Hop’s Blog

Last night quite a few of us enjoyed the other side of New Orleans: Bourbon Street. I know the tale of two cities might seem rather expected, but that’s exactly what this place is. The people on Bourbon Street sure know how to have fun…and then some.

Earlier, we had started off the night with a final group gathering: a pizza & beer party. We found out that the Archdiocesan policy doesn’t allow beer on the grounds, so we headed across the street to an abandoned house. But a guy named Rocket, who was remodeling his home next door, invited us all over and regaled us with stories and jokes with a lot of local flavor.

On our last day today, we were ready to go at it again, but ended up not really doing much of anything. The first house we headed to belonged to an elderly couple…the woman has cancer and the man is blind. The house, which is located right next to a canal within sight of the Superdome, was in one of the worst neighborhoods we’ve seen so far. Not from flood damage so much as how blighted it was before the disaster. Since it was knocked partially off its footings, it’s scheduled for demolition. Our job was to empty the belongings. But after a quick inspection, our leader determined it wasn’t structurally safe to enter. Another more professional group will have to take care of it.

So, we headed to the next site in the Broadmoor neighborhood…a study in contrasts to the last house, but only a short distance away. The mixed-race area is full of well-maintained homes on a live-oak lined street with a flurry of rebuilding activity going on. The water level was probably about 8 feet here 17 months ago. Most homes had two stories, so they made it through OK. After a quick check of the upper level of this duplex (the bottom half has already been renovated), our leader said it wasn’t storm damaged enough to meet the criteria of the program. We headed back to our base to get wait for the other half our group and start on the 20-hour trip home.

Speaking of the other group, I haven’t introduced you to them yet. I’ve gotten to know them socially in the evenings, but haven’t had a chance to work alongside them, so I don’t have as much background. But, take a look:

Alex Albers, Tom Georgia and Mike Reynders are three students at St. Norbert College. They gave up the last week of their break to come down and do this.

Paul Albers is Alex’s dad, and a plumber by trade. He’s been enjoying doing something different: demolition rather than construction & renovation.

Ed Skoldberg is a New Jersey transplant, entrepreneur and consultant who’s enjoying being a stay-at-home dad with young children right now…although he can’t quite resist coming up with new business ideas.

Denis Vanden Heuvel is a shipping and receiving manager at Broadway Automotive in Green Bay. He’s always in good spirits and tells a heck of a story.

Kay Street and Madeline Turner are two nurses in different fields in Green Bay. From all reports, they were like the Energizer bunny…just kept going and going and going…

Jenny Ruechel is a second grade teacher at Notre Dame school in De Pere. She seems quiet and shy, but I know you can’t be if you’re a teacher. And that’s been confirmed on the trip…she’s reportedly a force with a hammer and pry bar.

Ray and Karen Brown are a retired couple who are known by everybody at Lourdes. They sing, they teach, they greet, they minister. And they’ve both got a very unexpected brand of humor. You’ll have to travel with them to find out what I mean. A lot of fun, these two are.

Janice Loehlein works at Cellcom in De Pere. I’ve seen her a lot around church, but never really had a chance to meet her before. A wonderful woman with a big heart and well liked by everyone.

Chris Hasselbacher is a social worker with Brown County. She’s a self-appointed adoptive mom for the week for Jared in our group. Hadn’t met her before, either…everyone speaks very highly of her, as well.

Bob Krzwina is an electrician, father of three and religious ed teacher. His youngest boys – twins – are in my son’s class. I’ve gotten to know his family over the past few years teaching religious ed and through school. Another quiet guy, but great sense of humor and hard worker.

And last but not least is Mike Vander Bloomen. Without our deacon, none of this would have been possible. He’s a great guy…an unassuming leader who’s very easygoing, down-to-earth, supportive and humorous, as well. I’ll be eternally grateful to him for answering the call for help and inviting the rest of us along on the experience.

Well, the car’s heading out…I’ll do a wrap-up tomorrow.