The Greene-Dreher Historical Society hosted a 70-Year Commemoration of the Flood of 1955 on August 23 at Cykosky Memorial Park in Greentown. “This is a family reunion.” With these words, Reverend John Lutz opened the program, and his sentiment set the tone as flood survivors shared the poignant memories of villagers so bound together that even a deadly flood could not loosen those ties. Survivor Janice Smith Rohlf, whose mother perished in the flood, spoke to “Bring to life the people who lived in our rural farm area,” and to “share the happy memories” of a tight knit “family” of neighbors, where “we were all different, but we were all the same.”
Fellow speakers Tom Peifer and Susan Akers Reichman followed that tone as they reminisced about the “wonderful small community” where kids swam and fished in the creek that brought devastation but not defeat.
In 1955, some homes didn’t have TV sets, but the Heberlings welcomed neighbors over to watch such shows as Walter Cronkite. Janice recalled watching the coronation of Queen Elizabeth at the Moreikos, who also had one of the few first telephones. When Janice’s family received a call there, Helen would yell across the two yards to summon them. Folks worked together back then. Kenny Akers and his brother spread road cinders in winter. Max Hazelton, who owned the local garage, let his facility serve as a makeshift community center, where kids could play basketball. It offered no heat, but it had light! The stories brought nods and laughter as the crowd reminisced together.
The speakers were all children in 1955. They used neighbors’ pastures as playgrounds, caught pollywogs in spring in the little ponds, pretended to be a mountain climbers in summer, collected beechnuts in the fall, and skated on Nina Hopps’ pond in the winter, kkept clear of snow by Max Hazelton. Janice recalled, “Our lives were intertwined throughout the year.”
The afternoon served to honor the victims and the undaunted survivors, who dug through mud, opened their homes, shared their belongings, and rebuilt a community.
Voices of the 1955 Flood
Commemorations of tragic events serve to lament the victims, recall the struggle, honor the heroes, and celebrate the recovery. Diane Smith’s newly released edition of essays, entitled The Flood of 1955 Remembered: 70 Year Commemoration, compiles first- person narratives of Hurricane Diane’s brutality, which dumped up to 12 inches of rain on saturated land. The voices are powerful. Each essay is related by an individual, most often who was merely a child or young adult at the time. Their stories intertwine as they talk about the mutual neighbors, friends, and family who lost homes and lives, and the community that united to rescue, comfort, and rebuild. Each detail is indelible. From the embroidery box, a random treasure, being carried to each higher level, to the interruption of a young girl’s casual movie night ending in her witnessing her father’s unfathomable bravery, to Geraldine Miller’s fortuitous falling out of her cot—initiating the journey of her life.
The book, available on our Shop page, will sweep its readers into an unfathomable tale of loss and triumph.
