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Church Group's 'Kindness' Spurs Bomb Scare

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 September 2003, 06:00 CDT

A church youth group attempting a "random act of kindness" is claiming responsibility for a bomb scare that emptied city hall Monday morning.

A package of candy the group left for someone to find in a decorative cannon instead brought the Athens-Clarke police bomb squad, which blew up the offering of taffy and Jolly Rancher hard candies.

"We take full responsibility for this," said Tara Bulger, youth director for the First Presbyterian Church of Athens.

The box of candy was one of several that middle school-aged church members planted in the downtown area as part of an exercise in altruism, Bulger explained on Tuesday. Attached to each package of candy was a tag that read, "Random act of kindness."

"I just thought it was a good way for the children to put some kindness into the community," Bulger said.

At about 10:45 a.m. Monday, a city hall employee reported seeing a suspicious package in the old cannon.

Within minutes, police ordered the evacuation of city hall and cordoned off the area for more than two hours.

The bomb squad used a robot to remove the package from the cannon, then blow it up with a shotgun.

Bulger said the event will now be used to teach her students a different lesson than she originally intended.

"We'll talk with the children about how things don't always turn out like they're planned," she said.

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