A NATION CHALLENGED: BEST INTENTIONS; A Free Trip for
Firefighters, but With a Twist  Published: March 25, 2002  There
was something so fairy-tale American about this tidy village's
elaborate plan to treat New York City firefighters to an all-
expenses-paid weekend here. Volunteers had stood in the cold,
collecting money from drivers who stopped at the light on
Genesee Street. Children in a Sunday School class had collected
$67 in pennies. An old man had mailed two dollar bills.  Their
contributions would help to pay for a weekend that 10 New York
firefighters and their guests would not forget. A bus stocked
with food and liquor would ease their four-hour ride from
Manhattan. Each person would be given $50 in ''mad money.'' Each
couple would be given a cellphone so that if they needed
anything -- a ride to the outlets, a ride to the St. Patrick's
Day parade in Syracuse, anything -- all they had to do was call.
And when that bus reached the village limits, a police escort
would lead them into a downtown that ha