LETTER: Thanking a behind-the-scenes volunteer extraordinaire
August 5, 2023To the community:
There have been dozens and dozens of stories written about the clean up and recovery efforts after the recent floods that swamped Waterbury and the surrounding towns. However, not one of these stories is complete without mentioning Liz Schegel. To put it simply: Our town, and so many homes in our community, would have been much worse off without Liz.
Liz Schlegel hand out work gloves in the Steele Meeting Room at the town offices. Photo by Gordon Miller
You couldn’t find Liz in a neighbor’s basement mucking out the mud or hauling out the trash. In fact, few people saw the work she did. Liz could be found in the Steele Room at the town offices. I don’t know when she arrived or when she left, she was just always there. She quickly stepped into the leadership role our town needed.
Waterbury was one of the first towns to come up with an action plan and execute it. A lot of credit goes to the work that was put in after Tropical Storm Irene—new infrastructure and the resilience and experience of our community. However, it was Liz who tapped into her knowledge and skills to take charge and get Waterbury back on drier ground.
Liz coordinated the hundreds of volunteers that signed and showed up to help out in the days after the floods. She led the efforts in getting donations of supplies. She knew exactly what flooded buildings needed after a flood: the pumping of water, the mucking of mud, cleaning, and mold prevention. She knew who to call when a plumber or electrician was needed. And she knew where to send volunteers where they were needed the most.
Probably most importantly of all was Liz’s ability to answer and listen to every single call for help with compassion, understanding, and patience.
And she did this all as a volunteer.
I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the others that took time off of their day jobs or away from their weekends and evenings to volunteer with helping, from our Select Board members to our neighbors, like Bob Butler (a.k.a. Bob the Dumpster Guy). Personally, I need to give a shout out to Amy, Billy, Ben, Dana, Hazen, Mal, Riley, Skip, and Yuka who showed up in those early days to help our community and directly coordinate volunteer efforts in impacted areas. I also need to acknowledge Beth, Erin, Lauren, Nora and so, so many others that assisted in the ”command center.”
The long and short of it is that if you see Liz around town, please say thank you for all she has done for our community.
Amanda McKay
Waterbury