Stark County Ohio Gets Mini Copy Run

On July 19, 2011 Stark County Ohio received five inches of rain. As a result, homes were flooded with up to four feet of water in the basements. It was a record-setting deluge that stranded motorists and forced homes to be evacuated as well as shutting down the Akron-Conaton Airport. The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad cancelled service and the area was declared a disaster. Following is a link from the local paper on the flooding.

I had been an OPR volunteer for nearly a year and had experienced the rewards of doing restoration work on disaster damaged photos. Husband Mike had just retired and was a brand new OPR member anxious to “jump in with both feet” as he likes to say. When the opportunity to conduct a mini-copy run to Stark Country Ohio presented itself we felt there would be no better way to get in a little practice before the Joplin run.

When we arrived, we met Marisa who brought photos for her sister Andrea. Marisa was so incredibly appreciative that she could not seem to thank us enough. She had no idea such an organization existed until someone mentioned OPR to her after she’d searched high and low in vain trying to find someone to restore the damaged photos. Shad had visited the OPR website and was amazed at what we do.

After hearing from Marisa that Andrea could not even bear to look at her damaged photos it really brought home to us that no matter how much we may think our photos mean to us it’s not until all our personal photos are spread out before us covered in mud, streaked with water, torn and spotted with mildew that we fully realize that their true link to and evidence of our identity.

We have a laptop loaded with software that allows it to be tethered to our copy stand mounted camera so that we can name, preview and shoot each photo before it leaves the copy stand. With one of us feeding the photos onto the copy stand and the other operating the computer, this process moves along quite well.

We recently had an opportunity to exchange emails with Andrea and here is her reply:

“Thank you for your very sweet compliments and, again, for the amazing work you are doing. You put a smile on my face reading your details about the 2 photos you are currently work on.”. . .”I am thrilled and amazed at what you are already doing for us. Thank you soooooo much  for all of your time and effort!”

We were very fortunate to be able to facilitate an aspect of this copy run which rarely happens. A little less than three weeks after originally meeting Marisa we were able to meet with her again and we each got to give her a photo that we had personally restored for her sister. The next morning we received a thank you from Marisa which read in part:

“I also want to thank you and Mike and the rest of the OPR volunteers again for all of your restoration work. I am fascinated that strangers are willing to help and donate so much time in this beautiful way to a family they have never met. Thanks, too, for meeting me halfway both times. It was GREAT to get to meet you and Mike in person and to hear about the restoration process.”

Participating in a copy run and being able to meet and interact with the families we are helping is something that we wish everyone of our volunteers could experience at least once. It’s something long remembered and never regretted.

Pat Sluder