EHS 8 scholarship fundraiser under way

In an effort to raise funds for the EHS 8 Scholarship, family members of the students who tragically lost their lives inside the former Enterprise High School March 1, 2007 following a tornado are selling tickets for an opportunity to win a unique handmade quilt.

The fundraiser and quilt commemorate the five-year anniversary of the day an EF-4 tornado swept through Enterprise destroying both Hillcrest Elementary School and Enterprise High School. The tornado tore a path through the city and took the lives of high school students Michael Bowen, Peter Dunn, A.J. Jackson, Ryan Mohler, Katie Strunk, Mikey Tompkins, Jaime Vidensek, Michelle Wilson and resident Edna Strickland.

The EHS 8 Scholarship is a $1,000 scholarship and has been awarded to an EHS senior since 2008 in honor of the eight students.

"All the money raised goes directly to the scholarship," said Leeanne Mohler, mother of the late Ryan Mohler.

Mohler said the families would continue to award the scholarship until 2019, when the kindergarten class of 2007 will graduate from high school.

Donna Tompkins, mother of Mikey Tomkins, said the fundraiser is a good way to raise money for the scholarship and is also a special way of bringing the community together in remembrance of the eight children who lost their lives on this fifth year anniversary.

The families will come together at 1 p.m., March 1, at the EHS memorial located on the site of the former high school to draw the winning ticket for the quilt.

The quilt, made by Elaine Pangallo, was made using 20 different donated Enterprise T-shirts ranging from 1997 to present day.

It features shirts from before and after the tornado, including one from the May 3, 2007 benefit concert that a young man took off his back to donate to the cause.

Tickets for a chance to win the quilt are $5 or five for $20 and may be purchased at the two Enterprise locations of Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union, the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, as well as any family member.

The deadline to purchase tickets is Feb. 29.