Lucas: Vogt humbled by support for hometown

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — The 19-second video is seared into Chris Vogt's memory. After learning that his hometown of Mayfield, Kentucky had been devastated by a deadly tornado, he turned to Twitter for more information and came across a graphic post from a storm chaser skilled in aerial cinematography.

Vogt hit retweet after summing up his reaction to the images in one word, "Heartbreaking…''

Days later, as you would expect, it was still on his mind.

"That drone video was just very powerful,'' he said softly.

The opening focal point is a mural on the outside wall of a building. Pictured is the Graves County Courthouse, built in 1888 – "One of the more iconic landmarks in Mayfield,'' Vogt noted – and it's accompanied by a city slogan ("More than a Memory'') and tourist pitch ("Visit Historic Downtown'').

"You zoom in on that,'' he said, "and the mural is perfectly fine and how it normally looks.''

But then, the video takes you up, up and away from normality. You notice the windows above the mural are broken out and the roof is ravaged. From there, the drone pans over blocks and blocks of destruction. "You see the path of the tornado and how much damage it caused,'' Vogt said with a sigh.

Heartbreaking... https://t.co/9I0BtdmA6A
— Chris Vogt (@ChrisVogt33) December 11, 2021

That path, he estimated, was anywhere from a half-mile to a mile from his home in Mayfield, a community of a little over 10,000 people in Western Kentucky. Vogt was born there and raised there. He lived at two different addresses in the same general area for 18 years before going to college.

"I can drive about 30 minutes in any direction except East and be in a different state,'' he said of Mayfield's geographically location to its borders. "Drive south and I'm in Tennessee. Drive west and I'm in Missouri. Drive north and I'm in Illinois.''

Jim and Allyson Vogt had driven 400 miles northeast from Mayfield to Columbus, Ohio to watch their son play Saturday against Ohio State. They returned home Sunday and reported only minor damage to their property. They didn't have power. But they picked up a generator on the return trip.

Jim is retired. He worked at a local bank and was the manager of a tobacco company. Allyson is still working as a physical therapist at the Mayfield hospital. Their two older sons are living in Louisville and Lexington. They were all out of harm's way when the tornado hit. Others weren't so fortunate.

"I've tried to reach out to people,'' Chris Vogt said. "Through mutual friends, or friends of friends, I've heard of people who had a lot of damage to their house or lost their house. Honestly, I've been kind of scared to look at the death list. It's scary to think I could see someone on there that I know.

"I'm sure I will look at it eventually. But so far, I haven't worked up the courage to do that yet.''

After Monday afternoon's practice at the Kohl Center, the 22-year-old Vogt conducted a Zoom interview with an old acquaintance from Mayfield, someone who had covered him playing high school basketball. One of their topics of discussion was the GoFundMe account that Vogt has set up.

Following the 73-55 loss to the Buckeyes, he recounted, "As we were getting ready to board the bus heading to the plane, I just pulled our ops guy aside and said, 'I want to do whatever I can to help. Setting up a GoFundMe, is that something that is feasible? Is that something allowed by the NCAA?'''

Prior to confirming that it was feasible, Vogt confided, "Getting on the bus, I went to Google and typed, 'How do I set up a GoFundMe?' I've never done anything close to this. Never tried to use my platform for anything.'
"I just remember reading stories about J.J. Watt and everything he did after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston. How much money he raised and how many people that he was able to impact and help was, in a word, inspiring. Obviously, I don't have the platform that he does.''

Watt, the former Badger defensive lineman, raised $41.6 million to rebuild Houston in 2017.

"But if I could do anything on a fraction of the scale and level that he did, I thought it would be awesome and the way I could help,'' Vogt said. "My original thought was to probably make $1,000 dollars or so. I set the goal at $10,000. But I didn't think I'd reach it. I'd just set it as the goal.

"Seeing it hit $20,000 in under 24 hours was just mindboggling to me.''

Over $60,000 had been raised Tuesday morning.

A record tornado recently hit my hometown of Mayfield, Ky. I am raising money to help the victims. Every donation and share helps. Thank you and God bless❤️🙏🏼 https://t.co/Zb8JWFrYU9
— Chris Vogt (@ChrisVogt33) December 11, 2021

"I can't put it into words how humbling it is,'' he said of the donations and diversity in the givers. "Some people I've known. Some people I've never met. And then there have been people who have watched me throughout my career at Northern Kentucky, Cincinnati and Wisconsin reaching out.

"I never imagined it would have gotten to this extent. My general plan right now (for assistance) is that I'm looking at a couple of different organizations. I've thought about the Red Cross and the Mayfield and Graves County Resources office. I'm still looking at other organizations as well.

"I'm just trying to figure out what's the best way to help people who need it the most.''

During his conversation with the Mayfield interviewer, Vogt singled out his hometown.

"It just means the world to me,'' he said. "I spent the first 18 years of my life there. I grew up there. I made so many memories there. My parents still live there. I still call it home to this day. I go back every chance I get. I can't exaggerate how much that place means to me.''

Moment later, he elaborated, "Everybody knows everybody. The people there probably wouldn't want a handout if you were offering one. It's just kind of their nature. Tough-minded, blue collar. If they want something, they want to earn it. But right now, more than ever, they need help.''

Vogt had trouble sleeping Saturday night. His mind was racing.

"It was a little overwhelming just trying to plan out everything,'' he said. "There were a lot of people who reached out and wanted to do interviews. I want to do as many interviews as possible to promote the GoFundMe. I want to raise as much money as possible to help as many people as possible.''

After doing an interview with a Madison television station Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center, Vogt had reached a point where he needed an escape, an outlet for his emotions, a space to exhale. So, he did what comes naturally. He went into the gym and began shooting baskets on his own.

"I was able to shoot for about 30 minutes to an hour,'' he said, "to take my mind off things.''

But it was only temporary. While watching the Packers roll over the Bears on Sunday Night Football, he caught NBC's color analyst Cris Collinsworth talking about the tornado that ripped through Mayfield. Collinsworth lives on the opposite end of the state in Fort Thomas, Ky.

It made him think again about how supportive people have been from all walks of life.

"It's eye-opening seeing all these different outlets and famous media members reaching out and talking about Mayfield,'' he said. "I know I can't thank people enough … who have donated or shared the (GoFundMe) link or an article or anything else … who have played any kind of role at all.''

On Wednesday night, the Badgers will take on Nicholls State at the Kohl Center. Vogt was grateful for how his teammates "did a good job of helping me dial into the game'' at Ohio State. Later this week, he also has a couple of final exams which he sees as "dividing a little bit of the stress.''

"In my 18 years that I lived there,'' he was saying now about Mayfield, "there had been only one other tornado, so it's not like it was a high-risk area. I think it was my senior year, I was in school, and we did our normal tornado drills. We didn't know how serious it was at the time.

"There was just some minor damage to a couple of buildings … but nothing close to this.''

Nothing remotely close. You couldn't blame Vogt for thinking back to that 19-second video.

"The first word that always comes to mind is heartbreaking,'' he said, "just seeing the pictures of the places that I would go by every single day, places that I would see on my way to school – and just knowing how they should look – having that fond memory in the back of my mind.

"And then seeing how it was completely torn apart by that tornado. Worse than that was seeing different neighborhoods torn apart and just thinking about the time of day that the tornado hit and thinking about all the possible families who lost loved ones …''

It remains to be seen when he will check out the list of tornado victims. But he will. As he moves forward. As Mayfield moves forward. As sure as that mural "More than a Memory'' is still intact having withstood a once in a lifetime storm and disaster.

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