Lynda (Igel) Connell's Remarks at Wall of Honor Dinner

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="03fc8c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11"><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="11"><B>     </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="18" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="18"><B>  </B><A HREF="id273.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OHS Wall Of Honor"><B><IMG SRC="04312120.png" border=0 width="18" height="18" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="77" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 30 WIDTH="71"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="30" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="71" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id273_eclectic_trio.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OHS Wall Of Honor"><B>Return to </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id273_eclectic_trio.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OHS Wall Of Honor"><B>Previous Page</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Presentation </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>submitted by</B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Morgan Williams</B></I></div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=94 BGCOLOR="#FF3300" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0403c5e1dvmwlb.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Ottawa High School Class of '57</B></FONT><B>     |    </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ottawa High School Class of 57"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id273_eclectic_trio.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OHS Wall Of Honor">Return to Wall of Honor Page</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=386 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Lynda (Igel) Connell's Remarks at Wall of Honor Dinner</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>"DISASTER WORK HAS BECOME MY SECOND CAREER, HOPE YOU WILL BE INSPIRED TO PUT VOLUNTEERISM INTO YOUR LIFE."</B></div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>Presentation by Lynda Igel Connell, Ottawa High School Class of 1957 at the OHS Wall of Honor Banquet, Ottawa High School, Ottawa, Kansas, Thursday, September 11, 2008</B></div> <bR> <div> This really is a very humbling experience to be standing here, because I do not believe my life is any more adventuresome, exciting, interesting, or unique any of your lives. I am sure if I had not attended the 50th year class reunion here last year, this would not be happening. There I re-connected with my friend and classmate, Carolyn Christie Woodard, who nominated me. </div> <div>  </div> <div> Carolyn and her husband are here from Sulphur, LA, from which they evacuated for Hurricane Gustav. Thank you, Carolyn, for doing this.  Another classmate, Marie Keelin Fredericks, who is cruising in the Mediterranean tonight, could not be here, but she also helped in the nominating process.</div> <bR> <div> I only lived in Ottawa for about 10 years of my life, but those school years were the school years, the teen years, and the years of discovery, all of which impact one's life. I haven't been around Ottawa much since high school graduation.  As I became involved in college life, began to build a career, and raise a family in a new place, Ottawa was not a part of my life. </div> <div>  </div> <div> I met my husband, Harold, in college and we were married in 1959 at the Federated Church that used to be at 5th & Main Street in Ottawa. I suppose there are a few of you in the audience who remember how that corner used to look.  My husband, Harold, and my son, Todd, are both here tonight.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>MY FATHER GREW UP IN OTTAWA</B></div> <div> It is hard for me to return to Ottawa without becoming a bit nostalgic about my years here. My father grew up in Ottawa. He lived at 623 S Elm Street.  After graduating from Ottawa University and KU, he served as superintendent of schools in several small KS towns. When the opportunity presented itself for him to move his family here and work for Skelly Oil Co, he was elated. </div> <div>  </div> <div> He managed the Skelgas Store at 4th & Main. Perhaps there are those present who remember how that corner used to look. He was transferred to OK when I was in the 4th grade, but after a year, we moved right back to Ottawa.  The town had a huge impact on his childhood and life, as it did mine. My dad loved this town, and as he did, I grew to love it too. </div> <div>  </div> <div> My brother died in a car wreck while he was in high school and my dad died 4 years later. My memories of Ottawa were wrapped around those sad events in my life. Even so, I enjoyed all of my school days here, and received a good education.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>BEGAN VOLUNTEERING AFTER MARRIAGE </B></div> <div> We began volunteering immediately after we were married when we entered Brethren Volunteer Service, where we were assigned to Falfurrias, TX. There I taught English to Spanish-speaking kindergartners.  At that time, there were no state-run kindergartens in TX, so churches ran the kindergartens, specifically to teach English. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The children were expected to speak and understand English when entering first grade, but they spoke and heard only Spanish at home.  Learning English before 1st grade gave them a better chance at success in public schools.  The school and the church were located on a demonstration farm operated by the Church of the Brethren. There were about a dozen other volunteers, all college age on the project. </div> <div>  </div> <div> My memories of the time we spent in south TX include eating rattlesnake, learning to drive a tractor, helping with branding the cattle, all new experiences for me, having grown up in Ottawa, KS.  I watched as the children, who had never seen snow, run outside and call the white stuff falling from the sky "chicken feathers”. </div> <div>  </div> <div> One of the most meaningful and memorable Christmases I have ever spent was while we were in Falfurrias, TX.  After delivering toys and food on Christmas Eve to many of the church families, we were so tired, we almost slept through Christmas Day, but the satisfaction of having given so much to others swept over all of us. We, as volunteers, were given a stipend of $7.50 a month. Even in those days, that was not much money, but that was the beginning of our volunteerism.</div> <bR> <div> <B>CHURCH WORK TEAMS</B></div> <div> During my years of teaching we began going on church work teams with the United Methodist Church. After working in third world countries helping people improve their living conditions, a normal vacation was not satisfying to us.  We loved the travel to Costa Rica and other Central American countries. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The trip to the island of Grenada allowed us to work on homes destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, which was a hurricane that we had responded to in the states through Red Cross.  The Ireland trip, although Ireland is certainly not a third world country, afforded us to the opportunity to work in an historic John Wesley church in a village of about 800 people, which over the years had become more Catholic than Protestant. </div> <div>  </div> <div> Even so, the Catholic residents were happy to have this building restored. Through church trips, chaperoning high school students and family trips overseas, we grew to love traveling to foreign places.</div> <bR> <div> <B>AFTER 25 YEARS OF TEACHING, I WANTED A CHANGE</B></div> <div> After 25 years of teaching, I wanted a change. Red Cross Disaster Services combined my love of travel and a desire to travel with a purpose. As I took classes and became qualified to be deployed on national events, I learned about the business of managing disasters. Ninety-seven percent of the national work force of the Red Cross is made up of volunteers, and most of their work is done in local chapters, behind the scenes.</div> <bR> <div> However, I realize the most interesting part of what I do is working on those disasters that you all watch unfold on TV or read about in the newspapers.  I have worked on about 65 disasters, with more than half of those in leadership roles. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The large ones include of course, 911 and Katrina, but also the airplane crash of Egyptian Air 990 in 1999, the Kosovo project, and closer to home, Greensburg, KS. And there have been numerous smaller ones. I've worked on hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, floods, an air crash, and several ice storms.</div> <bR> <div> No matter the size, to each individual family affected, the disaster as it affects that person is huge.  The Kansas disasters are, as you might imagine, personal to me.</div> <bR> <div> My first disaster came in March of 1997.  In order to say yes to that recruitment, I had to give up my tickets to the Big 8 basketball tournament in KC. Now, we love basketball, but I also wanted to go on disaster, so I gave up those tickets. I found myself working 14-16 hours a day in very cold weather. I was meeting new people, both victims and workers, and loving it. I went to bed very tired, eager to get up the next day. Soon, I was called a "disaster junkie."  </div> <div>  </div> <div> I was often touched by many victims, some who had lost everything, who said when offered assistance, "Thanks for coming, but there are others who are worse off than we, so give it to them."</div> <bR> <div>  </div> <div> <B>PEOPLE ASK, WHAT DO YOU DO ON A DISASTER? </B></div> <div> People usually ask, "What do you do on a disaster?" There are many aspects to Red Cross response, but I work mostly in feeding and sheltering, two of the essentials to daily living.  Now, when I am deployed, I always work in HQ, so I become one of the planners and organizers of the disaster response, but when I started I was on the front line, so to speak, dealing directly with the disaster victims. </div> <bR> <div> Each disaster has many similarities in what I do, and I can't tell you about all of them, but I would like to tell you about a couple, which were one of a kind, and provided a unique activity for me.</div> <bR> <div> You will probably recall the oppression of the ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in the late 1990's.  When the killings were going on in Kosovo, the United States was one country that eventually brought Kosovars out of their country to safety. Red Cross was a part of that project. 10,000 Kosovars were brought to the United States and 5000 to Ft. Dix, in New Jersey, where I worked. </div> <div>  </div> <div> They arrived in planes carrying 450 - 500. There they waited and were cared for until volunteer groups in cities around the country adopted them and agreed to provide for them for a period of time until the individuals or families could be assimilated into the American culture. For some, the stay at Fort Dix was 12 weeks. </div> <div>  </div> <div> They did not speak English, could not leave the base and were taught basic living skills they would need to manage in the United States. They were almost afraid to find out what had happened to family members left behind. </div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>TRACING WAS AN ACTIVITY I WORKED ON</B></div> <div> Tracing was the activity I worked in on this operation. Tracing is a unit of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Our goal in Ft. Dix</div> <div> was to match those who had come to Fort Dix with the family members left behind or those sent to other countries. The biggest fear of those who came was that family members had been slaughtered and buried in mass graves. </div> <div>  </div> <div> Our hope was that those they were seeking had registered on line with the Red Cross in their new homes, which could have been Australia, Canada, Germany, or other countries that had helped with the evacuation of refugees.  In many cases family members had located each other before we did. Others did not receive such good news. </div> <div>  </div> <div> We did make several matches while I was there and there was great exhilaration, not only for the family members, but also within the Red Cross staff when that happened.  Many of those from Kosovo have stayed in the US, but others went back to Kosovo, for that was home.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER 9/11 </B></div> <div> As this is Sept 11, I feel I must mention the attack on the World Trade Center buildings. I had 3 different assignments there, but the most unique was at Staten Island Fresh Kills landfill.  That landfill was the largest in the world, when it was closed for environmental reasons in March of 2001. It was reopened after the attack on the World Trade Center buildings. </div> <div>  </div> <div> This is where the debris from the World Trade Center buildings was brought by barges and ships to be sifted repeatedly, looking for human remains and any evidence that could be found in the debris.  The sifting process involved a complicated series of conveyor belts and sifters. Each load was sifted 7 times.  There were about 25 agencies on site, Red Cross being the only non-governmental group there. </div> <div>  </div> <div> The Corps of Engineers was in charge, but the FBI, Secret Service, Department of Agriculture, EPA, NYFD, Dept of Forensic Science, NYPD and numerous other groups were present.</div> <bR> <div>  The organizational structure was complex, but each group had its own interest in being present on the site. Ten to 15 barges of debris were delivered daily. During the month I was there, over 500,000 tons of debris were delivered and 3500 - 5000 tons were processed a day.</div> <bR> <div> NYC policemen, mostly detectives, did the actual sifting. Some of those policemen had new babies whom they had never held, because of their time commitment to the landfill operation and their determination to complete this work.  The people who worked there were very respectful of the work they were doing, even though it was a horrific task they had been given. </div> <div>  </div> <div> There were no large body parts to be found, but rather a piece of tissue, a tooth, or a small fragment of a bone might be discovered. Everything was sent to forensics, even though it may have been a chicken bone from one of the restaurants in the World Trade Center buildings. </div> <bR> <div> The landfill was also the graveyard for all of the vehicles destroyed in the attack.  What an eerie site to see those vehicles, which looked ghostly as many of them still had the dust which had settled on them when the towers collapsed.</div> <bR> <div> <B>RAN THE KITCHEN ON THE LANDFILL SITE</B></div> <div> I ran the kitchen on the landfill site where we fed all the workers.  The kitchen was constructed in 3 days, complete with a steam table, sinks and refrigeration. We fed over 2500 meals a day in the early days.  The site operated 24 hours a day while I was there. I was responsible for about 150 staff, who worked 12 hour shifts. </div> <div>  </div> <div> Our vehicles had to go through a checkpoint where they were rinsed off every time we left the landfill to be sure we were not removing anything from the landfill on our vehicles or contaminating an area beyond the site.  Workers who sorted the debris were required to wear Tyvek suits, hard hats, respirators and eye protection. Red Cross workers were also issued this gear. Asbestos was present in the debris and the air was monitored around the clock.</div> <bR> <div> So you can see, disaster work has become my second career. It is very hard work, but very satisfying and rewarding personally. I hope recognition for my work will provide some inspiration to you or others to put volunteerism in your life.</div> <div>  </div> <div> <B>NOTE FROM OHS 57 ALUMNI COMMITTEE:</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > Once again we congratulate Lynda on her selection to the OHS Wall of Honor and for the recognition it brings to her for her outstanding career as a teacher and volunteer and to the OHS Class of 1957.  We thank Lynda for her willingness to share with her classmates the presentation she made in Ottawa at the Wall of Honor banquet on September 11, 2008. We thank the members of the class who attended the event in Ottawa.</FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>