Cherokee County Community Organization Still Recovering From November Tornado

A non-profit community organization in Cherokee County is trying to come up with thousands of dollars to pay for damage after the tornado last November.

The Tenkiller Area Community Organization, or TACO, has had a building on the same property since 1980.

“We started from nothing, really,” TACO Charter Member Bill Sherrick said.

Now, members are doing what they can to bounce back, after the November tornado caused thousands of dollars in damage. The non-profit group hosts events year-round, and they’re getting ready for the 43rd annual Cookson Jubilee.

“It’s the only thing we have here in the way of a community building,” Sherrick said.

“We just have a lot of fun getting together,” TACO President Cindy Ballew said.

Ballew said they’ll have to pay more than $7,000 for electric work that was just done, after finding out insurance isn’t covering it.

“We had assumed, which is our fault partly too, for just taking the insurance business’s word that we were covered, because we had been covered in the past,” Ballew said.

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They also lost their cook shack, several trees, and the outdoor stage needs repairs.

Ballew said the community is already giving back. The non-profit had an estate sale, and raised nearly $2,000.

“It’s all been on the goodness and the gracious people’s hearts of giving money,” she said.

Ballew said they’ll be changing their insurance policy going forward.

In the meantime, they’re getting ready for an upcoming flea market, hoping to raise more money to pay for repairs.

The flea market will be next weekend, May 3rd and 4th, at the community building. Donations will also be accepted.