After the storm

By

Local News

June 7, 2019 - 5:05 PM

LAWRENCE ? As Karen Pendleton surveyed the damage Tuesday afternoon from a May 28 tornado that hit her and her husband John?s flower and vegetable market east of town, she vacillated as to what the future holds in store. 

?We love what we do,? Pendleton said as she picked her way through shards of glass, pummeled plants and downed wires. ?But I don?t really want to start all over again. I?ve done that, several times.?

The Pendletons lost five of their seven greenhouses. On Thursday, 100 members of the Free State High School football team were scheduled to take down the last of the affected greenhouses. 

Of their seven vehicles, six were heavily damaged. A machine shed is gone, as is a hay barn.

The tornado struck the north side of their home, blowing out windows, flooding the interior, and sending two walls sailing. Stately trees that surrounded their 110-year-old home have been shorn of their limbs, leaving twisted trunks. In her mind?s eye Karen recalled each. ?Hackberry, box elder, white pine, ash and sycamore.?

?If you ever want to know what to give someone who?s been through a tornado, a tree is a good gift,? she said.

Though they know they have some big questions to answer, the now is pressing.

?I have a wedding this weekend, a big wedding the following weekend, and then the Symphony in the Flint Hills the following,? she said.

And will you be able to provide?

?Well, we?ll see,? she said. ?My plan is to.?

 

A NATIVE of Iola, Karen is the daughter of the late Mo and Rose Mary Riley who for many years farmed and raised cattle in rural Piqua. 

Karen and her three siblings, Gregg, Jolene and Phillip, grew up doing chores.

When waiting to interview her Tuesday afternoon, Karen?s younger staff members peppered this reporter with questions about Karen.

?What was she like in high school?? ?Was she smart??

Musically gifted, Karen played flute and piccolo in band, the alto sax in jazz band, and the violin in the school symphony. 

For six weeks every summer throughout high school she attended music camp at the University of Kansas.

?I thought I was headed to KU to major in music,? she said.

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