Ten years of grit, grace and gratitude: a remembrance of the 2013 flood

By Tanya Daty Redstone Review

LYONS – Ten years ago, Lyons suffered its worst disaster in the town’s history. With more than 17 inches of rainfall over a three-day span, the St. Vrain Creeks rose to ten times its normal water volume, resulting in a 500-year flood that severely inundated the town.

The water left Lyons divided into five islands, cut off from power, telephone service, drinking water, roads, and other basic services. The widespread damage led to an evacuation of the town. It was more than six weeks after the flood before the first residents who had been evacuated returned to their homes in town.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of this historic event. We would like to remember the grit, the grace, and the gratitude of our residents over the last ten years.

Grit reminds us of the days immediately following the flood during which so many town residents felt trapped on an island.

Grace refers to the time period over the last ten years during which the Town of Lyons has spent many resources and efforts on flood recovery projects totaling over $70 million dollars; in addition to our residents’ output of time and money, and the healing that has taken place over that time.

Gratitude is what we would like to remember today as we reflect how far we have come and how resilient we’ve become, individually and as a community. Ultimately, this natural disaster is what brought our community together as a family, even though we were separated for a short time.

We invite everyone to join us on September 9, 10, and 11 as we commemorate “Ten years of Grit, Grace and Gratitude: a Remembrance of the 2013 Flood.” As a prelude to this weekend, the documentary Fundamentals of the Flood by Cat Russell will be shown at the Lyons Library on Tuesday, September 5 at 6:30 p.m. This film will help us to understand how this historic flood came to be.

On Saturday, September 9 there will be an informal gathering at Moxie Bread Co. on High Street, where community members are invited to share poems, stories, songs, and other personal recollections. Since the anniversary falls on a Monday, most community events will take place on Sunday, September 10. Everyone, including elected officials and nongovernmental partners has been invited to a Remembrance Ceremony at 11a.m. at Sandstone Park.

Tragically, Lyons lost one victim to the flood. Gerald Boland was a beloved teacher and coach for many years in Lyons. His memory will be honored with a tree plant- ing. Following the Remembrance Ceremony, residents and visitors will have a wide range of options to learn more about the flood that forever altered our town. From 12:30 to 4 p.m., there will be several flood exhibits, including golf car tours of flood recovery projects and an open house at Lyons Valley Townhomes.

Victoria Simonsen will share her official flood presentation at Town Hall. If you haven’t seen it, this presentation will give you a taste of what happened ten years ago, and it is both historical and powerful. If you miss the 1 p.m. showing, you can attend the second showing at 2:30 p.m. Along with the permanent flood display, the Redstone Museum will have an inventory of interviews that were recorded ten years ago.

If you’d like to see just how far Lyons has come in rebuilding since the flood, you are welcome to join a golf cart tour starting at Sandstone Park between the hours of 12:30 and 4 p.m. If you would like a sneak preview of the newly built Lyons Valley Townhomes, Summit Housing will be holding an open house from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at Lyons Valley Townhomes on Carter Drive.

For the big finale, everyone is invited to join us at LaVern Johnson Park for a community gathering which will include live music, dance, food and drink. Everyone is welcome to bring a picnic and a camp chair or blanket for a few hours of community love. A candlelight vigil at the Confluence Circle (near Prospect and 4th Avenue) on the evening of September 11 closes the weekend. There will be intimate, local, healing music and communion at this vigil. There will be something for everyone; newer residents and older residents will all find some way to honor how this event has affected Lyons and each other.

If you would like to buy a T-shirt “We’ve still got grit,” or see large memorabilia from the flood, stop by the Visitor Center after the Official Remembrance Ceremony. From there, you can make your way to the Lyons Library where there will be hands-on memorabilia on display such as books and photos. Starting at 1 p.m., Town Administrator

If you would like to be involved or if you have any flood memorabilia, especially vintage T-shirts from the flood, which you would like to share for the day, please contact Claudia Paterno at lahc_chair@townoflyons.com.

Please keep in touch with upcoming events by visiting townoflyons.com/10yearflood. We stood together as a community and family ten years ago, and stand together today, and look forward to the continued healing and communion of our ten-year anniversary.

Tanya Mercer-Daty is a Trustee on the Lyons Town Board. She has lived in Lyons for the past ten years after immigrating to the U.S.A. with her family in 2011. Feel free to contact her at tanya@lyonscf.org.