First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington

New Orleans Choir Trip, May, 2006

Headquarters for us all in New Orleans was Banana Courtyard B&B, where we shared the eight rooms in the Victorian house near the French Quarter. Here Laura Prichard, our choir director, welcomes newcomers into central hallway which doubled as a lounge and gathering spot. Maria and Betty Jeanne Rueters-Ward relax on the front porch. (Thanks to Meg Candilore, John & Carolyn Hodges, Jean Ward, Laurie Francis-Wright and Rebecca Bijur for sharing photos.)

Our first full day together in New Orleans was spent in community work. A number of us worked in the UU church building, which has been gutted and is being rennovated. Meanwhile we worked cleaning the second floor for occupation by a group of young volunteers from a number of churches Houston. Another group worked helping an elderly woman reclaim her home after flooding had left her with a house so full of moldy possessions that she could barely move around. A third group worked in a community garden. Our group photo was taken as we reconvened at the church.

Sanctuary, cleared and ready for rennovation

Mopping rooms for use as temporary dormitory space.

Vacuuming rooms for use as temporary dormitory

Volunteer workers arrived that same afternoon to use the space cleared for them

Team leader takes a group to the community garden

In late afternoon we piled into our two vans and a local journalist rode with us to see more of the damaged areas of New Orleans, primarily the Ninth Ward. In the picture on the left you can see the levee.

Common Ground Relief Station

We stopped at the small relief station mentioned on this brochure -- "Common Ground Relief" is one of two stations in the Ninth Ward. This one specializes in lending tools and providing an outlet for donations. Staff here are a group of volunteers.

Our bright t-shirts are a gift of the NO UU church -- they have purchased a boxful to give to workers. On the right, an example of the momentos found in collapsed buildings -- spot the teddy bear in the center of the picture.

At Common Ground Relief, we learned of a second relief station in the Ninth Ward and we drove miles through devastated areas to find it. This center provides three hot meals a day and shower facilities for people working to restore their homes in the area. Based on tents, the center will be dismantled soon, in anticipation of hurricane season.

Our Sunday morning was spent is a variety or ways -- relaxing walks into the French Quarter for some, a visit to St. Augustine's Church for a Gospel Mass for others.

We met back at the B&B to ride together in our vans (Great thanks to Laura and Mike Prichard for all the driving they did!) to the small Presbyterian Church where the Unitarian Univeralist Church and the Community Church of New Orleans are holding joint afternoon services while working out post-Katrina arrangements for their congregations. We rehearsed, incorporating one singer from the New Orleans choir and several relatives of our choir into our singing. Alex Mercedes accompanied us on piano -- first laying eyes on one of the pieces at the rehearsal.

The service was very well attended, including a group of volunteers from Arlington Street Church and a group of young volunteers from Houston. After the service we were all invited to a pool party at a nearby home. The warm hospitality provided an additional opportunity to talk with members of the church we were visiting and to hear their stories of life post-Katrina. We feasted on a wonderful potluck spread and barbeque, including veggie burgers.

While much of the city struggles to rebuild, some areas are undamaged and "tourist New Orleans" including the famous French Quarter is still lively and lovely.

We had wonderful food. Favorite spots were "Mona Lisa"; "The Praline Connection," where Michael and Elizabeth Benefiel, Rebecca Benefiel Bijur's parents who joined us for the trip, are relaxing after beans and rice and other local specialties; and "Cafe du Monde", famous for beignets. In the picture on the right, Laura has dressed especially to show off the almost inevitable decoration in powdered sugar that is part of the beignet treat.

Monday was a day of leave takings and many trips to the airport. However those of us who were leaving late on Monday or on Tuesday made the most of the time. A work group returned to continue the work they had started on Saturday and found a warm welcome. Much more cleaning and clearing was done and some shelving was built.
Another group took a drive with Laura along the Mississippi -- the huge refinery contrasts with the grand old homes along the road. We stopped by Oak Alley Plantation long enough to photograph the famous alley of venerable oaks -- this beautiful planting preceded by many years the building of the home, which was sited to take advantage of the vista leading down to the river.

Laura Plantation has the distinction of being the only plantation openly run by women. We did not have time for a full tour but did relax on the porch and tour the grounds briefly with Laura as guide.

Our last New Orleans adventure was a swamp boat tour. Laura suggested the tour and drove the four of us to an incredibly out of the way dock, calling repeatedly as she drove to talk the tour manager into waiting for us when we ran very late arriving. In the right photo is our small amphibious craft heading across an expanse of lake toward the swamp.

Through our entire stay, Laura missed no opportunity to enrich our experience in this city she visited often with her family when whe was a child. Laura's tours included visits to several river bank plantations, Bourbon Street strolls and a talk in a cemetery late on Sunday evening. Our long lasting thanks for all of that from all of us .

Just for the record, and so that you can ply us with questions when you like, here's the crew: Laura and Mike Prichard; Carolyn, John and Coletta Hodges; Jean, Maria, Betty Jeanne and Daniel Rueters-Ward; Caryn and Alan Schweitzer; Rebecca Benefiel Bijur and her parents, Elizabeth and Michael Benefiel; Wendy Page, Meg Candilore, Laurie Francis-Wright, Nancy McDowell, Cheri Minton, and our Assistant Minister, Carlton Smith.

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