HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997 Flood Article #13 -'Y ALL HELPED-- Ashland flood volunteers crowd a .:rack-hoe for a group pcrwait Saturday ~n the Ashland Plaz~
They're lookinc ,~o at phctcgrazher Christopher Briscce. perched with his camera in a che.;rv-picker above.
_.Plaza bubbles with praise
=~y DANI DODGE
:f the Mail Tribune
.*-~ HL,~\-D -- DuF_n = the :]coding the,:' were
there. the volunteer. turning offwater meters.
4novcling mud and silt. falling sandbags and
:beeking on invalids.
0n Saturday. the:,".~ ere there in the P!aza
t~ain, 300 strong, en;oying tofu, macaroni
:aiad and sodas.
': c,ouidn't believe :he floods." said 10-vear-
:!d Christopher Lewis a~ler polishing off'a
:,,ate heaped with a chicken kabob. pizza.
vo~.ies and doughnuL "But it was fun helping
)Ul.
"'~.ewis and his fat~er. :4Am. diverted traffic
:'tom a dangerous spot at Highway 99 and the
:mirdad trestle New Tear's Eve. Later they
na~e T-shirts ~ KJm Lewis is owner of the
lCngsiey Lewis adve~ising agenc? and sold
nero to benefit residents of the Nauvoo and
.... kson Hot Sprm~ mobile home parks who
,oeen wiped out by the floods.
.4~ rh~ potluck, stomes of the flood drifted
nrough-the air along with the smells o£chicken
md hamburgers on the gTills set up by the city.
'.-oiunteers wore blue ribbons and posed
~ group picture in ;~ont of a track-hoe that had
teen used to dig out 2chris t¥om Ashlancl
Ashland holds bash
for flood helpers
Creek during the crisis. Many people broug.ht
chips as well as homemade salads and desserts.
At least 10 restaurants and groce,m.' stores
donated food and drinks. The mood was
uDbeat.
Sinee the flood the city has been criticized
for the way it handled some of the issuesduring
the height of the emergency. but Saturday*s
crowd had only praise rbr each other and the
city.
"They needed to have a party Ibr ever:,'one
to meet again and say 'hooray!' "said Roze
)fiden. 43. The Ashland resident and her
t6-year-old daughter both canvassed the ehy
several times after they heard the eity's plea
tbr volunteers a day or two after the initial
flooding.
Allen. an ICU hume. said because o£a
disability she couldn't help shovel or fill
sandbags. but that it was wonderful to do
something to help.
"For every, insignificant thing there is a
volunteer for ... it fr~s up a city worker ... and
,jl~ail the votunteer~ together add up to a lot." sae
said. "It was pretLv awesome."
Term,' Prosset. 47, brought water l¥om his
well into Ash Jane during the flooding to help
out. He also helped police ~aard Plaza
businesses. And he doesn't even iive in
Aslnland: he's a PhoenLx resident.
"It was kind o f fun." said the unemployed
cabinet maker.
Southern Oregon S rate College President
Stephen Reno and his wi£e. K/t. enjoyed the
rbstivities also. While S tepi~en had worked on
the administrative end of'the crisis. Kit had
manhandled a shove! on the P!aza.
Stephen said he was heartened by the way
the city carne together during the crisis. and
then afterward ,%r the path'.
"There aren't too many cities in this nation
that could do :_his." he sa~d between sips on a
,:an of fruit punch.
Mayor Cathy Golden. who t'illed sandbags
shoulder to shoulder with volunteers during
the flooding, also worked hard to make the
party a success. She started cooking at 6 a.m.
to make chili from an old tb2mily recipe and a
chocolate cake without eggs. butter or milk in
it.
~ o just get :o~ether as a community to
~- ,' ....' r~ - and~flec~naJ
_.,o: men.) .:e. :.ompany , .o ,, ,,
we.'l done. '* ~_:">?~sitive." ~he said