Max Winkeler, Editor.
November
2005
Hurricanes
A few weeks and this hurricane season will be
over. It started very early and there were many. The names Cindy, Katrina, Rita
and Wilma will not be forgotten for a long time. All of us can write a book about the
experiences during and after the evacuation. It will take a long time before
all the blue tarps disappear.
But much worse off are those who lost their
home due to flooding or major construction damage and have to stay with family,
friends or had have to rent a place till they can come back. Some were forced
to leave the city due to office or workplace changes. In short, there is still a lot of uncertainty
what the future will bring. One thing is sure, it will never be completely the
same.
After my return home I tried to prepare a
list with the then current locations of our members. I sent e-mails and made
phone calls and we got quite some responses especially by e-mail (what an
invention !!). Not all responses were pleasant.
Many had wind damage (e.g. fallen trees and/or loss of shingles) which
in some cases resulted in water damage due to leaking. But there are a few who
lost their home due to flooding.
We could not trace a few members and in case
you have or get some information, please let me know. These members are:
Elizabeth Birkhoff,
Adriaan Koster, 220 Partridge Rd. Slidell
Bernard & Elaine van der Linden, 5536 Dayna Ct.
Olga Zenowich,
So far we have heard from only one member
that she will permanently live in another city. Mimi Miller evacuated to
Marie and Ruud Schuller sustained major flood damage and are
temporarily living in Marion TN which is close enough to Ashville to allow for
the chemotherapy Ruud needs till January. However, they plan to come back.
Contractors are already working on her house to remove walls and other
unsalvageable parts.
Jose & Miriam Perez sustained also severe damage to their home.
They live temporarily with friends but don’t know what will happen with their
own home.
We know of three families who left town
because their work dictated the move.
Lee and Theresia Ong (respectively our President and Treasurer)
were transferred to
Joe and Myrtle Nitzsche are staying in
Jos and Marjolein Wolke rented an apartment in Gonzales, but keep
their house in Harahan.
Elizabeth Overweg will stay in
Let me finish this part of the letter with a
wish that all our members will survive these difficult times and that they will
remain members of our club. In case anyone needs help with cleaning please let
me know. I have not mentioned all members individually who had damage to their
home, but wish them well and hope that their insurance company will pay for
most of the damage.
Election of a new Board.
Before we go to the interesting stuff, I have
to tell you that Lee Ong asked me to take over the Chair of the Holland Club
because of his transfer to
Normally in September the election of Board
Members takes place, but we had no opportunity or interest to do that in that
month. Saturday October 29, before the
Halloween Party the Board made up the list of candidates and presented this
list to the members at the party. That same weekend I sent an e-mail to other
members and asked for their approval or contra-candidates. So far 25 of the
members have approved of the proposed officers slate and unless I receive still
many negatives, we assume that we have the confidence of the membership. The
composition of the Board therefore will be as follows:
President Max Winkeler
Vice-President Jos Wolke
Secretary Eric Gossiaux
Treasurer Cily Winkeler
Members at Large Marjolein Wolke, Johanna
Coumou, Inge Hamidjaja, Jan &
Miep Theuns, Elly Weathers and Myrtha Lovelace.
This is the right place and the time to thank
Lee and Theresia for their exceptional
leadership during the past few years. We will miss them dearly, but have
still hope that they will remain member of our New Orleans HC or better even
will come back to play a role as member of the Board in one or another
capacity. They definitely have plans to visit with us whenever possible. We
wish them luck in their personal and professional endeavors. .
Past Events
In order to save space, I would like to keep
this section short.
May 21, we had the bowling party and a
farewell session for Marian and Rinus van de Ven. They are doing well by the way
and are working in and around their home to get it the way they dreamed about..
I am sure their thoughts were with us during the storm period.
It will not surprise you that the garden party on September 18 at the
Winkelers was canceled. Destructive
elements took care of the garden and we are still busy removing branches,
neighbors shingles and staking trees. The fishpond has been cleaned and stocked
with goldfish because the others disappeared. The Garden Party will now take
place in March, 2006
But we still organized the Halloween Party on October 29 at the home of Myrtha Lovelace. The group
was small (17) but we enjoyed the ambiance and the discussions with good food
and drinks. Thanks Myrtha for the hospitality and that so quick after your serious illness.
Future Events
During the Board meeting on October 29, the
following schedule of meetings was prepared for the rest of this year and the
spring of 2006. Please make good note of it and write it already on your
calendars and in your day timers.
Saturday, December 3rd there will be a real Sinterklaas Party at the
home of Marjolein and Jos Wolke in Harahan starting at
You don’t have to take any food or drinks
with you because they are on the club and are typical for this occasion. Try to remember a couple of Sinterklaas songs
from your youth. Don’t forget to let me know who is coming to the party.
The New Years Cocktail Party will this year
be hosted by Miep and Jan Theuns on Sunday, January 1 starting at
Towards the end of January 2006 we plan
again a “Winterkost” Party. We have
not been able to pinpoint the exact date and place and are approaching a few
members who have indicated in the past that they would be willing to host a
party. We will let you know as soon as possible.
Sunday March 19 at
In April we have of course our “Koninginne
dag” on Sunday 30. At
In May we are thinking about a trip to the “
Finally for June we are considering an Indonesian Potluck Party at the Manes’
residence in Luling.
The Board primarily has made suggestions and
decisions as far as events are concerned. If any of you has other suggestions,
please let us know.
Coffee Get-togethers.
Now that so many coffee shops are (still) not
in operation, some of the places may change if something better becomes
available. Again we need your input. We keep looking for coffee shops where you
can also eat a light meal (breakfast or supper). For the time being we have the
following schedule:
January 18 |
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Common Grounds |
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February 9 |
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La Madeleine |
Elmwood (E.B.) |
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March 15 |
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Next year we will
publish the Coffee meetings for the rest of the year 2006
Member Contributions.
This time we have
two contributions from members other than the editor.
From the pen of Jos Wolke our cycle phenomenon here some
impressions in the Dutch language:
Harahan, 30 oktober 2005.
Fiets nieuwtjes
Katrina heeft behoorlijk huis gehouden in zuid
Sommige Holland
Club leden zijn zwaarder getroffen dan andere, maar ieders leven is geraakt.
Voor de
gelukkigen onder ons begint het leven weer een redelijk normaal patroon te
volgen. Helaas zal het voor anderen nog een hele tijd duren voordat hun leven
weer redelijk „op de rails staat“. Ik wens iedereen alle sterkte toe bij met
opruimen, repareren, opbouwen, verwerken etc.
Ook de fietsers onder
ons, hadden natuurlijk te maken met de gevolgen van de storm.
Gedurende de maanden juli en augustus zat de gang er net zo lekker in. We hebben verschillende trainings ritten gereden op de zondag morgens ter voorbereiding op de MS “tour for cure“.
De fietsende
Hollanders waren: Cily, Max en Laura Winkeler, Marjolein en ik.
De eerste trainings ritten waren uitgezet op de
De afstand per rit werd langzaam opgebouwd van 30 naar 50
mijl. Nog een paar ritten en we
zouden klaar zijn geweest voor de grote tocht, maar ..... toen kwam Katrina.
Organisatie en
deelnemers hebben voorlopig even iets anders aan hun hoofd dan fietsen en
bovendien liggen de meeste wegen vol met bomen en takken.
Al snel bleek dat
de tocht op 1 en 2 oktober niet door kon gaan. De organisatie hoopt de tour nu
in het voorjaar van 2006 te rijden.
Dit betekent dat
we gedurende de winter lekker door blijven fietsen en in het vroege voorjaar
weer een strikt trainings programma gaan opzetten.
We houden jullie op de hoogte.
Jos Wolke
News from the Kitchen:
A recipe for a Creamy Pumpkin Pie by Marjolein Wolke:
Ingredients Filling Topping
1½ cups all-purpose flower 1
can (14oz) pumpkin purée ½ cup
whipping cream,
2 tsp finely grated 1 cup
packed brown sugar whipped
orange rind 1 pkg (4 oz) cream cheese,
½ tsp salt softened
¼ cup cold butter ½ cup
whipping cream
¼ cup shortening, cubed 2 eggs
1 egg yolk 1 tbsp
all-purpose flour
1 tsp vinegar 1
tsp each cinnamon and vanilla
½ tsp each ground ginger, nutmeg and salt
Preparation:
Smakelijk eten, Bon appetite, Mahlzeit, Enjoy your meal.
The editor invites again any member who would like to write a short article for the News Letter to send his or her copy to him before the end of February 2006.
Sudoku Puzzle. You may not have heard about this new type
of wordless, number puzzle from
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spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must
every 3x3 square.
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Like always with number puzzles, you first have to find a systematic approach, because “trial and error” does not work here. Those who think they got the correct answer, please mail or e-mail it to me before December 3. The winner will get a bottle of wine. In case of more than one correct answer, we will draw the winner during the Sinterklaas party on December 3.
Good Luck
Miscellaneous News Bits
His cellphone is 504-450-5751
Tenslotte/ Finaly.
On the opposite side of this page you
will find a couple of pictures taken after Katrina and Rita. I am sure that many periodicals and books
will be published with lots of pictures
and stories. Let us hope such a disaster will not happen again due to better
protection and less politics.
LEST WE FORGET KATRINA AND RITA 2005
Near
Sand bagging breach in
Does not need description or under-titling