[StBernard] Winter Wonderland, and More

[Westley Annis]

Winter Wonderland, and More

December 22 , 2005

By: Steve Cannizaro


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Winter Wonderland to be held Friday; town of St. Bernard, Ohio, donates
money to the parish; marsh to be searched for bodies starting Jan. 2;
Medical Center to be closed Christmas Day; Targa gas plant to open soon.

Winter Wonderland, a Christmas experience inside a large circus tent where
children can play in snow, create their own stockings, meet Santa and have
their photo taken, will be held 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23 at the
Emergency Communities relief site at the old off-track betting parlor in
Arabi.

The event is sponsored by Emergency Communities, which has been providing
three free meals a day to St. Bernard residents, NBC television, Shine
Productions of St. Bernard, the non-profit group Relief Spark, Amoeba Music
and Exxon.

There will be Christmas songs sung by carolers and hourly performances by a
theatrical troupe from Shine Productions.
Stockings and take home goody bags for children will also be part of the
event.

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The town of St. Bernard, Ohio, has donated $2,700 to St. Bernard Parish for
hurricane relief efforts, Parish President Henry "Junior'' Rodriguez said.

Officials of the Ohio town said they raised the money by placing kettles
about town for residents to make donations.

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Sheriff Jack Stephens' department is expected to begin searching the marsh
area on Jan. 2 to look for possible victims of Hurricane Katrina as well as
for hazardous materials swept there by the storm.

At least 127 St. Bernard residents died in the hurricane but there are also
at least 47 people listed as missing and some officials have said they
believe there may be bodies in the vast marsh tat makes up most of St.
Bernard.

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St. Bernard's Medical Center, a triple-wide trailer office in the southeast
corner of the Disaster Relief Center in the Super Wal-Mart parking lot in
Chalmette, will be closed Christmas Day and open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on
Christmas Eve.

It will resume normal 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. hours on Dec. 26.

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Targa Gas, formerly called Dynegy and once known as the Shell plant in
eastern St. Bernard, is expected to reopen within the next few weeks,
company officials said.

The plant employees more than 30 people.