Katrina Update #24

September 14, 2005; 11:10 AM

We weren't expecting the kind of crowd we found at Cafe Lou Lou's in Louisville:

Pope street. Lou Lou's is on the left in the left picture, and on the right in the right picture.
Note the Red Cross Mobile Blood Center (the big white vehicle) in the right picture.

This is the view of the corner entrance to Cafe Lou Lou's.
At one point the line to get into the event was almost a block long.

The street next to the restaurant was blocked off. They collected 50 units of blood for the Red Cross (the maximum the mobile blood center can hold), and raised over $30,000 in donations. The Bluegrass Brewing Company donated all the beer and sold it for $1 a cup (with 100% of the proceeds going to Red Cross). They anticipated feeding 2000 people with Clay's gumbo and muffalettas. They also had red beans & rice, and jambalya. They ran out of food and another restaurant in town downated their gumbo. It was just unbelievable! Jim said all of Café Lou Lou's employees worked for free for the entire day, a church donated the tables and chairs as well!

Here are some other pictures:

Jim and Janis talk to another Louisville restaurant owner who rode in Bachus last year.

Here is a picture of "Country Fried," a New Orleans band that played all day at no charge.

Barry was especially glad to see us.
(Jim said Barry arrived about 3 hours before we did, and kept him updated on our progress every hour.)

Here are a couple of pictures of The Juicy Peanut in Mascoutah that I promised you:

PEOPLE

- Janis spoke with Amber. She and Dairobi have an apartment and jobs in Eugene, OR.

- Janis spoke briefly with Jason. He has found a place to live and a job in Kansas City, MO.

- Travis' mom Julie reports he will be heading to Cocoa Beach, FL to stay with a friend.

NEWS

Mayor Nagin reports that portions of the city - the French Quarter, the Central Business District, the Warehouse District, and some of Uptown - will be reopened for citizens, possibly as early as Monday. This may change our plans considerably, as we were planning to take Adam and Megan to Janis' cousin's house near Washington, DC next week.

PREVIOUS | NEXT