Beyond the Byline: 'Agnes' shows how we lost our everythings

Feb. 28—WILKES-BARRE — I realize it's the beginning of March and we are still in the deep throes of a pandemic, but this week I want to talk about June of 1972, the Agnes Flood and its devastation.

My dad and I, still feeling the tremendous loss of my mom, decided to leave our family home and move to Main Street — or as we would come to learn, smack dab in the middle of the flood plain.

We had a cozy apartment on West Main Street — just enough room for everything we had left to set up our new home. And we brought with us every single item of sentimental value that we had that were part of the all too brief life of my mom.

We had pictures, jewelry, yearbooks, diplomas, recipes, cookbooks — like I said, everything that still connected us to my mom.

And in one violent rush of brown river water, all of our everythings was swept away.

It's the kind of experience that never lets go of you, and one that often conjures up the most terrible of times. Not to mention the sights, sounds and smells of that flood.

Over the years, the sting of the 1972 flood has subsided little. I know several people that when the mere mention of the Susquehanna River rising send them into panic, and they move most of their everythings to the second floor or higher. It's an event that produces stress in all who went through the flood.

Yet we pause to remember it every year on the anniversary — June 23. On that date, we seem to have a willingness to talk about our personal experiences. We share with fellow flood victims and those who weren't even around back then, just how awful it was. We detail the devastation. We lament about all that we lost. We express fear of it happening again. We seek some closure to an event that, in reality, we will never be able to forget.

Alan K. Stout, a former colleague here at the Times Leader, has been spearheading the Agnes Flood Documentary Project and its documentary, "Agnes."

Stout has enlisted a group to get the project done that includes State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, Tony Brooks, historical consultant; Bob Savakinus, director; Tim Novotney, editor; Richard Briggs, creative consultant. For more information about the project, visit — www.facebook.com/agnes72.

The documentary will include national news broadcasts of Agnes (CBS, NBC and ABC) and local video provided by WBRE-TV, WNEP-TV, WVIA-TV and the former WDAU-TV. It will also include newspaper coverage of Agnes, photos from the four published books on the flood, plus photos and home video provided by local residents.

Stout told me the project still needs financial support to assure its completion. You can help make the film become a reality by making a small donation. Stout says every dollar helps, so please know that $5, $10, $15, $20 and $25 donations will, in the end, be the difference in helping ensure that the film is completed.

Stout said "Agnes" is a nonprofit project which is being done in cooperation with the Wilkes-Barre Preservation Society, a 501c3 organization. Most of the work being done on the film is being done on a volunteer basis, though there will be some production costs and licensing fees.

"We have nearly 20,000 followers on our Facebook page," Stout said. "If everyone donated just a few dollars, we will absolutely be able to complete this film by June of 2022 for the 50th anniversary."

Stout said on the project's GoFundMe link you can read all about the goals of the film, watch two film trailers, watch a new video update on the project and, of course, make a donation.

To make a donation, just click the link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/agnes-flood-documentary-project.

The film will be informative, eye-opening, difficult for many to watch, but very well worth seeing and having.

Although the film will not have video evidence of all that was lost by so many flood victims, it will be stark evidence of how this larcenous flood happened.

I won't see my family photos, or my mom's jewelry, or her recipes or all those items I cherished, like record albums, trophies, awards, yearbooks and so much more.

All of those everythings are gone, but remain in my memory bank.

I can't wait to watch "Agnes" and see again what happened when everybody's everythings were swept away.

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