“We’ve got Amish coming in from all over the state that are helping on everybody’s property,” local township trustee Gary Babb said Wednesday. “Several buildings and Amish barns are already back up and they’ve got so much help they’re helping their neighbors that are not Amish.
“This has been the most widespread use of Amish volunteer labor on other properties that I’ve ever witnessed in my life,” he said.
Randy Lupton, owner of Lighthouse Transportation Services, based out of Falconer, New York, parked his school bus near a barn on which several Amish workers were replacing a roof. He and a group of 26 Amish workers from Conewango, New York, arrived in the township at 7 a.m. and were set to work until 4:30 p.m.
“There’s certainly plenty of work,” he said Wednesday.
He said he brought a group of 38 Amish last week. In his line of work, transporting large Amish work crews is “very common,” he said.
“There have been other crews here, other Amish communities,” Lupton said. “They’re very community oriented. They’re there for each other in times of need — more than the ‘English.’”
According to the county Emergency Management Agency, six township homes were completely destroyed by the tornado — which brought winds in excess of 125 mph — another six were “heavily damaged” and several more sustained minor damage. No injuries were reported.
On Wednesday, Amish could be seen at almost every property along U.S. Route 322 — which took the brunt of the storm’s fury — combing debris from farm fields so they can be worked again, loading trash into a large tub rigged for burning, and tearing off shattered barn roofs or replacing them with metal sheets.
“They’re trying to clear the metal and wood from (a resident’s 15- to 20-acre) field so they can still harvest the corn and so they’ll be ready to plow in the spring,” Babb said. “Those cornfields don’t belong to the Amish, but they’re trying to help everybody.”
Andover Christian Church and the township-based Laker Ruritan Club made sure the traveling groups were fed, he said.
At the trustees’ Monday meeting, they voted to purchase a discounted 40-yard dumpster for residents to dump debris. It was placed Wednesday at the township garage. Babb asked that residents only dump debris headed to the landfill, and place sheet and scrap metal to the side.
The township has also temporarily waived its zoning fee for tornado-damaged properties, in light of the ongoing cleanup and extensive repairs. Zoning permits for rebuilding or large repairs must still be obtained, however.
Community Care Committee of Andover has organized a concert fundraiser Dec. 2 at the Ashtabula County Fairgrounds 4-H Building to benefit all tornado victims, said Mary Brown, president of the nonprofit group. The band Hill-Top Honey volunteered to perform.
Doors are set to open at 5 p.m. with a bar serving mixed drinks and beer. Rigatoni and meatballs, salad and Italian bread will be served at 6 p.m., followed by dessert. Hill-Top Honey is set to take the stage at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $25 per each person 18 years and older, and can be purchased at the door or by calling Brown at (440) 223-0701. She said all proceeds will be “disbursed evenly” between all residents affected by the tornado — “every penny goes back to the community.”
Babb said township officials “want to put a big ‘thank you’ out there to everybody — the official volunteers and even the individuals showing up to help.”
Atlee Shetler, an Amish man living along U.S. Route 322, was replacing wire fencing around his property Wednesday afternoon. He said he has “much to be thankful for.”
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.
FOLLOW JUSTIN DENNIS on Twitter @justindennis.
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