Mother seeks refuge from Katrina
Marilyn Penn D'Amico retreated north from her Waveland, Miss., home just hours before Hurricane Katrina hit land Aug. 29. She wasn't originally going to leave ­ but then she learned that Katrina had become a Category 5 storm.

D'Amico spent a week in Tylertown, Miss., after the hurricane hit. There, she and her daughter, Courtney, were stranded and bathed in a community swimming pool with others displaced by the storm. Eventually, she made it here, to her hometown in Marion. Her two older daughters, her sons-in-law and three grandchildren, are also hurricane refugees and staying in Marion with relatives.

"It's just been a nightmare," said D'Amico, an emergency room nurse who was expecting to relieve co-workers at Hancock Medical Center the day after the storm. "I didn't take anything with me because we were going back ­ or that's what we always do after a hurricane."
A co-worker literally snuck into her neighborhood against the discouragement of local officials to check on D'Amico's home.

"The area was restricted because of the dead bodies and sanitation, but she put on boots and a mask and went in and there's nothing left of my house," she said. "The outside walls are there, but there's basically no roof and it looks like all one room with the furniture blown out.

"My sister brought me gas from Kentucky so I could get here," she said, explaining how she waited in gas lines for three hours at a time only to find the pumps empty.

"It was like Armageddon," she said. "I thought we were going to die there. Twelve of us were sleeping on a trampoline and in tents outside because the house in Tylertown was so hot.

"This is definitely humbling. I'm normally the type who gives to other people," she said.

D'Amico's older daughters, Abby and Angie, their husbands and Angie's three children, will eventually be able to return to their damaged but repairable homes in Picuayne, Miss.

D'Amico's sister, Sandy Heady, has established an account at Farmers Bank in Marion to allow local residents to help with the family's immediate needs.

-- Meanwhile, a community-wide effort is underway to collect supplies to send to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Last Wednesday afternoon, the Farmers Bank in Marion began collecting monetary donations for the American Red Cross and supplies that will be sent to shelters housing refugees. Like the compassion and concern for the hurricane victims, the local relief effort is growing, developing into a large-scale food drive and collection of hygiene items and articles of clothing.

Offers of assistance began flooding county governmental offices and churches last week.

"Everybody wants to help do something," said Crittenden County Judge-Executive Fred Brown.
Use of a tractor trailer and truck has been donated by Henry & Henry Trucking Company and Martin Tire. That will give Marion and Crittenden County residents an opportunity to send needed supplies to the Gulf Coast.

-- Farmers Bank employee Kelly Perryman, who organized a fund-raising effort to assist victims of the tsunami last winter, developed Farmers Bank's hurricane relief effort last week.

"Like everyone else, I've just been devastated by what I've seen on television, and everybody wants to do something. So this is a way they can do that," she said.

-- The truck and trailer donated by Martin Tire and Henry & Henry will be parked at the Farmers Bank parking lot beside the Crittenden County Jail between 1-6 p.m., Sept. 14-16 and from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Sept. 17. Volunteers will be available to assist people in unloading their vehicles and packing items into the trailer. Billy Fox of Henry & Henry Trucking Company is arranging for one of the company's drivers to take the trailer to a place designated by the Red Cross the week of Sept. 19.

-- Numerous people in Marion and Crittenden County have been affected, either directly or indirectly, by the hurricane. Here are some stories of those affected and what is being done to help out victims.

-- Marion native Melissa (McKenney) Harris left her Long Beach, Miss., home Aug. 28 to escape Katrina. She, her daughter and grandson came to the safety of Melissa's parents' home in Marion. Her parents are Tom and Marty McKenney. Harris didn't hear from her husband, who rode out the storm in their home four blocks from the Gulf of Mexico and 10 miles west of Biloxi, until three days after the storm.

The Harris' 1920s home suffered considerable damage. Coastal homes owned by her father, Tom McKenney, and her brother, Dr. Jeff McKenney, a missionary in Honduras, were destroyed.

"There's nothing left, all of their photos, memories, everything was washed away. Children's notes to them and treasured books and heirlooms are gone," Harris said. "All that's left of Tom's house is a slab of concrete."

Several of the McKenney family members are involved in a religious ministry in Biloxi, Miss. Its headquarters was also damaged.

Melissa Harris' daughter Sara, a RN, left Marion Saturday with her grandfather, Tom McKenney, driving a load of supplies collected at Marion United Methodist Church to their old neighborhood in Long Beach. Harris planned to stay in Marion with her 15-month-old grandson until running water returned to Lower Mississippi ­ which might be several months.

-- Crittenden County native DeShannon Paddock, a missionary in New Orleans, retreated to Marion prior to the hurricane's landfall. Before leaving, Paddock worked helping homeless people in downtown New Orleans. The center where she worked was among the buildings in New Orleans spared by floodwaters.
While watching television coverage from her family's home near Dycusburg, Paddock, 30, saw some of the people she helped in footage shot at Houston's Astrodome. Another man she knew was literally dying on the streets of New Orleans.

"It was a little emotional. I saw one of the homeless guys dying, people around him were screaming at him to live and from the way it looked he probably (died)," Paddock said.

·Marion residents Josh Jackson and Jonathan McMackin are two of nearly 260 soldiers from across Kentucky mobilized for humanitarian relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The soldiers are from two units, one a truck company which transported essential supplies in the disaster area, the other a distribution company of 100 soldiers assisting in dispersing goods.

McMackin, 24, was among soldiers who volunteered for the trip to hurricane-ravaged Mississippi. The soldiers will likely be on duty for a month.

-- The Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce is collecting money through Sept. 21 for the American Red Cross. The Chamber is encouraging businesses to match employee contributions for the relief effort. It will have a booth set up at Heritage Days Sept. 16-17. Donations are tax-deductible if Katrina Relief Fund is denoted on the check.

Par 4 Plastics has already agreed to match employee contributions to the American Red Cross.
·Marion RN Sherry Rogers and her daughter, paramedic Heidi Martin, headed to Louisiana Tuesday as members of Healthcare Associates' Disaster Relief Emergency Response Team.

Another Crittenden Health Systems employee, Heidi Howard, is already in the Gulf region. At least three Crittenden EMS employees have volunteered to go if requested.

"I didn't have to think about it when they asked," Rogers said. "I feel like God allowed me to be a nurse, and that's why I'm trying to give back."

Rogers has worked for HCA before, most recently in a trauma center in Los Angeles.

-- Marion resident Edna Johnson is one of several area residents initially concerned about loved ones in the region. Because of downed power lines and cellular towers, it was Friday night before relatives in Picayuane, Miss., near Gulf Port were able to assure many members of their family that they were safe.
·Woodmen Of the World field representative Jeff Winn of Marion and his son Sean are among those who helped prepare meals at the Woodman of the World Camp in Murray where refugees about 115 refugees arrived Sunday morning from the Superdome.

Winn said several of the refugees have already found jobs, and semi-truck loads of clothes and food have been delivered to the camp.

Woodmen members' contributions to the American Red Cross will be matched by the Woodmen of the World insurance company. Those contributions must be made through Winn. He can be reached at 965-3333.

-- The Crittenden County Middle School Student Council is raising money for victims. Donations may be sent with a CCMS student or contact Jessi Myers at 704-2098.

County backs out on Commandments
More than 20 people, including a few pastors, attended last Thursday's Crittenden County Fiscal Court meeting when the county's six magistrates reconsidered their earlier approval of the 10 Commandments on the courthouse lawn.

On July 19, the fiscal court approved a proposal by Rev. Tony Alexander to construct a concrete patio and monument depicting the 10 Commandments on the front law of the court square. Alan Stout, the county's attorney, originally voiced his concern regarding the idea and then upon further research issued a memorandum specifically telling court members that their action would likely lead to litigation against the county. Stout also pointed out that the county might even be liable for the attorney fees for those fighting the plan to install the 10 Commandments. And, he said, insurance wouldn't cover it.

Many of those who spoke out during last week's special meeting said they understood why county government did an about-face on the issue. However, nearly every resident who voiced their opinions lashed out at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

A few days earlier, the county had received a Kentucky Open Records request from the ACLU, seeking information regarding its policy for non-governmental monuments at the courthouse and copies of other records. The ACLU is the leading advocate of the U.S. Supreme Court's interpretation of the U.S. Constitution's language separating church and state. The ACLU asked for minutes of the July 19 meeting when the fiscal court approved the monument's placement.

Stout told the magistrates and those attending last week's court meeting that it wasn't the ACLU's recent involvement and inquires that prompted him to issue a legal opinion on the matter. His research was done well in advance of the ACLU's letter and Open Records request, Stout said.

A few in the crowd, including Rev. Frank McCallum, agreed that the county should not be put in position to have to fight a legal battle for placing the 10 Commandments on the courthouse lawn.

"A lot of people in the faith community might label me as a stinking liberal, but I don't think the fiscal court needs to be taking on the ACLU," said McCallum, who is minister of Sugar Grove Church. McCallum said that was his personal opinion and not necessarily the view of his congregation.

"A monument will not convert one soul," McCallum said, pointing to other issues within the community that he said needed attention of government and churches, ahead of fighting for the monument on public property.

McCallum's comments appeared to be a voice of reason that some of the magistrates said they appreciated and with which they agreed.

Judge-Executive Fred Brown said the court's reversal on the issue was not based on anything except its pledge to abide by the law.

"We're not putting faith aside," Brown said, "but we are bound by an oath to abide by and uphold the laws of the State of Kentucky. It was a great idea, but the location just needs to be changed."

Several in attendance agreed to work on finding a privately-owned location for the monument, which Alexander said had been delivered last week and is ready to go up.

Emmitt Jennings, one man who attended the meeting, said he would pledge $1,000 toward buying a piece of property to place the monument. "I bet if we wanted to put a statue of satan the ACLU wouldn't say a thing," he added.

Victor Polk, another citizen at the meeting, encouraged the fiscal court to hold off before rescinding the plan. He asked the magistrates to further research the legal consequences of putting the Commandments on the courthouse lawn before giving up on the idea.

After a great deal of discussion, the motion to reverse the July 19 action won unanimous approval.
"They're going up somewhere," Alexander said about the 10 Commandments monument. "They're going up in Marion, Kentucky and they are going to be lighted and look nice."

Alexander said that anyone who has donated to the effort thus far may request to have their money returned since the monument is not going on the court square as originally intended.

Rob Ison, the preacher from Emmanuel Baptist Church in Marion, drew applause from those attending when he said, "The fiscal court displayed a great deal of backbone and moral faith by initially accepting the idea to put the Commandments on the court square."

However, he said that he recognized the wisdom in not spending taxpayer funds to fight a battle that was certainly brewing.

"We're not defeated," Ison said, "Like it's been said, let's put the monument somewhere else."