When Myrtle Weinmeier talks about the fire that consumed her family’s home earlier this month, she is overcome with emotion. But when she talks about the outpouring of support that followed the fire, she is equally overwrought.
“Without this community, I don’t think I would have survived,” she said. “They have been so supportive. I can’t say enough about this community – they’re there when you need them.”
On Saturday night, Myrtle, and her two sons Peter and Michael, attended a benefit dance pulled together within two weeks by the board of the Boscombe Community Centre, and attended by a huge contingent of the Boscombe community, and others.
Weinmeier was just getting out of the shower when she realized her Boscombe-area home was on fire. While the family was able to escape unharmed, the entire mobile home was destroyed, something she could never have prepared for, a “very stressful, very emotional, very overwhelming” experience.
“Within 15 minutes, it was gone,” she said, adding she would never be able to live in another trailer after the incident.
But shortly after the fire, her co-worker at Peavey Mart put out an all-call for goods for the family, and several people responded, donating everything from couches, tables, clothing, blankets, pillows, dishes, and more.
“We weren’t expecting this at all,” Weinmeier said on Saturday night, her voice choked with emotion. The benefit dance, which featured music put on by Clarence Smith and Friends, also saw several people generously donating to the family, with the St. Paul Lions contributing $1,000 to the family.
And while the family’s material goods could be replaced, there are some things that can never be replaced, including the heartache of losing their dog, Missy. Since her husband’s death a couple of years ago, Myrtle says the family had babied his dog, “spoiled her rotten,” and loved her like a baby.
When they realized there was a fire, they called for her, but she didn’t respond. Myrtle said the family assumes the dog had gone into hiding, despite her son Michael’s attempt to enter the home with a cloth over his face, while calling for her.
While Missy’s loss was sorely felt, Myrtle noted one positive came out of the tragedy, in finding solace and comfort from the support of her family.
“We’ve bonded a lot more after the fire,” she said of her son Michael. “When he sees me stressed, he’ll take me out for coffee and talk, and I’ll do the same for him.”
She and her sons have a plan to move from their temporary digs, staying with Myrtle’s mother, and buying their own home. However, she knows she won’t be coming back to Boscombe right away.
“I hear the birds singing, I see the stars, I see wildlife,” she said of her old home, located in the midst of the wild. When she thought about moving away from the country, she realized, ‘I might miss this,’ and put her head down and cried for 20 minutes.
Some days, it seems like they are moving forward, while other days are more difficult.
“It’s slowly coming together.”
Boscombe board members said they felt they had to do something for their neighbour and friend; as Barry Sallstrom said, “It’s just giving back to the community. When hard times fall, you try to help them the best you can.”
Smith, who donated his time and musical talents on Saturday evening along with the other entertainers, said he was compelled to help, since Weinmeier was his next-door neighbour and good friend.
“It’s very important to help people who have bad luck, or tragedy in their lives,” he said, then surveying the packed crowd at the hall. “This is a good community that pulls together. It’s got the community spirit.”
