LUDLOW—Amid the wreckage, neighbors helped neighbors.
Zoey, 12, Cora, 10, and Ariana, 10, had been staying at a camp on the west side of the town when the floods started on Monday. They fled to an aunt’s house on higher ground.
But Tuesday afternoon, the three girls arranged a lemonade stand on Route 103 near Pond Street to raise money for those affected by the floods. Those who needed it could have the lemonade for free. Any proceeds they planned to donate to Black River Good Neighbor Services.
“People are really nice here,” Ariana said, sitting beside a jar full of dollar bills. In less than an hour, the three had already raised more than $100.
When the Black River jumped its banks on Monday, it subsumed entire roads. The water destroyed homes and businesses, sending propane tanks barreling downstream. For a time, the town was an island.
But Ludlow on Tuesday buzzed as the community worked to move on from Monday’s floods, even as the major arteries into town remained significantly damaged. Four wheelers, dirt bikes, and truck after truck sped along Route 103, covered in mud. People surveyed all that the flooding had moved. A crew with a small crane lifted a propane tank from the middle of a road. Nearby, a hot tub, still in its plastic wrapping, sat stuck in the mud on the Black River’s bank.
On Main Street, GameBird — a fried chicken spot and arcade — had its door open and a sign out front: free food.
Inside, owner and chef Wes Nicoll prepared a drool-worthy spread. An array of fried chicken sandwiches, Filipino spring rolls and drumsticks filled a table. One cooler held water, another sodas. It was all free.
“We’re just lucky enough that there’s not water damage here,” Nicoll said. He estimated the restaurant was a quarter-inch away from flooding. But the power had stayed on, the kitchen worked.
“Figured we should get out here and help the ones who need it,” he said, cooks delivering trays of hot food behind him.
In nearby Proctorsville, Outer Limits brewery had flooded, Nicoll said, so staff there generously donated beer and perishables, and spent the day volunteering in the GameBird kitchen. They’d assembled pizza kits with fresh dough, mozzarella and sauce. They’d bagged lettuce, brought free cans of beer. The idea was to create a free grocery, Nicoll said, and they were hoping to gather an even more diverse selection of food for the community.
Any donations they received, Nicoll said he hoped to give to local service workers, who would be out of work due to the flood. As a tourist town, Ludlow sees an ebb in business between the ski season and the summer.
“The post-winter lull really just ended last weekend,” Nicoll said. “Now that all gets washed away.”
On Wednesday, both GameBird and nearby restaurant Goodman’s American Pie plan to provide more extensive free meals, tag-teaming lunch and dinner, according to Nicoll.
“In times like this, I think most cooks I know, most restaurant folks I know, the instinct is to wipe up the dust and start cooking,” he said. “This is our way of showing support.”
Inside GameBird, people sat in booths devouring chicken sandwiches. Others stood by the bar, telling stories of the most extreme damage they’d seen in town.
One man stepped in from outside, moving sheepishly toward the food.
“You guys ain’t charging nothing?” the man asked.
No, Nicoll, assured him.
“You guys got a tip jar?” the man asked, pulling out his wallet, though no tip jar existed.
Another man walked toward the makeshift grocery, a $5 bill in his hand.
“I’ll just leave this here.”
