Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - Judith

Gregg and Troy present an OSLC T-shirt to Judith. They are emissaries of OSLC and of the local Danvers, MA Boy Scouts, Troop 16.

Judith and her family are long-time residents of Waveland. She is a local leader for the Venture Group, a Scouting-related organization for older teenagers. They live on a street named after them by the Mayor in 1969 ( father of the present Mayor) in appreciation for her husband's medical work after Hurricane Camille.

Disaster is no stranger to them. Relief and recovery is part of their life.

They stayed during Hurricane Katrina since they live on the north side of the track in a "non-flood zone"

At 8:32 AM a friend called. Water was coming up the sidewalk into the house. Judith was baking and had just finished muffins and cakes. These were taken upstairs. The family survived on bottled water and fresh baked goods until the waters subsided and her husband and kids walked to the center of town to receive MRE's. Judith forgot to bring shoes upstairs and managed to find one black and one white sneaker, which she wore.

During the storm, the rising water forced doors open, downstairs. Later the fiberglass doors were found to be bowed by the pressure and unsuitable for re-use.

The peak water in their home was 9-1/2 to 10 feet. The next day, there remained 5 feet of water. Judith was able to paddle around the pool room in a kayak to survey the damage. All the scout supplies were lost.

On their property, they had 14 miniature horses in a barn. Five of them were lost. the rest, including a 5-month old foal( born on Good Friday ), survived by swimming over their stalls and out of the barn. They swam for 4 hours.

During the storm, a man and a dog were rowing by, in a boat. She tried to throw a rope from the second-floor window, to get him in. After the water subsided, Glenn, a chef, stopped by to tell them he was OK.

Her church, St Clare's Catholic, holds services in tents. The church in Southwest Waveland, was completely destroyed. The stone grotto, that her husband helped build, in high school, remains.

Their property is still littered with junk along all six acres -- railroad pilings, refrigerators, a boat, and pieces of houses. She and her family lived on the porch of their house for 3-1/2 weeks. Now, they have a FEMA trailer.

They have been visited by the Boy Scouts of Tulpe Lodge ( see link at right). On their monthly trips to Waveland, the scouts stop by for Pizza one night, and dinner another night. This is a tradition they started.

Judith and her venture group began a project in Waveland to make and install replacement street signs.