Neighbors gather to recognize Teton Dam Flood at annual picnic

REXBURG — The Teton Dam Flood of 1976 is an event some Rexburg citizens remember as a great devastation, but a group of neighbors have found a way to celebrate the positive outcomes through an annual picnic.

“We had a lot of fun. Even though it was a disaster-type thing, we had fun,” flood victim Lola Walker said.

Every year on or close to June 5, the day of the flood, people from the neighborhood of Second North prepare a picnic. Anyone who was affected by the flood at the time or people from the general public are invited to attend.

For the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Teton Dam Flood, held the evening of Monday, June 7, some in attendance brought special flood artifacts to display. Pat Hepworth, an organizer of the picnic, said even after many cleanups she’s still able to find remnants of the flood in her home. (Disclaimer: This reporter is related to Pat Hepworth)

“Flood mud, right today excavated from our crawl space in the basement,” Hepworth said.

At this year’s occasion, the oldest surviving members there were appointed as flood royalty. Two flood princesses and a flood queen were given decorated toilet paper crowns and cleaning essentials as their prize.

People also watched a film depicting the 8 to 10-foot wall of water wiping out their town and shared memories of the relief efforts.

“These people would come and they would work, shoveling mud, helping us wash dishes, other people took our clothing and washed it and brought it back.” Hepworth said. “After they had worked for eight to 10 hours they would thank us. I’m overwhelmed at the love that was shown to us.”

Walker said community members made the most of their time during the relief and entertained each other in the downtimes of the cleanup.

“After we had been wading around in the mud for a few weeks, we decided to have a flood fashion show, and it was really fun. We’d come in our hip boots and our work clothes,” Walker said.

Wanda Scoresby, who also lived through the flood, said she and others came to identify many miracles.

“We were thankful as time went by that it didn’t happen at night, because that would have been very disastrous. It happened at the beginning of the summer. We had a long fall to clean up, and we were blessed in many ways,” Scoresby said.

Some 50 to 60 people attended the flood picnic. Neighbors say it was a great way to recognize how far they have come since that disastrous day and how they were able to “build back better.”

“I was 35 when the flood hit. (I’m) 75 now. I can’t believe I’m that old,” Wanda’s husband, Fred Scoresby, said. “It was a devastating thing, and I’m glad I hopefully never have to go through that again.”