Meet the Bayou Bookies Book Club, a four year old book club of eight retired teachers located in Houma, Louisiana USA, who meet once a month and enjoy reading fiction. Their passion for reading and the community it provides is unwavering.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these ladies…almost.
This dedicated group was scheduled to visit with New York Times bestselling author Madeline Martin on September 14, 2021, and despite Hurricane Ida, they planned to go forward with their visit. Book club manager Cindy reasoned this, “We were ground zero for Hurricane Ida and are living in a disaster zone which looks much like bombs exploded everywhere. This is day 15, and most still don’t have power. We are having our meeting, though. We were going to have it in a motor home, but miraculously that member got power yesterday so we’ll carry on almost as usual. Some are still evacuated, so we’ll have multiple FaceTime’s going at once. It’ll be fun…just what we need to think about something pleasant for a change. “
The best laid plans…
A day later, Cindy cancelled their much anticipated visit, prudently advising, “As we endure Tropical Storm Nicholas, the threat of flash flooding and the request from authorities to stay off the roads make it a smart decision. Maybe one day we can actually meet.”
Follow up from Cindy, “Every day is a little better and then a new challenge. After 20 or so days, I now have power and cable, but my air conditioner died during the storm and I returned to 100 degree days…managed to buy 2 little portable units so it’s almost bearable. News reports say 13,000 homes in my parish (county) were completely destroyed by Ida. Some of those people are living in camping tents or building shelters from rubble. Almost every building in a 100 mile radius has tarps on its roof. We tried to meet this week but most members have insurance adjuster or roofer or contractor appointments, and everyone is stressed to the limit. We discussed, via group text, discussing 2 books at our October meeting. One comment was that we might be there till midnight if we did that. That meeting is not till October 12 so hopefully things will have calmed down by then.”
We share this story and photos with Cindy’s blessing. She added, “To underline the level of destruction, the pictures are of one elementary school’s library. I’m afraid there might be 10 just as bad or worse. We’re trying to figure out how to help.”
It goes beyond a passion for reading. Book clubs unite in pretty powerful ways!
Wondering how you can help? The New York Times compiled a listing of some ways to help victims of the storm in Louisiana. Read it here.
