Shown are Shannon Baker, co-owner of Danny’s Place with Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker.

Submitted photo

GREENVILLE — On that fateful night of Thursday, March 14, guests were gathering at the Alchemy Cocktail Lounge for an informal meet and greet with Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker and dining on Irish fare of corned beef sandwiches, cabbage rolls and Irish cobbler potatoes catered by Mike James. The event was to “kick off” the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day Weekend in Greenville with the historic downtown lit up in green. The Alchemy Lounge also that evening featured “true Irish Music” in it’s famous Upper Room. At approximately 8:15 p.m., the festivities had to be cut short, as the tornado sirens started to wail, and the guests then had to huddle on the first floor behind the bar. Once they had been assured they were out of the direct path of the tornado, some of the people along with Mayor Whitaker and Ted Finnarn (who had produced the event) ventured outside to witness an amazing and terrifying cosmic show of thunder and lightning. When the brilliant lightning flashed, they could see the faint image of the devastating twister traveling just north of Greenville.

Mayor Whitaker and Ted Finnarn, a Red Cross volunteer, were to tour the devastation that the tornado left in its wake the next Monday, but on that evening they came up with the idea of collecting Red Cross Tornado Relief Funds at all the pubs and taverns in Greenville and the surrounding area over the St. Patrick’s weekend and also to continue it during the coming Darke Side of the Moon Eclipse weekend.

According to Mayor Whitaker, Danny’s Place was on board right-a-way and moved into action collecting funds the very next Friday evening. Whitaker commented, “The Greenville Community is a very giving community and they overwhelmingly came together to help their fellow Darke Countians in a time of distress.” According to Finnarn, over $3,000 has been collected and Danny’s Place, (soon to be Cheers of Greenville) led the way with over $800.