One home at a time
By William S. Peyko
Metro Monthly Staff Writer
A group of Youngstowners that frequently travels to New Orleans to rebuild Hurricane Katrina-damaged homes met in late April to discuss plans for another work trip in May.
A crew consisting of Joe Fraser, Bob Bussard, Joe Baker and myself met Rev. Ed Brienz at St. Columba’s Cathedral in the early morning of May 2 before leaving for another trip. Adam Carpenter, a plumber, and Tommy Timlin, a plumber’s assistant, drove separately. John Pitzulo, a carpenter by trade and our crew’s leader, flew down.
A brief history of the group:
Joe Fraser is the driver/owner of the van that has made over 15 trips to New Orleans. I remarked long ago that he’s a no-nonsense guy – which he is – but he has a gentle streak that he tries to hide.
Next, there’s Bob Bussard (a.k.a. Handsome Harry) who has a sharp wit and a keen sense of humor. He works well with everyone, even me. A truck driver by trade, he and I bonded on an earlier work trip.
Joe Baker is “the new guy.” It’s a title acquired on a previous trip. It was retired for a brief period, but was reinstated because there wasn’t anyone else to badger. So now he’s stuck with it.
Our crew leader is John Pitzulo. For this trip, he flew down to New Orleans several times to find a brick home suitable for repair and reconstruction. He feels that our new project fits the bill.
Adam Carpenter is our plumber. The first time I met him, I thought he could have stepped out of “Gunsmoke.” Put a bible in his hand and he could portray a preacher with his flowing beard and piercing eyes. Boy, was I wrong! He is anything but a preacher.
Another crew member, Tommy Timlin, is a 23-year-old wise beyond his years. His ready smile will disarm and lull you into a sense of well-being, but that’s when he strikes and cuts you to pieces.
The last member of our most recent work party is me, Bill “Biff” Peyko, a shy, sensitive person. I’m out of my element on a construction site, but somebody has to give an account of this trip.
The trip gets under day – Four of our crew left Youngstown at about 6:30 a.m. on May 2. This time, we paid for our own meals along the way as we were on a lean travel budget. We arrived in Nashville at 4 p.m. and stayed at the Methodist Boy Scout Camp building for the night. We were provided bunk beds and the accommodations were much better than on previous visits.
We left Nashville on Sunday at about 6:30 a.m. and continued to New Orleans. In Alabama, we passed row upon row of house trailers. The trailers were intended for those who had lost their dwellings in Hurricane Katrina, but they were just sitting rotting in the fields.
As we came closer to New Orleans, a discerning eye could see still hurricane damage to vegetation and trees. We arrived at our destination at about 5 p.m. We freshened up and went to Gallier Street where a group of sisters from the Marianite Order gave us a light lunch.
Two of the nuns told us of their dealing with the flooding caused by Katrina. Their stories were very interesting and the restoration work was remarkable. We met up with Miss Lydia, a New Orleans resident (and now friend), whose house we had rebuilt during previous trips. We met a woman named Lisa and her two daughters. This trip, we will be working on their future home.
Monday, May 4 – We arrived at the home we were to finish gutting and restoring. It was a ranch house located in a nice residential neighborhood with several vacant homes. The house next door appeared to be in much better condition overall, but is scheduled for demolition.
We got busy in a hurry. We removed a big sliding door and three doors and frames in the front of the house. All but one door were replaced. Adam Carpenter removed pipes and other plumbing fixtures. We unloaded new windows and lumber as well as a bathtub and shower.
John Pitzulo and Bob Bussard removed and installed several windows. The rest of the crew pulled nails from studs and beams for the balance of the week. The wood framing needed to be completely clean, otherwise it would have hampered drywall installation. The debris we amassed was piled up until a dumpster arrived at the site.
We left work dirty and tired. John Pitzulo was happy with the progress we made. That evening, Rev. Ed took us to a place in the French Quarter called Café Dumont for coffee and a dessert loaded with powdered sugar. It was like a doughnut, but without the hole. The rest of the week was highlighted by special meals during and after work hours.
St. Jude’s – our home-away-from-home in New Orleans – was much better than in previous visits. It’s across the street from Our Lady of Guadalupe, a church with a lengthy history in the city. St. Jude’s was quite secure. Each of us was assigned a wristband and any visitor without one would not be admitted into the building. Our quarters were on the second floor with about 50 two-tiered bunk beds. There were four or five showers, as well as bathroom facilities. I presume there were the same facilities for the women.
Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, grits, a piece of cooked ground meat and coffee or milk. Cold cereal also was available. Lunch offerings included bread, peanut butter, jelly and an assortment of lunch meats for sandwiches. We did not take advantage of these as Father Ed had supplied us with pizza, “po’boy” sandwiches, barbecued wings and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Tuesday, May 5 – Joe Baker and I loaded construction debris into the dumpster. We helped John Pitzulo and Handsome Harry while I removed old wiring from the studs. Several outlets needed to be removed. At first, only Tommy Timlin kidded around but eventually Adam Carpenter joined in. Adam probably felt he should join in or lose his sanity. He gleefully showed me wiring or outlets that I had missed. I accused him of replacing them while I wasn’t looking and he just smiled.
In the meantime, we kept removing old plumbing and made preparations to replace old material with new plastic piping. Meanwhile, John and Harry removed and replaced windows and built framing for the kitchen cabinets. They framed in the doorways and certain sections of the windows. Joshua used a trumpet in the bible to have the walls of Jericho come down, but I did him one better. While removing wire from a wall, my pry bar pulled the wire out and – lo and behold – a brick wall came tumbling down. After this incident, I was watched more closely.
Tommy Timlin had me put metal covers on the studs with the new pipe fittings. Joe and I continued pulling nails and we swept all the rooms before leaving for the day. In the early afternoon, we were visited by a group of nuns and Lisa, the homeowner. All were very interested in hearing what progress we had made. They thought John was really a magician for all the changes that were happening. For lunch, Father Ed treated us with more po’boy sandwiches.
Wednesday, May 6 – We were on the job at 7 a.m. We removed vents from the attic that were in 6-foot sections. We removed a large air conditioning fan from the attic. This took most of the morning. The two Joes and I removed tile from the area where John and Harry were framing for cupboards.
Adam and Tom removed some pipes from the concrete floor and replaced and cemented in the new ones. Adam put more tubing throughout the attic and the house. Adam kept finding wiring in the beams that I neglected to remove. A few of us placed the shower stall and John and Harry framed it in.
During the early afternoon, I felt a little dizzy (more than usual). John Pitzulo wouldn’t let me do anything more, so I goofed off for a while. Earlier, when we took up the tile for the framing, I probably inhaled fumes from the torch. The fumes and heat were probably what did me in.
That night we were invited to the home of a former Youngstowner living in New Orleans. He was once a Mahoning County Sheriff’s deputy and is a friend of Father Ed’s. On our way to their house, we ran into a biker parade. A team of Clydesdales led the parade. Even from a distance, the horses were huge and magnificent. There were all types of bikes, and what was really quite noticeable was that the bikers were all wearing helmets – in different sizes and shapes. We saw hundreds of them as they roared past us.
We arrived at Robert and Cindy Boussett’s house and were greeted by the couple and their two active dogs. We were treated to true Southern hospitality, as Cindy was originally from Nashville. Robert is producing for various shows and seems to be doing quite well. Cindy really knocked herself out – crawfish soup and a four-course meal with homemade bread, hot-and-spicy jambalaya, and dessert. The dessert didn’t turn out as she had expected, but, boy, I ate everything.
Thursday, May 7 – We left for work at around 7 a.m. The final framing for the tub and shower had been completed by John and Harry. Adam and Tommy put more plumbing fittings together, hooked up the drain plugs, and completed more fittings in and out of the house. John and Harry did framing wherever needed.
They installed brickwork and siding where I had pulled the wall down. They kept making corrections and completed a total of 16 windows, two doors and one sliding door. Father Ed brought us pizza and barbecued wings for lunch. For dinner, we ate at Miss Lydia’s. She made her famous fried chicken and potato salad.
John, Adam and Tommy installed a dishwasher and garbage disposal in Lydia’s home. (She had waited almost two years.) Lydia’s home is now complete. (I told her that Metro Monthly might be contacting her for their new innovative TV program called “Homeplate.”) After Rev. Ed demonstrated the dos and don’ts for operating the new appliances, we went home.
Friday, May 8 – We were on the job by 8 a.m. We kept busy pulling nails from the beams and studs. We loaded all unused items in a shanty behind the house. Adam locked Tommy in the shanty, so I had to rescue my adopted son. He was so grateful that he tried to lock me in it, too!
John Pitzulo ran into a problem with the windows because of pronounced gaps between the windows and bricks. The structural gaps were too wide for caulking. He solved it by caulking the edge of the bricks. He then pressed a strip of aluminum onto the brick to fill the gap, thereby sealing it. Unfortunately, some had too wide a gap. John will correct those during a June visit.
Our crew cleaned up all the rooms for the last time and put all the tools in the trailer. Lisa, the homeowner, and a friend showed up and Father Ed gave her a tour.
We waited several hours for the nuns. They took pictures of Lisa pointing to a sign that said “St. Jude’s Project.” They took pictures of all of us, and now our most-recent project was history. Father Ed gave us Kentucky Fried Chicken and french fries.
That evening we went to Bubba Gump’s for a farewell party. Attending were the Youngstown crew, Miss Lydia and her family, Lisa and her daughter, several nuns, Rev. Ed, Rev. Bob, and several Loyola students – a total of 23 people.
It was loud and laughter filled the gathering. The host at Bubba Gump’s had a trivia quiz and most of our crew won prizes. Sister Joyce gave a speech thanking the efforts of all the Ohioans – before and after us. She prayed for our safe return home and asked Lisa to say a few words.
Lisa got up to talk, but started to cry. She was so broken up. Miss Lydia came to the rescue, and she spoke on her behalf saying how God had brought us to her and Lisa in their time of need. As usual, Miss Lydia knew just what to say.
According to John Pitzulo, the ongoing work on Lisa’s home relies heavily on electrical work now being completed. School groups will be coming down weekly with some older volunteers to continue other tasks. Tiles will be removed, insulation applied, drywall prepared – the list goes on and on. Hopefully, the house will be completed by the end of summer. We managed to do it for Miss Lydia, and, hopefully, the same can be done for Lisa and her family.
