Samantha Weideman
DIGITAL EDITOR
After three months of cleanup following historic flooding this spring, Junkstock returned to Sycamore Farms just in time for their summer event, Underneath the Stars.
With the help of at least 50 volunteers from the community and organizations like My City Church and Fusion Medical Staffing, the team at Junkstock worked hard to haul away ‘literal ton after ton’ of sand from the 130-acre, century-old farm.
“We had so many awesome volunteers who spent hours in the mud and muck with us,” said Danelle Schlegelmilch, spokeswoman and co-founder of Junkstock. “We are so thankful for everyone’s hard work.”
The team had to keep recovery simple, making small lists and crossing things off one at a time. The little things–like dry socks, cookies and meals taken to volunteers— helped keep morale up during cleanup efforts.
“It was absolutely devastating and overwhelming there for a while,” Schlegelmilch said. “We honestly just had to take it one day at a time. We were a bit like Dory on “Finding Nemo” — we just kept swimming.”
The team will continue to work on projects in the months to come.
“In the last few months, we have gotten a ton of work done,” Schlegelmilch said. “It’s just a big job to clean up the 40-acre sandbar that the Elkhorn River left.”
Underneath the Stars went on despite the threat of rain all weekend, allowing festivalgoers to roam the grounds at night, and visit more than 130 vendors, grab a bite to eat, listen to live music or take a spin on a Ferris wheel from the 1950s.
