Plankinton honors explosion victims

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Matthew Gerlach, left, Colin Spinar, middle, and Kathy Guindon join hands during a moment of silence for the 10th anniversary of the Plankinton School explosion Wednesday outside the site of the old school. In remembrance of the two men who died, two wreaths were placed on the brick sign marking the site of the old school. (Chris Huber/Republic Photo)

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PLANKINTON — Hundreds of hands, young and old, clasped together around the block Wednesday at the old Plankinton school site.

It symbolized how this community remains united 10 years after an explosion destroyed its school.

Inside the new gym named after the victims of the fatal Nov. 17, 2000, propane explosion, J.P. Studeny, then-school board president, recalled the events that led up to the community’s world being turned upside down.

Despite the deaths of Chief Executive Officer Dave Grode and custodian Pat Phillips, school officials said they realized they had to come together as a community for the welfare of their students. Plankinton firefighter John Harless also was injured.

Studeny recounted how donations poured in from across the state and country. Local churches and area schools provided assistance to ensure that Plankinton students were back in school about a week after the disaster.

“We will never forget their sacrifice, the scars left by their passing from us,” he said of Grode and Phillips. “In many ways, our own lives have been transformed. However, we must always remember how we came together and rededicated ourselves to the betterment of our community, our school, our kids.”

The event drew roughly 400 people, including former teachers and school officials, local residents and officials, students, staff and administrators.

Matt Gerlach, 18, the student council vice president who served as co-emcee with president Colin Spinar, said the council decided at its first meeting to conduct the program. He said he was impressed with the turnout.

Gerlach was just a second grader when the explosion occurred. He remembered how quiet his mother, JoAnn, a nurse at Mitchell Clinic, became when she received a call about the incident.

Then she scurried about looking for medical supplies, and told him not to walk down the road to see the fire.

Planning evoked a lot of memories, said Kathy Guindon, student council adviser. But it paid off as organizers reached their goal of circling the block around the old school.

The remembrance began as participants walked three blocks north to the old school site, many carrying luminarias with their favorite school memory.

Lori Crago, who was senior class president 10 years ago, carried two yellow and two purple carnations — the school colors — in memory of Grode and Phillips.

Crago got a call from her mother that night and recalled seeing the fiery glow a few miles from town. She and her classmates went to the scene.

“I think it’s just something that maybe can give more people peace with it,” she said of the event.

As students placed their decorated luminarias on the ground, former teachers and school officials embraced old friends. Prior to silent reflection and joining of hands, two wreaths in Grode’s and Phillips’ memory were placed on the old school’s marquee on Campbell Street.

Liz Swenson, of Woonsocket, a high school math teacher at Plankinton until two years ago, brought a luminaria with both Grode’s and Phillip’s names on it.

Swenson was hired by Grode the same year he became chief executive officer. And she and Phillips started at Plankinton at the same time.

“It was such a time … you know, in our lives that we just bonded together,” she said, becoming emotional. “It’s a great way to remember the lives of the two.”

Former Business Manager Rosemary Maine, who took early retirement in 2004 and now lives in Mitchell, said she remembers how Grode and Phillips were willing to do anything for anybody.

Maine said the community has moved on in the past decade.

“You’re always going to miss the people that you lost,” she said. “A school is replaceable, and they built a nice school.”

During the program, Chris Hill, student council president in 2000-01, shared memories of attending classes at the former State Training School after the explosion. Hill credited the decision-making skills of community leaders, the school board and school staff with allowing Plankinton to continue as a school.

“It was wonderful that we still had a place to be,” he said. “We still had a school. We still had purple and gold.”

Mayor Lawron Bohr presented the school with a U.S. flag that the fire department salvaged from the old school’s remains.

Behind the podium, a large U.S. map displayed where cash, items and supplies came from, with push pins. Memorabilia was scattered on some tables.

After the program, a crowd formed around a television to watch video and news footage of the explosion.

Wendy Nedved, who was a senior on the girls’ basketball team, lost not only an administrator, but her coach. Grode also coached girls’ basketball.

She recalled how Grode teased her that day about getting flowers at school, and how she accidentally hit Phillips when she burst through the doors that Friday to welcome the weekend.

“Dave meant a lot to me as an individual and as a member of the basketball team,” she said, noting how much he cared about his players. “It changed my life completely that day. It taught me to live every day to its fullest because you never know when it will be your last.”

Josh Geppert, 22, son of the late wrestling coach Charles Geppert, looked at the South Dakota map with pins showing the location of donors’ cash and other gifts. He came partly for his father, who was hit hard by the loss of Grode and Phillips.

The younger Geppert, who was in seventh grade and at wrestling practice that day, remembered having classes at the old State Training School for a couple of months. Then they moved to temporary trailers until the new school was built, with the dedication in January 2003.

“We went so long without a place to call home, it was more of a sense of relief,” he said.

Grode and Phillips will never be far from the minds of the Plankinton community. Their photos are framed above the entrance to the gym, serving as guardians of the current school.

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