‘Flood 50’ revs up the night with fast times at Rexburg Classic Car Show and 70s Fashion Show
David Pace
REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) – Rexburg’s launched its ‘Flood 50’ week-long celebration Monday, honoring the 50th anniversary of the day the Teton Dam burst.
The disaster on June 5, 1976, inundated the Upper Valley with 80 billion gallons of water.
Rexburg commemorated the milestone with a blast to the past – hosting a Classic Car Show Monday on Center Street.
Classic car collector Paul Sorensen shared his memories from the day of the flood.
“It was one of the biggest disasters that we’ve ever been through. But the community pulled together, and we had a lot of help from people outside, and we survived,” Sorensen said. “I was In fifth grade, just going into fifth grade. So I spent my entire summer shoveling mud out of the bottom of basements because we were small enough, we could get in the crawl spaces, drag the buckets over half full, and then let men lift them up and get them out.”
The evening culminated with a ’70s Flashback Fashion Show and Tribute Band” concert at the Romance Theater.
Students from Brigham Young University-Idaho strutted across stage, showing off custom 70’s outfits.
Much of the clothing was designed by the students themselves.
Additionally, Rexburg is hosting ‘Flood 50’ events each day this week.
Downtown walking tours are available every day from 10 AM to 4 PM. You can pick up a map at City Hall to follow the path of the flood.
A “Flood of Memories” documentary will be shown at the Romance Theater every day from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.
Daily service projects are also being hosted by Madison County, Brigham Young University-Idaho and the Kiwanis Club.
On Saturday, the week culminates with a massive “Celebration of Service” at the BYU-Idaho Center.
For more information and a full schedule of events, visit tetonflood50.org.