! WAKLEY AMBER DOROTHY DROBNEY, DROBNEY PHOTOGRAPHY ! DOROTHY DROBNEY, DROBNEY PHOTOGRAPHY AMBER WAKLEY
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t’s that time of year when warm fires return to forgotten stoves and smoke gently billows from the crown of masonry chimneys. Bonfires welcome groups of friends and family, cutting the cool air with a warm glow. It’s the signal of a new season. In Monson, the Wilson Family is igniting these favorite fall pastimes with their home-based business, Tornado Firestarters. But these aren’t typical fire starters; they are the collective effort of a tight-knit family looking to make a difference in their local community. Seth and Amy, with the encouragement of their children Jack and Isabelle, have manufactured something good from twisted wood. Their endeavor began in the aftermath of the 2011 tornado and October snowstorm. The outbreak of storms began in early June with an EF3 rated tornado ripping through the Connecticut River Valley and into Monson; surely an event that has not escaped the memories of residents in its path. Damaging winds around 60 MPH and fierce hail plagued the earth, the swath of devastation was just 100 yards from the Wilson home. Isabelle was at swim practice as the storm progressed eastward
to Monson. “My brother and mom came to get me; Jack told me there was a tornado warning and hail was coming down really hard,” recalls Isabelle. “I didn’t have time to change, we had to go. On the way home we had to stop under trees because the hail was so bad we thought it was going to break the windshield. When we got home I looked out the window and saw leaves and debris everywhere. I kept yelling, it’s a twister, it’s a twister!” The Wilson family hunkered down, opening windows to relieve the pressure within their home before retreating to the basement. Once the storm has passed they reemerged. Remarkably, their home and property was mostly unscathed, at least in comparison to their neighbors. “We didn’t have damage at our house – we had branches and shards – but just 100 yards away it was much different,” remembers Amy. “Our neighbor called, hysterical, asking if we were okay. The woods at her house were just gone, the house was okay, but everything else was ripped apart.” “Our neighbors got hit really bad,” says Isabelle. “We walked GOLOCALMAGAZINES.COM 47