Hurricane Rita, Cameron Parish, Louisiana The Cameron Parish Pilot, Cameron, La Submitted by Kathy Tell Date 17 Feb 2006 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** Where are they now? Report on the evacuees By NELL COLLIGAN Page 2, The Cameron Parish Pilot, Cameron, La., February 16, 2006 By NELL COLLIGAN NEWS FROM TONI NOLAN Toni Nolan, formerly of Hackberry, called from Petal, Miss. Toni was a teacher at Hackberry High School and retired in 1997. Several things have happened in their family since I saw Toni last. In July of 2003, she and her husband Randy lost their precious daughter, Laci to cancer. In August of 2004, Randy’s company transferred him to Petal where they have purchased a home, leaving their Hackberry home for their son, Jeremy. Toni and I spent the good part of an hour reminiscing about Cameron, the uniqueness of the Cameron Parish schools and how they functioned on a daily basis. On any given day, it was not an unusual occurrence to see the vegetable truck pull up to the entrance of one of the Cameron schools so that the teachers could come out, one by one, to buy their fresh vegetables. These schools were so small in comparison to urban schools, that as long as someone was watching the kids, this could be done. If memory serves me right, it was primarily the elementary teachers who were allowed to step out for a moment. When the teacher returned to the classroom, education progressed, as usual. It’s a whole new world now, but it was an innocent time—for the teachers and the students—while it lasted. Toni tells me that the youngsters at the Hackberry school are playing “Hurricane” now, a game they made up after having experienced Hurricane Rita. “Let’s hurry,” they call to one another. “We have to leave! A hurricane is coming,” after which they gather their belongings and run. This should not surprise us. Kids played that game after Hurricane Audrey. I remember my daughter, Elaine, playing Barbie dolls on Mrs. Emma’s back porch with Kathy and Darilyn (Doxey) during the years after Audrey. When Darilyn was ready to stop playing, she would make the sound of the Cameron Fire Station siren. This was an indication to Kathy and Elaine to hold on to their dolls because the evacuation signal had sounded and the hurricane was coming. Needless to say, Darilyn was the “hurricane.” Getting back to Toni, she recalls that when Rita approached, she and Randy watched the weather forecast and feared for the Louisiana coastline. Toni’s sister, Kathy Backlund, had lost her son, John, right before the storm, on Aug. 20, and they were especially concerned for her. Following the storm, they urged Kathy to join them in Mississippi since she had significant damage to her home in Hackberry. This last December, Kathy bought a house there, having decided to make Petal her home. Like so many Cameron Parish families who have relocated, Toni and Kathy will have family nearby. Toni and Randy Nolan’s address is Petal, MS Kathy Backlund’s address is: Petal, MS. EMMA RICE’S FAMILY Emma Rice called last weekend. She and her husband are living in the Sleep Inn Motel in Lake Charles. They are waiting to have a FEMA camper set up in the trailer park of her daughter, Tammy Gail and husband, Shane Conner, in Grand Lake. Emma’s husband works for Omega, the menhaden company near the ferry along the road to Holly Beach. They plan to return to Cameron and rebuild. Emma reports that her other daughter, Roxanne and husband, Brian, live on Acadian Lane in Lake Charles. Emma Rice’s address is the same as her old Cameron address ANITA BURLEIGH IN TEXAS Ray and Anita Burleigh’s daughter, Gayle, sent me an e-mail this morning with news of the family. After Ray passed away in 2004, Anita went to live at Toledo Bend (Zwolle). When she began to need assistance with daily living, Gayle and her husband gladly brought her to live with them in LaPorte, Tex. Gayle’s sisters, Jackie and Pam live in nearby communities. All the girls share with the care of their mother. Gayle writes, “Mom anxiously awaits her weekly paper and pours over it for any news of the Cameron people. She received a call from Flo LeBlanc, who is living with her daughter Judy in northwest Houston. That call delighted mom and gave her the much needed connection to her old friends. We also wrote a letter to Mrs. Adenise Trosclair from the address you printed in the paper.” Gayle ends by saying her mother would love to have mail from some of her old friends in Cameron. Mrs. Anita Burleigh’s address is LaPorte, TX. GREETINGS FROM ANNE (SWINDELL) SMITH Anne’s parents, Edward and Annie Swindell were our neighbors across the street during the years that we were raising our children. The “kids” still have fond memories of sitting in “Mrs. Annie’s well-mowed ditch” to visit and discuss the events of the day. Sometimes, during the summer, they were in Mrs. Annie’s ditch until bedtime. (It was just that kind of a grassy, gently sloped, comforting ditch.) Anne and husband, Juney, and their two sons moved from Cameron in 1973, but they still subscribe to the Pilot and keep in touch with several friends. When the Smiths visited Cameron in December, the devastation reminded them of Hurricane Audrey. Anne writes, “Memories of Audrey really came back. We have been in constant contact with Norma and Braxton Blake since we left in 1973 (such a long time ago). The Blakes have moved to Moss Bluff (Mrs. Roberta Rogers is living with them), and we were there to see them and help them move some stuff.” Anne Smith’s address is Beaufort, NC Please send your news to: 302 Trailwood Lane; Lafayette, LA 70508. Phone 337-988-5395 or nnadc67@aol.com