FanPost

A Plea From a Mountaineer Family...

Hey guys. So a lot of you may know me by now by from seeing me post here and on BECB. I'm from a town in central West Virginia in Nicholas County called Summersville, a relatively small town of maybe 2,000 people. In said town there is a locally-owned sports bar named "Maloney's Bar and Grill." It's owned and run by a very good friend of mine named Aaron Maloney. Aaron is one of the biggest and most rabid Mountaineer fans that I have ever met. He's in his early 30's and he hasn't missed a Mountaineer home game since he was around 12 or so. His bar is absolutely chock full of Mountaineer memoribilia, including ticket stubs from every game he has attended pressed under glass on the tables, signed jerseys from former Mountaineer greats, a Nike Pro Combat helmet purchased from the "Yard Sale," pictures of Mountaineer Field all over the walls, etc. He really has one of the best collections of memoribilia for WVU that I've ever seen... Well, he did, anyway...


On the night of February 23rd tradgedy struck Maloney's Bar and Grill. Some heartless people threw a homemade molotov cocktail into the bathroom window of the resteraunt. Before Summersville Volunteer Fire Department could get the fire out most of the back end of the bar had been completely destroyed and blackened. The fire reach all the way up to the bar. Now 11 people are out of work while repairs await, a few rely completely on Maloney's as their sole income. They will rebuild, I'm sure of that, but the worst part could be that Aaron lost a great deal of memoribilia, especially from his childhood. Walls and tables can be replaced, but memories can't be. Aaron's absolutely devastated, but the Summersville community is behind him and they are trying to help him. Many people are offering to donate their personal memoribilia to the resteraunt when it opens back up. Aaron is hesitant to accept but I think he'll come around. Honestly, everyone is just very thankful that no one was hurt in all of this. Maloney's Bar and Grill was not the only building in Nicholas County attacked. I believe all in all 11 buildings have been attacked in the last month or so. The perpatrators are still on the loose as well. Hopefully not for long.

My plea to you guys is this. First of all, please offer your prayers to the people in the community affected by these attacker's evil and carelessness. I can't comprehend what would bring people to want to act out this kind of evil to other human beings, especially someone like Aaron, whose entire family is adored in Summersville. I unfortunately no longer live in Summersville. The Air Force has relocated me to live in Maryland so I feel kind of helpless to help my friends rebuild the place that I've spent a ton of my time. I'm trying to do what I can, and this leads me to my second plea...

I am not a graduate of WVU, just a rabid fan, so I don't have a lot (or any) connections with the university, aside from my best friend who works for the Alumni Association. If any of you have any contacts with the administration or the athletic department, please let me know or pass on this story for me. A lot of them know Aaron. Since opening his bar we've had a few players and former players around and Aaron has been lucky enough to share a box with Oliver Luck at a game or two. I don't know if someone from home has already tried to contact someone up there, but a second effort couldn't do anything but help. If any of you know of anyone that could help, please let me know. I'm just looking for donations of memoribilia, offers to help rebuild, really anything. Ideally I would love for the team to be able to make an appearance once they rebuild, or maybe to have a few former players take some time to stop by and sign some things. Anything at all would be absolutelty amazing.

Maloney's is more than just about the Maloney family. It's about the entire community of Summersville. On any given weekend, especially when the Mountaineers are playing football or basketball, Maloney's is absolutely slam packed to where you can't even find a place to sit. There's usually live music going on as well. It's a great place to hang out with friends and make memories and it means a lot to Nicholas County.

Godbless you guys, the Smoking Musket, the Maloney's Bar and Grill family, and West by God Virginia. Thanks for taking time to read this.

-MA

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