Life is slowly returning back to normal at Village Green, but the tornado's destruction remains apparent, and a portion of the back campground remains closed. Watch video
Rita and Jack Lawrie, of West Springfield, survived the tornado at Village Green Campground in Brimfield. The tornado destroyed their camper, which they replaced with a new one on the same site. Jack is holding his coffee mug which was found intact following the tornado. BRIMFIELD — Jack and Rita Lawrie rode out the tornado two years ago in the cellar of the recreational hall at Village Green Campground, crawling out to find a mess of twisted trees and shattered campers, including their own.
It took them about three weeks after the June 1, 2011, tornado to start sleeping overnight again at the Route 20 campground. Now, two years later, they still summer at Village Green. This year marks their 39th year as seasonal campers.
“It’s home,” John N. “Jack” Lawrie, 72, said during a recent interview, holding a coffee cup that says “I’d rather be golfing,” one of the few items they had that survived the twister.
"People say, ‘Why in the world did you return?’” Rita A. Lawrie, 70, said. “We never left.”
When their son Jay was young they were looking for a place to just get away, and they found it at Village Green.
Their new camper sits where the old one was, before it was blown away, next to the man-made beach, where Jay learned how to swim. The place holds many happy memories for the retired West Springfield couple, memories that couldn’t be tarnished by the tornado. Even the changed landscape doesn't bother them. They used to have lots of trees at their campsite. Now they have just one, giving them a clear view of the beach, plus they can shout across the water to their neighbors, something they could never do before.
They say the tornado pulled the campers closer together. They get together in the off-season, going places like Medieval Manor in Boston.
"We truly have become a community," Rita Lawrie said.
They returned to the campground a day after the tornado, to help with the clean-up. An all-weather radio buzzes inside their tidy camper. Rita wanted it before they resumed staying overnight.
“Yes we lost everything, but we really lost nothing because we walked away from it,” she said.
Village Green, like its neighbor Quinebaug Cove Resort on East Brimfield Holland Road, is still recovering from the day the tornado touched down. Volunteers descended on both campgrounds in the days and weeks following the tornado to assist with clean-up. And a lot of the help also came – and is still coming – from the campers themselves.
The tornado also claimed a life at Village Green - Virginia "Ginger" Darlow, 52, was killed when her camper flipped over during the twister. She was one of three people who died when the tornado tore a 39-mile path of destruction from Westfield to Charlton.
Twelve campers were at Village Green when the tornado hit; another 12 drove in from Route 20, panicking and looking for shelter, according to co-owner Lester Twarowski. They crowded into the basement of a house on the property.
Life is slowly returning back to normal at Village Green, but the tornado's destruction remains apparent, and a portion of the back campground remains closed.
Piles of wood can be seen stacked around the grounds, marking the endless clean-up project that has taken place over the past two years. Before the tornado, Village Green had 97 regular campers. Now it has 28. Of the 100 acres, only 20 are being used. Pre-tornado, 30 acres were used.
Twarowski, who runs the campground with his wife Margaret, said some regulars gave up camping after the tornado, and some went elsewhere. If not for stalwarts like the Lawries and others who returned, he said they would not have rebuilt. Those campers fought for keeping the campground open, he said.
This year marks the Twarowskis' 20th anniversary owning the family campground, which is open May 1 to Oct. 15, and holds events such as "Christmas in July," potluck suppers, and Hawaiian-, retro- and western-themed weekends.
"You have your good days, your bad days, moments of total discouragement . . . then you start seeing the flowers," Twarowski said.
He said they are back "30 percent" after two years. Of the 163 campsites, only 60 are usable, he said, adding they will never be back to 163, but hopes to someday have 100 sites filled again. They also had nine apartments at the campground, but those were destroyed by the tornado, too. Both homes were damaged, but covered by insurance, as were all their buildings. But the tree removal was not, and Lester Twarowski said they've spent $50,000 to remove debris - it costs $600 a Dumpster.
The ruined trees they sell for firewood.
They've dipped into their savings, a family inheritance and rely on donations to make repairs and keep going.
"It's still a mess," he said.
"This was our retirement," he said, likening the tornado to "a stock market crash here."
"Every day's a challenge," Twarowski said.
While the recovery has been slow, there are signs that things are looking up. A new playground was installed for the children, the beach is open again this year for the first time since the tornado hit, and a new pavilion is under construction. They also will open a new store, replacing the old one that was damaged by the tornado.
It's taken Lester Twarowski two years to watch any tornado footage on television.
"You see it, you change the channel," he said. "I could've lost my entire family. There's no feeling imaginable, walking out of that cellar and seeing total devastation."
"We walked out and I didn't know where the roads went . . and you heard people's screams for help. It's still hard to talk about," Twarowski said, tearing up.
"I give these interviews to people so they cannot take it as a joke. If I can save one life because somebody took cover . . .," Twarowski said.
Quinebaug Cove, which sits on 40 acres, reopened last year; it remained closed the year of the tornado. Its season runs April 15 to Oct. 15. They have 70 owners, according to manager Laura L. Hoenig; they also have "transient" - not permanent - campers, and ones who choose to camp seasonally and not buy in as owners. New electrical and water lines had to be installed after the tornado.
"The tornado didn't stop people from coming in here," said Hoenig, adding they probably have about a half dozen new owners. "The only thing we really lost were trees. (The tornado) altered the look (of the campground), but it really hasn't devastated us as far as businesswise, granted we didn't open up for a year later. Other than that we're just trying to show people that we're open."
Michael J. McGill, general manager, said a handful of campers have not returned because their trailers were not insured and they have not been able to replace them. Landscaping remains a work in progress. There are wide, open areas that once were tree-filled and shady.
McGill credited camper Gary Thompson and his wife who have helped with sprucing up the grounds. Thompson, 58, of Blandford, said his trailer was demolished by the tornado. They replaced it, and have a little garden. Thompson also redid the entrance area with a new wooden bridge and chairs, and made new benches by the pool. He said the camper is their "summer home" and they try to be there as much as possible. He said they help work on the campground to attract new campers.
"There isn't much you can do about it," Thompson said about the tornado, "you make the best of it. A lot of people did not come back."
McGill's camper also was destroyed in the tornado. He replaced it with a larger one for his wife, three children and two dogs.
"Two years after the tornado we are now in the process of rebuilding . . . Everyone's been lending a hand and stepping up to the plate. It's pulled the Quinebaug Cove family together," McGill, of Feeding Hills, said. "Hopefully in another year we'll be back where we need to be."