Alumni of nearby Finneytown High School, who lost three classmates in the tragedy, faced obstacles in 2020 to their annual memorial scholarship fund-raising event.
Aging alums had wanted their schoolmates to be remembered and decided that the tragedy “could be turned into something that was a living memorial,” Wittenbaum said.
Boosted by a visit from Daltrey in 2018 to the Finneytown High memorial, where he signed a guitar, albums, books and other items for auction, they raised enough last year for four scholarships.
Wittenbaum, choking up, unveiled a new plaque at the Finneytown memorial listing all 11 who died.
The stars, of course, were Daltrey and Townshend, who spoke in separate interviews about how the tragedy has haunted them.