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Fort Collins Coloradoan 9 August 1976 ~ l..-t -., "'''''' u; ~ ('~.~ ..t ,l ." "\\,,., (.\~ "I~ i. \, " ..:"" " .it:... ':"'. ..;;; The legions of volunteers gave freely of their time .:-:.:.:.:.:-:.:.:.:.:.:.:-:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:-:-:.:-:.:-:.:.:.:.:.;.< operations, said Capt. World, volun~rs 'NtlUld seek out toiling poUcemen "way out in the middle of nowhere" just to give them a cup of coffee. a sandwich and a friendly hello. For several days the heartbeat.of all the heartfelt giving was the relief center at Loveland High School. There, volunteers manned the ceaselessly jangling phones, provided food and clothing for Oood victims. arranged transportation and lodging, tallJed lists of missing persons. and offered a sympathetic ear and a comforting hand to those who had survived the ordeal. "Everybody was ready to pitch in," said Jack Wllson, assistant principal at Loveland High School. who helped set up the relief center. So many were ready to pitch In, in fact, that at one point 200 volunteers had to be moved out of the way Into the gymnasium. Food appeared like marma. People brought canned goods. homemade food and garden produce. One church group that had planned an ice cream social donated all its homemade pie and Ice cream to the shelter. Restaurants served up ham- burgers, pizzas. spaghetti; grocery stores cheerfully depleted their stock for the cause. A school cook volunteered her services for three days. An Elks Club provided a huge lunch. complete with Its O'o'-'Jl cooks to ptepare It. After the appeal for lodging went out, said Wilson, the response was so great that "we figure we turned down easily 2.000 beds. ., Just as impressive was the community's reply to the need for transportation. A Fort Collins car salesman stopped by and volun. teered to "take anyone within a thousand miles." A Loveland auto dealer made three of h1s cars available to anyone who needed them. One man provided five trips to Denver. The mountains of donated clothing grew so formidable that f1na1ly a radio statton was asked to announce that volunteers were needed to move clothing to another location. Within half an hour. 20 pickup trucks were lined up outside the school. ready for action. "It was an inspirational com. munity atf~r," said Wilson. Even children showed their concern. A group of neighborhood youngsters decided the proceeds from a play the;)' were presenting would go to the flood relief fund. Every organization or club she knows of has been involved in the volunteer efforts, said Mrs. Tomson. whether collecting clothing and furniture or contributing money for relief. The FIre Sirens, wives of Loveland volunteer firemen, were among the first to answer the a1ann. They showed up early at the high school relief center .....1th blankets, pUlOW8, coffee, cocoa and an eagerness to help. The Red Cross, of course, lived up to Its reputation as a bulwark in time of need, taking charge of the volunteer activities at the high school. Elsewhere, one of the many groups extending a helping hand was the Seventh.day Adventists. Their contributions Included distributing food and clothing at their downtown Community Ser. vices Center. Exclaimed one grateful survivor, "You're hea\'en's angels!" A business that "should get a medal" for its volunteer efforts, according to one observer. is Hewlett-Packard. The company turned Its computers to the task of compUlng lists of found and mIssing persons, and provided the tem- porary morgue with equipment and even a bunch of scratch pads. Many of them employes of Hewlett.Packard, the Loveland Pollee Reserve Officers were others who went beyond their call of duty. In addltlon to all their search and rescue work, the men labored long hours at the morgue, handling bodies iUld maintaining security. One grocer closed his store early iUld devoted himself to the solemn task of carrying bodies until late that night. At the temporary morgue In the old hospital, the volunteer work goes on, sometimes silently and &amy. The volunteers and families f1nd a respite at "the old refreshment stand," a worn table sagging under the weight of sandwiches, fresh fruit, homemade pickles and beverages donated 9Y Individuals, groups and stores. Hospital awdUary volunteers serve the food. "'There are an awful lot of people who put in an awful lot of time and did some pretty disagreeable work, ,. said John lrwtn. who Is on the EDrI'OR'S NOTE: The volunteer efforts that went on after victims were brought out from the Btg Thompaon Canyon flood were overwhelmlng, It Ie 1mpoesl.ble to menUon or give croo1t to aU the indivIduals and group' who volunteered theIr help after the tragedy. ThIs Itory tocuIe8 on only BOrne of the volunteer act1vit1e8 to an effort to express what the people of Loveland and surrounding com- munlt1ea did In an hour of great need. ,4 ,... . , ~' I" ~~- ~ r '- ;';':';~;':';':':':';';~;.;:::::;:;:;::):;;;:;:;:;:;:;:...:.:.;,:,;.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: By KATHERINE KENISTON Of the Coloradoan - The rains that came that Saturday night to the Big Thompson Canyon brought In their aftermath a d~luge of another kind. . It was a deluge of goodwill, as volunteers from all around rallied to help the victims. Whether opening their homes to flood survivors or offering rides, cooking. hot meals or comforting a shaken victim. cltU:ens of Loveland and surrounding communities have given generously of themselves. "It's been a fantastic situation. Loveland truly has lived up to Its name. Its people have shown other people that they care." declared Georgia Tomson, director of the House of Neighborly Service in Love1iUld. Even at the temporary morgue In the old Loveland hospital, where volunteers carry on their often unhappy tasks, ttle spirit of sharing abides. "Everyone has been $0 tremen- dous-vol1.mteers as well as the families of victims-so grateful. The whole experience can only restore or reinforce one's faith In hwnanJty, ,. sald Bernardine Zimmerman of Fort Collins, coordinator of the medical command post at the hospital. Old rellables like the Red Cross and Salvation Army as well as clubs, churehes, businesses. school per. sonnel, doctors, dentists, housewives and even children were among the legions who responded to the tragedy. Capt. Thomas World was one of them-and one who was amazed by the aura of generosity. While he and other Salvation Army volunteers were manning the canteen at the rescue command post, a couple with two small children drove up and dropped off a box of (resh apples and some wann homemade cookies. "Before we could even say thank you, they were gone:' Durlnll' the search and rescue l- . .A WORWI. walta for help at a1d ...- district board of Loveland Memorial Hospital and who helped set up the temporary morgue. The volunteen working there h~ calls "a bunch of hardy souls." Donating endless hours without pay are Dr, Patrick Allen, pathologist from Loveland's ?t~cKee Medical Center, and Dr. MIchael Olarney of Fort Collins. A team of Loveland dentists. headed by experts from Denver. volunteer their know.how to the grim task of Identif)1ng victims with dental charts. All the Loveland mlnistt"rs have been on call to comfort families. Other volunteers (lncludlng some from the Retired Senior ....olunteer Progam) help with examinations, greet famllies, phone relatives, maintaIn tiles, fill out death cer- t1flcates and perform other duties. One of them is Dorothy Abbey of Fort Collins. who has been a steadfast volunteer since that first confused Sunday after the flood. Because "I care about peoplp and llke to help people II I'm n~ded," Mrs. Abbey went to the high school and assisted Red Cross volunteers with sandwich making and signed up to provide housing and tran- sportation. She finally took charge of the missing persons' table. filling ootreports. "We got very close to people. because some of the relatives stayed at the high school till we closed up on Thursday," she said. "We've ml:'t some really nlce people under bad circumstances." At the morgue. Mrs. Abbey works in the medical command post where families come in to Identify victims' belongings and where doctors speak with the families. She keeps 8 small suitcase of jewelry pieces that serve as c1ue_s to body Identification, and has done "detecUve work" to determine Identities. She did take one day off from- her dutlt"s-to celebrate a birthday In the family. $aId Ann Davis, who works In the data department downstairs in the morgue, "Everybody who's been working has really been terrific. You just can't help but like them." The caring and sharing go on. Out at the C1o\'erleat Dog Track, volunteers work like dogs to sort and stockpile food, furniture. bedding and other donated Items for flood victims. One woman had lost her whole famlly In the disaster-but bought some supplies and brought them to the dog track center to help $Omeone else. The Big Thompson Inter.Faith Task Force, a coalition of many church members in Loveland and Estes Park, has fonned to meet the "physical, spiritual and emotional ~'<Il~1'v\d.1ms.. "It's been one big famUy. They've really worked together," sum- marized volunteer Helen Schmidt of the community's contributions. But as the lists of misslng persons dwindle and the rebuilding efforts mount, the task of volunteers in the Big TIlompson tragedy is hardly over. Said one worker, "The more spectacular is done. Now, we're down to the real nItty.gritty." Tough tas ks The volunteer work goes on a' the temporory morgue in fhe old Lovelond hospital. In phofo above. Noncy Boxleilner 01 loveland, 0 volunleer who makes oul the deoth certilicote$, waits while Of. Michael Chorney of Fort Collirn writes on a form. In photo at let!. steadfasl volunteer Darolhy Abbey 01 Fort Collins consults with 0 phy. $.dan in the m~i.c.I. ~m"'ond center. In photo below, Bernedine Zimmerman (lell) and Molilynn Aspegren. bolh of Fort Collins, check the files while Ann Dorri$ ot Loveland handle$ 0 phone call. ~ \ ----- ~ 'A true act of Christianity' ~.(- ~,:\ ~-';f;:~-= Saxtorph. was "a true act of ChrIstianity." The men are, Indeed, ChrtStlans, members of the Mennonite Church. Volunteers who provide their own food and lodging, they compose a disaSter service that does the speclflc and distasteful job of cleaning up after nature goes amuk. The Mennonite Disaster St'rvIce goes all over the country, In the wake of natural or manmade catastrophe, perfonning this service. It Is a national organltatlon. part of the internationally established de- nomination. The volunteers, said Mrs. Saxtorph, were doing "......hat they could. And," she added, "thl.'Y seemed very knowledgeable. about things like plumbing and such." The yDWlg men refused to take any money forthelrwork. They had gone, first, to the post otnce wilen arriving at Glen Haven, they ~Id the Saxtorphs. Then they went from home to home, cleaning. The t......o who talked with the Saxtorphs were from South Dakota and Kansas. "They told us they wiU go anywhere they are needed," sald Mrs, Saxtorph. "They really are living their faJth." By BARBARA ALLBRANDT Of the CbloradoeJ\ "People w1ll give money, or they'll volunteer to help the victimS-but how many people will give of themselves to clean up such incredible dirt?" Trudl Saxtorph, who with her husband Henrlk had been at Glen Ha\'en on July 31, spoke of a moving experience of quite another kind Ihf' couple had when they returned to their cabin. The night of the flood, the Saxtorphs' cabin was surrounded. but not taken, by the water. "''hen they returned to It recently-via a tour.wheel drive vehicle-they found It surrounded and permeated by debris and dirt, as was everything else that had been 1n the water's path. 'TN> p]fio:>rl" N)lJDJe had fl.'ared tht'rt' mJghl be looters or "c1almjumpers" at their weekend home_instead, they found six young men working hard to clean It up. The mess, said Mrs. Saxtorph, was "truly terrible." Raw sewage had been ronning In the open and files were thJckly in residence. Working to c11.'.a11 up "that kind of fIlth," said Mrs. ----- -----;