(December 23, 2004) — When she first dreamed of having grandchildren, says Mary Zadorozny of Irondequoit, "I hoped to be like Auntie Mame and lead them on grand and glorious adventures."

And last summer, she and grandson Jarret, age 3, began adventuring to the Port of Rochester two or three times a week. They were there when the Spirit of Ontario fast ferry arrived in April, and Jarret began collecting pictures of the ship for his "ferry book." Jarret has learned everything he can about the ferry and hopes to "drive" it when he's 4. Grandma hopes to take him on his first crossing next summer.

And, heck, yes, she'd put up some money to save the ferry.

She is not alone. I have been inundated with e-mails and calls from people who want to make the ferry service work and who say they are willing to put their wallets where their hopes are.

Bev Bartlett, who works at Rochester Institute of Technology's Center for Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation, was born and raised in Charlotte. The ferry, she says, has been a point of pride for the neighborhood and the community.

At RIT, she says, "there is much excitement at the prospect of hosting some top-notch Division I hockey games that will surely attract Canadians during the winter months. So many of the student-athletes we have here are Canadian-born — and their families are staunch supporters of RIT hockey. I'm absolutely certain many of them would love to sail across on the ferry during the cold, wintry months instead of driving around the lake."

On Tuesday, City Council approved Mayor Bill Johnson's plan to save the ferry for Rochester, using a nonprofit organization that would borrow $40 million to buy the ship.

The ferry itself is an opportunity, but saving it presents another opportunity — to get the community involved in a project that could give Rochester a new profile. Since I first wrote two weeks ago about the possibility of selling stock in the ferry (as happened with the 1956 rescue of the Red Wings), I have been wowed by the public support. The idea would be to tap the enthusiasm of the larger community, beyond the city, to raise cash as an insurance policy to offset potential operating losses — which otherwise would have to be carried by city property taxpayers.

It's not going to be possible to sell stock, but a nonprofit organization could accept tax-deductible donations — and the city really should set up a vehicle to do just that. Certainly the ferry has many doubters and many critics. Some people just don't think the city should be in the business of running what amounts to a cruise ship; others say the math is just too fuzzy. I don't want to dismiss any of those concerns.

But there are many, many people here who really want to help.

Former Rochesterians Nancy and Skip Cribari, now of Rowley, Mass., wrote to say they'd contribute and to express their hope for success — not only for the city, but for their son, who came back to Rochester to work on the ferry.

If the ship goes away, they said, so will many of the people who came here because of it — "the kind of young people the city hopes to attract."

"This is an idea that won't die," Mayor Johnson told me Wednesday. And he promises to look into ways donors — large and small — can be a part of the project. This is a unique moment in time, a chance to make this a community project, not just a government project.

People not only want to help, they need to help.