‘Good People in This World’

Bud Palin is one of the residents who had trees planted on his property. The storm ravaged his home and destroyed more than two dozen spruce trees he had planted with his daughters five decades ago. Photographs taken in the immediate aftermath of the tornado show his home buried in a mass of tangled tree limbs.

He watched from his porch as a crew of volunteers planted 8-foot sugar maples on his property and those of his neighbors, restoring some of the tree cover he had lost.

“This is marvelous,” Palin said, gazing out over his freshly planted trees. “All the community support after the tornado has been just amazing. It reaffirms my belief there are a lot of good people in this world.”

Mayor Todd Sharrard addressed the day’s volunteers as they gathered under the pavilion that morning, thanking them for their efforts to help Gaylord continue to heal.

“This event is just another example of our community coming together to replace what the tornado took from them,” Sharrard said. “Planting trees is another step back to normalcy for many. May the anniversary of the historic tornado serve as a reminder of our community’s resilience.”

“I feel extremely lucky to have been a part of something so positive for Gaylord, especially those residents who were directly impacted by the tornado,” said Amanda Vanaman, Huron Pines AmeriCorps Program Manager. “Planting new trees gave me the feeling that the community was getting something back which it had lost and that was a really meaningful experience.”

Project funders and partners include BJ’s Catering, City of Gaylord, DTE Energy Foundation, Gaylord Long Term Recovery Group, Headwaters Land Conservancy, Huron Pines AmeriCorps, Michigan Community Service Commission, Otsego Wildlife Legacy Society, ReLeaf Michigan, Rotary Club of Gaylord, and the Tornado Response Fund at Otsego Community Foundation.