RIVERDALE -- As a teenage girl, LuAnn Farr had a good job as a waitress, but she didn't spend her money on clothes or music -- she bought food storage.
"I've always had an urgency to be prepared. It's been in my blood," she said.
Her parents owned Garn's Family Drive Inn, and at 15, Farr asked if she could buy extra food from the restaurant's suppliers.
"The first thing I ordered was honey. I kept it in the garage and said, 'When I'm married, this is my stuff,' " she said.
"My husband is a builder, and when we married, I got pregnant right away, and interest rates went way crazy. He was out of work. We ate food storage. It was a miracle."
Farr's daughter, Cami Farr, of Salt Lake City, said preparedness was important in her mother's home.
"We've always done a lot of canning. She made sure we were prepared as a family. We would go to the cannery and help other people can," she said.
"It's rubbed off on us kids. We want to be prepared."
Farr hopes to rub off on those outside her family as well, which is a part of her job as the emergency preparedness leader of the Riverdale Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"I've been to seminars, been reading a lot on the Internet and go to preparedness fairs. I have a lot of friends who are into emergency preparedness that I call and e-mail," she said.
"I follow it, and it follows me."
After a bout of headaches nine years ago, Farr was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor.
She said a former co-worker recently died of the same condition and she feels her life may have been spared so she can continue teaching the community.
"I know just about every aspect of emergency preparedness except gardening. I'm working on that part," she said.
Farr has taught congregations and community groups how to store and use water and food, as well as how to make 72-hour kits and emergency car kits.
She even bought a canner for her home.
"It's been fun. We bought our own canner. People come and can food in the No. 10 cans," she said.
"Someone once came and canned their leftover Halloween candy. They thought that would be good to have (in an emergency)."
She has seen the skills she teaches benefit families.
"I taught a family who lives in the trailer park how to store water. They thought they didn't have room, but stored some underneath the trailer," she said.
"The next week, there was a water break and they had to use that water."
Farr isn't satisfied teaching just those of her faith -- she wants the whole community to be prepared.
"When I'm at the Fourth of July parade, instead of enjoying myself, I look at all the people and think about how we've got to get prepared. I think of stuff like that. I have an inner desire and need," she said.
"I would really like to see more people certified as (Community Emergency Response Team) captains and have mock disasters. The firemen are first going to go home and check on their families. Our community needs to be trained."
Four years ago, Farr organized her first emergency preparedness fair. Despite her hard work, it was a flop.
"I am very embarrassed about my first fair. It was on a beautiful Saturday in April. Life Flight came and landed in (Riverdale Park), and nobody came. They were all out doing their yards," she said.
"We had big fire trucks in the parking lot, and policemen. We had all this stuff, vendors, and nobody came. It was really, really embarrassing."
The next year, she tried a Thursday night and had more success.
Last year, 800 people came to her fair.
In 2008, Riverdale Mayor Bruce Burrows issued a proclamation naming Farr as an outstanding citizen for her work organizing the emergency fairs.
"Ladies always call me for advice about fairs. I say, 'No Saturdays,' " she said.
"She does an amazing job pulling this together," said Farr's sister, Paula Sever, of Riverdale.
"There is nothing more important for a community than to be prepared. She's a good coordinator."
This year's emergency preparedness and health fair will be Thursday at the Riverdale Community Center, 4360 S. Parker Drive.
Vendors will distribute information and hold seminars.
"It should be really, really good," said LuAnn Farr. "I'm excited."
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