Bowness residents, Heather Moran and Jonathan Smith, survived the
worst ravages of the flood. They lost many of their treasures, had the
first two levels of their four-level-split home destroyed, like many
others were evacuated for over a week, and then returned to their home a
mere nine days ago to await contractors and many simple luxuries like
hot water and electricity. But despite everything, this positive
30-something couple says the experience was the best thing that ever
happened to them and that they wouldn't change a thing.
"It has
been an amazing experience. When something like this happens and things
go sideways, you really find out how good you've got it and how great
the people around you are," says Jonathan. Heather agrees. "We really
realized the incredible friendships that we have. It has been so
heartwarming."
In particular, the couple extends thanks to members
at the Glenmore Cricket Club, where Jonathan plays the game and is
captain of one of the teams. The club of 55 members, all of whom hail
from 13 other countries, except for Jonathan and two others, rallied to
strip the Smith's Bowness home to the studs and haul away garbage in the
aftermath of the flooding.
In addition, the team
raised $1,500 to help the Smiths with some of the costs. The cheque was
presented during the club's fundraising match for the Red Cross on
Wednesday night.
"It was a huge surprise and quite overwhelming,"
says Heather, who adds that the costs of the home renovations are still
unknown. "We are still waiting to get a contractor in - it's almost
impossible. That's why we had to go a week without hot water. We
couldn't get anyone in to put in a new tank," adds Jonathan, noting that
although the couple is taking the damage in stride, the fact that they
had just completed the first stage of renovations on the basement and on
the backyard landscaping is a bit sad.
"I think that they had put
in the last piece of drywall in the basement at 5:30 on Thursday," says
Heather. Residents of Bowness were evacuated that evening.
The
couple is also grateful to their company, Golder Associates, for
providing them with a corporate apartment to stay in during the
evacuation.
"Plus so many friends from work came to help, too. It
was incredible," says Heather, noting that one of their friends brought
Vince Davoli, the senior vice-president from Ellis Don Construction with
him during the cleanup. "He wanted to lend a hand and he ended up
helping us to clean our basement and then loaned us a generator and
heating system to dry it out. It was amazing because I thought for a
while we would never get it dry," says Heather. She also explains that
he generously donated 50 people and six trucks to the neighbourhood
cleanup and when all was told they removed over 100,000 pounds of trash
from the street.
Jonathan's avid interest in cricket grew while he
was participating in a work sojourn in Australia seven years ago. "My
company sent me over there for almost a year and I fell in love with the
sport. It was great to play at the beach or at barbecues," says
Jonathan, adding that he met Heather in Australia.
"When we came back to Calgary, cricket was a way to help attach Heather to her roots."
The
couple initially got their feet wet six years ago by watching the team
at Riley Park, where Calgarians have been playing the sport for close to
100 years. "They were so welcoming. They invited us in and made us
lunch. Right from the get-go they were amazing," recalls Heather.
The
Glenmore Cricket Club's president, Alex Storey, who's from London,
agrees that the club is pretty fantastic. "It's great to see how our
members responded. This has just brought everyone so much closer
together.
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