God Winks

“I have said many times that I saw God’s work more in the ten days following the tornado than I have seen my entire life,” Misty Grebner, co-owner of Moors’ Resort, said. “Somehow, I think the four of us had always just known that purchasing the resort was going to be life-changing, but none of us could have imagined just how life-changing it would be some 75 days later.” 
 
On October 1^st, Misty, along with her husband Josh and their business partners Nick and Brittany Tapp, took the reins of the business, which includes a 115-site campground, 37 cabins, a lodge with 24 guest rooms, marina with more than 250 boat slips, and Ralph’s Harborview Bar and Grill. Previous owners, Mark and Kathy Wood, spent over 30 years at the helm establishing the vacation spot as one of the premier destinations on Kentucky Lake prior to making the decision to retire last year.   
 
With big shoes to fill, the partners stepped in with an open mind and big plans for how they envisioned making their own mark in the community of resort ownership – but just two months later, it was an EF4 tornado that made its mark, and these entrepreneurs had to pivot quickly as their new business became ground zero for relief efforts while the community worked to pick up the pieces. 
 
Recalling the night of the storm, Grebner said she and her husband Josh were home with their children as well as several other family members sheltering in the basement. “We knew it had hit close to our home, but we didn’t realize there was complete destruction within a tenth of a mile until I started receiving messages and photos of some of my friends’ houses that were totally destroyed. I was in disbelief, and I remember just sitting in my chair and crying.” 
 
Brittany Tapp says she and her family had been at the high school that night for the Marshall vs. Graves County basketball game in an area of the gym with limited cell phone service. “As soon as we stepped out of the locker room, we were receiving texts that the storm was heading straight for Moors,” she recalls. While the family was able to make it from the high school to their home in Benton, they were unable to gain entry due to a power outage so they began making the trek toward their lake-area home, ending up behind multiple emergency response vehicles attempting to traverse downed power lines and trees. 
 
“The roadway was so hazardous, it took us 2.5 hours to get from the 1422 cut off on Moors Camp Highway to the Cedar Hill turnoff,” Tapp said, adding this was one of the first ‘God winks’ they experienced as they just happened to be traveling in her husband Nick’s truck and he just happened to have a chainsaw in the back. Tapp notes that neither of these things ever happen, but on this night as God would have it, Nick had exactly what he needed to assist first responders in clearing the roadway and gaining entry to the impacted area.  
 
After making their way to the area and armed with the news that their business hadn’t sustained any significant damage, the Grebners and Tapps boxed up some sandwiches at the restaurant and began assessing impacted areas by way of ATV.  They described it as being “utter destruction,” noting their community was “completely gone.”  
 
It was through this process that Grebner says she recognized there would be an ongoing immediate need in the community for meals to be served and as this ‘God wink’ unfolded, she began realizing that things were already falling into place. Tapp notes that while the resort cottages were already winterized and the kitchen mostly emptied, the group had booked several Christmas parties for the upcoming week.  
‘We had ordered all of the food, and it was literally laid out and thawed, ready to be cooked,” Grebner said. “It was like we just kept experiencing all of these little miracles that just seemed to show up without anyone even having to ask. Every time there was a need, big or small – it was met.” 
 
Operations at Moor’s Resort would be in full swing for the next eight days as staff and volunteers worked to overcome issues such as a loss of power, loss of running water, permits, the need for a refrigerated container, and numerous other obstacles that seemed to vanish as quickly as they appeared.  
 
“Somehow, we were able to provide meals to the community, first responders, emergency crews and workers as well as volunteers for more than a week,” Grebner says. By all accounts, Moors Resort became a drop site for supply donations and a hub for volunteers wanting to help impacted families – but more notably, it seemed to become a place where their tight-knit community would come to gather.  
 
On any given night, you could walk into the restaurant where you would find families enjoying the warmth and sharing a complimentary meal, telling their stories, sharing laughter, and shedding tears – exchanging warm embraces and healing hugs. “I like to think that Moors became a place where people would come so they could begin to find a little hope,” Grebner said.   
 
As it seems, these little moments offered the biggest of blessings for Tapp. “When we took over this business on October 1^st, the community really pulled together and came out to show their support for us in a big way,” she said. “These families would come out and eat every single week at our restaurant, sometimes several times a week,” she recalls. “That meant so much to us, and then the tornado struck, and you know, those same families still came in.” 
 
With recognizable emotion in her voice, she described the evenings following the storm where 20 or 30 neighbors would gather – “This group – they were not necessarily what I would call ‘friends’ before this, they did not hang out together or anything really but they would all come in, pull the tables and chairs together and they would talk and visit – not about the storm, but about normal things. Most didn’t even need a free meal,” Tapp acknowledged, “they just needed each other and a place where they could find a little normalcy, and we were so blessed to be able to have provided that for them.” 
 
Of the overwhelming undertaking, Grebner and Tapp both admit the list of volunteers who helped in the effort is a mile long. “Marshall County and people, really from all over the country – they really stepped up and supported us in this effort,” Grebner said. “The donations we received were instrumental in our being able to provide these meals and to keep our doors open. We would not have been able to do this without everyone’s help,” she said, adding that the management team and staff were key players in the whole operation.  
 
Both echoed sentiments of praise for their staff, noting many of their team members were on hand every day volunteering their time and were not even aware that they would be paid for much of their efforts. “It was very heart-warming to see that our staff are not only fabulous employees, but they are great community members too,” Grebner said. “In a crazy way, this storm has helped to renew my faith.”  
 
Not to say that she was not strong in her faith before, but she notes that standing on the front lines of the tragedy and being blessed to have witnessed the many ‘God winks’ has helped both she and Tapp see the community the world in a new light. 
 
Through it all, they say they are thankful for the opportunity to have gotten to truly know their new neighbors – adding that through weathering this storm, so many people have appeared as blessings in their lives. The two say they hope that in some way, Moors Resort will continue to serve as a blessing to others, a hub for healing and hope, and a long-lasting ‘God wink’ to the community they love and are so proud to be a part of.