Jeff Hajny

    On May 4, 2007, a large part of Greensburg, Kan., was demolished by a tornado passing through. The town is now in the rebuilding process and recently received some help from the Seward community.
     From April 20 through the 25, members of St. John Lutheran Church in Seward headed down to Greensburg to help with various projects throughout the town.
     "When we went down there, they had 350 FEMA houses for residents," project co-chair Marv Plamann said. "I heard that less than 10 people died from the tornado so they were actually very fortunate. The town's population was about 1,450 when it happened. There are about 650 in the town now so people are starting to come back."
     St. John's members helped build houses throughout the town along with members of the Central Kansas Tornado Relief Organization and Lutheran Disaster Relief members.
     "Some of those helping were experts in their fields like construction and building. The rest of us were novices," Plamann said. "Many of the members took time away from their jobs to do this and some of us were retired so we didn't have any problems. The group worked and clicked really well so it all went good."
     This event was the first adult-servant event trip sponsored by the church.
     "We've had other members head off on various trips for the church but this marked the first group trip for the church," Plamann said.
     One of the main projects done by the group was helping build a house with a built-in storm cellar.
     "I grew up in Kansas and people had storm cellars away from their house but now people are trying to build them in," Plamann said.
     The town has a long way to go, but this past weekend was visited by President Bush as a special speaker at their high school's graduation ceremony.
     "There is a large, enthusiastic feeling within the community," Plamann said. "People are really getting into the rebuilding effot. It kind of blows your mind in a way. It's been a year and the town is building back up.
     "For me personally this was very encouraging. It was so great to visit with some of the residents and hear their stories. I feel it's important to help and to step beyond certain boundaries. It gives a person a good feeling to step out and not be so selfish."