photo by Robert Stewart: A stainless steel cross stands next to a grain bin at the Tamora UFC location.

by Robert Stewart

    It is conspicuously placed to be seen by trucks waiting to unload grain, by vehicles passing by on the nearby street and by employees at the United Farmers Cooperative in Tamora.
     It is a stainless steel cross with a photo and message attached to it, and it is there to serve a dual purpose.
     First, it is there as a memorial for Troy Childers, a UFC employee who died while on the job. Second, it is a reminder of what can happen when proper safety procedures are not followed.
     According to an article that appeared in the Nov. 29 issue of the Aurora News-Register, Childers was working in grain bin at the UFC Tamora location on Nov. 24, 2003, trying to knock loose some soybeans that had collected over a conveyor when the surface collapsed and he was sucked under and could not be pulled to safety.
     The article further stated that he was not wearing a safety harness, which is UFC policy, and neither he nor the co-worker who was with him were carrying walkie-talkies.
     "This cross is a remembrance to take the 10 seconds to put on the life harness, to use the walkie-talkie and to make sure you're not in the building by yourself," Childers' mother, Ginny, said in the News-Register. "All those measures would have saved his life and that's why this cross is here."
     Childers' family worked with employees at UFC in designing the cross and planning the ceremony. But Phil Pelc, safety and compliance director for UFC, said that the idea came from Childers' fellow employees.
     "The employees here at Tamora were the first to mention, there were more than one, that we needed to do something (to remember Childers)," Pelc said.
     Pelc then spoke to Ginny about what the memorial should be.
     "Troy's mom had mentioned a cross. That was specifically what she wanted to have when we started talking about a memorial," he said.
     Pelc worked with Ginny to decided what the message inscribed on the plate affixed to the cross would say and which picture of Childers should be used for the memorial.
     The message reads, "Troy David Childers, March 18, 1975-November 24, 2003.
     "At 3:30 p.m. Troy was involved in a tragic accident at this location that took his life. We remember and celebrate Troy with this memorial and look forward to our glorious reunion.
     "Life is not always beautiful, but it is always a beautiful ride."
     It is signed (by Childers' parents and siblings), "Love forever and always, Mom and Dad, Tammy, Travis and Titus."
     During the ceremony dedicating the memorial, employees at all UFC locations in Nebraska and Kansas were asked to pause for a moment of silence at the time at which Childers' death occurred.
     Pelc said that in addition to Childers' family and UFC employees, several UFC customers attended the ceremony.
     Following the accident in which Childers was killed, Pelc said that the need for following safety procedures was more evident than ever for UFC employees.
     "We made some changes (in safety procedures)," he said. "But probably the biggest thing is just in awareness."
     Continuing to increase that awareness is what having the memorial on site, in a prominent location, is designed to accomplish.
     "We knew we wanted it by the bin site close to where it happened. We wanted our farmers to see it too. So it's a remembrance for them too. A remembrance of Troy and a remembrance for safety," Pelc said. "If you come into our elevator offices you can't miss it. Whether it's employees or a customer, they see it."