Next money giveaway won't be a free-for-all, sponsor says

Only adults will be eligible this Saturday because last week's event got a little too physical.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Businessman James E. Winner Jr. says he has no plans to halt his Saturday morning money giveaways to draw people downtown -- but he won't shoot it off his store roof again.
Winner had originally planned to shoot $1,000 in cash and $4,000 worth of store coupons off the roof of the four-story Winner department store at 32 W. State St. every Saturday morning in October.
The first event turned into a melee as people rushed to grab at the dropping currency in the form of $2 bills and the $2 coupons.
Injuries
Several people were injured, including Virginia Fekech, 73, of Sharon, who was knocked down and trampled in the rush to catch the money. She remained in satisfactory condition Monday in UPMC Horizon.
Police said a 16-year-old girl broke her left foot when she fell as she tried to join others climbing atop Donna's Diner to get money that landed on the roof.
There were other reports of people being elbowed and bumped and one newspaper reporter was treated at a hospital after she was struck in the back of the head during the crush of people going for the money.
Two cars parked on the street were damaged by people climbing on them to get a height advantage.
There were no arrests.
Mayor David O. Ryan said he won't ever allow a money drop from the roof of any store again but Winner had already scrapped that plan shortly after Saturday's event.
New format
He's going to continue the Saturday giveaway and will boost the value by $500 each Saturday.
But instead of people crowding into the street, it will be done in an orderly fashion and only adults 18 and older will be allowed to participate, he said Monday.
Saturday's event attracted a lot of young people who scrambled to get the falling cash.
Winner said he will have a table placed in front of The Winner and the first 400 adults wearing red, white and blue or carrying an American flag who line up will each be given a "mystery envelope" at 10 a.m.
Anyone carrying a Club vehicle anti-theft device sold by Winner will get a second envelope, he said.
The envelopes could contain $100, $50, $20, $10, $5, or $2 cash or they could contain the same type of store coupons dropped Saturday. In a new wrinkle, they might have one of numerous gift certificates from various Winner properties, including a night at Tara, A Country Inn.
Those gift certificates have a combined value of $500, Winner said. The cash to be given away will remain at $1,000 and the store coupons, which provide a discount at Winner properties, will total $4,000.
Attracting a crowd
The idea is to get people into the downtown business district.
"I felt bad for the ones that got hurt," Winner said, noting that from his vantage point atop the store roof, he could see a sea of laughing, smiling people with their arms outstretched.
"When have you ever seen 2,000 people downtown on a Saturday morning? Never," he said, citing reports that the crowd reached that number.
More conservative estimates put the gathering at between 500 and 600 people.
"It was maybe an idea that went bad," Ryan said.
People get excited when money is being handed out, Ryan said, adding that had he known for sure some in the crowd would behave in an unruly fashion, he wouldn't have permitted the drop.
"Am I surprised? No, but I sure wish it hadn't happened," he said.