An iron lung made a strange addition to the clothes, shoes and other typical faire on display over the weekend at the Weberstown Mall.

The obsolete piece of medical equipment helped draw the attention of shoppers for three days - a monument to the suffering caused by polio and the hope that wiping the disease from the planet is within reach.

On Sunday, it served as a conversation starter for volunteers from the Rotary Club and some Edison High School students who were collecting money for the worldwide effort to eradicate the disease. Rotary International has raised about $100 million of $200 million it hopes to collect to add to a $355 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, local Rotarians said.