I opened my email to find a call for help from Peggy. Last night Peggy's long serving Hay supplier's hay barn was stuck by lightning and burned to the ground.
Even with his barn burning, he called Peggy to let her know her hay was safe, but he would not be able to deliver it the next day.
So Peggy's 220 bales were good, but he watched 7,000 bales burn. This is high quality, fair winning, people could eat hay. At $7 a bale, he lost $49,000 to Mother Nature because his insurance only covered the building.
If you own your own horse, you know hay has been hard to come by this year. The rain in our area has cut down the amount cut and baled by nearly half for most Hay suppliers. This is a major blow.
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| Actual picture of the fire |
Peggy has decided to try an help him recoup the loss with an appeal to horse people, in the following email:
Friends and Friends of Friends,
Many of the people who get this will be horse people and you’ll appreciate the value of a good hay guy. Those of you who are not horse people will appreciate the value of knowing that a person you do long-term business with is an honest, hard-working man. This is about one of those people.
My hay guy, who is awesome, was supposed to deliver hay to me this morning. I got a phone call from him at about 9:30 last night saying he probably wouldn’t be here this morning… his hay barn had been struck by lightning and was burning down. But he said for me not to worry, my hay had been loaded and was on his truck. Little did I know that while he was reassuring me that my 220 bales were safe, he was watching his 7,000 bales of hay in flames.
I knew things were bad, I could hear it in his voice. But when I called this morning to check on him and heard the extent of his loss I was dumbfounded. Was it insured, I asked? The barn is, but not the hay. Hay that goes for at least $7.00 a bale. That’s $49,000.00 worth of hay. Gone up in smoke.
I’ve been just sick for this guy all day. He’s one of the good guys. If something’s not right, he makes it right. He goes out of his way to get you what you need. He remembers you’re the customer and he wants you to be happy with his product. He’s proud of what he produces and takes it to the State Fair. It’s business the old fashioned way. It’s good with a capital G.
I don’t know whether this will work or not, but I’ve wracked my brain and can’t come up with anything else to help him. I thought maybe the internet could work a miracle for Tristan. Nobody deserves it more.
What if everyone who reads this (or those who are moved to do so) bought one of those burnt bales of hay? My plan is to put a five and two ones wrapped in a note that says “For one bale -- from the state of Virginia” in an envelope and send it to him. You could include your first name(s) if you wanted to but I won’t because he would know it was me. I’d like to think that he’ll get bales replaced from all over the U.S.
Here’s his address: Tanner Farms, P.O. Box 146, Green Spring, WV 26722
We just need 7,000 people to do it. That seems possible to me.
Please, pass this on if you think it’s a good thing to do. Or don’t if you don’t. That’s OK too. Regardless of what you decide to do, I appreciate the time you took to read this.
Here’s an article about the fire -- http://www.hampshirereview.com/blog/2013/08/08/fire-destroys-barn-in-green-spring/
Peggy Pence
Fredericksburg, VA
I figured I would put this out there. If anyone wants to help and can spare $7, please send to the address listed in the email. Social Media has allowed the horse world to shrink, so more of us are touched when tragedies happen.
I will definitely appreciate my full hay loft this weekend when we finish our last load.
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