Cedar Rapids: Day 2 of 2

Day 2 started was another solid day.
The group got to the African America Museum of Iowa before 9 o'clock, making sure all was ready to go for the day. At 9 a.m. on the nose, one person walked in with a couple of very old photos that belongs to his wife. Just after that, another person walked in with a plastic bag of photos.

Katie manned one of the copy stands, Jan plugged away on the files coming from that stand on the computer, inputting information about the order, while Margie, the Crossen family, including Scott's two teenage children who were very proactive and a big support and his wife, helped to talk with people about their photos, organize the order for Katie, take information and keep things running. By Day 2, it was a smooth working machine.

It was a slow but steady flow of people visiting for the morning portion of the day, then got pretty quiet in the afternoon, and had more people who up in the last half-hour we were there. Again, we continued to hear stories about the flood, the photos, and where people are now. Some are back in their homes, some are trying to get back in their homes. We heard a mix of people who had thrown out most of their photographs, to others who had not gone through them yet at all. Some heard about us on the radio, some a community calendar, some the paper, and some television.

All-in-all, it was a successful trip. More photos gathered, more memories that will be restored, more people who are helped in a unique way.

Photos are and will be going up to the Photoshelter galleries. Thanks for your continued support of these fine people who have been through so much, but have their photos to look forward to among other things.