Mr. Jackie Brister wanted to share a story of how he was blessed with help from a wonderful team from Louisiana after the destructive floods that hit the Texas Hill County.
Mr. Brister pastures sheep on Mike Millican’s property which adjoins neighbor Pam Wallace’s property. These properties, which are along the San Saba River, were badly damaged by the flood. The full extent was not seen until after the flood waters finally receded.
The fences, the ones still standing, were a mess with brush, tree branches, and debris all mangled together IN the fencing.
Mr. Brister relayed to me that, “the Millican place was wiped out.” The sheep were moved to higher ground and were okay, and thankfully, no sheep were lost, just fences.
Pam Wallace, neighbor to Mike Millican, was contacted by a lady from San Saba’s First Baptist Church asking if they needed help. The answer was a definite yes!
The volunteers showed up - seven men with yellow shirts, pickup trucks, a skid steer and equipment, and they were ready to work! They said, “What do we need to do, and where do we start?” The answer was easy, “Repair fences!”
They tried to salvage some of the fence, or at least some of the posts, but none of it was salvageable. They pulled up the fencing and posts and made several piles of it around the property. Mr. Brister said the plan is to eventually burn it once it gets dry. Then, whatever is left will be just the fencing, and it can be disposed of at that time.
Mr. Brister said those guys immediately went to work. Mr. Millican came into town and bought “a whole sack full of pliers” at Pecan Valley Hardware and took them back out to the crew that was already hard at work.
Mr. Brister and Mr. Millican allowed me on the property to view their work first hand.
Mr. Brister said they rebuilt the fence with 16’ long by 50” high stock panels and steel posts. They received some fencing materials that were donated from many different states including Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado. He noted that Brad Williams was the person in charge of these ranch supply donations which are coming in from everywhere by the truckload.
Mrs. Wallace described the volunteer team as “super nice guys” and could not say enough positive about the men. She had the same attitude toward them that Mr. Brister and Mr. Millican had. They were just overwhelmed with amazement of how the volunteers helped them that day. Those men spent a good eight hours out there working on the fence. They did not complain about the heat or the humidity! They just smiled and said, “This is mild. You should feel the humidity were we live in Louisiana!”
Mrs. Wallace said they took good care of them while they were there. They gave them water and Gatorade during the day, fed them lunch, and at the end of the day, her husband, Bill Wallace, took the crew out for supper at Casa Del Charro.
Mr. Brister said those volunteers were so much help, and he wanted to give each one of them recognition.
I contacted Thomas Allyn, the foreman for the crew, and he was kind enough to pass along their names. They were from Max Services out of DeQuincy, Louisiana. Mr. Allyn’s team members included Tommy Allyn, Mitchel Busby, Donald Allyn, Bobby Whittington, Ronnie Lumbley, and Desmond Dugas. They were also joined mid-trip by Zane Briant from Oklahoma. Mr. Allyn said he was a great addition to their team.
You can find out more about Max Services on their Facebook Page.
More photos of the hard work done by these volunteers will be added to our website on Friday.
On another note:
Mrs. Wallace said over 2,000 feet of fencing was destroyed on her property. She also relayed a story of their missing horses. The flood waters came up so fast, and two of their horses got trapped in the water. She said they searched and searched for three days. She lost a lot of sleep those three nights wondering where the horses were and if they were okay. Thankfully, the horses were finally found!
There are so many stories of folks being helped by others. There is no way to recognize them all. But, if you would like to share your story, you can email it to editor.sansabanews@centex.net or mail it to:
San Saba News & Star
Attn.: Editor
P O Box 815
San Saba, TX 76877