OK, so we are well into this year's SALT spring break service trip assisting with Hurricane Katrina recovery. I've been posting updates here and there, and I'd like to round them up.
For the latest, check out the Valpo Service Learning page here.
Amy Baldwin sands a hard-to-reach spot during SALT's New Orleans volunteer work.
Kirk Baly and Molly Kestner are hard at work sanding. A Valparaiso University student group is rehabbing the interiors of two houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
A familiar song helps to keep spirits up while students are hard at work on the interior of a house that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Larry White, a New Orleans firefighter, shows his mother-in-law's house to the Valparaiso University student volunteers about to start work on the interior. In 2005, his team rescued more than 500 people from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and he described the disaster and its effects in vivid detail.
On our way to New Orleans for this year’s Valparaiso University SALT service trip, we stopped at Messiah Lutheran Church in Madison, Ala., near Huntsville.
It was a nice place to take a break on our long drive. I lived in the vicinity for a few years in Knoxville, Tenn., before moving to Valparaiso in September, so I know a bit about the broader region. I appreciated the warmer weather and awesome local BBQ, as I’m sure the rest of the group did. It was a nice way for all of us (12 students and me) to get to know each other better.
Special thanks to the family of Andrew Davis, one of our trip participants, and the folks at Messiah Lutheran.
Attended the Valparaiso University men's basketball game last night ... and they lost, to Wright State. However, a good time was had by all. Popcorn, conversation, and ran into a couple of old friends. A fine Thursday eve.
For the first time in, I don't know, forever, I took advantage of the chance on Saturday to take part in Valpo's homecoming festivities.
The Phi Psis hosted an event for alumni and current members. A good time was had by all, and it was a great chance to catch up with some of my fellow old-timers and meet some new folks.
The best thing about the weekend was the serendipity: catching up with friends who you hadn't even realized you missed. Quite nice.
More homecoming photos via Flickr.
Last night I dropped by Gretchen Buggeln's presentation, "The Shape of a New Era: Valparaiso’s Chapel of the Resurrection in Historical Context." It was a fascinating discourse on Valparaiso University's most famous building and its place in American architectural history.
The Christ College Symposium lecture is part of the celebration of the Chapel of the Resurrection's 50th anniversary. I took some photos of the Chapel of the Resurrection back in August.
As many of my colleagues and friends know, I'm leaving the Knoxville News Sentinel, and daily journalism, for a position at Valparaiso University in northern Indiana. At VU, my alma mater, I'll be writing for and editing university publications as associate director of creative services.
I've been a copy editor at the News Sentinel since 2005, with previous stops (in reverse chronological order) as a reporter and editor at the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, the North Platte (Neb.) Telegraph, the Michigan City (Ind.) News-Dispatch, and the Plymouth (Ind.) Pilot News. Whew! That's a lot of itinerant travel in almost 15 years as a newspaper guy.
I'm still going to be doing some freelance reporting work, so I'll keep my hand in the business a bit.
I'll miss all of the fine folks and friends and colleagues I've met here in Knoxville, and I'll miss the mild winters and the Smoky Mountains.
I'll be moving closer to family and longtime friends. (I grew up in South Bend, an hour east of Valparaiso; Valpo is an hour east of Chicago.) I'm excited about working in a university environment. And I am looking forward to introducing the phrase "y'all" to a bunch of unsuspecting Midwesterners.
