By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

COLLYER -- It's a last-ditch effort, pleading for tax-deductible donations so this tiny community can keep a bit of its history.

"I guess I was hoping there's a rich uncle out there," said Donna Malsom, president of the Collyer Community Alliance. "That's my way of putting it in God's hands."

Malsom and her band of volunteers in the alliance are hoping to raise the money necessary to purchase a 1926 fire truck that once had been used to protect the community against fire.

But the group has an already ambitious agenda and owns two buildings on the St. Michael Catholic Church grounds.

"We're still in debt on the St. Michael property for $45,000," she said this morning. "It's hard to go too far into debt as a nonprofit."

They also own an adobe house at the south end of the Trego County community that they hope to restore, most likely something that won't come cheap.

That's why she turned to the public, looking for help.

The owner of the fire truck, whom she declined to identify, would like to sell it to Collyer's alliance but also has another buyer willing to put down the $10,000.

He has given Collyer a week to raise the money.

Malsom said the group already owns the building where the fire truck was housed, half of which was the old sheriff's office, complete with iron jail cells.

"That's where the city holds their council meetings," she said.

But what good is a building without anything to put inside it?

"It seems silly to keep a building and not keep any of the artifacts that belong there," she said.

Hence, Malsom's last-ditch effort to issue a plea for money.

"I've never begged for money before," she said.

There isn't much time, however.

"If we could have a portion of it -- to show good faith -- by Monday or Tuesday," Malsom said.

Obtaining the fire truck would be a coup, she said.

"It is a really cool truck," Malsom said. "It has the original paint, the original decals."

Collyer has some of the accessories that go with it, including glass pump bottles.

And if they don't get the money?

"We don't get the truck," Malsom said. "That's it. A little bit of our history is gone forever. That's it."

Malsom can be contacted at (785) 769-4268.