Thanks giving from the Waveland Cafe in Waveland, MS

[John Q. Citizen]

Got this news release in my email.

The Story is that a bunch of hippies with high-volume wilderness camp cooking experience from Rainbow Gatherings and such headed to the gulf-coast to help out, ran into a group of conservative church volunteers in a parking lot and joined forces to open a food kitchen that put out 2000 free high quality meals a day at the height of operations as well as a free store that distributed tons of necessities. They are wraping up operations now, but the story has read like a positive light in the middle of dire straits.
****************


Greetings from Waveland! There is so much to be
grateful about today. Let me count just a few of the
blessings that allowed the New Waveland Cafe and
Market to happen with such beauty:

Organic Valley, who provided us with regular shipments
of organic produce, milk, cheese, butter, and other
good stuff we were able to serve to the good people of
Waveland. In addition to helping exhausted crew with
R & R in Florida, they contributed one of their old
fleet vans to Levitikus andTheodora. That's all, of
course, on top of them sending Clovis down here in the
first place! Oh, yeah, and 173 homemade pies. OV
just freakin' rocks!

All those groovy church folks from the Bastrop group,
especially Jim (actually from TN), Pete, Fay, Steve,
and Shaun, not to mention a cast of thousands of
Texans and others we know contributed to the success
of the New Waveland Cafe and Market. Let's start with
The Big Miraculous Generator That Changed Everything,
the red and white tent covering the kitchen that shows
up in all the pictures, the innovative sink setup that
encompasses the soapy seas sailed upon by our merry
dish pirates in our dish pit, lots of other sundry
equipment. But we'd be no less thankful for our
neighbors if they had brought nothing. Their
committment to and faith in the Cafe and crew,
regardless of how weird, neverwavered. We have made
new friends for life.

Youth Initiative High School in Viroqua, WI, for
sending us many wonderful teenagers to cook us
breakfast every day. They taught us a thing or two
about hard work and our own process. We also love
them all very much!

Sanderson Farms, for leaving a reefer truck full of
chicken and ice for the past six weeks.

The Generosity of the American People, without which,
we would not have experienced such bounty.

The Hancock County EOC and especially Mike Sweeney,
who was able to fit this round peg into a square hole.

FEMA, who ultimately pays for all of this (out of your
pocket, I would add) and the RedCross, who made sure
we never ran out of cutlery and saved us a couple of
times in our early days.

Everyone who kept us in their prayers, sent us
donations of food, stuff, cash, whatever.

All of the magnificent people who put their lives on
hold, volunteered, and made this place so special.
Specfically:

*Hydration station masters Jules, Raymond, and Ivan
*Rampaging trash haulers and table washers Floppy and
BW
*The crazy looking guy who makes sure the handwashing
stations stay full of water, soap, and towels--the
Next President of the United States of America--Vermin
Supreme
*Our sailors on the soapy seas (too many to name, but
Dirty Momma, Jason, and Marissa immediately come to
mind)
*Levitikus and Chicken the Kid, who will serve no pork
before it is smoked (and ARRRRRRed over repeatedly)
*Amber, for all she is becoming here, including cook,
accountant, shanti sena, and BANG BANG, nifty slogan
maker
*Stone, for running a first-rate clinic with excellent
and professional staff that treats up to a hundred
patients every day while somehow still having the time
to watch Star Trek and MASH in my Bus all day
*Ann and Clovis for continuing to wake up every day at
5:30am to make breakfast, even though they are both
obviously completely burned out
*Mysha, who still has time to look at his neighbor's
paper with his busy schedule (oh, yeah...doesn't he
also run supply? Yeah, him and Goat).
*All those folks giving massages all day every day,
especially Rainbow Robin and Brighid, who plug in in
so many ways
*Gene, who will find you whatever you need and bring
it to you
*Then there's the Best Cooks in Southern Mississippi,
most notably Jessica, Kiki, Lali, Theo, Shaney, Grace,
Valesa, Flowers and I'm sorry if I forgot anyone.
We're extra thankful for everyone who cooks!
*All the hundreds of folks who stand on the serving
line day after day with those smiling faces. Becky is
especially cute on her step up and never misses a
meal. Alice has religiously kept track of our numbers
and anchored the line for weeks.
*And last but not least, me compadre, the man who made
the first call to The Dread and the second call to
your humble narrator thereby setting these deeds into
motion. He's a dance instructor from Berkeley, CA,
Master of Ceremonies at the Granola Funk, the Doctor
of Dance himself, Aaron Funk. I had no idea someone
could be so versatile. Security, Banking, Japanese
chef, government liason, parade plannin', float
buildin', quote machine who teaches folks how to move
thier asses.

9. The Good People of Waveland, who are the bravest
people I've ever met. I'm so inspired by them all.

10. And finally, We Thank Our Creator (or Random
Chance for our atheist friends out there), who,
indeed, works in mysterious ways.

It's a time for celebration here in Waveland.
Thanksgiving for two days followed by the Thanks for
Giving Parade on Saturday. Then it all disappears. I
miss everyone already.

Gobble Gobble!



Thanks for Your Loving Support
Arjay Sutton
NewWaveland Cafe


Phone: [phone] [phone]
email: [e-mail]
www.newwavelandcafe.blogspot.com
Donations

[Up2Late]

1. They reported on this on NPR the other day...

...Here's the link: <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5025313>

Hippie Kitchens Serve Final Meal to Hurricane Victims

Listen to this story...(at link above)

by Kathleen Schalch

All Things Considered, November 23, 2005 · With years of experience serving throngs at festivals, many do-gooder hippies converged on Mississippi's Gulf Coast after the hurricanes to cook for the needy. They've been dishing up warm food to grateful workers and residents but will serve their last meal tonight.

<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5025313>

[nosmokes]

2. thanks for posting this. love this story! n/t