ARMADA TWP, Mich. (WXYZ) — We're just three weeks away from the one year anniversary of an EF-1 tornado ripping through Armada Township.
Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the damage is still visible on homes and businesses.
As this tight knit rural community marks one of its darkest days, the Armada Area Historical Society is asking residents to share their personal accounts of that day, via photos and stories.
“Please print out the pictures that you think are significant to your story. And sit down with us, maybe it will only take 5 minutes to write it all out," said Pat Gakstatter, a member of the Historical Society who is running this special event.
They're asking residents to bring hard copy photos and written records of what they saw, heard, and experienced on July 24, 2021 so that they may catalog them for posterity.
The collection is happening Sunday, July 24 from 1-4 p.m. at We The People, located at 23010 East Main Street in Armada.
Gakstatter said they're still working on a way to digitize this project so that people can add to it remotely, but for now they're asking for hard copy submissions only, and they should be no larger than a sheet of paper.
Lawrence and Jacqueline Pascoe can't escape thinking about the tornado. That's because nearly a year later, they're still not back in their home.
“We’re living in a double-wide trailer," Lawrence told Action News.
Their home on the outskirts of the Village of Armada was badly damaged by strong wind gusts, but thankfully their four animals weren't hurt.
“We were in shock," Lawrence said. "We saw the damage and just wondered from there, what we were going to do."
Thankfully insurance is covering their home repairs, but it's taking far longer than they'd planned or hoped for.
“If we’re lucky we’ll be in there in the next 90 days. If we’re not lucky, it’ll be by Christmas maybe," Lawrence said.
Gakstatter said this project is not just about posterity, it's also about saying thank you.
“I’ve heard stories that somebody came every day from Roseville, don’t have any idea who this individual was, and helped," she said.
She's hoping that perhaps with enough personal stories, residents can help fill in the gaps in some Good Samaritan stories.
She remembered seeing on a daily basis people helping people, and strangers stepping up.
"These are the kinds of things I'm hoping we get pictures of," she said.
