Ceremony at the Boys and Girls Club

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!

Hi from Chris

Our day today brought us to a Boys and Girls Club of America just over the Mississippi. Jamie, Tricia, Angie, Cindy, Dianne and I chose to do this project. Neil did another gut house instead. He wanted to see a house from the very beginning of the gutting process since our last gut house was a house that had been started by another crew. He reported that his experience was very interesting. He hauled out clothing and furniture, and tried to avoid the closed refrigerator. We were told at the beginning of the week by Anthony to never, ever open a refrigerator in a gut house. He said that the materials inside at this point are considered toxic. One whiff and you’d probably vomit on the spot.

Our day at the Boys and Girls Club was a good one. Other crews from Hands On New Orleans had been to this site already Monday and Tuesday, so a good portion of the work had already been done. The other groups had removed large sections of bleachers, so what was left for us was to remove a few walls, finish up the bleachers, pull the tile and plywood off the floors, and begin painting some of the office spaces.

This club did not receive extensive damage from the hurricanes, yet we felt happy to do the work. Getting some community spaces up and running to put a good face on the city is probably as important as anything. We’ll be helping over 300 kids have a space to go and hang out.

In the end the hope is that the club will get completely restored with a spruced up gymnasium and brand new offices. We are partnering with a local construction company and the New Orleans Zephyrs, a minor league baseball team. Those two groups are apparently putting up most of the money for the project. The construction company was kind enough to supply us with water and Gatorade all day, and with a lunch of chicken strips, French fries, and salad.

We did some really hard work today demolishing walls. The walls were held together with plaster, so even after we finished knocking them down it took forever to separate the studs from the wire mesh that held the plaster together. It was a chore. We took plenty of swings with the sledgehammer. In the morning I had energy to fire away. But by mid-morning I’d take some hacks with the sledgehammer for 10-15 minutes then need to take a break. It was exhausting.

I’m really impressed with our crew, and all of the other workers who are down here. The girls from EP amaze me. They just get in there and go to town. No questions, no waiting for guys to help them. They just do it. It’s quite inspiring. I’m proud to be down here with all the Oak Pointers. We’ve bonded and are now a tight bunch. We’ll now have this common experience to share with each other forever.

Speaking of pride, several of the Hands On crew members commented today on how impressed they are with Minnesotans. They think we’re really tough, and they are astounded by how many Minnesotans have come down to help. They say Minnesota is the state that has the most volunteers coming to New Orleans. So, we’re doing our part to help make Minnesota look good.

Boys and Girls Club of New Orleans

Cindy at the Boys and Girls Club

A Feast with Miss Frances

What a night we had last night! We spent our evening with Miss Frances, Reverand Lance's grandmother, in Slidell, Louisiana.

She and her neighbors and friends rolled out the red carpet for us, including a feast of crawdads, red beans and rice, turkey necks, sausage, head cheese, corn bread, sweet potato pie, fried chicken and more. What an experience!

Work at the Boys and Girls Club

We spent the day on Wednesday continuing a job at a Boys and Girls Club in New Orleans. All the bleachers and most of the interior walls were gutted. They'll now restore much of the inside.
Cindy and fellow Minnesotan (our crew leader for the day) Nick.