\"Working Herf\" - Pearlington, MS - November 22

[crazypoet]

C'mon down to Pearlington, swing a hammer, help rebuild a community and have some fine smokes at the same time...

Call it a "Working Herf" if you will. :-D

I'm bringing a box of RASS and some other fine smokes to share with anyone who comes down to play.

The more the merrier!

This is happening over the weekend before Thanksgiving - November 21 - 23.

Background and administrivia:

For those who may not know, Pearlington was pretty much "Ground Zero" for Hurricane Katrina. It's a small community on the Pearl River, near the Mississippi/Louisiana border.

Even though they are several miles inland, they had upwards of 25 feet of storm surge. The community was essentially wiped out. Since Pearlington is a (very!) small town, they've not seen a lot of "official" help (they didn't get a visit from FEMA until 17 days post-Katrina).

A small ad-hoc coalition came together to help them rebuild, and we've been working together ever since.

There will be about fifteen of us from Atlanta driving down Friday. We're joining up with some other groups to finish work on two houses, plus whatever other work may present itself. We'll work all day Saturday, then hang out Saturday evening. Depending on how tired everyone is, we may head to New Orleans (about an hour away) for dinner and a walkabout. We'll put in a couple of hours Sunday morning, and then my group is heading back to Atlanta, leaving Pearlington around noon Sunday.

[crazypoet]

Just a bump to let everyone know that this is still on!

C'mon down and play - Lisa and Rob picked out the box of RASS I'm bringing, so you know that at least the smokes are good...

[crazypoet]

Here are some of the pictures from the Pearlington Trip...

Pearlington Album

Not much cigar Porn, but some good work completed. The small green building to the right of the house we built is what FEMA provided about a year after Katrina.

The white house was built entirely by volunteers over the last several months. It's nearing completion - one more weekend and it's done.

Tonito and I worked in the master bath - installing a sink/vanity, hanging a door and fine-tuning the throne (it wobbled). Later, we worked on a walkway on the right side of the home to provide access to utilities and AC.

At the same time, my group from Atlanta was installing gutters, insulation, plumbing, trim and moulding and doing general site cleanup.

Looking around, there are still many reminders of Katrina - dead trees, bare foundations, personal belongings in the underbrush and cars rusting in the woods.

As I said earlier, it was great to meet Tonito and share a day of good hard work, great companionship and some fine smokes!

[Don Candido]

Hi CP-

It is beautiful thing seeing people helping out people who need it. No other motives. There just is not enough of that these days.

Thanks for sharing.

DC