PRATTSVILLE - Nearly a year after Tropical Storm Irene barreled down on the small town of Prattsville, the community came together to celebrate the progress it has made with an event called MudFest.
Organizers said MudFest would give neighbors the chance to play in the mud, instead of clean it up as they had this time last year.
MudFest kicked off Saturday with a play, BBQ and fireworks at night. Organizers said the planning for the event started about a month back but that in the last week efforts were ramped up.
"I just love my town and I've lived here almost all my life and I just want it back. And we're getting it back," Stella Cross, an Irene survivor said.
Cross said her home had been destroyed by Irene but vowed to rebuild.
"Everything in my house looked like they poured thick chocolate on it and stirred it up. You couldn't tell a couch from a table. There was three-and-a-half feet of mud and five feet of water," Cross said.
News10 spoke with Cross back in March when she received a bedroom set that had been donated by DoubleTree Hotels.
At 83-years-young, she said she was making some of the home repairs herself.
Cross was one of the many volunteers at MudFest Saturday. The community marking the one year anniversary of Irene with a celebration of the progress being made each day.
"We've been knocked down but we haven't been knocked out. I think that's something we want to show people around the nation and around the world. That a small community is definitely worth saving," Greg Town, Co-Chair of MudFest said.
MudFest continued Sunday with mud related events including volleyball, slip and slide, a tug-of-war and more.
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