I don't know if any of you have been to the area since the hurricane, butuntil you see the effects, it's hard to imagine. It reminds me of 9/11. People outside of the Boston-Washington-Pittsburg triangle saw it on TV, butthe next day, their lives went on. But we lived with it every day. It'ssimilar here. The hurricane is now an occasional spot in the news backeast, but it will be present here for a long time.
We're staying in a Quality Hotel in Meterie, near the airport. Our grouphas about 20 rooms. The other rooms are for displaced families. When wefirst got in, some of the other guests were hanging in the hallways andhaving a loud time. My first instinct was to ask them to keep itdown....until I realized that this hotel is their home and the hallways aretheir backyard.
We met up with Big Joe Henry at the Marriott. If you need a Santa Claus forany upcoming events, Big Joe is your man! He's got a custom-made Santa Claus suit, a custom-made "throne" and a backdrop that makes you believe in Santa. He's bigger than life...the biggest ass Santa Claus I've ever seen!Hundreds of children and their families came to get a gift from Santa andstayed on to enjoy the antics of Holiday Express. A large part of the groupof children was from a Catholic school for children who are mentallychallenged. They had a ball....so innocent and full of life. The "LoveTrain" conga line had everyone moving. They were not shy and danced with usfrom start to finish.
With a 90 minute turnaround, Holiday Express went to the Loew's Hotel to puton the show for relief workers from FEMA, Coast Guard, Navy and a marinerecovery group. Those people just needed some stress relief. When theyfirst came into the ballroom, they were dubious and suspicious...a groupfrom NJ, what could this mean? I even had to beg one guy to stay. And hewas glad that he did. Again, everyone enjoyed the night.
Today we are going to Baton Rouge and Lake Charles. We'll keep you postedon the comings and goings. We'll try to email some photos if I can figureout how to do it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment