Happy Feet
Last night the youth and adult leaders tapped toes with dancing enthusiast Bill Weissborn, Cajun and Zydeco dancing instructor.
Weissborn, of New Orleans, taught Rolling Hills members how to waltz, two-step and dance the Cajun Jig.
After a feast of traditional New Orleans red beans and rice, prepared by the Parkway Presbyterian Youth Group, the youth groups transformed the dining room into a dance hall.
“The music is a happy music,” Weissborn said. “Everybody is extremely friendly. Everybody dances with everybody.”
Weissborn, 83, an accountant by day, said he and his wife discovered the joy of Cajun dancing together and at one time traveled the region, appearing at competitions and Cajun dancing events.
Though his wife no longer can dance, the Weissborns enjoy the lively accordion-based music together. Weissborn teaches Cajun and Zydeco dancing to churches, retirement communities and public schools, saying he especially enjoys introducing the younger generation to a dance and music that helped made New Orleans famous. Weissborn said anyone can learn the steps.
“It’s not a formal thing,” he said.
Youth group teams with Lower Nine
One group of service trippers connected to a unique organization today.
Group five, led by adult leaders Dan Meyer, Maureen Scribner-Reed and Kate Wooldridge, made a difference in the 99th Ward, also known as the Lower Nine, situated on the east side of the New Orleans canal.
The group worked with Lowernine, a post-Katrina agency founded to teach home rebuilding to volunteers and community residents. Waters from Lake Pontchartrain, as a result of the 2005 Hurricane, rose to 10 feet in the Lower Nine. Some of the youth from Group Five tore into a vacant home, pulling up nails and boards, preparing for a new floor, while others took to the streets “blight mapping,” recording vacant and occupied homes, rating the structures and documenting their locations.
“It’s a really cool project,” said Emily Nelson-Dixon, youth director. “It’s not swinging a hammer. It’s impactful work. They’re really making a difference.”
Callie Thrutchely, 17, assisted with the blight mapping.
“I never know what to expect when I’m on a service trip,” she said.
Dan Myer said the group worked hard at the site and learned new skills.
“They’ve done great,” he said. “They moved above and beyond.”
Lowernine community volunteer George Brooks finished weed-whacking the agency’s pocket-sized lawn as service trippers broke for lunch. Brooks, a resident of the Lower Nine district, said he did not get out in time when Hurricane Katrina raged.
“It was astonishing,” Brooks said. “It’s too fast. I wasn’t prepared for the flood waters.”
Brooks said he knew about the level-three hurricane, but insisted on protecting his home from thieves. He stayed home and weathered the storm, then noticed a calmness after the menacing hurricane.
“I thought I had made the right decision,” he said.
Suddenly he noticed his neighbors and others moving quickly on foot through the neighborhood.
He poked his head outdoors and asked what was going on. Flood waters from a broken levy were heading this way.
Brooks fired up his SUV, but quickly realized it was too late. Pushing through rising water, he abandoned his vehicle and ran back to his house. He took the dog and bolted upstairs. Brooks said he looked out the window and watched the muddy liquid rise another four feet.
“It was that fast,” he said.
The water level rose to the ninth stair of his two-story home before it stopped. Twelve neighbors made their way to his roof, and then waited with Brooks for three days before rescue boats pulled them from his house.
“I had company,” Brooks said.
Brooks survived on stale cookies, cheese, toothpaste, toilet tank water and candle wax.
“You’ll eat anything when you’re hungry,” he said.
Brooks kept the window closed, ousting the stench. Temperatures rose in the small bedroom, but fear kept him awake.
“It was very hot,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep.”
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