How shuttle shards changed three Texas towns

For the first few weeks, for instance, this tiny town of 1,000 provided 3,000 meals a day to searchers at the local VFW hall. One older gentleman killed his only chicken, cooked it, and brought it there because that was the one thing he had to offer. Residents here opened their homes to those who needed a bed, provided transportation to search sights, and handed out T-shirts that read: "Your mission has become our mission."

And in all of this, they refused reimbursement.

Hemphill High School sophomore Jodi Deason spent every afternoon cooking. In three weeks, she missed one day - to study for her Spanish exam. "I've never made so much potato salad in my life," she says from behind the counter at Fat Fred's, a local hamburger joint.

Before the accident, says Jodi, she wasn't keen on her hometown, convinced it was boring and small. But the shuttle disaster changed her mind. "It was weird," she says. "It was like everybody got so involved and put aside their differences and joined together to help. It made me feel proud to be from here."

The county has only 10,000 residents. Most work in the logging industry, and about half are retirees. Sabine County boasts the two largest man-made lakes in Texas, with some of the best bass fishing around. But prior to the shuttle disaster, there were strong divisions, says Hemphill funeral director Byron Starr, who's working on a book about residents' response. "You had the lake people and locals. You had the two towns, Hemphill and Pineland, who competed in everything, including football. But the community kind of changed after Columbia. Those divisions went down and kind of stayed down."

If there is any rivalry, it's between Hemphill and Nacogdoches, says Mr. Starr, who hiked to every sight where the astronauts' remains were found. "We want the official memorial. But they have more voters and more money so they'll probably get it." In fact, NASA says it will not sponsor an official memorial. Rather, each community is free to do what it wants. The space agency will, however, provide assistance and is encouraging the counties to work together.

In Sabine County, officials are hoping to raise $4 million - no small sum for a humble, rural county. Their plans include a museum, which would tell the story of Columbia and the search efforts, and an interpretive trail on 10 acres where the nose cone was found. It would begin with a bronze sculpture of the astronauts and then lead visitors through the thick forest and over ravines to a replica of the nose cone with biographical markers of each astronaut along the way. Officials are hoping the interpretive trail will be open by next summer.

The communities are on their own in raising money for the memorials; NASA will not contribute financially. But that has not deterred the spirit. Residents here have already given more than they thought possible.

"I've been on this earth a little while, and this was the most altruistic thing I've ever seen," says Hemphill School Superintendent Mike Terry, who's heading the memorial-fundraising effort. "Nobody was expecting anything in return. They were just helping out because it was the right thing to do."

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