‘Music & the Spoken Word’ to highlight volunteers who helped after Teton Dam disaster

SALT LAKE CITY — As eastern Idaho commemorates the breaking of the Teton Dam on June 5, 1976, the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square is making those who helped after the flood a focus of its upcoming broadcast.

“As much as 80 billion gallons of water poured through the breach, flooding thousands of homes and leaving entire communities buried in mud and wreckage. Lives were lost, families were separated, and the hope of repair and renewal seemed far distant,” wrote Derrick Porter, who narrates the program’s “Spoken Word.” “But almost immediately, another force began to flow — one more enduring than the rushing waters that preceded it. More than 40,000 volunteers arrived from nearby communities with one purpose: to help wherever and however they could. They came to heal, to lift, to strengthen, and to love.”

Porter quoted Isaiah, calling these volunteers “repairer(s) of the breach” — not just repairing physical structures, but in giving food, shelter, faith and prayer.

“And just as a powerful force of love and service flowed into eastern Idaho 50 years ago, so too can we offer our hearts, hands, and support today to those who stand in need,” Porter said.

Read his full commentary here.

“Music & the Spoken Word” was first broadcast on radio in 1929, and it’s now carried over 2,000 radio and television stations with more than 4,500 episodes, and is the world’s longest continuing network broadcast, according to the choir, which is affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This episode will air at 9:30 a.m. Sunday. You can stream it here.