Potting Shed owner escapes wind wreckage

Last week, when high winds toppled two mature pine trees onto Milton Pearce’s greenhouses in St. Regis, it not only took down his garden structures, it knocked him down to the ground as well.

Although he suffered serious injuries from the falling trees, and lost a substantial number of vegetables and flowers he’d been working on all spring, what really stood out in this April 4 disaster is the outpouring of love and support he’s received from all around Mineral County.

Pearce, with his impressive green thumbs, has owned and operated the Potting Shed on Highway 135 since him and wife moved to St. Regis in 2002. He recalled, “We set up for 2003 and have slowly built up to where we are now. Out of almost 48 years of marriage we have hardly had a season that we did not do greenhouse either for us or for retail.”

He was just finishing up with as customer as the gusts picked up, bringing down two enormous Ponderosa’s right on top of two of his greenhouses. Pearce detailed, “I was out working when the micro burst hit, actually seeding. I saw it hit and then the trees coming over. They say that the wood pile and the Kubota sitting there likely saved my life. It kept one of the larger trees from coming flat on the ground.”

Trapped beneath the debris, he realized his cellphone was in the house charging. But with a pocketknife he cut the plastic covering and crawled his way out. After getting inside he called for help and the St. Regis Volunteer Fire Department quickly arrived as well as an ambulance to bring him to Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains.

Following a CT scan and thorough assessment, Pearce was discharged from the ER at about 11:00 p.m. Monday night. He said, “I am very, very sore but doing fine walking. I use a cane just in case I would stumble.”

“I don't remember being hit on the nose,” shared Pearce. “Chiefly, I have broken vertebrae, compressed fractures and discs, a bruised knee, and I have a good bit of soreness to my left hip. The spinal column did not suffer, just what they call the wing tips on it. As I explain...cutting the backbone to make a T-bone.”

Within a matter of hours helping hands rallied together and started cleaning up the mess. The St. Regis Fire Department worked that evening to remove the trees. The crushed greenhouses contained most of Pearce’s inventory for his garden business, what wasn’t destroyed needed to be moved indoors to avoid being damaged by the cold.

He exclaimed, “The community has been so good to offer help. All the geraniums are at a friend’s house in a heated garage. He opens the door for lighting.”

A fellow gardener from Superior, Rachel VanRinsum was just one dozens of friends and neighbors who came last week to assist Pearce. She remarked, “So many people benefit from his garden and nursery it would be horrible not to help. He’s been a great mentor to me and my own little flower farm and nursery.”

The days following his accident Pearce has tried to rest and recover, while also visiting with lots of company VanRinsum stated, “Milton told me it has been quite steady with visitors stopping to check on him. Getting manpower and skill is what he needs now. Some donations of materials have been offered like pipe and a hoop bender so now we need help with building stub walls and attaching hoops to them for the heated greenhouse. The other big hoop house is a bigger project though.”

On April 8, a group of volunteers from the Northwest Indian Bible School and several others came out for the day. VanRinsum shared, “The clean-up crew did an amazing job! They got a temporary patch put on both greenhouses and tonight we tightened it up a bit hoping to get through this next cold spell.”

Pearce’s large hoop house was a complete loss, but his smaller heated greenhouse had one end that was spared by the tree. So, a main focus right now is to rebuild that one. A generous donor contributed eight, 25-foot pipes which can be bent into shape and put on the stub walls so it will match with the remnants of the existing one. VanRinsum explained, “What is needed is material for the stub wall and skill. Milton and I agree we are best sticking to growing things. Too bad we can’t mill the beast that caused all this destruction.”

Pearce hasn’t been able to account for how many plants he’s lost all together, but he assumed, “Many seedlings are gone and I lost all the peppers and most vegetables. We still have most of our perennials and the pansies. So, we have much to praise the Lord.”

He’s hopeful to try and restart some of his vegetables and seedling’s. But Pearce admitted, “For sure too late for peppers. I may yet seed tomatoes but heated space is the problem. Our stove only holds for four hours and I always refueled it about 2:00 a.m.”

Aside from rebuilding his greenhouses, and getting his hands back in the dirt again, his healing time frame is unknown. Pearce acknowledged, “I'm not sure. I know that I have to be very careful not to fall and all that. I can't lift much. Rest a lot.”

With the love and support of his surrounding community, Pearce is overwhelmed by all of the assistance he’s received. He expressed, “I have super neighbors that are helping with egg gathering. My wife is not really well, so I know she appreciates them as well.”

When the trees came crashing down on him and his greenhouses last week, he disclosed he was just as concerned about his plants as he was about himself. Pearce shared, “Oh, I'm sure in the recesses of my mind it was and still is there. But I believe God will get the glory from it all. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away Blessed be the name of the Lord. Thankful to be alive. Humanely, yes, it is painful to lose, and we did lose a lot, but we have a lot.”

Fundraising accounts have been set up in Milton Pearce’s name on Go Fund Me, and PayPal to help him with the costs of restoring his greenhouses and getting his Potting Shed business up and running before summer.