Whirlwind of a week for Donnie Halpin

It’s been a whirlwind of a week for Donnie Halpin of Fredericktown (and not just because he is this week’s 15 Minutes of Fame).

Actually Donnie has enjoyed much more than 15 minutes of fame, and it is well-deserved.

Halpin is the volunteer who found three-year-old Joshua Childers alive and well, Wednesday afternoon, May 6, after the young Madison County boy had missing for more than two days.

Halpin was interviewed by several local, regional and state media outlets. His name appeared in news accounts throughout the country.

CBS flew Donnie, his wife, Becky, and their two sons, Tyler and Jake to New York to appear, on the “The Early Show,” the network’s morning news program.

The family got to take in some of the sites in New York Friday and Saturday.

Halpin took note of the “clean streets and subways.” He said the people were nice and they were impressed by the quality of food sold by the street vendors. They visited the Empire State Building, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Trump Tower, the Staten Island Ferry, and Central Park.

Halpin said the family stayed in the same hotel as Debra Beebe, the latest cast member voted off the reality TV Show “Survivor.”

“Joshua was the real survivor,” Halpin says.