Praise God that Richard and Sandy King are safe from the tornado that hit their home in Joplin, Mo.
Thanks to all of you who have prayed for Richard and Sandy's safety through all of the devistation of the tornado that pounded Joplin Missouri. It appears there is more to come as they try to dig out of the mess. Their home and yard is a mess as well as their motorhome, but they are doing well, at least as well as can be expected. These two people are true givers and mean the world to many, many people. Richard was out helping locate people at a local Elks lodge just after the storm hit. That is the way they are.
For those who would like to help out Richard and Sandy, Jane Bazyn and Prodigy have set up a fund to help them with their preliminary cost. To contribute, please send contributions to Jane Bazyn, 2244 410th Ave., Victor, IA 52347. If you would like to call Jane, her phone number is 1-319-647-2768 or feel free to call us at 1-888-808-4583.
Thanks and God bless,
Charlie Presler
President
Photos below. Scroll down.
Richard and Sandy's post to the Prodigy Yahoo Group
Sun May 22, 2011 4:58 pm (PDT)
Just wanted to let you all know that Richard and I are fine. A major tornado went thru Joplin and we are pretty badly torn up,
Can't get out by phone but computer is on battery. Will report more later.
Sandy & Richard
Mon May 23, 2011 4:31 am (PDT)
Dear Friends:
A quick thanks for your thought and prayers, we and the town need them.
Richard and I are OK. It's a mess. Richard and I heard the sirens and looked out and the trees were really swirling. Then we heard on the TV that a tornado had been spotted in the town just west of us. I told Richard I was scared and even thou for years we ignored the sirens we headed for an interior hall and layed on the floor holding each other. Then we heard the roar, ears popped, and glass started breaking and the house shook. It seemed to last forever. When it was over every tree in our yard was down. The beautiful 100 year old pecan about 80 ft tall by the back door was pulled up by the roots and laying on the roof of the offices at the back of the house. The100 year old walnut tree that was at the front corner of our house was pulled up by the roots and covered the entire side yard when it went down. It took our deck and went thru the glass french door into the quilt studio. All other trees are stripped of limbs and laying all over. Windows in the house are broken out and debris is everywhere. Our yard is covered with items from who knows where. We have all walls and the roof still on the house. Those south of us are flat. The RV survived with a smashed windshield and a small hole in the roof over the bed. The trailer is smashed by a tree and the car has windows out but fine. We are so lucky.
Our daughter and her husband drove over from Kansas and arrived at our house about 9:00. We could not get out by phone and she was absolutely frantic. We received a tex message on our phone when she was about 3 miles away and although never texed before we let her know we were ok. Due to traffic it took forever for her to get to us. I don't think I have ever seen her cry so hard,. Bless her Later Richard and her husband went up the street to the Elks Lodge that was totally flattened and helped locate 2 dead and one critically injured.
David got thru to us from Afghanistan about 11:30 last night. Headquarters had contacted him and even thou I had sent an e-mail he hadn't gotten it. After letting him know his wife and kids were OK he settled down.
We have lots of work ahead of us but we are fine.
Here are our priorities:
1. Richard and I are fine.
2. The Prodigy Quilter is fine.
3. All my quilts are fine.
4. The RV is fairly fine.
5. Now I can get the place redecorated!
Please keep us and the town in your prayers.
Sandy & Richard
Tue May 24, 2011 5:21 pm (PDT)
Thanks for your prayers! Pray for our town.
Sandy & Richard
Tue May 24, 2011 5:27 pm (PDT)
Thank you for thinking of us. We are fine but so many have lost everything and our town needs all your prayers as they try to rebuild.
Sandy & Richard
Tue May 24, 2011 10:50 am (PDT)
Praise God Richard and Sandy King are safe from the tornado that hit their home in Joplin, Mo.
Thanks to all of you who have prayed for Richard and Sandy's safety through all of the devistation of the tornado that pounded Joplin Missouri. It appears there is more to come as they try to dig out of the mess. Their home and yard is a mess as well as their motorhome, but they are doing well, at least as well as can be expected. These two people are true givers and mean the world to many, many people. Richard was out helping locate people at a local Elks lodge just after the storm hit. That is the way they are.
For those who would like to help out, Jane Bazyn and Prodigy have set up a fund to help them with their preliminary cost. To contribute, please send contributions to Jane Bazyn, 2244 410th Ave., Victor, IA 52347. If you would like to call Jane, her phone number is 1-319-647-2768 or feel free to call us at 1-888-808-4583.
Thanks in advance and God bless,
Charlie Presler
Tue May 24, 2011 5:30 pm (PDT)
Thanks for your prayers, pray for our town. Destruction is massive
Tue May 24, 2011 5:21 pm (PDT)
Thanks for your prayers! Pray for our town.
Sandy & Richard
Tue May 24, 2011 5:27 pm (PDT)
Thank you for thinking of us. We are fine but so many have lost everything and our town needs all your prayers as they try to rebuild.
Sandy & Richard
Tue May 24, 2011 11:57 pm (PDT)
Thank you both for your thoughs and prayers. We are doing OK. Will let the Prodigy List know of any assistance needed by us or others. We appreciate everyone's prayers for us as well as our Town.
Sandy & Richard
Wed May 25, 2011 6:46 am (PDT)
Many of you have asked if you can help. We have a very close friend who has had her husband and his friends come by with chain saws and clear the trees off the house and tarp the roof. She is an attorney here in town and works with the Joplin County Public Administrators Office Many of the people they take care of are mentally or physically handicapped and have no one but the county to take care of them. These individuals are allowed only $30 a month for personal items. There were 12 killed and many more are now looking for shelter elsewhere. If you would like to make a monetary donation or send a quilt please do so these people really really need us. Make your check out to the Jasper County Public Administrator Emergency Fund. Mail it to Gretchen A. Long, Attorney, 1206 E Pennell, P. O. Box 595, Carl Junction, MO 64834. Any help you could give means so much to these individuals that don't have the wonderful friends that Richard and I have. Thank you and God Bless
Sandy & Richard
Wed May 25, 2011 11:14 am (PDT)
Janine: Thanks for the prayers and the chuckle. Another friend has offered to help us relocate to the shore in AL. But hat to remind here there are hurricanes there. VBG. Doing OK for now. Keep the prayers coming.
Sandy & Richard
Thu May 26, 2011 5:39 pm (PDT)
Jane: I went out and hugged my 110 Black Walnut tree yesterday an talked to it and cried and cried.
Sandy
Thu May 26, 2011 6:12 pm (PDT)
Dear Friends: I didn't think I would ever say this but the survival after the tornado is worse then the tornado itself. Can you tell I'm tired, sunburned, and feeling sorry for myself. We spent Monday, Tuesday, and today cutting up downed trees and dragging the results out to the front of the house along the street. Due to limited time and speed on the computer I can't send pictures right now but will in the future. Monday we had our lawyer friend, her husband and another lady friend helping us. Tuesday our lawyer friend, Gretchen's husband Jim came back and brought 2 other gentlemen to help. They got both huge trees off the house and we were finally able to put tarps on the roof. Our daughter came over from Kansas to help and insisted that we go home with her just to get away. It was really hard for me to leave but she insisted. We stayed till late Wednesday evening so we could see the twins receive awards at their school. She then stayed all night with us. We walked out of the door of the motor home at 7:30 and started chain saws and clearing again. About 8:00 three young adults, one's father and an older gentleman walked up from the street and said we are here to help! It hit hard when the older gentleman said he was from Tuscaloosa, AL both Lorel and I broke down. During the day between the 8 of us we have all most all the tree limbs and trash cleaned up from our yard. We covered the front lawn side to side and 10' back for a total of 4 times. Luckily there were dump trucks and skids and backhoes to pick it up as we piled it up. It was like we all were one huge mechanical team. Now we are waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive and look at the house so we can start packing things up. I'm getting really concerned because it is so damp and I'm afraid that things will start to mold. Ok, I'm tired, McDonalds is getting noisy and I want to go to bed. Thanks for listening, just knowing you are there to listen means a lot.
Love to you all,
Sandy & Richard
Sat May 28, 2011 2:36 am (PDT)
Wanted to let you all know things are better. Even though we are getting rain everyday we are getting things done.
Last time I posted I think seeing my flower beds trampled after years of work kind of did me in. I know workers needed to get in and around things but it was hard. But now things are better! We have had 2 days of incredible help from volunteers to clear the property of trees and debris. We have now put debris across the front of the property 5 times. Thursday we had 5 people and 3 chainsaws going full time to clear the land. This was a young married couple, a high school art teacher from a town close by, a real estate agent from AR, and a gentleman from AL. The husband of the couple came in wearing a U S Navy sweat shirt and of course with Richard being a Navy veteran they hit it off fine. During the day Richard mentioned that he wanted to get his flag pole back up for this weekend. Thursday evening we took our first trip thru the town to get supplies for Richard's flag pole. I can not even describe the devastation down just one main east west street, we didn't even kn! ow where we were most of the time. Sorry getting off the subject here a little. Wanted to tell you that that young Navy veteran came back yesterday afternoon with 2 American flags for my Husband. I can't tell you how much that meant to us. Flag is flying half staff by request of the city Mayor but the red white and blue are up a waving in the breeze.
Yesterday we were still cleaning up the outside property and trying to think about where to put our household contents while we are working on the house. ( The adjuster canceled out and won't be here until Monday but is allowing us to get out the household items before it all gets ruined from the rain.) We knew that there was no storage in the area. We thought about a box car set up on the property and our daughter called a friend and got cost and information on this. She then contacted her husband who was actually driving here from there home in KS. As he was talking to her he drove by a business outside of Parson, KS that built small barn type sheds. He drove by, turned around and went back to look at them. They said they couldn't deliver one until next Wednesday and when our son-in-law said why it was needed the business owner said they had one that just needed the roof shingled and he would have it to us before the end of the day. We now have a 10 by 16 Barn on the ! back corner of our land. Of course once we knew it was coming we had to decide where to put it! Wouldn't you know that the best space for it was a corner of the lot where we had stacked wood and tree limbs and trash. Our wonderful daughter who had taken over walked out to the front of the house, saw a truck load of teenage boys sitting in the back of a pickup talking to a neighbor and said "Boys we need help for a little bit" Six high school boys from Lamar, MO and there teacher came in and removed the ruble in the back corner just before the Barn was delivered!
That isn't all guys. Later while working in the yard a group from a Billy Graham organization came by and wondered if we needed help. Daughter piped up and asked if they would be interested in packing up our household goods. Yep, they are coming today with boxes and people to box up my books and goods out of my quilt studio and spare bedroom and what ever we need!
There is a talk radio station here in Joplin that has been on the air since the tornado that is taking phone calls for 24 hours a day with people calling in with information on what they need and those telling what they have to give. It is the only means we have in knowing about what is going on in town. They said yesterday that there have been over 8,000 volunteers in town. So far we have not paid a thing to anyone for all the help we have had. We are truly blessed!
Also wanted to tell you that checks are already pouring into the Jasper County Agency formerly listed by us. The attorney and officers of this group think you quilters are awesome, they really can't believe the instant response. I knew you quilters were the best!!!!
I added more photos to the Prodigy Quilter list to show our progress. I also downloaded pictures to the MQP list under Tornado Richard and Sandy.
Sorry to be so long, thanks for listening.
Sandy & Richard
Mon May 30, 2011 5:15 am (PDT)
Richard and I would like to thank all our veterans reading this list. Today is a day to remember those we lost,those who are still here and may need us and those serving all over the world. God Bless them and God Bless America.
Sandy & Richard
Prodigy
Thu Jun 2, 2011 7:43 pm (PDT)
Dear Friends:
We've posted 7 more photos to the photo page.
Richard and I are exhausted both mentally and physically. We continue to sort thru household items. Trying to decide what to keep and what to write off. We are so exhausted that we aren't even sorting thru our cloths closet, if it wasn't in the RV we aren't going to worry about it. We have only taken my good Bavarian China out of the kitchen and may not take any more. The decision making and packing are just too much. I'm really worried about all the fabric that the volunteers boxed, some of which they packed in garbage bags. Scared that it will mold. David's daughter and son are coming over tomorrow and we are going to open each box and if need be I will wash it all. So far we have 6 pages of items that we are declaring and we have to add how old the item is and what it would cost to replace it. Then they will depreciate it. From here on out I'm buying new furniture every 5 years, not holding on to something for 20 years or more!!! We are running out of room in the ! barn don't know what else to do. We have yet to go thru the plumbing garage and sort thru it! Oh my gosh, 45 years of plumbing tools! (Only the electrical tools are declarable. The pipe wrenches and such will be with us for the kids to sort thru some day. LOL) The insurance companies to those around us are really not doing our neighbors right. Really low balling things. We have one neighbor with an old victoria home that they won't let him repair it because some of the paint is lead paint. We have had one contractor in and another one is due in Saturday. Richard and I are so overwhelmed that we have hired a lawyer to handle the insurance companies involved. The adjuster came back today intending to spend 3 to 4 hours checking out our place and once we said we had a lawyer he just turned around and walked out. This may take a while.
Now on the up side, don't want anyone to get depressed now. The yard is clear of most debris and Richard may even have to mow it in a couple of days. The birds are around and we have bought bird seed and filled the one remaining feeder. We see baby rabbits running around the yard and a pair of red tail hawks fly over a couple of times a day. The few day lilies that survived opened up a couple of blooms today. The old fashion climbing rose bush on the back fence is in full bloom. So nature is trying to make things up to us.
We would like to thank one and all for the contributions being sent into the Jasper County Administrator'
s office. They report that they have received over $1,000 so far. They are absolutely thrilled! They will continue to keep a tally, there are several groups involved. You all should be proud of your contribution in healing Joplin, MO. God Bless you all!
Sandy & Richard
Photos Richard and Sandy sent from Joplin, MO
This pile of stuff was once a house one block south of us
A 2 X 4 came thru the office wall vertically from outside.
Driveway side of house from back yard.
Driveway to Elks Lodge
Inside quilt studio.
Limb stuck in windshield of RV
One block south of us house in middle totally gone.
Oxford health care offices.
Pecan tree on office roof
Richard and crushed trailer
Richard and root ball
Sandy's office
Sign post at dental office south of us
Spruce car and RV from neighbors front yard
St Johns from our porch.
two blocks of medical offices south of St Johns
This was our cargo trailer.
Town from our front yard
two blocks of medical offices south of St Johns
Uprooted spruce from front of house
Walnut tree down from SE corner of lot
Walnut tree down on deck.
Window out in Kitchen