http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_8225974
Surprise donation saves teen center, lets mayor come off roof
BY BOB SHAW Pioneer Press
Sheldon Anderson thawed himself out Sunday - after a bitterly cold night that ended his eight frozen days on the Wyoming City Hall rooftop.
The city's mayor met his goal of raising $35,000 for a local teen center, thanks to a $6,000 check from an anonymous Woodbury family.
"I took a bath, had a bowl of chili and laid down for half an hour," said Anderson, describing his first time at home since Feb. 2. That's when he climbed onto the rooftop to live in a makeshift campsite until he raised the money to keep the Forest Lake Teen Center operating for another year.
All last week, he stayed in a tent with a chair and table inside, e-mailing and calling and trying to get contributions. He would listen as drivers pulled up and shout up to him: "Hey, mayor!" He would lower a plastic bucket on a rope, and haul up money, food, coffee or supplies.
But he never counted on weather as bad as Saturday's. Anderson shivered all night as the temperature dipped to 16 below and winds gusting to 40 mph made his tent flap like a flag in a stiff breeze.
"Last night was a scary thing. The tent was a 10-by-10-foot, but with the wind it was about 3-by-3," Anderson said on Sunday. "I really thought it was going to come down."
The wind kept blowing out the pilot light on his propane heater. Friends found a second heater - but it wasn't much help. "I played hopscotch between the two of them all night," he said.
After waking up Sunday, friends brought him coffee at 8 a.m. But
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he had to face a reality that was as cold as the wind - he was still $6,000 short of his goal. He would probably have to stay for several more days, at least.
But at 11:30 a.m., a family from Woodbury arrived. Anderson lowered the bucket, and when he pulled it back up, there was a $6,000 check inside.
It was the single biggest contribution of the drive. The family asked not to be identified.
By 1:30 p.m., the ordeal was over. Anderson was back at home. Sunday afternoon, he was wearing normal clothes, watching a hockey game on TV and trying to warm up.
He was touched by the huge number of donors that helped save the teen center, which was teetering on the brink of extinction.
"It's nice to know," said Anderson, "there is that kind of kindness out there."
Bob Shaw can be reached at bshaw@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5433.
