Special momento, lost during Matthew, is returned

FLAGLER BEACH, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Hurricane Matthew ripped away a third of the Flagler Beach Pier.  Not only is a portion of a popular fishing spot gone, but some special memories have been swept away.

Terri and Van Brendel now have an interesting board for a wall decoration.  Van said, “We’re gonna put it in our house as a memento of the hurricane.”

This was a specially engraved board on the Flagler Pier that Van surprised Terri with last month on their 15-year anniversary.

Terri told FOX 35, “We got to the end of the pier, second to last board he said, look down, it said Van and Terri Brendel married 9/8/2001.  At that moment I started to cry. We were hugging and kissing and everybody was clapping. It was really emotional at that time.”

When Hurricane Matthew hit, it wiped away lots of boards just like the Brendel’s. It just so happens Serena Nadeau and fiancé Thomas McCort were driving by this weekend and saw the board, 13 blocks from the pier.

“I said, these people would probably love to have this back seeing as it came off the pier, so I picked it up and said I’m gonna carry it home. I’ll post it and see if I get any responses,” Serena explained.

Within a day of posting it on Facebook, she got a response, a friend of the Brendels saw their board. They contacted Van, who called Serena.

“He said, 'We’d be glad to come pick it up!' and I said, 'Absolutely!”