More than 15 Washington 4-H members and their parents came to the aid of Cindy and Pete Dykstra – helping the family deal with the aftermath of the devastating storms that hit the area earlier this month. That meant shoveling lots and lots of mud! It great to hear such a positive story!
Word that the Dykstras had lost all 100 of their cows to the flooding came through a text message to Ann Marie Magnochi, co-owner of Two Sisters Dairy in Carnation, from the Dykstras’ grandson, Cody Branch. “The farm’s flooded out,” the message said. “It’s a total loss.”
The group met at Two Sisters Dairy and started on their way to the Dykstra dairy, taking shovels, water, sandwiches, cups of noodles, fruit, pastries, coffee, hot chocolate, cookies and whatever else might be needed. A tractor was also hauled to the farm. When the day was over, the entire 100-foot-long barn had been cleared of mud, no easy feat since most of it had to be cleared with shovels. To make matters worse, there was no running water at the farm.
Dykstra had been out milking when the floodwaters began rising. In the more than 30 years he’s been farming there, the water had never come into the barn. With that in mind, he put the cows in what he thought would be a safe place in the barn and headed for the house. But when he started moving things to the second floor and looked out the window, he saw that the water was already up over the tractor. That was when he realized his cows were doomed.
When the floodwaters receded, a foot of silt and mud covered everything – the fields, the lawn, the equipment, the barn and the house. In talking with Pete, she learned that the floodwaters had risen 8 feet in two hours. De Jong’s daughter, Katherynn Dunham, 12, a member of Hoofs and Paws 4-H Club, said that going to help the Dykstras didn’t require any second thoughts on her part.
“They needed the help, and I had the time to give,” she said. “It was the right thing to do.”
For Pete, their help meant a lot because it lifted his spirits. “I knew we’d be back,” he said, “but I didn’t know how we’d get the barn cleaned out. It was amazing to watch them. I don’t think they stopped to eat lunch, or if they did, they were eating and working at the same time.”
3 Comments on “4-Hers Lend a Hand – and a Shovel”
A tractor was also hauled to the farm. When the day was over, the entire 100-foot-long barn had been cleared of mud, no easy feat since most of it had to be cleared with shovels. To make matters worse, there was no running water at the farm
A tractor was also hauled to the farm. When the day was over, the entire 100-foot-long barn had been cleared of mud, no easy feat since most of it had to be cleared with shovels. To make matters worse, there was no running water at the farm
A tractor was also hauled to the farm. When the day was over, the entire 100-foot-long barn had been cleared of mud, no easy feat since most of it had to be cleared with shovels. To make matters worse, there was no running water at the farm