Charity event set for Union children

UNION — When the State Police Super Troopers take the court next week against Union Fire Department’s Cellar Savers, the winners will be the young victims of convicted child molester George Elwell.

Proceeds from the benefit basketball game on Wednesday, April 13, will go to the Save the Children fund, established to provide treatment and counseling for Elwell’s victims and their families. Tip-off at the Union school gym is at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $3 for adults and $1.50 for children.

Elwell, 44, pleaded guilty last month to 12 counts of gross sexual assault against and unlawful sexual contact with three Union elementary school pupils, crimes he committed while he was the school’s custodian. He remains free on bail awaiting sentencing.

Three weeks after Elwell’s arrest, the SAD 40 school board made $10,000 available for victim counseling, but the guidelines established just last week for gaining access to money have been criticized by many in Union as being vague and not guaranteeing confidentiality.

The town took matters into its own hands by forming a community support group for the victims and by establishing the Save the Children fund at the Union branch of Camden National Bank to pay for counseling for the immediate victims and also for other pupils harmed by Elwell’s actions.

The benefit basketball game is the result of a challenge made by the Super Troopers of State Police Barracks D. “We heard about what they were doing here in Union and told them they’d better get a team together because we were coming to play,” said Trooper Dale York. “Raising money for treatment is important, but it’s just as important for these kids to see that their town cares enough about them to support events like this.”

Assistant Fire Chief Bill Packard said the mood in town “definitely is shifting from anger to taking care of these kids. We’re still in mourning, but we see this game as the break-away point, where we move into healing. We still have a long, long way to go. A lot of people cannot understand why Elwell is still out on the street, but there is a sense of relief that he pleaded guilty. At least that saves the boys from having to testify, it tells everyone that they were telling the truth.”

Packard said the school board’s slow pace in coming to the aid of victims “is still something a lot of people are angry about, but we’ve also started to see things from their point of view. They have to be very careful about what they do with taxpayers’ money and they have to be careful that anything they do doesn’t affect a criminal case. We’re working with them to sort this all out, but we can’t wait; we still have to do everything we can right here in town.”

The pre-game trash talk is fierce, with both sides predicting not just victory but utter annihilation.

The Cellar Savers will have some ambulance personnel on board, Packard said, “not because they’re particularly good players, but because the police are going to need those oxygen tanks.”

Union’s homecourt advantage includes control of the food concession: hot dogs, soda and popcorn, but not donuts. “Everybody knows a cop can’t do anything for 40 minutes without a donut,” Packard said.