A Tribute to Rural Tornado Relief Volunteers
Over the past few months, I have come to know Loretta Gillespie, a writer for the Cullman Times and the Moulton Advertiser, and when I read this article that she wrote in the Moulton paper last week, I asked her if I could share it with our readers. She and her editor gave approval to reprint the article, so I hope this helps give some recognition to some of Alabama’s unsung heroes during and after the April 27th tornado outbreak:
Moulton Advertiser
Loretta Gillespie
May 7, 2011
“I Love Me Some Rednecks”
“Most all of us around here have born the brunt of remarks from people outside Lawrence County about being rednecks. Well, I’m here to tell you right now that I love me some Lawrence County rednecks!
Rednecks have Poulan chainsaws, bulldozers, four-wheelers and big ol’ trucks – and they know how to use ‘em. They aren’t afraid of getting dirty or of hard work.
As soon as the wind died down, they were the first ones out there, clearing the roads for emergency vehicles to get to where they needed to be. They were standing up to their knees in debris so that people could get out of their driveways. They were checking on neighbors who lived in the hardest hit areas where cars and normal vehicles didn’t stand a chance.
If you were the victim of the storm and found your driveway miraculously cleared, you can thank a redneck. If you have a brush pile a mile high and you didn’t do it yourself, you can thank a redneck. If someone brought you a shirt to put on your back that day, or hauled your furniture to a storage facility, you can probably thank a redneck.
Those good ol’ boys waded through water filled with gas and glass, nails and torn tin roofs and no telling what else to offer assistance to people stranded in the rubble of their homes. They worn camo jackets and John Deere caps, spit tobacco and more than likely did a little cussing, but they got the job done, and they are the ones who are still out there cutting up trees and burning brush long into the night, just as they have been ever since the storms hit.
They didn’t wait to be asked…they just ‘got ‘er done’ in the true sense of the phrase. They didn’t stand around jawing and waiting for someone else to take charge, they went to work doing what they do best – moving earth, pushing aside massive trees with root systems as big around as a VW, and tossing aside boards with splinters the size of kitchen knives.
And they did all this without any thought of their own comfort or safety. They put their scuffed cowboy boots and worn work boots on the ground and tread across roof beams and unsteady floors to make sure there was no one left inside the wreckage of everything from two –story brick houses to mobile home and barns. They already had a flashlight and a pocket knife with them.
They rounded up their neighbor’s cattle and horses and coaxed kittens out of trees where the wind had tossed them and they cried like babies when they found someone’s hunting dog broken and bleeding.
They waded into poultry houses and caught terrified chickens, and tossed mountains of dead ones onto piles to burn. They began to hang tarps and nail plywood over broken windows to save their cousins and other kin folk’s belongings. They didn’t stop for hours on end, hooking chains to cars, trees and any and everything that had landed helter-skelter as the tornados tore through.
Rednecks just show up when there is work to be done. They drive up and with a silent nod, they just pitch in, salvaging refrigerators and hooking up generators. They don’t care if they look cool and they don’t have to shave before they leave the house. They are tough as nails and love their mamas fiercely. They still say ‘Yes, ma’m’ and ‘No, sir,’ to anyone older than they are. They eat cornbread and pinto beans and drink tea so sweet a spoon will stand straight up in the glass. They sweat and swear and have grease under their nails sometimes. They can deliver a calf and half an hour later be sitting in church, scrubbed to a fare-the-well. And did they ever save the day when the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed and the wind knocked down the houses where they were born?
They don’t do it for the glory, and wouldn’t dream of taking a dime for it, and are sometimes even offended if someone asks how much they are owed ‘cause that’s what rednecks do – they drive loud trucks, bobcats and front-end loaders, they crank cantankerous chain saws and they know the feel of rope burns and blistered faces. They get those red necks from the sun beating down relentlessly as they labor in the dust and smoke from all the brush fires. They think sun-screen is for sissies and they don’t worry much about anti-bacterial soap or drink fruit- flavored water.
Give me a Lawrence County redneck any day when trouble comes – when fences get blown over and the lights go out, and there are trees and houses strewn like matchsticks as far as the eye can see, what in the world would we do without these rednecks?
Thanks to all of you dear rednecks, you deserve medals for what you have done in the past few weeks. And don’t think the world didn’t notice, they did. In fact, somebody is probably writing a country song about you as you read this.”
Loretta Gillespie writes for the Moulton Advertiser and the Cullman Times.
-Jason
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Comments
Category: Hodgepodge
Maybe after all this we could get them to pave our roads.the commissioners thinkl we still drive horse and buggies while they rebuild Moulton with all the tax money.
Oh Yes we know what they are doing.
I loved your article! It was awesome. I am proud of you and proud of our rednecks!
Yes maam, that the Alabama I know and they are like that all over this great state. Thank God my home’s in Alabama!
Loved the story. Very well written and stated. I love living here in Cullman county (farmland) where people just do what it takes to keep daily life going without sitting around waiting for the govment (yes, I intended to spell it that way) to show up with free money. If a tree falls across a country road, someone (anyone) will remove it without waiting to be asked or paid. That is just the way things are done in our rural area.
this is how it is done in Australia when things go wrong the whole community band together the whole of Australia band together and fix up the problem this is the beautiful part of life and people are beautiful when disaster strikes this is when you see the hearts of people like in Alabama like in Australia
A heartwarming article about a heartwrenching experience for many. Thank God there are still many people in this great land of the USA who care about helping others and loving their neighbour as they love themselves. They do the Lord proud, I am sure.
I forgot to add in my previous post, I’m an American living in England for the past 18 years.
REBEL YELL!!! THIS IS NO SURPRISE TO ME…NONE AT ALL..I LIVE IN VIRGINIA…WE HAVE THOSE ‘REDNECKS’ HERE ALSO…I LOVE THEM ALL..THEY WILL HELP YOU IN A HEART BEAT…JUST A SMALL EXAMPLE, NO BIGGIE HAS A TORNADO…
JUST WAS IN A STORE, AND GOT QUITE A BIT OF GROCERIES, AND FIND OUT MY MONEY IS AT HOME….
THE GUY IN FRONT OF ME LOOKED AROUND, AND I SEEN THE TOBACCO RUNNING DOWN HIS CHIN,DIRTY CAP, WORK WORN HANDS…HE SAID, TO THE CASHIER, ‘I’LL TAKE CARE OF THAT…PAID FOR MY GROCERIES,$50 ARE MORE…
I THANKED HIM, AND ASK HOW TO GET HIS MONEY TO HIM..HE SAID, DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT…HAVEN’T SEEN HIM FROM THAT DAY TO THIS…YES, THANKS TO ALL THE ‘REDNECKS’ OUT THERE…VIRGINIA DILLMAN
What an interesting story, and how great that everyone there pitched in as they did. Where would we be without those that are willing to help without anyone suggesting that they do it, or without expecting reward.
Sounds like real country people, as that’s the ways it happens here in Australia also.
Just imagine how things would look if everyone waited for those in authority to fix the problem!
Well done to you all, and I hope your lives are restored soon and that you don’t have any more of those terrible storms.
This describes the men I grew up with. I am from Mississippi but have Alabama ancestors. So proud of my rednecks – they’re good people!
AN EXCELLANT STORY…WHEN TORNADOE #21 PASSED US,OUR HOUSE WAS SPARED,BUT NOT SOME OF OUR TREES.MEN CAME WITHIN MINUTES TO CLEAR THE ROADS.EVERYWHERE WE WENT,THIS SCENE WAS REPEATED OVER & OVER,BlESS THEM ALL…..SOUTH CULLMAN COUNTY
Wow, how very well written! I have never read or heard such a graceful and accurate description of what us usually considered a bunch of unruly backward folks. I have never been more proud of my “redneck” heritage. To me, that was just a bunch of folks, taking care of their neighbors, the way it’s supposed to be, and the way I thought it used to be!
Great article, well written, gotta love me some rednecks, too!!!
AMEN to your article. Many, many thanks to all those rednecks! You are my kind of people!
“Southern by the grace of God!”
THANK YOU JESUS!! Born and raised in Georgia and proud of it! We can kick butt and hug you at the same time! It’s just fine with me to be a redneck – get in there anytime – get the job done – go to the next project! Most southernerns are rednecks and very proud of it. That’s why God made rednecks … to git ‘er done!! Wonderful, amazing, and informative article! Thanks to everyone that helped in this time of need! You are certainly appreciated! THANK GOD FOR REDNECKS!! We love you all!
God bless you Alabama Red Necks! We have many like Y’all here in Oklahoma that did the same thing after the Piedmont OK. tornado. Many thanks to all.
From an “old” Red Neck.
After reading Loretta’s article in the Moulton Advertiser, I wrote a song titled, “From a Redneck Point of View.” She is a gifted writer and I was fortunate that the article was published at the time I was working on the song. It’s amazing how people responded to help the tornado victims and I love the way Loretta honored them with her article. I hope my song conveys the same message of thanks.
Mike Owens, Hatton
I have seen this all my life. Neighbors and complete strangers helping each other without a second thought seems to come naturally in the south. I would say it’s “southerners” just being themselves, the way they were raised to be. “Redneck” is meant to be a slur, a derogatory term used to belittle southerners. The word “redneck” conjures up images of ignorant,toothless,inconsiderate,uncivilized backward people, which is exactly the opposite of what I saw during this disaster. Throughout the course of this entire catastrophe I saw “southerners” helping each other anyway they could…I don’t recall any “rednecks”.
Loved the article! It’s just wonderful being in neighborhoods where life seems to move just a tad bit slower. I now live in Los Angeles…where everyone is in such a rush everywhere….the grocery store, the freeway, work, the doctors….etc. There are no hellos and many many good-byes.
I came from a wonderful rural town…having the opportunity to live there for a few years..tucked away in northern, ca…a quaint little town, called Newman. Now, everyone was helping everyone there…many Hellos and very few good-byes. These were hard working, get your hands dirty….kind of people.
I love hearing that many of the old values our grandparents had….are still showing up in neighborhoods and cities today.
Thanks again for the wonderful article!