Hi from Neil

Wednesday P.M.

After working Wednesday we all had appetites for a real southern treat, a Lousiana dinner hosted by Reverand Lance's grandmother, Frances! We drove for an hour around Lake Ponchatrian to Slidell, Lousiana, almost to Mississippi and just off the Gulf of Mexico. We were warmly welcomed and sent to the serving table. I started with fried chicken, added some cornbread, then some turkey neck, cajun potatoes, sweet corn, beans and rice, and sausage. OOOEEEE was it good!!! Then it was time to bring out the crawfish. Cookie gave us lessons on how to pull the tails and "suck the heads". Some of us were not quite ready for that, but I loved it, and Dave from Minnetonka had a crawfish eating race, but lost to the neighbor next door. We then finished off with sweet potato pie and some peach cobbler, which was THE BEST!!!

Then it was time to chat. All the neighbors come to these feasts. We heard stories of the storm and how they all watched out and took care of each other. Grandma was in her home as the storm hit. They think tornados passed overhead, as some trees were snapped off way up high. Luckily none hit the house. However, the storm surge then came off the lake and the gulf and brought water into the neighborhood. It was decided that the neighbor would help Frances get to higher ground down the block. Water rose from a few feet when they started out to neck high very quickly. They reached safety at a home on stilts a couple of doors away (when it was built everyone thought the homeowner was crazy to raise it up, now we know better). Some arrived later by boat and could step out to the second floor balcony. We were shown a magazine article which tells their story and has pictures of these great people, their homes, and the house on stilts. If you want to see it, pictures on are on colorsnw.com. As it turned out, over thirty people spent several days at the house! Now the residents including Frances, live in trailors in their yards, waiting for permission to refurbish the insides of their homes, which have been gutted and cleaned.

Besides the great food, there was lots of laughing, making of new friends and many, many thanks once again for us spending our few days helping out. Everyone appreciates every little thing so much, including the fact that they are still around and together!


Thursday A.M.

This morning our group returned to the Boys and Girls Club or Girls and Boys Club depending on who you ask. Things were cleaned up and painting finished for a grand reopening. Speakers from the Club and the local baseball team thanked everyone involved in the rebuilding. The newspaper and TV stations were present. Even the mascot, a nutria, was there. Apparently these creatures roam the swamps, look them up. We heard from some former pros who told how the club was important to them and the kids of the community of the West Bank. It was really touching. We were given hats and pizza, posed for pictures, and invited to tonight's opening game of the season. This is very symbolic since the ballfield basically became an army base after the storm, but the owner said they would not leave. They have made it back as the whole city hopes to do. This afternoon some of us will be enjoying a thank you swamp boat ride, and some will return to the school to learn what we might do after we return home. Our time is almost done, we feel we have made a tiny dent in all that needs to be done. However, to see that a new group will roll in behind us, and the hard work everyone is doing, we have to believe that one day New Orleans will rise again!