The Northern New England Blog

 By June Mittelmark, Red Cross writer “Hey, you, don’t tell me there’s no hope at all. Together we stand, divided we fall.”  So goes the lyrics to “Hey You” by Pink Floyd from their 1979 double album, The Wall.  Those words also are sung by Echoes of Floyd, a New Hampshire based cover band that had one of its members, Geoffrey Williams, experiencing that feeling of hope after the home he shares with his partner, Melanie Barthel, and her son, Dante, went up in flames this May in the small town of Nelson, New Hampshire. On that fateful day, Dante, home from school, was upstairs when he heard a loud bang. Running downstairs to see what was happening, he saw smoke in the kitchen area and quickly called 911. Geoffrey was on his way to a gig and Melanie, who fills many behind-the-scenes roles with the band, was out as well. Dante was able to get out of the house with the family’s two dogs, though one needed surgery after suffering burns.  The fire spread quickly and their ...