By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The Tucker County Commission approved a funding request from the WVU Extension office. The request, passed by resolution, would provide funding for a Heroes for Higher appearance of Batman and the Batmobile during the County 4-H Camp as part of an anti-bullying campaign. Cindy Harsh represented the Extension office at the May 8th meeting of the Commission. “Without people of our community helping us support our program, we would never be able to make this happen,” Harsh said. “The County Commission has graciously offered to cover the cost of Batman.”
“So, this year at 4-H Camp, we have been trying to get Batman,” Harsh said. “Batman comes out of Huntington, West Virginia.”
“Batman and the main reason we are having him, even though he has been in the school, is we need to discuss some bullying,” Harsh said. “Because there has been some bullying issues that has gone on with some of our 4-Hers.”
According to Harsh, Heroes for Higher was founded September 4, 2012 by John Buckland a Department of Defense Firefighter following his return home from Iraq. Harsh said that Buckland was a survivor of child abuse and bullying and discusses his experiences with all ages. “As an overcomer of terrible child abuse, bullying and self destruction choices,” Harsh said, “Batman brings a message of hope and empowerment, which is fine tuned for all ages.”
Batman, according to Harsh, will present the campers with “Four Steps to Greatness.” “He has four steps for greatness in his message and the first one is, always help others, never give up, never be a bully, always do the right thing,” Harsh said.
The cost of the appearance, Harsh said was $700 for just Batman or $1,000 for Batman and the Batmobile. It was further stated that the cost was solely for his travel. According to Harsh, Batman comes from Huntington for appearances. Another point that was clarified in the meeting was that if the event was canceled for any reason, the entire fee would be refunded in full. “If he comes, just himself, he is just his uniform only, but he is the real, authentic Batman and he has the real car, too,” Harsh said. “For Batman himself, it is $700. For the car and Batman, it is $1,000.”
Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau spoke on behalf of the Commission. Rosenau said the Commission’s decision to fund the request came down to the fact that it was for the children of the community. “The reason the County Commission got involved in this,” Rosenau said. “Once the Extension Service came to us, its for the kids. Its for the bullying we have.”
Rosenau went on to say that many children in the community do not understand the harm that bullying can do. Rosenau further said that the matter also addressed the safety of the community’s children, as well. “We have a lot of children that really don’t understand what they can do if they feel threatened,” Rosenau said. “So they, as a child processing that, how can they process that? They haven’t had life experience yet. So, what’s happened in some cases, they take things into their own hands when they can’t process stuff.”
Rosenau said that the Commission hoped the presentation would help combat teenage suicide and drug use among the children of Tucker County. “We’re trying to help educate and also for the drugs and that type of thing, too, but the thing that struck me most was, we hear of teenage suicides,” Rosenau said. “We hear of all this stuff because people don’t know, kids don’t don’t know how to function. We don’t know what they have to go through. Peer pressure is a hard thing.”
Funding for the request was approved and will utilize Opioid settlement funds. The Commission approved the $1,000 request that would allow for the appearance of Batman with the Batmobile. Due to the use of the Opioid settlement monies, the Commission was required to pass a resolution on the request. The resolution passed unanimously by all three members of the County Commission. “We had some funding through our Opioid settlement,” Rosenau said. “So we can tie that into education of the youth through drug prevention…I have to read a resolution for that to be accepted in for the funding.”
