82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 29, 1998
After Tornado
‘You’ve Got To Do
What You’ve
Got To Do’
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Fanning Staff
FLEETWOOD (Berks Co.)
“May 31 was the worst day of my
life,” said Larry Mertz. “But the
wotst thing about that day is this
ongoing mess.”
May 31 marks the date that a tor
nado roared through the
Fleetwood-Lyons area. The mem
ory of it has faded from the minds
of those who read or heard about it
through the media. Unfortunately,
the tornado’s devastating effects
drag on for the Mertz family and
others trying to clean up from the
aftermath.
“We are stressed to the max.
We’re working day and night and
there is no end in sight,” Larry said
of cleaning up the debris flung
across their 400-acre farm. In addi
tion the family continues to per
form the daily ongoing duties asso
ciated with milking 120 cows and
raising crops.
When the tornado tore through
the area on May 31, it hit the neigh
boring Luke Kurtz farm head-on,
then sideswiped the Mertz farm
and dumped most of the debris
from the Kurtz farm on the Mertz’s
farmland
The impact of the tornado can
not be described in words. For
someone not involved in the dam
age, it might sound frustrating but
not impossible to replace the roofs
tom from both the bam and house,
the chimney, the porch, the flat
tened equipment shed, and shat
Homestead
Notes
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
LEESPORT (Berks Co.)
Fleece jackets are in vogue these
days. Thanks to the efforts of
Hearts & Hands, about 250 needy
children will each receive a fluffy,
warm fleece pullover.
According to Julie Wegelin,
who operates Julie Wegelin’s
Sewing Cellar, Hearts & Hands is
an intergenerational community
awareness project in which exper
ienced and novice seamstresses are
teamed with school-age children to
This logo designed by Ter- machine. Dillman said operators
ry Dillman will be inserted in arc needed for the sewil |B
each pullover. machines that his company will
provide during each scheduled
session.
tered windows. In addition there
was lots of equipment damage
done to the forage wagon, manure
pump, 10-wheeler truck, two pick
up trucks, riding lawn mower, and
the family swimming pool. Calf
pens were picked up but calves
stayed behind.
But it’s the never-ending clea
nup that constantly looms over
them that is most frustrating.
The farm’s formerly flat fields
are now deeply rutted from holes,
many inflicted randomly from the
beams, metal, and steel the tornado
gathered from the Kurtz farm and
jabbed into the soil on the Mertz
farm.
“ThereTe holes all over the
ground. You can’t believe how
beams and rafters were thrust right
into the soil. You can remove the
stuff, and there will be deep holes
left,” Lany said.
In fact hundreds of volunteers
had combed the fields in the days
following the tornado. They
gathered wagonload after load of
splintered work, twisted metal, and
nails. Whatever could not be sal
vaged was was placed on a pile,
which burned for more than a
week.
But one of the idosyncracies of
storm clean up is that a job may
appear to be done, but isn’t. A case
in point is the result of what hap
pened when Mertz attempted to
harvest a 30-acre wheat field
behind his house. To passerbys.
(Turn to Page B 12)
Hearts And Hands Sew For Kids
assembly-line sew the jackets.
Even if you can’t sew, even if
you think the project is too compli
cated, Wegelin promises, “We
have something for you to do.“
In the assembly-line process,
both sewing and non-sewing jobs
are incorporated into finishing the
fleece pullover.
The project has already begun
and will continue on specified
dates and places during September
and October. Volunteers are
encouraged to work in two-hour
shifts during the designated days.
Of course, those who wish to work
longer are welcome to stay.
Already quality fleece fabric,
zippers, and cuffs have been pur
chased. Volunteers have worked
together to cut out the fleece and
prepare it for sewing.
One of the people working hard
behind the scenes is Terry Dill
man, owner of Don Kauffman’s
Sewing located in Temple. He has
designed a logo to stitch into each
pullover. The colorful logo is
made on a computerized sewing
Training of volunteers who arc
Larry and Carol Mertz with daughter Michele and grandson Tyler stand in front of
their home, which is being repaired after a tornado damaged it. Passerbys might think
that rebuilding is almost completed, but it’s the never ending cleanup that frustrates
farmers. The farm’s former tillable flat land is now rutted with holes from steel and
beams the tornado thrust into the ground. Even after hundreds of volunteers removed
trailer loads of debris, harvesting results in constant flat tires and machinery break
downs from splintered wood, twisted metal, and nails imbedded in the soil.
helping oversee the project will be of the fleece pullovers will take Fairgrounds Square Mall.
Saturday Sept. 16, from 9:30 to place at the Berks County Agricul- Fay Strickler, home economist
noon at the Berks County Agriculture Center Oct. 1,5,6, and 8 from for Berks County Extension, is
ture Center. 9am - to 8:30 P- m -! 311(1 ° ct - 15 ’ helping with the project. She said
The actual sewing and finishing from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the (Turn to Page B 4)
Julie Wegelin, seated, and Terry Dillman, standing behind her, show volunteers
how fleece pullovers will be constructed in assembly-line fashion. More than 250
fleece pullovers will be distributed to the needy. Volunteers, from 12 years of age and
up, are needed to work in two-hour shifts for both sewing and non-sewing jobs during
selected days.