Sunday, March 4, 2007
Final Report Written
I hope you find the pictures and the commentary interesting. The report is 19 typewritten pages long and has many pictures; therefore, it might take a little extra time to load in your browser.
Best regards,
Grandpa Mitch
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Thank You Notes





Thursday, January 25, 2007
Putting the Shuck on a Yankee
As slices are passed out, someone ends up getting the slice with the plastic baby. The tradition demands that the person who gets the baby must supply the king cake for the next event. Well the eleven teachers of fourth grade saw to it that a huge King Cake was present when I ate lunch with them the second time.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a cute, little baby peeking out from the side of my slice. He was pulled out for the picture. Speculation abounds as to how.... out of eleven participants...... the Columbus Yankee ended up with the responsibility to buy the next cake.
What's Left of My Neighborhood

The bigger question was one of options. The insurance industry is balking on payments because of arguments whether the damage was flood, or wind or whatnot, money was in short supply for most home owners. Speculators are offering $20,000 for houses which were appraised at $160,000 pre-Katrina. Many don't have any choice but to rebuild, because of the economics of the situation. There isn't enough cash from the sale of their homes plus any insurance payments to build a similar home anywhere else. Many, over half, have decided not to return to the city, and have sold to speculators or simply walked away.
The second daunting question is, "who else is going to be in the neighborhood?" The number of vacant lots is staggering, and the number of former residents who will eventually restore the gutted hulks in the neighborhood hangs in the air. Put your self in their shoes. Even if the house is paid for, there isn't enough in the bank to build a home somewhere else, which would cost fifty percent more. Drive down a street, and you are greeted by the scene above - Block after block after block of empty shells and lots which have been cleared down to the building slabs. The school where your children attended is no longer there (11 of 13 are gone). Gutted wrecks, as seen below, still stand.

These pictures were not selected for their shock value. The questions discussed above were the ones shared with me by many residents. "Do I want to be the first one to move back into a neighborhood, which has only one house out of fifty still inhabitable?" "Will my friends and neighbors return?" "Will the neighborhood ever have the same "feel" it had before the storm?" "Will the commercial establishments return, so I will be able to purchase the goods and services I need?" All legitimate questions/
Life in the FEMA Trailer


Or, after dinner...... Let's kick back and relax on the couch a while before turning in. We have only been here for seventeen months, and the contractor says the house could be finished by July (weather permitting). Does anyone know where we put the broom?
Trip Down Main Street - Judge Perez Parkway






Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The Lighter Side At Andrew Jackson Elementary




The kids had a special assembly today from a group know as the Islenos (meaning islanders). In 1762 Louis XIV gave Louisiana to his cousin, Charles III, King of Spain. He did so to keep the English from getting their hands on it. In 1777 Bernard Galvez was sent to protect and govern Louisiana (St. Bernard Parish is named for him), and he brought eight shiploads of Canary Island inhabitants (2,031) and more followed.

These people have lived in the area ever since, and have maintained much of their culture. They aided in the overthrow of the British from Louisiana through Florida, and later became the Captain General of Louisiana and Florida, as well as Viceroy of Mexico. In the assembly several of the Islenos people presented information on their culture to the kids. Note the infamous "blue tarp" being used as a floor in they gymnasiam in the picture.