BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- “Katrina took a lot of things, but it can’t take Christmas.” That’s how Lance Rihner of Bay St. Louis explains why he insisted on decorating his house this year, despite the devastation that surrounds it.
Of the few homes left standing here and in neighboring Waveland, many are decked out with Christmas lights and decorations, even though the residents have many more-pressing concerns. Click here to see the decorated homes, tents and trailers and hear the residents talk about the holiday season.
“It’s important, especially for the children … even if it’s just a little styrofoam snowman in the front yard,” says Bob Welz of Waveland.
Brian and Suzanne Porter, Bay St. Louis residents who still have jobs, say they decorated to make the area more festive for those who lost everything.
"These you can see from Main Street, so I know they’re going to ride around and see," Suzanne says.
Many of the decorations are on FEMA trailers, and there’s even a trailer contest sponsored by the city of Bay St. Louis.
“You can’t put nails in a FEMA trailer, so we used duct tape,” Cowger says of the atypical arrangement.
Stacy Schutz of Waveland decided to combine Christmas with criticism for FEMA. After tiring of waiting for a FEMA trailer and then discovering she was pregnant, Schutz and her husband bought their own house on wheels. But they also pitched a mini-tent in front of a plywood sign with this greeting: “FEMA HOLIDAY HOUSING.”
Bay St. Louis resident Edward Jurkowski was still putting up his decorations: wreaths on two large oaks and a life-sized metal moose that he always dresses up for the season.
The Main Street house, oaks and moose, who has always been secured with trailer ties, all survived Katrina. The house got an inch of water, while the moose has one slightly droopy ear now and lost its straw hat. The sunglasses, on the other hand, made it.
As Jurkowski put the finishing touches on the moose on a gorgeous afternoon, he hesitated before plugging in spotlights to showcase his display.
“There’s no guarantee that they’re going to light up after a hurricane,” was his caveat.
But the next night, as we drove past Jurkowski's house, the lights of Christmas were shining bright.
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God Bless, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all my friends and family spread out across the nation from the Gulf Coast!
Cay Thomas Jackson, MS (Formerly Gulfport,MS) (Sent Dec 20, 2005 4:54:43 PM)
These people have the real meaning of Christmas and God Bless Ya all and very Merry Christmas and a Blessed Joyous New Year to ya all and your in my prayers
Beryl Frampton,Clarendon,Pa (Sent Dec 20, 2005 5:24:58 PM)
It is people like you that make me think my life is not all that bad,I was feeling depressed and angry because I could not get my children everything on their lists this year for christmas.Most of you lost everything and are still thankful for what you have,boy do i feel selfish!!!!! My prayers and thoughts go out to everyone,Have a very merry christmas and a very blessed new year!!!!!!My hopes for 2006 is to be half as strong as all of you.
LORA RICHBURG,WINSTON SALEM NC (Sent Dec 20, 2005 6:04:55 PM)
warm thoughts and love from canada where we are all thinking about you guys. your strength inspires us all. merry christmas and may the new year bring new beginniings for everyone!
maria moudatsos, maple ridge bc CANADA (Sent Dec 20, 2005 6:45:56 PM)
to all people of the world merry Christmas and blesse new year ....
best love and wishies ..
ljaid boubker , riyadh , kingdom of saudia arabia (Sent Dec 21, 2005 3:33:14 AM)
Anne Davis, this is not about New Orleans. It is about Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and Waveland, Mississippi. If you want to hear about New Orleans, just watch any news station and pick up any newspaper or magazine. There's plenty to read and hear about New Orleans. I'm sure they have Christmas lights up on Bourbon Street for all the "children."
Jane, Tylertown, MS (Sent Dec 24, 2005 1:48:57 AM)
I'm getting to this rather late, however a victim myself, it's great to see the human Spirit of God in man/woman eschewing JOY to others no matter what has been their cost. Tho' certainly reality is far from perfect, life is one step at a time. So try, we must, to put our best foot forward, so the next step can be easier not only for ourselves, but the next person as well.
....and, yes, Jane, previous writer, they did talk NEW Orleans the most: my childhood roots were there and I cried because the memories are all that's left, but, regardless people in all the Katrina areas lost, as did the less-publicized Rita & Wilma's, and despite where we are, families are separated either by distance physically or spirit--whether death or non-chalance. The reporting of Katrina left me evacuated longer in FL where the people treated me as gold, however, news misinfor-mation @ "roads closed, too much debris, don't come back now" kept me from seeing my immediate family--or knowing they were alive for 3+weeks. My son Sean was with them, and then my 1st, 2nd, 3rd cousins all lost their homes in Chalmette, Meraux, Arabi, family homes in New Orleans East--11 that I can think to count--but the blessing is--we all got out. Yes, New Orleans was too over-publicized but ALL the Gulf Coast Hometowns in-cluding yours, AND, especially THOSE people were left-out as far as news coverage, but the GOOD of all the right people trying to help word or deed, plus the survivor Spirit of God innate in all of us should bear the BETTER time of your thoughts.
Again, I came late to this site as this posting will show: I'd love to have seen the RIGHT SPIRIT of the Christmas decorations, and seen the families who shared them; I saw the decorated trailer, the rein-deer, & one other photo, but that's all my computer resurrected at the point I found this site. Love to all, God's Best and ONE-STEP IT, YA'LL!! Remember, the first little step's the most important one you can make!
Hey, I claimed this 2006 my Best Year, & already I've had the town I live in decide after I re-acquainted with Nippy, my dog who'd been missing, that "it" was not my dog, kicked & bruised by a vol. worker at the dog rescue place mid-Nov., the City failed to get the films of the incident, tho' I was pretty much told they were probably there, then the "super" over the agency that took over the dogs told me I would be arrested if I came to look for my dog, then I "ran" Red Cross, Church, & Operation Blessing food to my mother's house to feed her, my son, my brother, my 2 twin cousins, and lo AND behold, 2 months later, forgetful mom beats me up & down my left arm--which was lyphodectomizied to check for the spread of breast cancer a little over 4 years earlier, and now to see my son I didn't see Christmas or Thanksgiving because she evidentally told all that I ran the food to that it was vv. (I DID NOT hit or threaten to hit her),I'll have to get an atty. to set it straight, & the lies. Also, 12-26 I got 2nd & 3rd-degree burns trying to run grease-pot fire out of my boyfriend's house 'cuz he proba-bly wouldn't hear me yell, then a glass door hit my head a few days later-tho' my hard head didn't break the glass, I got contusions you could feel that the doctor a few days later said would heal, I dodged a bullet--literally. I wasn't shot "at", but I dodged one anyhow, I felt it fly by my ear, then I fell twice since then, once on my lawn tripping, the other time head-first head-over-heels past an obstruction I must have closed my eyes for, abrasing my left eye, left side of my nose and mouth. (AUDIO: Rocky Theme)...Yet, oh, what a WONDERFUL YEAR---I'm still here and I've got LIFE to fight AND to LIVE!!! Get past the crud of life whether it's physical, or a person, even anyone you love. Bless Him back that formed you in the womb & thank all that share the GOOD of others--Spirit and Mind, Word & Deed, no matter where they are from. People have been blessed by Christian jailers who loosed their chains in solitary confinement in the Iraqi War, then put them back when their shift was about to end!! Thank God for the GOOD of people...Bless Ya'll, and may you have a deeper experience with God thru Jesus Christ our Lord & Saviour!! and, The Holy Spirit, do your work to comfort and guide us all!!! Much love!!
Denise Licausi, Slidell, Louisiana (Sent Jan 11, 2006 3:39:48 PM)
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