'Yellowstone' star and Ohio native Luke Grimes visits East Palestine, brings water filtration systems
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (KDKA) -- Luke Grimes, Ohio native and star of the hit Paramount+ series "Yellowstone," came to the village to bring relief and spread a little cheer on Friday.
There was a huge turnout for a big star coming home to Ohio to give back to East Palestine.
It was just after 8 a.m. Friday when actor Luke Grimes of "Yellowstone" rode into town.
Grimes, along with the Jeff Ruby family, who owns and operates several fine dining steakhouses in Ohio, came to the village to bring some relief to residents in the form of 250 water filtration systems and present Mayor Trent Conaway with a financial contribution of over $100,000 to go towards the town's recovery.
Grimes says that he just wanted to give back to a community that was hurting.
"It always feels good to be able to do anything to help anyone out and Ohio means a lot to me, it's where I grew up," Grimes said. "It is my home state, and these are my people. So anything I can do -- I'm not saying I'm doing a lot, but I am just happy to be here and hopefully do some small part."
Mayor Conaway says that the community is grateful to have the support of both the Ruby family and Grimes.
"It's nice to have attention on our town," Conaway said. "We need all the attention we can get. We still have ongoing problems and issues and it's nice to have them care. And Mr. Grimes was an Ohio native from the Dayton area. So it's nice that he comes back home and helps out with his star power."
Over 200 community members showed up in the rain Friday morning, lining up around 7 a.m. And folks like Tiffany Gorby were excited to both meet Grimes and to get a water filtration system for their homes.
"Tiffany, you are pretty much first in line here. Why did you come out today?" KDKA-TV's Chris DeRose asked.
"Mainly for the filtration system. The fact that Luke Grimes is here is the added bonus," Gorby said. "I did get here early because I got to get to work, so I wanted to make sure I got here early."
Despite the rain, and despite what this town has been going through the last two months, Friday brought not only some help but some much-needed smiles.
Mayor Conaway said high-profile visits like this help to keep a spotlight on the recovery efforts in East Palestine, Ohio, and that they are welcomed by the community.
