When he got outside, he could see them about 50 yards away and set off for them. But the current pulled him to their right and into a clump of shrubs.

     "I was calling out, trying to calm them," Luisi said.

     Eventually, another rescuer came on the scene and herded the boys toward the priest's perch. The three huddled together there in the strong, cold current, holding hands and the nearby bushes at the same time.

     "My goal was to keep them calm by praying, telling jokes and telling them not to panic," Luisi said.

     A half hour to an hour later, two rescuers from Johnstown arrived by boat and Luisi and the boys, after donning life preserver vests, heaved themselves into the craft. The boat headed toward the rectory.

     But it was immediately apparent they couldn't get in the doors. The only way of reaching second-floor safety would be by climbing the grillwork on a side door and breaking a window.

     On the second try, Luisi said, "I ... used the anchor of the boat to break the window. We crawled inside.

     "The real heroes were the rescue team from Johnstown."

     That team went on to help 22 people, including the police chief, who were stranded on the Mansfield Bridge.

     Luisi noted that two of the three men who helped him with the boys were named Chris. "It's like Jesus was using St. Christopher to rescue us," he said.

Carlynton mobilizes to feed 700

     A bright yellow placard labeled "Crisis Response Handbook" posted on a bulletin board in the Carlynton High School cafeteria kitchen tells employees how to handle everything from bomb threats to chemical spills to hostage standoffs.

     It does not, however, offer instructions on how to prepare, package, and deliver 700 meals in 30 minutes to folks whose homes and businesses have been destroyed in a historic flood.

     No, Carlynton cafeteria staff and a group of dedicated volunteers had to figure that part out on their own.

     Somehow, they managed to do it not once but twice a day last week from Monday through Friday, as the high school became part of the central nervous system for relief efforts.

     Feeding flood victims was part of a districtwide effort by students, faculty and administrators to help those affected by the flooding. Other assistance including removing furniture from victims' houses, cleaning, and providing moral support.

     The high school, which was largely unaffected by the Hurricane Ivan flooding, offered its gym locker rooms so people without water could get hot showers.

     Baby-sitting was made available, the Boy Scouts held a clothing drive at the school, and the strong backs of the football team helped people dig out of the mess.

     Scott Monniger manages Carlynton's food service program for Aramark. His normal daily routine includes handling logistics, buying food, planning menus and balancing nutritional concerns for the district, not "feeding the entire town of Carnegie," as he put it.

     But he had been able to help, so he was game for the challenge.

     Monniger said that regular staff showed up on Monday as if it were business as usual, even though, by one staffer's estimate, this was at least 10 times as much work as on a normal day.

     Past and present teachers and alumni volunteered as well to help lighten the load and they relied heavily on donations to pull through. "It's massive. We'd need an entire newspaper just to list all of the donations we've received."

     Vernee Smith, a 1997 Carlynton graduate, came down with her mother, who teaches home economics in the district, to make and distribute food.

     "People are so appreciative of every little thing. I gave someone a bottle of bleach and you would have thought it was gold," Smith said.

     If bleach was gold, then food must have been more precious than platinum. Last Thursday's dinner -- pasta and sauce, with bread and a snack -- was prepared post-haste, and to the untrained eye, the kitchen activity appeared to be complete chaos.

     But the staff worked methodically, if not furiously, like a military mess hall preparing for chow.

     "Get some more pasta over here! "Where are the apples and candy bars?" "We need 29 more meals!" In about 30 minutes, Monniger's team cooked, packaged and sent 700 meals off for delivery to the Carnegie business district.

     More volunteers drove the meals down and announce their arrival with a bullhorn. If Monniger was the head coach for this operation, then his assistant, Lisa Hartman, was the quarterback.

     Monniger said Hartman, who lives in Whitehall, could have taken the week off, and wasn't even sure if she'd be given compensation for her time and efforts. That was little matter to her.

     "It might sound [trite] but the hardest part of all of this is wishing that we could do more so many more people could eat," Hartman said. " I went down on site and some of those people have nothing. I just thank God that I didn't have to go through that ordeal."

     Erin Oddi, a regular morning cook for the district, summed up the day and week just about perfectly. "It's been long and tiring," she sighed. "I could use a beer."

     Susan Zuppello, who used an oar-sized stirrer to boil pasta shells in an industrial sized vat, agreed. "Come Monday, we'll be dragging, but that's all right," she said.

     The sign at the Szafranski-Eberlein Funeral Home on Third Street at First Avenue says what Carnegie residents hope: Don't think for even a second that the borough is through.

     According to funeral home owner Paul Eberlein, the sign initially read "Hey Ivan, We are the Eberleins. We never never never never quit." It was the idea of his niece, Kathleen Buehler, 13.

     But after the sign was up for a few days, the word "Carnegie" was written over "the Eberleins" as a symbol of resolve for all of the borough.

     Eberlein said the Sept. 17 flood destroyed the basement, first floor and garage, which housed two automobiles. As an exclamation point, the rushing water actually picked up a refrigerator and deposited it on top of one of the cars.

     But there was another force at work that day, Eberlein believes.

     A statue of Christ that sat on a wooden stand in the lobby remained in place, even though everything around it was pretty much destroyed.

     A third force took over when the water receded.

     Bishop Canevin's football players, their parents and students from Carlynton High School helped clean out the business to the extent that Eberlein's contractor was to begin reconstruction work yesterday. Repairs are estimated to take a month.

     The volunteer help is the only reason the funeral home is able to begin reconstruction so soon, Eberlein said. In the meantime, his business remains in operation through the temporary use of cell phones and borrowed space.

     "We'll bounce back big time," he predicted.

     Though much work remains to be done throughout Carnegie, signs of renewed life are evident. A number of businesses have reopened, including Moretti Real Estate and D&J Records on East Main Street and Snyder Auto on Third Avenue. Citizens Bank on West Main Street is expected to open for half-days this week.

     "Every major thoroughfare is open and the vast majority of side streets are open," police Chief Jeffrey Harbin reported late Monday.

     "The day-to-day needs of the flood victims also have been met, with the municipal building serving as a command center that served three meals a day.

     "There are people over in Irishtown [a section of the borough that was flooded] that haven't asked for a damn thing. Other people have never eaten as good as they did," the chief said.

     "I think we will have met the immediate needs of the flood victims, such as food, clothing and shelter, by the end of this week," said Harbin, who expects to see the food and donated clothing transferred to service agencies by that time.

     Council President Dorothy Kelly said she was overwhelmed by the response to Carnegie, a town that she said died in one day.

     "It's very, very sad, and yet it's so wonderful to see human beings come forward to help each other," Kelly said.

     Besides help from many citizen volunteers, the Red Cross and Salvation Army were on hand, as were eight uniformed Tzu Chi, a Buddhist international relief group that took individual servings of Chinese food to affected neighborhoods.

     Less visible, perhaps, has been the impact on the volunteer agencies themselves.

     Heather L. Demsher, treasurer of the Carnegie Volunteer Fire and Rescue Bureau, said the company established in 1972 has sustained extensive damage.

     "We've been totally devastated; we've lost over $500,000 in equipment by our building being flooded. Plus we lost a pumper, ladder truck, ambulance, computers, paperwork -- everything that was 5 feet down and below in the building," she said.

     "[A disaster] certainly pulls the community together," Eberlein agreed.