Monday, May 12, 2008

Tornado at reunion grounds


Last evening, our Mission Center president e-mailed me that our historic reunion grounds, the Ozark Campgrounds, had been hit by a tornado on Saturday night, doing much damage.

We don't know, at this point, how bad the damage is but have been told that there was extensive damage. It is located west of Neosho Missouri and east of Seneca, Missouri, which sustained major damage too.

In the past few years, we had been in the process of redoing cabins with cement board siding and sheet rock in the interiors. Three years ago, we built this new tabernacle. Several years ago we built a new dorm facility, Heritage Hall. The dining area had been redone in the early 90's. It was looking pretty good and we had been using it for youth camps and two reunions, as well as retreats. This will mean that we will have to reschedule camps and reunions this summer, perhaps cancel them. We had just begun to build a new swimming pool. I don't know at this early stage just how much that has been set back.

Also, in the off season, we had been renting the facility to other churches and groups for their camps and family reunions. That will also be impacted.

The next few days will tell. Below is a picture of the grounds
following the tornado on Saturday . The first picture is the a cabin at the grounds, then the RV park, barn and RV restrooms. The third picture is the restrooms and barn at the RV park. The bottom picture is the damaged Heritage Hall. More pictures, including a slide show of twenty or more pictures can be found At this link.
http://www.southcentralstatesmissioncenter.net/ If the link does not work, copy and paste it into your browser.



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