Residents Help Others Following Irene—

Local Pilots Make First Relief Flight To Hard-Hit Vermont

By Kendra Bobowick

Christopher Cain remembers looking down from the cockpit of a single-engine plane and surveying the water-ravaged Vermont landscape Saturday, September 3. “The river is way beyond its boundaries,” he remembers noting. “It looks like the river shifted.”

He and fellow pilot and plane owner Ben Kugielsky had loaded a collection of donated supplies from Newtown and flew out of Waterbury-Oxford Airport last weekend, headed for Springfield, Vt. Mr Cain spends his winters in nearby Ludlow, working from November through April as a snowboard instructor at Okemo Mountain Resort.

“I know a lot of people there,” said Mr Cain. “They’re just dealing with it.”

Aerial photos that he snapped from the plane show water swallowing fields and forested areas of trees. Nearby is the North Springfield Reservoir, fed by tributaries that had been overwhelmed by rainfall during the recent Tropical Storm Irene that left most of Newtown without power for as long as seven days in some neighborhoods. By the time it reached Vermont, the storm had increased in strength, returning to hurricane status.

Due to his personal connection to the area, the friends he has there, and the understanding that “they have it so much worse than we do,” Mr Cain felt strongly about bringing assistance and supplies to “a place that I love,” he said.

Their flight took just 2½ hours round trip, and cost them $100 in fuel. He described the trip as “an easy flight,” where they arrived, off-loaded, and in roughly an hour were flying back home again. He spoke with one friend from Ludlow who met them to collect the donations, and learned a little bit about what was happening to the flood-bound residents.

“People were looking at their cars in the river — so much was destroyed,” he said.

He discovered that one friend had moved much of his valuable items off his house’s first floor, which filled with water. The friend had watched propane tanks float past his house, and saw cars carried out of place by currents.

“These people are dealing with a lot more destruction than Connecticut,” he said. He and Mr Kugielsky plan to continue making deliveries of relief donations “until things seem back to normal,” he said.

He and Mr Kugielsky will fly out of Oxford Airport to make another delivery, possibly as soon as Saturday, September 10, to support local aid efforts by the Black River Good Neighbor Services Inc, based in Ludlow.

The service’s website (www.Brgn.org), states the following: “We can use diapers, wipes, tuna, canned meats, rice mixes, dry milk, jelly, peanut butter, pasta, canned fruit, baked beans, toilet paper, juice, and cereal, or a $20 cash donation.” Contact them by e-mail at brgnsdonation@tds.net, or send donations to BRGNS, 37B Main Street, Ludlow VT 05149.

Collection boxes have been set up in the main office of The Bee Publishing Company, at 5 Church Hill Road. The public is welcome to bring items into the office Monday through Friday between 8 am and 6 pm, while a second box is also set up in the side vestibule after hours (use the sidewalk to the right of the building’s front door).

According to past news accounts, Vermont towns had been cut off after the roads were washed away, and the National Guard brought in supplies of food and water, in some cases by helicopter.

“They were really hit hard,” Mr Cain said.

Another Way To Help

Starr Wolfe is another Newtown resident who has felt the need to help her northern neighbors since the storm of Sunday, August 28.

Ms Wolfe, who many know as an employee of Superior Cleaners on South Main Street, lived in Vermont for 14 years. After a divorce, she moved to Newfane, Vt., with her two daughters and very little money.

Last week, Newfane was one of the dozen cut-off towns in The Green Mountain State after Irene washed out roads and bridges in a deluge that took many residents of the landlocked New England state by surprise.

Approximately 260 roads in Vermont were closed because of storm damage, along with about 30 highway bridges. Six of those bridges were located in Ms Wolfe’s former hometown.

When she moved to Vermont, one of the places that was of great help to Ms Wolfe and her daughters was the Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center. An agency of the United Way, the drop-in center helped Ms Wolfe with everything from food and stamps to clothing.

“You go up there, and you become part of the community very quickly,” Ms Wolfe said this week. “You’re family. We got support for everything.”

Having moved back to Connecticut a few years ago, Ms Wolfe continues to return the favors given to her family by the drop-in center. She and her friends have collected clothing and other items annually, sending up gifts and donations to the drop-in center every holiday season.

“Any time I can, I’m donating clothes, furniture, anything I can,” Ms Wolfe said.

Now she is hoping fellow Newtown residents will think of Vermont if they want to help others who continue to recover from Irene.

“They are safe, but because so many people have been displaced, there is a great need for money for adult food, hygiene products, baby clothes, and blankets,” Ms Wolfe said. “They need help, really badly.”

The Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center is a 501(c)(3) corporation. A day shelter to all persons within the Brattleboro area, the center offers a community food shelf, support services including job referrals, advocacy, a mailing address, coffee and snacks, shelter from the weather, outreach and referrals, access to a phone, free clothing, and a place where “homeless and lonely persons can come,” according to its mission statement.

Donations of any size can be sent to Brattleboro Area Drop-In Center, c/o Executive Director Melinda Bussino, PO Box 175, Brattleboro VT 05302-0175. For additional information visit www.BrattleboroDropIn.org, send e-mail to badic@together.net, or contact Ms Bussino at 802-257-5415.

“I spoke with Melinda last week and they just need help,” Ms Wolfe said. “They need help to help others. Donations of any size will be pooled together, and they can go to Price Chopper and Hannaford, and they can get what they need.”