[StBernard] Marker to honor Katrina victims

[Westley Annis]

Marker to honor Katrina victims
Dedication will mark one-year anniversary 
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
By Karen Turni Bazile

An illuminated, stainless steel crucifix and stone monument bearing the
names of the 129 St. Bernard Parish residents who died in Hurricane Katrina
will be dedicated at Shell Beach as part of a daylong remembrance on the
one-year anniversary of the storm next month. 

The monument will be located at the site of the Mississippi River-Gulf
Outlet, the waterway that parish officials largely blame for flooding the
parish's 27,000 structures. 

"The MR-GO is the problem," Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez said.
"I thought it was fitting. This parish was totally devastated unlike any
other parish and we lost 129 people and we still have some missing. That's
what it's all about. We just want to remember the victims of this important
disaster." 

 
Parish Councilman Tony "Ricky" Melerine, who represents the eastern end of
the parish, is co-chairing a committee with Rodriguez's chief of staff,
Charlie Reppel, that is planning a blessing and dedication of the monument.
The event is set for Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. 

Melerine said it was important for several reasons to have the monument on
the channel, in the far reaches of the parish. Melerine, like Rodriguez and
many others, believes the channel sped the erosion of the parish's
protective cypress swamp and provided an easy conduit for the storm surge. 

"If people want to see the monument, they have to pass through the whole
parish because that's where the devastation is," Melerine said. 

The cross is being designed and will be crafted by Arabi resident Vincent
LaBruzzo, a draftsman and welder who works for parish government. It will be
13 feet tall and 7 feet wide. 

LaBruzzo said he will use a blowtorch to etch the shape of the face of Jesus
on the center of the cross, which will have decorative diamond-shaped holes
to allow it to be lighted about 4 to 6 feet from the shoreline of the
channel. 

The stone monument bearing the names of local Katrina victims will be
surrounded by benches and landscaping, Reppel said. Reppel said the monument
also would have space for the names of nearly a dozen people still missing. 

The Parish Council has endorsed the idea of a memorial to victims, and
Reppel said the cross and monument are being paid for by several local
businesses. 

The cross dedication will be part of a full day of events in St. Bernard
marking the storm's anniversary. 

A special Mass will be celebrated Aug. 29 at 7 a.m. at Our Lady of Prompt
Succor Catholic Church in Chalmette; a Day of Reflection breakfast will be
held at 8:30 a.m. at St. Bernard Unified School; and a bell-ringing ceremony
will be in Liberty Plaza in front of the Civic Center. The ringing is going
to be coordinated as part of a wider observance, and the time hasn't been
established yet, Reppel said. 

The bell-ringing will be a project of the Business and Professional Woman's
Club of St. Bernard, the Kiwanis and Rotary clubs and the Chamber of
Commerce. 

For information about the day's events, call Reppel at (504) 442-1452. 

. . . . . . . 

Karen Turni Bazile can be reached at kturni at timespicayune.com or (504)
826-3335.