Bayou La Batre

We made a second trip to Bayou La Batre on 9/22, this time with two pickup loads supplies for the hurricane victims. Taking the trip were Larry Hill, council 3568, Glenn Halvorson, council 3568 and assembly 2051, and Andy Ritter, council 13512 and assembly 2051. Larry's and Glenn's trucks were used.

The supplies included clothing, linens, toys, etc. donated by St. Barnabus parish and organized by Rosemary Gagliano. Also included were numerous purchased items of non-perishable foods, inflatable mattresses, baby food, cooking utensils, cleaning supplies, etc. We completely filled the two trucks including the unused passenger areas.

The pictures are pretty much self explanatory. Inside St. Margarets Church is a bit dark but you can see the beautiful stained glass (some blocked by plywood). The drying out is complete and the hardwood floors and pews seem to have survived. The floors will have to be re-carpeted. You can see in a couple of the pictures that the wall paneling has been removed at the height of the water damage - more than the 3 feet I reported last time. Outside you will see the parking lot behind the church, the trailer and the two PODS used for storage, and the pavilion. This is the pavilion the Archbishop uses during the blessing of the fleet each year. Pictured are, in addition to Larry and Glenn, DGK Jerry Goodrum and several ladies (sorry I didn't get their names) who run the collection and distribution operation.

They have been and are working non-stop to help anyone needing help. They're doing a great job! God bless them.
Fr. Tim, the pastor at St. Margarets, has a second parish about 15 miles away, St. Michaels. I understand they are making deliveries of supplies to St. Michaels, also.

It was a very good trip, all 670 miles of it. Thanks to Glenn and Larry for using their trucks and for doing the driving.
I do not know what damage Rita has done to the area. Let's hope it was minimal. Jerry has my contact info and I have not heard from him, yet.

Andy Ritter and others took some supplies to Bayou La Batre this past Saturday, September 10,2005. Here is the email and pictures he sent to State Council Members.

Greetings Skip.

Attached are several pictures I took Saturday in Bayou La Batre while Larry and I were there. It will be helpful to zoom in on a few of them since I could not get close to some things. St. Margaret had about 3 feet of water inside and is now being dried out. Only the green beach house was livable after the storm. Many were simply gone as you can see. Many large boats were "beached" (use zoom). The crane on the barge is being used to retrieve boats.