s been a rough season, so far,” says Jessica Johnson. “First we lose one of our coaches, and now our team mate is in the hospital.”

Thursday night, friends, teammates, and coaches of Greg, Kristen and Sharon gathered at Winfield’s library to brain-storm fund-raisers. They discussed spaghetti dinners, raffles, donations, church offerings, tournaments, and All-Star games as well as other events to help raise money to help Sharon and Kristen in the many months ahead during Kristen’s recovery.

PutnamLIVE.com was invited to be there and spoke with some of the Workman's friends. Each one seemed amazed when we asked why they were reaching out.

”My daughter, Rachel Ashley, plays on the team,” says Jeff Ashley. “We’re just trying to help the family. We’re a community, we’re close-knit. It’s like one of your own.”

"My heart’s heavy," says Tammy Henson. “I just want to help in any way I can. It could be my family.” Tammy’s daughter, Breann, graduated from Winfield in 2006 and played softball with Kristen. They also live up the street. “Breann’s in college at WVU. It’s just broken her heart being so far away.”

“I was a softball coach, and they’re our neighbors,” says Randy Barrett.”I was devastated when Greg was killed. I didn’t know how close I was to that man. I stopped in to see him and he wasn’t there any more. Now I’m here for Sharon and Kristen. They’re good people.”

”We’re all just here to help,” says Debby Griffith. "My 11-year-old asked me the other day, 'When can I do something for them?' I said, there will be a time." That time is now as Sharon and Kristen's friends are planning many things to make them more comfortable, from meals at CAMC to little gifts.

”This has made our school close,” says Coach David Bailey. "Everybody loves Kristen.” Bailey says his children are talking about how they are witnessing “The Power of Prayer.” “When they see the results of prayer, we talk about the power of prayer, but until you actually experience it, and see it, it’s totally different.”

"The Workman family have been longtime friends," says Dean Lee. "They’re in need. The family's in need. It’s been tragedy after tragedy. Any family that would go through that would have needs. But it's been a blessing that this community is supporting them in this time."

That support is coming in many ways. Barrett says he was going to mow Sharon's lawn, but never had the chance. "My 13-year-old son, Wesley, said he wanted to cut the grass. And he’s going to do it all summer long."

Vickie Johnson organized and led the gathering Thursday night. She's known the Workman’s since elementary school. "It probably was kindergarten, I'm not sure, it's been so long ago." she says. Vickie doesn’t know yet how everything will come together, but she is dedicated to making it happen-for her longtime friends.

"I'm trying to do my part. We’re organizing fund-raising," says Vickie. "The loss of Greg was going to be devastating for his family. Upon hearing about Kristen’s accident, I was relieved to hear that she’d recover.  But I hate it for everything they have went through in the last month. Dean talked to me and said that as a community we need to get behind them and we just want to raise some money to help. I put the word out to people that I know to get some people here and get things in motion. This is the most support that I can remember in my years in Winfield."

Community. Love of neighbors. Little things that need to be done were all discussed Thursday night as the group started making long-term plans to help Sharon and Kristen.

“It’s what we do,” Ashley says. “We’re a community.”

“The Power of Prayer,” the “Power of People,” the love of a community. It’s all happening in Winfield as friends, family, teammates, and coaches are wrapping their arms around the Workman’s to say, ”We love you, and we’re here for you.”

Sunday, Winfield Volunteer Firefighters started "Passing the Boot" on U.S. 35. The drive is ongoing, so figures are not available for how much money was raised.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johnson was not even aware of the Boot Drive until PutnamLIVE.com called her for comment.

"That's just great that they're helping," says Johnson. "We didn't even know they were doing that. This is the beauty of what is happening. Everyone is finding a way to help."

A spaghetti dinner is scheduled for April 20^th at Winfield High School at 12:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the school or by contacting  Johnson at 304-552-9704. Members of the softball team will also be selling tickets. Cost of the dinner is only $5, however, you can always donate more. Johnson says the dinner will include spaghetti, salad, bread /roll, drink and a dessert. Gino's is donating food for the dinner. Vice President Ray Burke heard about the need and immediately promised to help. 

Other plans for events are in the early stages. However, Winfield’s Principal, Bill Hughes, is already collecting donations. An account has been set up at the high school. He says checks or money orders should be made out to Winfield High School. Cash is also being accepted.

If you want to help now, just drop by the school and drop off whatever you can. Winfield High School's phone number is 304-586-3279.

Game photo courtesy of www.EdConnerPhoto.com.

 

Kristen

Workman