Community lends hand to help flooded Bethel Park horse farm

Normally, the stream that runs through Elizabeth Pagano’s Bethel Park property is so shallow and serene that her 2-year-old son, Chase, can stand in it safely.
Even during the worst storms she can remember, the water did no more than dampen some of the indoor riding arena at Hunter Spring Farm, where her family has boarded horses and offered lessons since the early 1980s.

Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Despite her own flooding issues, Tammy Morran, right, welcomed Elizabeth Pagano’s horses to Saddle Brook Stables.
“I recently made the decision to leave my day job, and follow my dream and teach riding lessons full-time,” she said last week. “This is my first week back to full-time teaching.”
She was ready for 20 new students, five of whom took lessons June 20 as the sky grew progressively darker. The final session was scheduled to wrap up at 8:30 p.m., but Pagano decided to cut it about 10 minutes short because of the downpour that was drumming heavily against the arena’s roof.
The bridge for the driveway connecting the farm with Stoltz Road stands several feet above the stream. By the time the student’s mother was ready to leave, the water had risen to bridge level.
“I helped her cross the stream and get out,” Pagano recalled, “and then the water surged completely over my concrete driveway and was almost up to my knees.
“When I walked back through my barn, my indoor riding arena was starting to get wet. And within about a minute and a half, it went from just looking damp to all of a sudden it was coming halfway up to my shin,” she continued. “It started rushing through my barn, into the back of the arena, blowing past me into the main barn, filling the horses’ stalls with water.”
The good news is that with the help of friend Jen Wright and her daughter, Trinity, Pagano was able to rescue all nine horses and take them to safety. But the water caused a significant amount of damage, especially to the riding arena, and she did not qualify for flood insurance.
“Without having my arena, I am not able to teach any horseback riding lessons,” Pagano said. “I’m in the Air Force National Guard. I do my drill weekend once a month. But that’s not enough income for me to support my family. So until I’m able to put my arena back together, my whole livelihood is gone.”
As has been the case in many such circumstances arising from the June 20 flooding, help soon was on the way, starting with Saddle Brook Stables and South Park Stables, which took in the Hunter Spring horses late that night.
When Pagano called Saddle Brook owner Tammy Morran, she was dealing with her own issues.

Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Elizabeth Pagano and Elliott
“I was busy diverting the water and assessing our damage. Our main issue is that we lost our driveway. It’s inaccessible,” she said. But as far as providing a place for Pagano’s horses: “I didn’t think twice about it.”
Pagano also has received assistance from everyone from volunteers who have pitched in with cleanup efforts at the farm to individuals and businesses who have provided food and supplies. One gentleman she’d never met before, after learning about the situation through social media, donated nearly $500 worth of gravel for the stalls and arena.
Social media also brought her story to the attention of Becky Luzier, head coach of the Bethel Park High School girls’ lacrosse team and president of a small organization called the Black Hawk Family Relief Fund.
“We came together a year ago in response to two catastrophic medical emergencies in our girls’ lacrosse community here in Bethel,” she said. “What I’ve learned to be very typical of Bethel Park is that when something is wrong, everybody wants to jump into action and provide assistance to their neighbors. But we needed a centralized way to actually helped people.”
An expediently arranged pasta dinner raised funds, with $2,600 distributed to the families, with a portion of the money retained for future Bethel Park considerations.
“Here came these torrential rains, and we all of a sudden had another catastrophic situation going on in our community,” Luzier said.
When she learned how it affected Pagano, she and others on the relief fund board decided to provide her with financial assistance. Plus they’re helping to organize a fundraising event featuring pony rides and other attractions for children, at this point scheduled from 3 to 7:30 p.m. June 29, at Hunter Spring Farm, 1514 Stoltz Road.

Elizabeth Pagano with her 2-year-old son, Chase
Luzier also has learned that the relief fund can act as a conduit to provide direct assistance to members of the community at large.
“We’re one of the few, if not the only group, based in Bethel Park that’s actually in a position to distribute funds to individuals directly,” she explained. “Most of the bylaws of the big organizations only allow them to distribute to a civic group.”
Meanwhile, the work was continuing at Pagano’s farm, with her expressing extreme gratitude.
“People have brought shovels and two hands ready to work,” she said. “It has been the most amazing outreach.”
Go Fund Me pages have been set up for Hunter Spring Farm and the Black Hawk Family Relief Fund: www.gofundme.com/restoring-hunter-spring-farm and www.gofundme.com/black-hawk-family-relief-fund.