Band autographs guitar for Zahn memorial fund

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

ZAHN

Losing a loved one is one of the most difficult things we go through in life. Losing a parent or spouse is traumatic, but any parent who has gone through it will tell you that losing a child is especially hard.

Paul and Carolyn Zahn and their surviving children, Jason, 17, and Rachel, 12, know about this first-hand. They lost 12-year-old Thomas Eugene Zahn to Neisseria Meningitis in January of 2001. This disease and the suddenness with which it took their child inspired them to try to do something about it.

The result of that inspiration is the “Thomas Eugene Zahn Fight Against Meningitis Fund.”

“When my husband and I saw how quickly this disease can kill you, we decided we wanted to make sure no other parent had to go through this,” Carolyn says. “It took him in 12 hours. We decided right then to start a fund in Thomas’ name to fight this.”

They soon found out it was a somewhat daunting task.

“We knew Rob Wolford was doing a toy drive and we went down there and talked to him and asked how to get this started,” she said.

Mary Rigby, who does fund-raisers at Vanderbilt, also gave them some advice.

The couple has worked ceaselessly to get the fund off the ground.

“This is an ongoing thing,” Carolyn says, “There will be a Poker Run motorcycle ride every year in Thomas’ name.”

For more information on this, contact Ron Wolford at 815-9653.

One of the most unique aspects of this endeavor is the involvement of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, Thomas’ favorite band. The Zahns attended the band’s concert in Nashville last September and approached them about their son’s love of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s music, his tragic death, and the fund to be established in his memory.

The result was an autographed guitar donated by the members of the band to be given away in a drawing on June 22 of this year to raise money for the fund.

Tickets cost $1 and are available at Northside Video, Lynn’s Hair Fantasies, Flowers and Ceramics, Larry’s ATV & Cycle Repair, Wizard’s, Johnny’s Music in Newtown and the BP Shortstop and Sears in Tullahoma.

The Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar will be on display at Wal-mart in McMinnville on June 21-22 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. It will also be on display at the McMinnville Cruisers Car Show downtown on May 25.

The event at Wal-Mart will also include a dunkin’ booth and car wash.

Then on Saturday night, June 22, there will be a talk by Kathryn Edwards, M.D. Dr. Edwards is a Professor of Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and is a leader in meningitis research. The talk is aimed at informing parents about the warning signs of this disease.

“Every parent should attend this talk,” says Carolyn. “It’s important to know the signs. It could save your child’s life.”

Dr. Edwards will speak at 7 p.m. at Bobby Ray Elementary School and the drawing for the Lynyrd Skynyrd autographed guitar will be held afterward.

All proceeds will go to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for meningitis research in memory of Thomas Eugene Zahn.