A hard persistent rain, sometimes boisterous enough to hush the crowd, did not deter the festivities at the Saturday afternoon fund-raiser put on by Soroptimist International of Clear Lake.
“We had a bigger crowd than last year and we are thrilled at the strong showing of support,” said Brenda Crandall, event chair. “The final results are not yet tabulated, but our preliminary financials look very good.”
The Club, whose mission is to support women and girls, recently awarded three women with cash grants. Kimberly Carreno and Susanna Wright received $2000 each to help with their educational expenses and Barbara Flynn received $300 for her Cobb Mountain Tree Project.
“After the Valley Fire, we also distributed thousands of dollars in gift cards to fire survivors,” Crandall said. “The proceeds from the Spring Fling will support other similar programs such as The Nest, a program to help pregnant moms; free mammograms for women who can’t afford them; the clothes closet and prom dress project, a collaboration with Lower Lake High School; Sponsoring Survivorship, to help fight breast cancer; and more.”
Supporters enjoyed lunch to the music of long-time Soroptimist friend, David Neft. They bid on auction items and bought raffle tickets for a chance to win one of the many unique baskets prepared by club members. Major event contributors included: Monica Rosenthal of R Vineyards, who donated the wine served at the event; live auction contributors including Don Angel Cellars, Thorn Hill Vineyards, Disneyland, Go Car — Fisherman’s Wharf, the San Francisco Ballet, local artists Ron Keas and Remy McKosker, and members Pam Pitkin and Barbara McDaniel; and event table sponsors Bassin With Bob, Kathy Freeborn, and Jim and Olga Steele.
Feedback surveys indicate the highlight of the event was the featured speaker, Sandra Millers Younger, author of the book, “The Fire Outside My Window: A Survivor Tells the True Story of California’s Epic Cedar Fire.”
Six months following the Valley Fire, Millers Younger’s message of hope resonated well with the audience. She closed to a standing ovation.
Millers Younger shared her story of escape, trauma, survival and resilience. She asked the audience to think of her story as “a little peek from a fellow traveler just a few miles further down this road we’re travelling together.”
Only seven months after moving to Wildcat Canyon, an undeveloped piece of backcountry about 25 miles east of San Diego, Millers Younger and her husband watched as flames from the Cedar Fire surrounded their home. “It can happen so fast,” she said. “One day we were living in our new home, the next day we were homeless.”
Millers Younger talked about thriving after disaster and the difference between victim and survivor. “We realized that the real victims were our 12 neighbors who died in the fire. We were alive,” she said. “We were the survivors, not the victims.”
Shifting from her personal escape to the lessons she learned, Millers Younger went through her 5-point comeback formula, take-aways from surviving disaster. She said, “The comeback formula is only the first step of a longer journey that leads from survival to significance. Many of us respond to adversity by evolving from victims to survivors to thrivers. We discover that life can be richer than we imagined, in spite of disaster, and maybe because of it. We become bigger people.”
According to Millers Younger the Cedar Fire is still the biggest known recorded fire of its kind in California. She said although fires in other states and places have eclipsed the Cedar fire in acres burned and lives lost, the Cedar fire is significant because it is the first in a new vanguard of fires some are calling mega fires. “These fires burn so hot and so fast and with such an intensity, they can’t be stopped,” she said.
The family decided to rebuild in Wildcat Canyon, a decision Millers Younger said some criticized. “They thought we should have learned our lesson.” She advised that deciding to rebuild is a personal decision. “Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong to rebuild if that’s what you chose to do. To us, Wildcat Canyon was home.”
For a long time Millers Younger said she couldn’t tell her story, thinking she hadn’t suffered enough. But the first time she got the courage to stand before a group and tell her story, a friend thanked her saying, “it was like you were telling my story.”
Millers Younger closed by encouraging fire survivors to tell their stories. “Don’t hide behind any false story that you’re not enough, that you haven’t been through enough. You have and you can transform your suffering into a blessing for the world. Never doubt that you can come back from adversity, even stronger than before.”
There were many corollaries between the Cedar Fire and the Valley Fire, one of the reasons we decided to invite Millers Younger to speak at our event,” said Club President Olga Martin Steele. Anyone interested in the presentation can find it, courtesy of Clear Lake Video, at https://www.youtube.com/user/littletomeytucker.
