Just after lunch on the afternoon of September 1st, I sat and pondered the approach of the second major hurricane to bear down on the Florida peninsula. Between prayers for Hurricane Frances to head out to the open Atlantic, I became frustrated. I was thinking that although my work that day had long-term value to the citizens of the City of Orlando, that these citizens had many other pressing demands of their government and its employees. I felt compelled to act on this impression in some way.

Well, the “wrong” prayer was answered later that afternoon. Instead of Frances taking a right turn out to sea, an email popped into my mailbox. It was from our Mayor and asked for interested employees to volunteer to assist in the City’s effort to clean up some of the debris still piled around the City that was caused by Hurricane Charley. I found out later that this plan to put “all hands on deck” was germinated by the City’s Code Enforcement Division Manager, a long-time friend who I had known since my undergraduate days at the University of Central Florida (he was the newspaper editor and I was the student body comptroller). He was having the same thoughts as I was regarding the needs of our citizens as the hurricane approached.

The next morning I reported to work in shorts and a tee shirt. What a treat! Needless to say, many of the other office workers that joined me that morning were also unrecognizable in their new work clothes. And the smell of sunscreen was in the air! As we awaited our assignments, water and work gloves were distributed and the Mayor gave us a pep talk. All of the City Commissioners were there, ready to attack the sections of their districts that they believed needed the most help. Maps were distributed and myself and Andrea Wilson, a Senior Auditor in our office, joined a crew led by City Commissioner Patti Sheahan. Also in this motley crew was the City’s Arts and Entertainment Director, General Administration Deputy Director, Downtown Business Development Manager, Aide to the City Clerk, and several others. We used our own vehicles to trail a pickup truck with a flatbed attached in which Commissioner Sheahan led the charge into her district.

First, our caravan pulled up to a downtown church that had a large pile of debris. We got to work gathering the tree limbs and tossing them in the flatbed. As we worked to fill the capacity of the flatbed, a local TV news crew arrived. As they interviewed the commissioner, we continued our work. Although I didn’t see it (I tend to avoid local TV news), I was told that our crew was featured during a story on the City administrative workers getting involved in cleanup efforts.

Our morning continued with trips throughout the City to pick up debris and our crew became a real “dream” team. We traversed the City finding debris piles that appeared to have material that we thought would be able to take flight during winds generated by the upcoming hurricane. We would fill the flatbed, travel to one of several debris collection sites and add the material we collected to the many other piles being generated by the City’s regular work crews.

In order to get through this sweaty, filthy work, we found ways to make ourselves even more efficient. It was interesting to see how our team coalesced and each of us found a role to play to make the work less mundane and more rewarding. One thing that really increased our enthusiasm was how fast we could offload the debris we collected. We devised a system to put the larger trees limbs along the bottom of the flatbed and add smaller debris on top. If we were lucky, one unified tug on the larger debris would allow the entire load to slide right off the back of the flatbed. When that happened, it really gave us a jolt of energy as we made our way to the next pile of debris.

Lest you think we were instant experts, let me reassure you. I still have the remnants of the scratches I added to my leg as I dragged limbs off the flatbed and banged them every which way. And I will always remember trying to yank something free from the debris pile and, in the process, elbowing Commissioner Sheahan in the eye. Now my career is complete, as I can “brag” that I let a Commissioner “have it” one day! Also, you would have lost count at the number of times I was pulling a piece of debris, lost my grip and fell on my (you know what).

By the end of our day together, our motley team was something to see. During one of our final debris removal pickups, off a downtown side street , we were met by the Orlando Sentinel’s City Hall beat writer. As he observed our group, he observed our enthusiasm and camaraderie and chipped in to help pile debris onto the flatbed! While I took a break and mopped my brow, he asked me a few questions and then asked my name. I told him and he smiled and said, “George, I didn’t recognize you!” I guess the sweat and grime I was wearing that day was a bit different from what I was wearing the other times I had spoken to him over the years!

After we were dismissed that day, I returned to City Hall to shower, check my email and decompress. As I sat in my office, recovering from the day’s efforts, I received a call from the Sentinel writer. He wanted me to know that he was writing a story about our efforts. As I read the story the next day, I was pleased that our citizens would be reading a positive story about the dedicated employees we have here at the City of Orlando. I was also full of pride at having contributed in a small way to assisting the citizens as they prepared for Hurricane Frances.

Little did we know that Hurricane Jeanne was lurking! But that is another story for another day!