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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
HURRICANE AFTERMATH
DIOCESE DELUGED BY IRENE BY KATE BLAIN EDITOR
As some residents of the Albany Diocese pumped water out of basements and cleared fallen tree limbs from yards in the wake of Hurricane Irene, others in hard-hit areas like Greene County remained unreachable as The Evangelist went to press Aug. 30. Faith formation associate Kay Skelly lives in Glenville but ministers at Editor’s note: Due to an error, St. Margaret of Cortona an incomplete Church in version of this flooded Rotarticle appeared in the terdam Junction, a Sept. 1 issue. mission of St. Here is the complete story. Joseph’s parish in It is also availSchenectady. able on our On Aug. 30, website, www. the phone evangelist.org. lines at St. Margaret’s were still down. “I talked to our administrative assistant and she said there was water running across the road and they did not have Mass on Sunday, but I tried to call her back and I could not get through, so I don’t know what’s happening,” Ms. Skelly told The Evangelist. “They’re in a very low-lying area, and when I see the water in those pictures” on the news, concern mounts. At St. Mary’s parish in Amsterdam, secretary Betsy Barker sounded stunned: A house located in the parish cemetery that had just been rented to Rev. William Hodgetts, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, had been torn apart by floodwaters. “We didn’t expect this kind of devastation,” she said Aug. 30. “It was built in the 1800s. They’re pumping the water out now and his car is totally destroyed. He’s here with us temporarily. We just got power and phones today.”
Three floods
The church, rectory and school basements at St. Patrick’s parish in Ravena all flooded and firefighters spent six and a half hours pumping them out when the parish was without power, according to Lori Nunziato, pastoral associate for administration. Worse yet, water seeped through walls and windows in the school building, which is used for faith formation and rented out for events. Two classrooms that were destroyed had just been refurbished by parish youth to earn a Boy Scout’s Eagle Scout rank and a Girl Scout’s Gold Award.
MASS BY CANDLELIGHT DURING A POWER OUTAGE AT ST. JOSEPH’S PARISH IN SCOTIA “It’s pretty extensive, the damage,” Ms. Nunziato stated.
Room at the inn
Pat Brancoforte of Middleburgh was just grateful she had a place to go. Ms. Brancoforte lives across the street from Our Lady of the Valley parish. When she was left with no power and a dead sump pump, Rev. Thomas Holmes, pastor, offered her temporary lodging in exchange for answering the phone at the parish. “Father Tom was kind enough to take me and my cat in,” Ms. Brancoforte told The Evangelist Aug. 29. “We’re keeping each other company. It reduces the stress level.” Father Holmes was “out shoveling mud” at the time, she added, since the parish had a flooded basement, as well. The lights went out halfway through the 8 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Stanislaus parish in Amsterdam when Irene hit, according to Deacon Michael Ryba, but Mass continued and the parish even held its 10 a.m. liturgy by candlelight, with parishioners clustered in the front pews. Our Lady of the Snow parish in Grafton/Berlin had proactively canceled Sunday Mass before Irene hit; Sacred Heart parish in Stamford canceled its parish picnic. “The benefit is that many people did stay in and did evacuate when told,” reported office manager Steve Gubler of Our Lady of Hope parish in Copake Falls on Aug. 29. OLH did not cancel Mass the day of the storm, but he said most Mass-goers attended the Saturday vigil instead.
Water everywhere
The Columbia County parish didn’t sustain any damage, he said, but many parishioners’ homes did: “We do have parishioners in areas that were dangerous, because we’re out in the country and there’s a lot of water around.” Mr. Gubler told The Evan-
gelist that, the day after Irene swept through the area, he still had two sump pumps running in his own basement, “but I’m thankful we didn’t lose power. My mom is on oxygen and we have a tank in the house” that needs electricity. “Greene County was hit much harder than us,” he added — a report echoed by other nearby parishes like Holy Trinity in Hudson/Germantown, where staff said “our friends in Greene County are suffering.” Hunter and Tannersville experienced severe flooding; in Windham, the Batavia Kill River overflowed and three to four feet of water raged down Main Street, destroying countless homes and businesses. Many Greene County parishes remained without phone service in the wake of the storm, so damage reports could not be confirmed.
In Stockade
Another hard-hit area was Schenectady’s Stockade district. Three employees of St. John the Evangelist parish in Schenectady live in that neighborhood; on Aug. 29, parish secretary Gail Wilson said that one hadn’t checked in yet, another had been evacuated from his home and pastoral associate Sister Joan Vlaun, OP, had chosen to stay in her home while residents waited for the Mohawk River to crest. “It’s starting to creep up Front Street,” where Sister Joan lives, said Ms. Wilson. The river crested later that day. “Jumpin’ Jack’s is under water,” added Eileen Mazur, pastoral associate for administration at St. Joseph’s in nearby Scotia. The immensely popular local eatery, located right on the banks of the Mohawk River, had completely flooded until only its rooftops could be seen above the water. “Living in Scotia is like living on an island” right now, Ms. Mazur said. With so many bridges closed, she was unable to get out of the city even to visit her brother in Ellis Hospital. Otherwise, though, she said damage in her neighborhood consisted of “typical power outages” and downed trees. The fire department pumped two feet of water out of the parish house and church basements at St. Lucy/St. Bernadette’s in Altamont when the power failed and sump pumps stopped working, but parish life director Sister Mary Lou Liptak, RSM, was more concerned with nearby residents of Berne.
September 8, 2011
AFTER THE FLOOD
THE HOUSE ON the far left belongs to Jim and Jody Agnew of Poestenkill. He is a Third-Order Carmelite. They shared that their garage flooded and their car was totaled, but they are safe. “There’s a lot of destruction up there,” she said Aug. 30, although she believed no parishioners were among those flooded out of their homes. Sister Lou had heard that power would not be restored to Berne until next weekend. She called area residents hardy souls who were used to dealing with hardships: “We offered the parish center [as a shelter], but they’re doing OK.”
Hoping for best
As of Aug. 29, parish life director Jeffrey Peck could only assume that Our Lady of the Snow parish in Grafton/Berlin and its parishioners had weathered the storm. The Berlin worship site seemed fine when Mr. Peck checked it over, but the Grafton site is located on Route 2, a main road that was still closed. Mr. Peck said that since the Grafton church is on top of a hill, he assumed there was no flooding, but “I can’t get to church today.” Some parishes reported few effects from the storm. At St. Mary’s in Coxsackie, staff said that Deacon Michael McDonald had weathered more than 13 inches of rain at his East Durham home and remained without power on Monday, but had told parishioners that he was fine. Maureen Brennan, parish secretary at St. Mary’s/Our Lady of the Lake Church in Cooperstown, said that power was still out Aug. 29 for many residents in the Otsego County town — including some neighborhoods where one side of a street had
power and the other didn’t. That phenomenon was also reported in Albany and Schenectady. In Cooperstown, “Some people didn’t have power from 10:30 [a.m.] to 8 [p.m.] on Sunday,” Ms. Brennan said.
Tourist trade That will hurt businesses in the tourist town, she added: “All these storekeepers have really been hoping for these big weekends. If it rains next weekend, we’ll cry.” Even a “normal” rainy weekend makes parishioners of St. Mary’s who run local businesses groan, she said, as tourists cast about for ways to occupy their time. “We see families and think, ‘Oh, how much did it cost them to get here?’ We get people from all over the world.” Rev. John Rosson, pastor, told The Evangelist that St. Mary’s also depends on summer parishioners for income, but only 320 Catholics attended Masses the weekend of the hurricane instead of the usual 700 to 800. “It took its toll on our Sunday offertory,” he said. Other parishes in the Diocese reporting storm damage included St. Mary’s in Nassau, Our Lady Queen of Apostles in Frankfort, Sacred Heart in Margaretville, Our Lady of Fatima in Delanson, Holy Trinity in Hudson/ Germantown and Holy Trinity in Cohoes. There was also a report of damage to Sacred Heart Church in Cohoes, which had closed in 2007.
HOW TO HELP Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese is working with its agencies in areas affected by Hurricane Irene — including Delaware, Greene, Montgomery, Schoharie and Schenectady Counties — to assess short- and long-term community needs and provide help. To donate online, go to www.ccrcda.org. Send checks, made out to Catholic Charities Irene Relief, to: Catholic Charities, 40 North Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203. For more information, call (518) 453-6650.
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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
September 8, 2011
HURRICANE EFFECTS CONTINUE
Irene devastates several counties BY KATE BLAIN EDITOR
The word “devastated” is being repeated over and over again as residents of areas of the Albany Diocese torn apart by Hurricane Irene try to describe what’s happening in their towns. At least 18 families from Our Lady of the Valley parish in Middleburgh have lost everything; some hadn’t checked in yet as of Sept. 1. The Schoharie County parish only has about 237 families on its rolls, said office manager Jody Bartholomew; but already, “people are calling in to see what they can do to help. “It’s so devastating, nobody really knows what to do right now. They just need to know they have clothes on their back and a place to stay.” Parishioners have been making sandwiches and lunches for volunteers helping with cleanup, she said. Grief counseling is Our Lady of Fatima parish in being set up in the parish hall. Delanson Our Lady of reported that Rev. Peter Che- the Valley is taking up extra paitis, OFM, collections for was “wiped victims. out.” He The parish escaped the floodwaters itself was hit with only “the by flooding, clothes on his but on the back, his violin scale of things and some of his in Middlepuppets.” burgh, the Father Chelosses are bepaitis is a Franing counted as ciscan friar minor. from Middle“We lost burgh who everything in coordinates the [church] Bethany basement,” Ms. Ministries, Bartholomew leading parish told The Evanmissions and gelist, “but the retreats, often church only using hand puphad three feet pets. of mud and silt in the hall and six inches in the entrance. A tree did fall on the roof, but it did not go through.” Local businesses have been completely washed away. One of Ms. Bartholomew’s family members worked at a hair salon that was filled with seven feet of water. The town was temporarily re-evacuated Aug. 29 because of propane leaks. “The electricity started to come back on and we’ve already had two barns burn” when live wires hit wood and water that had mixed with fuel, Ms. Bartholomew added. “One disaster leads to another.”
Doing triage
Parish life director Lynn O’Rourke said she’s been doing
“triage” at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Delanson. When St. Joseph’s parish in Schoharie closed in 2009, she “inherited” an enclave of mostly-elderly Catholics living in Schoharie. Since they don’t tend to have cell phones, she said Sept. 1, “I can’t find out where they are” after evacuations during the hurricane. She is assuming — and hoping — they’re all safe. When she did reach one man, she learned that his “house is no more. Where his neighborhood stood looks like Hiroshima after the bomb — and this is just the tip of the iceberg.” Mrs. O’Rourke said the man later told her, “I’m OK. God is good.” The PLD is working on ways to help. Already, she said, the parish’s Knights of Columbus chapter had “adopted” Community Maternity Services of Schoharie, a Catholic Charities agency that was under seven feet of water after the storm. Mrs. O’Rourke also plans to take up donations for CMS during a parish waffle breakfast and teaching day on the new Roman Missal. “It won’t be a lot; this is not a wealthy community. But we’ll send it down to CMS,” she vowed. An annual collection of school supplies that’s usually sent elsewhere will also go to Schoharie students instead. Rather than calling to ask for help, people are calling to offer it, Mrs. O’Rourke added: “People are saying, ‘How can I help? What can I do?’” One woman passing through on her way home to New Hampshire saw the damage in Schoharie County and decided she could afford to spend $100 on groceries for those affected. She filled the trunk of her car and prayed for a sign from God about where to bring it — and then saw Our Lady of Fatima parish and stopped there. “I am so humbled and blessed,” said Mrs. O’Rourke.
CMS report
The Evangelist reached Gen Overholt, director of the Schoharie CMS office, on Sept. 2. “It came through like a tsunami,” she said of the 10 feet of water that roared over the Gilboa Dam and through Schoharie. “Our office got washed out. There was seven feet of water in our office. We didn’t have power for three or four days. There’s no electricity in the village because there’s so much fuel oil in the water. My lifelong friends, their house was destroyed, so they’re living with me.” But she most wanted to com-
municate the “human side” of the story: The amazing amount of help with cleanup she continues to receive — sometimes, without even asking for it. “Three young men I didn’t even know came on bicycles and said, ‘Can we help you?’ And they spent days cleaning. I didn’t even know their names” beyond “Corey, Nick and Eric.” When Ms. Overholt called Our Lady of Fatima parish in Delanson for help, Knights of Columbus, parishioners and their children showed up within an hour. “You’re seeing God’s work in everybody,” the CMS director declared. Working from home, Ms. Overholt and her staff have touched base with clients and learned that they are OK. “My staff is wonderful,” Ms. Overholt told The Evangelist. “I love living here. I’d never leave.” But the human and material toll of the hurricane continues. “People are working nonstop. The biggest problem is mildew. Right now we’re in recovery cleanup mode. With something of this magnitude, you can only think of one little thing at a time; so since Sunday, my goal has been to clean everything out of the office because of the health hazard. “Everybody has lost,” she added, but “the community is determined to rebuild.”
‘A war zone’
Windham “is like a war zone,” said Rev. James Schiffer, pastor of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus parish there. All the Greene County parish had was water in the baseSacred Heart ment, he said, parish in Lake but at least George said two local resithat nearby dents lost businesses their lives: experienced “One lady, the flooding and water just took they supplied her house off food from the the foundaparish food pantry to a local tion, and she was in the hotel that was the housing people house; who had evacu- owner of one of the busiated their in homes, but area nesses Prattsville had residents are a heart attack.” rugged: When he “Mountain peospoke to The ple, they just Evangelist say, ‘Oh, well,’ Sept. 1, Father and move on.” Schiffer was on his way to see a parishioner who lost a home in the flooding. “We wanted to tell them we’re thinking about them,” he said simply. St. Theresa’s, located on the end of town that escaped the
ABOVE, THE NATIONAL GUARD COMES TO ESPERANCE; BELOW, A SURVIVING HOME THERE.
worst flooding, had become an aid station. Newly-homeless Windham residents were coming in for water, food and fuel. Only one store in the town was able to reopen after the hurricane. About 500 families attend St. Theresa’s year-round, but Father Schiffer hopes the hundreds of tourists who come to Sunday Masses and own second homes in the area will help the town rebuild. “We’re the largest church in town,” he noted. But all the other local churches are pitching in with aid, as are residents who are suffering themselves: “It’s a good human interest story — it’s neighbor helping neighbor down here.” Parish secretary Siobhan Lavery is coordinating the aid efforts. Father Schiffer said that The College of Saint Rose in Albany was planning to ship non-perishable food to the parish and that Bishop Howard J. Hubbard had called to offer support. “We appreciate all the help we can get,” the pastor said, but added that even reaching the town is still difficult: “The best thing you can do is stay out.”
Parish hit
Rev. Paul Catena’s shock and exhaustion was evident Sept. 1. He’d finally gotten a little sleep the night before, he said, but that was after being up for several nights. “A lot of my parishioners are safe,” Father Catena reported. “Probably 90 percent made it out without a problem,” though some parishioners in nearby Fleischmanns reported losses.
Sacred Heart parish in Margaretville, his first pastorate, was ironically one of the hardesthit places in the Delaware County town. “Sunday to Wednesday were really insane,” Father Catena reported. “The National Guard is here; FEMA is here; the Governor’s been here. I’m learning on the job about disaster St. John the relief.” Evangelist The priest parish in has been stay- Schenectady’s ing in an apart- Stockade disment above a trict reported store owned that Sister Joan by parish- Vlaun, CSJ, ioners. The who lives on first floor of Front St., was the parish rec- “one of the tory where he lucky ones” lives had been who got filled with 15 through the inches of wat- severe flooding er; when it there. However, receded, it left a parish maintebehind “mud nance worker that’s basically suffered a lot of toxic, because damage to his fuel oil got into home and a the mud,” he parishioner livsaid. He’d ing in hard-hit been doing the Rotterdam rectory clean- Junction had to up himself, be evacuated since his per- from her home sonal property by boat. was affected. There had been two feet of water in Sacred Heart’s parish hall. An inch of mud remained throughout the building. The garage took the worst blow, with water so deep it totaled Father Catena’s car. IRENE DEVASTATES SEVERAL COUNTIES, SEE PAGE 17
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A special section profiles active local seniors, from authors to teachers to musicians to farmers — and more: Pages 5-10
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T H E O F F I C I A L P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E D I O C E S E O F A L B A N Y
NEVER FORGET
LEE AND IRENE
Storms bring surge of aid BY KATE BLAIN EDITOR
A PRAYER SERVICE commemorating 9/11 gathered Catholics from Herkimer County last Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. Held at Annunciation parish in Ilion, it included, above, Boy Scouts, shown saluting during the National Anthem (Nate Whitchurch photo). Many other parishes and organizations across the Albany Diocese held similar gatherings last weekend. At right, a fire truck in Greenwich served as a monument on Sept. 11 (Kate Blain photo). For more photos of the Ilion event, see page 3. YOUNG PEOPLE SPEAK
Student: Freedom in Pakistan was victim of 9/11 BY CAROL GLATZ
C AT H O L I C N E WS S E RV I C E
Rome — A Pakistani student who was 10 years old at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks said freedom and the ability to travel freely outside his country were among the victims of that day. “We lost our liberty and openness has disappeared,” said a 21year-old Muslim student identified only as Sultan. “Our lives changed a lot,” he said, describing the fears borne from U.S. drone attacks in the northern part of the country and bombs planted by al-Qaida or other terrorist elements.
“There were five explosions in my town one night and there is no electricity for 12 hours a day because there are no resources,” he told a special roundtable discussion with international students to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The 21-year-old said he has grown up in an atmosphere of suspicion, which did not improve after Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan. People even asked him if he felt any sympathy for the 9/11 victims. “Of course we sympathize,” he said. “If you see someone jump
from the 100th floor, how can you not feel sympathy?”
Roundtable talk The Sept. 9 roundtable was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican. It brought together five U.S. seminarians and about 15 young people from areas of conflict who are studying in Italy and are part of a peace and reconciliation project run by Rondine Citadel of Peace in Arezzo. The embassy asked that the Rondine students’ last names not be published; one student explained that some countries
see their citizens as “traitors” if they interact with people from so-called “enemy” nations. The Rondine project accepts university students from nations that have experienced or still experience war and conflict in the Balkans, Caucuses, the Middle East and Sierra Leone. Sultan said that, after the attacks, property prices tripled in his home city as Pakistanis quickly returned from Afghanistan and the United States. “They knew they were a tarSTUDENT: FREEDOM IN PAKISTAN WAS VICTIM OF 9/11, SEE PAGE 17
Tropical Storm Lee picked up where Irene left off last week, battering areas of Delaware, Greene, Schenectady and Schoharie Counties that had just begun to recover from the initial storm. But a tired Jody Bartholomew wanted Catholics across the Albany Diocese to hear a positive story about her hard-hit parish, Our Lady of the Valley in Middleburgh. “It’s quite amazing to see all of our parishioners chipping in,” the parish office manager told The Evangelist. Right after the first wave of flooding tore through the Schoharie County town, parishioners sprang into action. A bowling alley next door to the church had been planning a big Democratic party event that was cancelled, so organizers and parishioners coordinated their efforts and set up a site where flood victims and relief workers could get a hot meal or a sandwich. On just one night, said Ms. Bartholomew, 300 barbecued chicken dinners were served; the next night, 250 pork dinners were doled out. Parishioners were fixing spaghetti for a third meal when she spoke to The Evangelist. In addition, volunteers had STORMS BRING SURGE OF AID, SEE PAGE 14
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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
September 15, 2011
Storms bring surge of aid STORMS BRING SURGE OF AID, FROM PAGE 1
been making sandwiches and bicycling through town to distribute them to the hungry. Ms. Bartholomew said that, when American Red Cross workers stopped at OLV, they told her they hadn’t had to hand out as much food as they had expected: The parish had the effort well in hand. “A member of the National Guard was in to have dinner the other night and afterward, he went up to Father Tom [Holmes, pastor] and told him how the National Guard had never had such a warm welcome in a community,” she added. Ms. Bartholomew reported that the guardsman also said “what we are doing for the community makes him proud to be a Catholic.” Still, she said wearily, “it’s just hard.” When rain brought a second round of flooding to Middleburgh last week, residents were temporarily re-evac-
uated. Ms. Bartholomew struggled just to get to work. Reports from other areas of the Albany Diocese have continued to arrive, as well. Sacred Heart parish in Margaretville had to move a planned wedding to Oneonta; Our Lady of Fatima parish in Delanson reminded parishioners after the flood that even though a priest had been unavailable to celebrate Mass during Tropical Storm Irene, several parishioners were trained in leading Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest. That was a teachable moment: “As we are a somewhat isolated rural faith community without a priest in residence here, emergency situations...might happen from time to time, and may become more and more frequent as the number of priests available to serve us continues to dwindle,” wrote parish life director Lynn O’Rourke in the weekly bulletin.
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“That being said, please be assured that, if a priest is unable to come to celebrate the Mass, there will always be the availability of the Sunday celebration in the absence of a priest.” Bishop Howard J. Hubbard sent a plea to all parishes in the Diocese to aid storm victims. Though the approximately 10 parish facilities that suffered damage were insured, he noted, many homeowners and business owners were not covered. “The magnitude of devastation to families, farmers, businesses and local communities is astronomical,” Bishop Hubbard wrote. “Initially, emergency response will include shelter, food, medicine and counseling. Then it will transition into the long haul of insurance and FEMA claims to restore homes, crops and places of business. The struggle to meet basic human needs will last long after the cleanup is over.” Catholics across the Diocese have responded. At St. Margaret of Cortona Church in Rotterdam Junction, a mission of St. Joseph’s parish in Schenectady, parishioners planned to donate
TABLE OF THE LORD Sunday 6:30 AM FTime Warner Cable (most of the Greater Capital Region) Ch.18, Sunday 9 AM FTime Warner Cable (Ilion service area) Ch. 99, Sunday 8 AM FTime Warner Cable (Oneonta service area) Ch. 23, Sunday 10 AM FSchenectady Cable Access Ch. 16, Sun. 1PM, Mon. 7AM, Wed. 11:30 AM also on www.openstagemedia.org Brought to you by WXXA-TV & the Albany Diocese with donations to the Catholic Communications Campaign.
AFTERMATH IN SCHOHARIE the offertory collection from Sept. 10-11 Masses to the Rotterdam Junction Volunteer Fire Department’s relief fund for storm victims. St. Joseph’s took up a second collection for the fire department; St. Joseph’s parish in Scotia chipped in with its own donation. Parishioners of St. Joseph’s in Greenwich and Notre DameVisitation in Schuylerville were invited to drop off food items for the Salem Food Pantry, which had to close because of severe flooding from Tropical Storm Irene. The pantry is seeking a new location, but the 50 or so families it serves each week are still in need of food, the parish
bulletin noted. At Sacred Heart parish in Stamford, Rev. Michael Cambi, pastor, wrote in the parish bulletin that, in some ways, it was unclear how to best help residents recover from the disaster. He urged parishioners to let the parish know about local needs — and to pray for those suffering. According to Laetitia Rhatigan of the Albany office of Family Rosary, people affected by the storms will be especially remembered in prayer during the annual diocesan Rosary Celebration, to be held Oct. 2 at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Latham. Bishop Hubbard will lead the Rosary prayer.
“CANALS & CROSSROADS”
(A Sesquicentennial History of the Albany Diocese)
is still available. A great gift ~ Does your parish library, priest, religious education program have a copy? They should! 248-page book is beautifully 10 This hardcover, $ y l n o illustrated with many photos. Now ally $25 Learn the fascinating history of the Origin Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. Available at the offices of The Evangelist, 40 N. Main, Albany. To order by phone, call 453-6688. Checks and credit cards accepted. Please add $3.40 for shipping.
Gala Irish Event To Benefit The Family Rosary Founded in 1942 by Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC “The family that prays together stays together.”
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A.O.H. Hall, 375 Ontario St., Albany For more information call John Leonard (518) 438-6101 or Family Rosary (518) 452-3082.
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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
September 22 and 29, 2011
GOODNIGHT, IRENE
Parishes still struggling with storm recovery BY KATE BLAIN EDITOR
“I’m tired. It’s endless,” said Rev. Thomas Holmes of Our Lady of the Valley parish in Middleburgh on Sept. 16. The pastor went 13 days without hot water, but that was a small sacrifice compared to the more than 20 families in his Schoharie County parish left homeless after Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. “One couple built their house 62 years ago, and their house has been condemned,” Father Holmes reported. At 85 years old, he said, the couple is faced with starting over again. Most Middleburgh residents are “still in cleanup mode” according to the pastor, who’s grateful that the church itself did not flood. He lost his hot water tank and furnace when the rectory basement flooded; the basement’s dirt and loose-stone floor was covered with six inches of mud, too slippery to venture into for cleaning. A cousin and friends came over to install a new tank. Eight dump trucks of mud were also taken out of the parish parking lot. But Father Holmes said the lack of more serious damage at Our Lady of the Valley was ironic: The former St. Joseph’s Church in Schoharie, which had been bought by an individual after it closed for use as a train museum, had taken on 10 feet of water. The Presbyterian and Reformed churches in Schoharie also flooded. Middleburgh’s Lutheran and Reformed churches both had filled with six feet of water. “‘That which does not kill us makes us stronger,’” Father Holmes quoted, adding: “A lot of people have said this is the devil at work. They’re not blaming God; a lot of people are just amazed that nobody died.” In fact, he said, “I’m totally impressed with the parishes” of the Albany Diocese. “They’re calling up to say, ‘We want to send you money’ — and it’s not little money, it’s big money. It’s really an opportunity to show what we’re all about.” Our Lady of the Valley is only accepting monetary donations, since the parish has no storage
space (see sidebar on how to donate). But parishioners continue to dole out 300 to 400 meals each day to storm victims and relief workers through a feeding site in the parish hall, with volunteers bringing food to Schoharie and Blenheim, as well. “There’s a lot of goodness that’s come out of this,” Father Holmes declared. He plans to split the donations — about $42,000 total so far, from parishes across the Diocese and Knights of Columbus from all over New York State — between the families who have lost their homes and to help other storm victims. The bulletin from St. Michael’s parish in Troy cited $5,000 in donations for storm victims and noted that one parishioner who’s been volunteering in Schoharie asked others to join cleanup efforts. Students from The College of Saint Rose in Albany used a planned community service day Sept. 17 to join flood relief efforts in Middleburgh and Schoharie. Sacred Heart parish in Lake George has donated prepaid cell phones, gift cards and more; the bulletin notes that St. Vincent’s parish in Cobleskill is dispersing supplies to those in need.
Enormous needs
“At this point, I know of at least four families that have lost their homes — and I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more,” said Lynn O’Rourke, parish life director at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Delanson. As of Sept. 16, she heard that 60 to 80 percent of the homes in nearby Schoharie should be condemned. The PLD has already been advising local residents who have given up on saving their homes about where to find apartments; she said that Sister Joan Curley, CSJ, former parish life director of closed St. Joseph’s parish in Schoharie, was among those needing to move. Our Lady of Fatima parishioners sent two vanloads of school supplies to Schoharie and Middleburgh schools, said Ms. O’Rourke, but the need is enormous: Just like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina down south, “You’re driving along and
HOW TO HELP Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese is working with its agencies in affected areas to assess needs and provide help. To donate online, go to www.ccrcda.org. Send checks, made out to Catholic Charities Irene Relief, to: Catholic Charities, 40 North Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203. For more information, call (518) 453-6650.
you see a house with a big orange X on it and junk in the yard.” Schoharie Community Maternity Services director Gen Overholt will also lose the site for her Catholic Charities agency. “We probably will move our office to a Head Start location in Schoharie in 10 days,” she said Sept. 16. “I’m working from home,” she added; but “I’m flexible. Our staff met in Albany today, and our Oneonta office is intact, so we can work from there. I met [a staffer] at Stewart’s the other day; I met a caseworker at the vet’s to exchange files.” Four CMS clients from Schoharie “lost everything in the second round” of flooding, said Ms. Overholt. “Donations are appreciated.” She wanted readers to know that the money collected by Catholic Charities is going directly to those in need: “I just requested $400 [from the fund] because those clients that lost their homes have no clothes. Things like underwear, you can’t get [from thrift shops]. I give people gift cards and they start crying.” It’s difficult to contact anyone at Sacred Heart parish in Margaretville; a recording simply tells callers that, because of flooding, all weekend Masses are being said at the parish’s mission church, St. Anne’s in Andes, until further notice. Daily Masses have been cancelled; all parish events like a planned harvest dinner are postponed indefinitely. The Sept. 18 parish bulletin noted that cleanup efforts are continuing on all parish buildings and that bookkeeper Terry Lehn is working from home. Since the parish center sustained serious flood damage, young faith formation students have been issued textbooks and workbooks and are being encouraged to work independently at home with their parents’ help. Middle- and high-school students will begin meeting soon, though start dates and locations have not yet been decided. “Please keep those affected by flooding in your prayers,” the bulletin noted. Faith formation students will use the former rectory — now a parish center — at St. Margaret of Cortona Church in Rotterdam Junction when they start classes this weekend. Parish secretary Ann Marie Smart reported Sept. 19 that several feet of sheetrock was ruined in all the faith formation classrooms and “the rooms
“MY BRAIN IS FLOODED,” said Rev. Peter Chepaitis, OFM, pictured above at his home after Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. “I have worked for 18 days, and I’m over the edge.” When the Schoharie Creek flooded Aug. 28, Father Chepaitis lost everything but the few items he took with him when he evacuated his doublewide mobile home in Middleburgh: his violin, his Franciscan habit, his book of the Liturgy of the Hours, his laptop computer, a change of clothes and the Blessed Sacrament. When he was able to return Sept. 4, he wrote, his rented home “looked like a giant blender into which someone had put all of [his possessions], together with an over-generous amount of mud, and let it go for hours.” The mobile home is structurally sound. After staying in a storage room at the apartment of Sister Anna Tantsits, IHM, with whom he runs Bethany Ministries, Father Chepaitis was offered temporary housing near Schoharie. He expects to move back home in November. In the meantime, the priest and nun are working to rebuild their ministry. They lead parish retreats and the like using puppets that were lost in the flood; they plan to buy new ones through a local business and hope others will “adopt a puppet” to support them. Contact Bethany Ministries at bethmin@midtel.net. (KB) are in chaos” from flooding and mold. “There’s debris on the streets” nearby, she added. “It’s sad to see.” The church, a mission of St. Joseph’s parish in Schenectady, has still been unable to contact many parishioners since the storms. Ms. Smart said she knew some families are unable to live in their homes, but “we haven’t been able to identify yet who they are.”
Donations add up
St. Margaret’s held a free dinner for storm victims earlier this week and may plan more such meals if needed. Ms. Smart noted that the many volunteers have been a welcome sight in the town: “There’s an absolute wonderful response from people.” The parish bulletin cited a donation of nearly $7,800 for storm victims from parishioners of St. Margaret’s, St. Joseph’s in Schenectady and St. Joseph’s in Scotia. Sacred Heart parish in Stamford has taken up a collection for four area families with severe home damage to cover lost clothing, food, monthly fees for storage trailers while their homes are being cleaned and other needs. That cleaning has included “mucking out,” power-washing and drying basements and removing first-floor carpeting and flooring to fight mold, according to Rev. Michael Cambi, pastor, who has begun taking groups of parishioners to the affected houses to help clean. He said Sept. 16 that he
expects to continue this effort weekly; Father Cambi has already taken groups to do cleaning on weekdays, since other volunteers tend to come on weekends. At St. Theresa’s parish in Windham, secretary Siobhan Lavery said some families are still waiting for FEMA and insurance aid, but “progress is coming.” Part-time residents who own second homes in Windham are “right there” providing financial aid, she added, and “I’ll take anything and everything” except clothing. One former Windham resident sent two pallets of cleaning supplies, food and clothing from St. Louis, Mo., where she’d taken up a collection from her office staff.
What’s needed
The church hall has been turned into a food pantry, giving out not just food but cleaning and hygiene supplies and baby products. “Some people not only lost their homes, they lost their jobs,” Ms. Lavery told The Evangelist. “Some are just starting to come in now, because they were too embarrassed at first.” Volunteers from Holy Trinity parish in Hudson/Germantown have offered to pitch in at the Windham distribution center. One of their own worship sites lost slate tiles from roof and a garage was dented by a falling tree, but they’re more concerned with their neighbors in need. The parish planned a special collection Sept. 16-17. (Staff writer Angela Cave contributed to this story.)
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T H E E VA N G E L I S T
November 3, 2011
IRENE/LEE CLEANUP
Tropical storm damage still wreaking havoc as winter nears BY ANGELA CAVE STA F F W R I T E R
As the first snow hit the Albany Diocese, volunteers scrambled to repair homes still damaged by flooding from the summer’s Tropical Storms Irene and Lee. Of the salvageable houses, many still need furnaces, water heaters and insulation before winter, but the outlook is growing brighter in many communities. Once an aid station and supply distribution center, St. Theresa’s parish in Windham is down to offering a small food pantry and storage space. Blankets, furniture and kitchenware continue to arrive from donors as far away as New Jersey and New York City. “We’re a tourist parish, so when they’re coming up for the weekend, they call me and say, ‘What can we bring?,” explained Siobhain Lavery, pastoral associate. Three feet of water was cleared from the rectory basement. Area residents have begun moving back into their homes or into apartments with aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Windham Mountain, one of the area’s main employers, has opened for business. Parish food pantry usage is down from more than 100 families a week to about 20, since people receive assistance elsewhere.
Improvements
“Slowly but surely, they are seeing progress,” Mrs. Lavery said. St. Theresa’s has raised $25,000 to help almost 30 families buy wallboard. A single mother received funds for repairs and gas cards to travel to Albany for her 15-year-old son’s medical treatment. Elsewhere in Greene and Columbia Counties, the reality is setting in that “this is going to be a long-term recovery process,” said Theresa Lux, executive director of Catholic Charities in those counties. “There’s a period of complete shock in the beginning. Everyone had dreams and plans for the future, and if you’re affected by the storm, you have to readjust. The psychological piece is going to take the longest to recover.” In addition to doling out $3,000 in gift cards to a Prattsville grocery store, Catholic Charities plans to launch a program called Pen Pals for Recovery to connect volunteers with residents through letters and phone calls. “I just don’t want people to be
forgotten,” Mrs. Lux said. Catholic Charities will also refer clients to other social service programs and emergency assistance funds before winter hits. There are no homeless shelters in that area, so many families stay with hosts. One lived in a storage unit for a while; others have covered their damaged homes with tarps.
DELAWARE/OTSEGO
To the west, Catholic Charities of Delaware and Otsego Counties has closed its collection site, finished distributing gift cards to Kmart and begun hosting case managers from Catholic Charities USA. Many residents have returned to their homes, but are falling behind on bills. Debris is still piled up. “You can imagine the health hazard that would be,” noted Lynn Glueckert, interim executive director of the agency. Students from SUNY-Oneonta and other volunteers continue to muck out homes. Amphenol Aerospace in Sidney, one of that area’s largest employers, was flooded for the second time since 2006. The company will move out of the area. “That could have a significant impact on the community,” Mrs. Glueckert said. Rev. Paul Catena, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Margaretville, has stayed in an apartment above a parishioner’s store since the storms. The lower level of the rectory was flooded and torn apart, leaving him without a kitchen, but he is able to use the second floor as an office. Cleanup on the church and parish hall is finished and the church is being used for Masses again. Young faith formation students are studying at home; older ones meet in the church or rectory. But Father Catena is uncertain what flood insurance will cover. “Now we’ve got to start rebuilding, and that’s a rather complicated process,” Father Catena said.
On your MARK
Katie Lehn, a parishioner of Sacred Heart, was hired in September as flood relief coordinator of MARK, a rural development program in the area. She’s handling hundreds of requests for help with cleaning homes and replacing wiring, wallboard and floors. “There’s a lot left to be done and a lot of people we haven’t reached,” Ms. Lehn said. “We don’t have enough volunteers to get to everybody by winter. That’s my biggest fear.” Ms. Lehn, a resident of
Margaretville for 20 years, says it will take years for the area even to return to “the new normal.” That sentiment is echoed in Schoharie County. Middleburgh lost 3,000 library books, six restaurants, two churches, stores, doctor’s offices and hair salons. A Stewart’s shop and Our Lady of the Valley parish were the only buildings to survive on Main Street, according to parishioners. “For the first couple of weeks, there was no place to get food,” said parishioner Stephen Coonradt. “Our community was very much devastated.” Farmers lost equipment, crops, dairy herds, buildings and money to invest in next year’s crops. Homes and businesses were destroyed. People still live in tents and cars.
Forever changed
“It’s something that happens to other people that you watch on television,” said parishioner Jackie Guntert. “My life is forever changed because of the people I do know whose houses have been destroyed.” The two were among volunteers who spent eight weeks working the parish’s post-storm meal program. Started by parishioner Pat Costello, the program served lunch and dinner to almost 30,000 residents and volunteers using donated food and supplies. The experience bonded Middleburgh parishioners and those who came from St. Joseph’s Church in Schoharie, which closed in the 2009 merger that formed Our Lady of the Valley parish. “A lot of friendships have taken off,” said Rev. Thomas Holmes, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley. “A lot of good’s come out of it in terms of uniting the parish.” The meals program ended last week to clear space for the parish’s confirmation program. A nearby Methodist church will sponsor a few dinners each week; Our Lady of the Valley will offer one a week. Father Holmes foresees an increase in the need for Thanksgiving baskets and Christmas “giving tree” presents this year. “A lot of the people in need have never been in need before,” he said. Our Lady of the Valley’s church and parish hall roofs were damaged; the rectory basement took seven weeks to dry out. The parish received about $70,000 in donations, which it used to purchase furnaces and water tanks for 21 families. For five weeks, Father Holmes
has shared the rectory with his mechanic, who lost his home and his business.
ROTTERDAM JUNCTION St. Margaret of Cortona Church in Rotterdam Junction, a mission of St. Joseph’s parish in Schenectady, has installed a new furnace and water tank and rebuilt an indoor bocce ball court for seniors. Religious education classes continue in the parish hall as classrooms are repaired. Church facilities are used as feeding centers. “I think it’s been positive, but it’s still distressing,” said Ann Smart, administrative assistant. St. Margaret’s and St. Joseph’s raised more than $7,000 for the Rotterdam Fire Department’s relief fund. Hundreds of parishioners from St. Clare’s parish in Colonie have volunteered for the Route 5S Project started by Deacon Gary Riggi. A construction worker, he launched and oversees the rebuilding of 30 homes on Main Street in Rotterdam Junction. “This is where my ministry and career come together,” Deacon Riggi said. “It’s been seven or eight weeks and people are still going without basic necessities. I’ve made a commitment to help them and not leave them high and dry until they’re hanging the curtains in their home.” After speaking and preaching at St. Clare’s Masses, Deacon Riggi was inundated with offers of help. The project has raised about $30,000; half has been spent on heaters, furnaces and electrical boxes. Victims receive an average of $20,000 in federal aid, Deacon Riggi noted, but it often takes between $80,000 and $100,000 to rebuild a home. The majority of the homes are not ready for winter yet. “If it drops below freezing for two or three nights, the next thing that’s going to happen is the pipes are going to burst,” the deacon said. “We need the furnaces three weeks ago.” The project has “brought a lot of excitement and life to our own community,” he said of St. Clare’s. “They want to adopt a family for Christmas. “If it wasn’t for my love of Jesus and wanting to bring that love to the brokenness that these people were feeling after the flood hit, this never would have happened,” he added. “God gives us every tool you could ever imagine, if it’s the right purpose.”
THE LAST DINNER at Our Lady of the Valley parish in Middleburgh.
How else you can help Q Donate online to Catholic Charities of the Albany Diocese at www.ccrcda.org. Send checks, made out to Catholic Charities Irene Relief, to: Catholic Charities, 40 North Main Ave., Albany, NY 12203. For information, call (518) 4536650. Q St. Matthew’s parish in Voorheesville will hold a fundraiser with music, desserts and raffles Nov. 12, 7 p.m., to benefit Schoharie flood victims: adults, $10; children six-14, $5. Call Rebecca Kiegle, (518) 5271405. Q To help clean out homes in the Margaretville area, contact the MARK Project, (845) 5863500 or www.markproject.org. Send donations to Sacred Heart Church, PO Box 909, Margaretville, NY 12455. Q To clean and rebuild homes with the Route 5S Project in Rotterdam Junction, call St. Clare’s parish in Colonie, (518) 456-3112, and ask for Nancy Volks or Tom Hutton. Skilled contractors and donations are needed. Q Mail donations for the Windham community to St. Theresa’s parish, 5188 State Rt. 23, Windham, NY 12496. Q Donate to local food pantries and give winter clothing to your local Catholic Charities agency. Q The United Way of Delaware & Otsego Counties, Inc. is receiving referrals from Catholic Charities in that area; call (607) 432-8006. (AC)