Vikings help in Iowa cleanup

IOWA CITY - Chad Greenway looked over the muddy, washed-out fields of City Park and shook his head. An unpleasant aroma, probably far worse a few weeks ago, permeated the air in this college town.

Greenway, a former football star at the University of Iowa, was getting one of his first looks at the devastation caused when the Iowa River flooded last month.

"It's eerie," said Greenway, his wife, Jenni, and 11-month-old daughter, Maddyn, nearby. "It's weird to think, like I was telling Zygi [Wilf, the Vikings owner], we pulled down that strip and our favorite pizza joint is there and the water was up above the door. It's just amazing to think that in April I was back here and we went to eat in that place."

Greenway, already in Iowa City in part to attend the wedding of his college roommate this weekend, was met by Wilf, Vikings Vice President of Public Affairs Lester Bagley and a few other members of the organization Friday to help clean areas of the park.

Several fans wearing Vikings jerseys, many with Greenway's No. 52 on them, came out to help, as did about 30 members of the Iowa football team and players from various high schools in the area.

In a ceremony following the hourlong cleanup, Wilf donated $25,000 to the United Way of Johnson County Flood Relief Fund; Greenway contributed $5,000 to the effort before signing autographs and posing for pictures.

"This doesn't surprise me knowing Chad, it really doesn't," said Erik Esgate, who is from nearby Coralville and was in attendance with his 9-year-old son, Ethan. "But I don't think you're usually going to see an NFL owner do this type of thing. I don't think Red McCombs would have been down here doing this."

The Vikings planned the trip to Iowa City, working with the United Way to set it up.

"I think it's a good morale booster for people to have a diversion to come out and see Chad and realize that their team is doing what we can to help everyone's morale and get them back on their feet," Wilf said. "It's one of the great things about being an owner. Being able to do this. It's unfortunate [the flooding happened], but when you have the opportunity to do something to help the community, you do it."

Mitch Overton, director of resource development with the United Way of Johnson County, said the hope is to have the baseball and softball diamonds at City Park ready for next spring. There is no overall estimate on the damage, according to Iowa City Mayor Regenia Bailey, but she estimated 250 homes and 50 businesses were affected.

The impact on the business community and campus was evident during a tour. At one point, some streets were under 8 feet of water, according to Overton; as many as 20 campus buildings were damaged.

"The recovery process is going to be long and the mood has been somber the last couple of months," Overton said. "But people are starting to shake off that mood and roll up their sleeves and get something done. It's a nice, fun thing to do here today. Get back to normal, put a smile on everybody's face and just see all the kids out here with their Vikings jerseys on."