Pulling Together in the Canyon : Common goals unite Silverado’s residents in times of need

Silverado Canyon residents put up with a lot in exchange for being well off the beaten path in Orange County. Every fire season, their homes are at peril from flames. Every rainy season, Silverado Creek poses a flood threat.

None of this has dampened the inhabitants’ enthusiasm. In fact, it has sustained and inspired their willingness to collaborate with their neighbors. The canyon’s population numbers a bit over 2,000.

In an impressive display of volunteerism this fall, more than 100 residents pitched in for a six-week assault on giant reeds overrunning the creek banks that threatened to make any flooding this winter worse.

The reeds grow 25 feet high or more, form walls along streams and clog the waterways enough to form small dams that divert water into homes and over roads. Longtime Silverado residents still remember the havoc the 1969 floods caused. At that time, every bridge in the canyon and most of the main roads washed out.

The Orange County Fire Authority helped with the clearing of reeds, as did church volunteers and parolees from the state Department of Corrections. But rather than sit back and let others do the work, the Silverado residents pitched in. Some cut down reeds, and others carried them away. Some made sandwiches.

When it was over, the residents celebrated with a well-deserved tailgate party to celebrate the removal of 165 stubborn tons of reed.

Residents of the canyon, which is hard by the Cleveland National Forest, are known for their individualism and love for the rural life. But they also are known for getting involved and helping one another out. Sherry Meddick, who helped organize the project, summed up their spirit: “You hear a kid scream, you don’t care whose kid it is. You just get out and fix it. Living out here carries some responsibility.”

That sort of neighborliness could stand replication elsewhere. Keeping an eye out on others on the block or around the corner pays dividends both for those who benefit directly and for the community as a whole as it develops a sense of common goals.