SOMERS, N.Y. - When Ken Duskin and his wife returned home after the October snow storm, they could hardly recognize their antique house on Primrose Street.
There was devastation everywhere, said the 82-year-old Duskin. It was overwhelming. I was so distraught I just went to bed and said a prayer for some kind of help. About 9:38 the next morning, Gary [Forbes] called. He came over, looked around and went into action.
Forbes knew the Duskin home might qualify for assistance from Habitat for Humanity. He had simply telephoned to ask if Habitat had been in touch. When he heard about the storm destruction, he rounded up fellow members of the Somers Lions Club.
The next thing Duskin knew, there was a dumpster on his property, donated by City Carting, a chipper, donated by Lawton Adams, and 35 or 40 members of the Lions Club, cutting and sawing and dragging broken branches around.
When we got there, you couldnt walk around the house there was so much brush, said Forbes. Now it really looks nice. We took care of anything dangerous and we split up firewood. Our priority is to keep it weatherized. Hopefully it will be buttoned up and be nice and cozy for the winter.
Cleaning up the property will be an ongoing project, said Lion Bud Von Heyn, who helped raked up debris on Veterans Day.
This guy was a Korean War vet," he said. "So theres something symbolic about coming here today.
Forbes said many volunteers helped with the hard work.
They say that many hands make light work, said Forbes. It was a lot of hands but it wasnt very light work. He added, We want to do as much as we can to help them live out their years.
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