Matt Deighton directs people to a point of interest on his 153rd - and final - tour of Greensburg.
Volunteer director focusing on his recovery now
By Kollen Long
Last Updated: June 21, 2009
The book he is writing is called "Onions Will Grow Again."
Matt Deighton invites you to read into that title what you will, but he suggests with a pleasant grin that it means life will, eventually, return to normal for Greensburg citizens, who had their lives upended when a massive tornado leveled nearly the entire town on May 4, 2007.
Families will gather themselves. Houses will be rebuilt. People will recover - emotionally and physically.
Onions will grow.
After serving in the exhaustive position of volunteer coordinator of the South Central Kansas Tornado Recovery Association for nearly two years, Deighton is uniquely qualified to examine what the town has experienced, and how it is recovering.
"Look at the progress we've made," he said. "I'm so proud of my neighbors and so proud of my community. It's just awesome. How in the hell do these people do it?"
Of Willie Nelson and Buzzard Billy's
Onions may indeed grow again, but you get the clear sense that the 46-year-old Deighton, who graduated from Greensburg High School in 1981, has been forever changed - by the magnitude of the storm, and the magnitude of the responsibility he faced.
Certainly, his uneven resume - and a life experience filled with amusing oddities - didn't suggest that he would be an obvious choice to command a small army of volunteers during such a tumultuous time.
Consider, for example, that Deighton and a couple high school buddies opened an establishment called Buzzard Billy's Armadillo Bar and Grillo in Waco, Texas. Then he sold it and lived in the Caribbean "for a season" before opening up a restaurant, which handled catering jobs for George W. Bush, Anne Richards and the Dallas Cowboys.
When that business failed in the post 9-11 economy, he returned to Greensburg to serve as caregiver for his parents. In his spare time, he squeezed in the construction of a machine that washes grocery carts. It's a "zillion-dollar" invention, he assures.
All that is interesting enough, and that doesn't include the 19-day, 200-mile solo trip through the Grand Canyon in 1995 or the time he attended Willie Nelson's birthday party - stories that will have to wait for another day.
'There was no manual'
Even before the tornado hit, Deighton was experiencing life-changing hardships that sometimes accompany middle age. He said his mother started showing signs of dementia; his father, who had served as the Kiowa County engineer, succumbed to lung cancer in November 2006.
"And then," said Deighton with his customary wry grin, "came the tornado."
As the sirens wailed about 20 minutes before the tornado hit, Deighton and his mother left their home on Sycamore and went across the street to a neighbor's house, which was fortified with a concrete sub floor. Ten others were there in the basement, too, including Rick Engelken, a volunteer fireman.
Deighton said Engelken had his walkie talkie, providing the group a foreboding "play by play" from other volunteer firefighters and townspeople as the tornado approached the house.
"So we knew we were basically bull's-eye material," Deighton said.
The tornado destroyed the house - it now has a blue tarp, held down by tires, over the foundation; no one in the group was hurt.
But Deighton immediately began hearing voices of people crying for help, so he and Engelken grabbed flashlights and began searching for survivors.
Deighton navigated over, around and through all sorts of debris, adding, with emotion in his voice, that he seemed to instinctively know what power lines to avoid.
"I could feel my dad on my shoulder, telling me it was OK," he said.
Deighton and Engelken covered eight blocks, verifying the safety of 31 people.
Less than two months later, Deighton was named volunteer coordinator and logistics coordinator, positions funded by the Red Cross.
Volunteer Village, a makeshift headquarters for the relief effort, was established just north of Highway 54, off Kansas Street on the west side of town. The site had been occupied by Faith Tabernacle Church, which was destroyed. When Deighton assumed his duties, his desk was a card table with a broken leg.
The job ahead, for Deighton and all involved, was massive. The tornado, estimated to be 1.7 miles wide, destroyed 97 percent of Greensburg's infrastructure and 95 percent of the town's homes, Deighton said. Eleven people were killed.
"There was no manual about how you rebuilt from a tornado of this magnitude," he said.
'You gotta laugh'
Deighton describes himself as a "class clown," and the title is certainly well-earned, given his routine during a tour of Greensburg and two lengthy interviews.
He described Volunteer Village as "a resort - where you have to bring a sleeping bag."
During the tour, he said the land south of town "is so flat that the bump in the distance is actually a Dallas skyscraper."
He chuckled, before adding, "Some people believe that one."
And he plans to paint his storm shelter camouflage - with a bull's-eye, too.
"Come on, that's funny," he said. "You gotta laugh."
Because, as the saying goes, it beats the alternative.
Deighton said he processed more than 14,000 volunteers from at least 19 states and 13 foreign countries during his time as volunteer coordinator.
He estimates he helped 115 families. It took a toll, even on a class clown.
"You had to keep a game face on, and then go around the corner and cry," he said. "I did that every day."
New Yorker Jeff Parness knows something about rebuilding.He is the founder and executive director of the New York Says Thank You Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping repay the kindness shown the city after 9-11 attacks.
Parness and New York City firefighters helped raise the 14,000-square-foot 4-H barn on the Kiowa Fairgrounds Sept. 4 through 7 in 2008. He was impressed by Deighton's commitment.
"With a heart as big as his oversized personality, Matt has been an invaluable source of inspiration, leadership, and laughter for his beloved community of Greensburg, as well as for the thousands of volunteers from across the country who have been privileged to cross paths with him," Parness said. "He has truly lent his heart and soul to the rebuilding of Greensburg, and his town is lucky to have Matt in their midst."
Deighton's term ended March 31. Last week, he loaded his dog Molly into a school bus and gave the last "official" tour - his 153rd - of the recovering town.
When it was over, he was in a predictably sentimental mood.
"I've met some wonderful people, and by me meeting these wonderful people, it's made a better man out me," he said.
Although he is no longer on the job, Deighton said he still "puts out all kinds of fires every day." He doesn't seem to mind, but he is looking forward to concentrating on his own affairs for a change.
"I want to work on my house," he said. "I want to clean out my garage. I want to put my guttering on. I want to get my life together."
He has already started that task, at least symbolically.
On May 4, to mark the second anniversary of the storm, Deighton planted onions in his yard.
"And they're growing again," he said.
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Elliott School of Communication