By Lauren Donovan
The Bismarck Tribune
LEHR, N.D. — When there’s a fire, the Lehr fire department arrives in minutes.
For a sick boy, the response is even quicker.
For years, the Lehr fire department has held its annual brunch on the second Sunday in June to raise money for equipment and whatever else needs updating.
This year, because there is a little boy who needs help, it will hold the fundraiser at a later date. He will be first.
Aaron Nordstrom, 4, was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in April and the next day was whisked off to the University of Minnesota Fairview hospital for six weeks of chemotherapy. He will undergo chemotherapy and a host of other treatments for side effects for three years.
The boy’s family decided to hold a benefit to help with all the costs that insurance doesn’t cover. His mom, Christine Fandrich, can’t work full-time as a nurse because her boy can’t be in day care for the first year of his treatment.
Eric Nordstrom of Bismarck is Aaron’s father.
The family picked June 13 to hold a benefit from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Wishek Civic Center, only to discover after the posters advertising food, an auction and games were made and the word went out that the date coincided with the Lehr fire department’s annual benefit.
Two benefits on the same day in towns just 11 miles apart with so few people is not a benefit for either one.
Sandy Werth, former Lehr fire chief, got a phone call about the conflict and her reaction was instantaneous.
“Hey, we’re going to go over to support little Aaron,” she said.
The phone calls went down the line and at a meeting last week, the fire department picked a new day for its benefit - June 27 - and hopes it works out just as well.
For Werth, the decision was a no-brainer.
After being diagnosed with leukemia three years ago, Werth was required to resign as fire chief and put normal life on hold while she underwent chemo and a life-saving, experimental stem cell transplant from her brother.
She still goes out on fire calls but needs to be careful about smoke and chemical exposure. For a woman who was told she had only months to live, the transplant and the cancer-beating, new cells in her body that saved her life was like starting over, with a new birthday.
Werth is 53, but she would just as soon say she’s 3.
“I know each and every step they’re going through,” Werth said. “I’m not chief anymore, but yes, absolutely, I said, we’re going to go support them.”
Candace Bader, a Lehr fire department member and treasurer, said the department basically operates on the $1,800 it gets at its annual benefit.
“Without thinking twice, we thought we need to change our date. We want him to have a good benefit,” Bader said. “Of course we need our funds to stay up and operate, but the health of a little boy comes first.”
Fandrich said the department’s gesture of support means so much.
“That’s a small community for you,” she said.
Fandrich said the treatment days are tough on her son; there is nothing pretty about it, except that he has a good prognosis at the end of three years.
“It’s a long journey, but we’ll get through it,” she said.
One of the benefit organizers is Fandrich’s aunt, Lora Hochhalter, of Wishek. She said the Lehr department really saved the day for Aaron’s benefit.
“This was a really good thing for them to do,” she said. “It’s neat how people are so kind and good.”
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