SUBLETTE – Here’s a testament to the indomitable human spirit: Nearly 1 year after a tornado caused about $2 million in damage at Woodhaven Lakes, the camping resort celebrated Memorial Day with startlingly high numbers.

Randy Koehler, Woodhaven Association’s director of marketing and sales, said the 14,513 people who were at the resort Memorial Day weekend represented the highest turnout since 2012.

“When the event happened last year, we were really uncertain about the future, and who would be coming back,” Koehler said. “One of the big things we discovered is this is their place. This is where they come to recreate, and they wanted to rebuild.

"People weren’t running away from here."

Lee County Sheriff John Simonton, along with his deputies and many other responders, was on the grounds for about 24 consecutive hours after an EF-2 tornado ripped through on June 22. He called the rebound a testament to Woodhaven management and its residents. He said management was easy to work with throughout the crisis and stuck staunchly to the recovery plan.

“I thought for sure, they’d lose a lot of their numbers,” he said Monday, “but the management just does an awesome job out there. It’s just amazing, how all those people want to stay out there. That says something about the community they have there.”

On June 2, he received numbers from Kevin Lally, director of the county’s Emergency Management Agency. The recovery cost Woodhaven Association alone $2 million, and insurance covered about $70,000 – the repairs to the service center roof, Section 9 playground, boundary pin disruption, and amphitheater. To cover the rest of the damage, the association had to borrow $1,880,117 from its restricted fund. Those figures don't include repairs at the 1,400 privately owned properties that were affected.

About 20,000 trees were damaged, resulting in more than 125,000 cubic yards of mulch – 1,250 truckloads that were hauled away – while 1,400 lots had tree damage, and 900 had personal property damage. More than 40 electric pedestals were damaged, and 680 campers were damaged beyond repair and removed.

Koehler credits the resort's veteran staff – many of whom have been with the association for 20-plus years – for expediting the recovery.

"The recovery was an hour-by-hour, day-by-day effort, and it was emotional for everyone involved,” he said.

The dues the association has collected from its residents are at a level it hasn’t seen in a long time, he said. The biggest effort going forward – one that began in the fall – is replanting the trees. The properties otherwise look very much the way they did a year ago, but it’s startling to see them without mature native hardwoods.

“You can rebuild a building in year, but the trees we lost will take 60 years to replace," Koehler said. "But the saving grace through it all was that no lives were lost.”

All told, 9,500 trees have been planted either on the association’s common ground or on private properties. Forrest Keeling Nursery in Elsberry, Missouri, sold the association 5,000 overstocked hardwoods at a steeply discounted price in October, and in the spring, the local Pheasants Forever chapter donated 2,500 bare-root spruce trees toward toward the replanting efforts.

Forty acres have been seeded, including 8 acres of prairie, 10 of clover and alfalfa, and 22 acres of cover crop for the trees. Pheasants Forever donated the prairie seed, oats, clover and alfalfa.

A member of the property owners has invited all the responding departments to an event July 30, to thank them by feeding them lunch and featuring them in a parade.

Village President John Stenzel said the resort is a boon to Sublette – as long as campers pass through it.

“We’ve benefited a lot from people buying gasoline and buying meat at the meat market, stuff like that,” Stenzel said. “I’m sure so does Amboy and other neighboring communities.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Total damage: $2 million*

Insurance coverage: $70,000

Money borrowed from Woodhaven Association's resctricted fund: $1,880,117

Private properties damaged: About 1,200

Campers damaged beyond repair: About 680

Trees damaged: About 20,000

Resulting mulch: More than 125,000 cubic yards

Truckloads hauled off property: 1,250

* Woodhaven Associations' common grounds only; does not include private property damage