A Visit to Franklin, Louisiana

We arrived at UMCOR Sager-Brown in Baldwin, Louisiana, Sunday evening. 

We checked in and got our name tags and room keys.  We would be staying in Zook Hall.  Zook Hall is a one story long building at the back of the UMCOR Sager-Brown campus. 

It has a large women's bathroom, two smaller bathrooms and a very small toilet bathroom.  It has a living room right inside the front door.  It also has a laundry room in it with two side-by-side washer and dryers.  It also has several tables along the walls for folding laundry.  Also, the laundry rag and towels were also folded in this room for us to pick up as needed and use.  There were laundry basket style hampers in the bathrooms for used towels and rags to be dropped in and then they would be washed, dryed and returned to the stack of clean ones in the laundry room. 

I stayed in Room # 27 with Carole Hahn.  They put the names on the doors of the people staying in the room and the state they are from.  Usually people from same state or group are in same room. 

Here is what our room looked like.  There were 3 beds in it.  One is to the left of this picture.  The window looks out over the bayou.  The building's air conditioning unit was also outside our room so wasn't really that quiet. 

There were two hanging closets in the picture above and two dresser drawer units. 

The resident who stays in the room is advised to leave a note for the resident who will be

occupying the room next. 

Sunday night, before our mandatory orientation meeting, we drove to the nearby town of Franklin, Louisiana.  Sunday was one of the evenings that they don't provide a meal, but we went to the town of Franklin to eat dinner.  On arriving in the town, Pastor Debbie wanted me to take a picture or two of this cemetery above.  Since they bury people differently in Louisiana than we do here in Arkansas. 

The town of Franklin has these light posts in the medians.  They remind me of the light posts

that we have here in Hot Springs in the downtown area. 

Franklin had a lot of these plantation style homes similar to the one pictured above. 

There are a lot of really old live oak trees there.  Also pecan trees too. 

Baldwin or Bust!

I am sure you have all heard the saying before.  Well, I'm headed to UMCOR for a week of service.  We will be preparing a lot of flood buckets and health kits I'm told.  This will be my first time to go. 

We will be having breakfast at 7 a.m. and working in the depot from about 8 a.m. - 12:00 noon.  then we have lunch, then we will go back to the depot and work from 1 - 3:00 PM. 

Meals are provided except for on the way down and way back and Wednesday. 

We also are planning to go to Avery Island while we are there.  I think the plan is to tour the tobasco plant.  I am told there are gift shops both on Avery Island and at UMCOR.  That will be Wednesday.  Thursday evening is chapel night.  There are 3 preachers that will be there, two of them being Rev. Loyd and Rev. Debbie Perry. 

While I'm away, my parents will be keeping my dog, Holly for me in the evenings and nights. 

Holly had arrived at my parents place in above photo. 

Dad playing with Holly.

Holly settling in at my parent's place for the day. 

Lastly, Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  I hope you all have a wonderful mother's day with your children and for those whose mothers or children are up in heaven, may you feel their presence close to you on this special day. I celebrated Mother's Day earlier in the week with my mother and got her a bead for her Pandora bracelet.  Below is a picture of my mom with her gift from my sister. 

We traveled on Highway 7 through Arkadelphia.  We crossed over Lake DeGray. 
The picnic area right by the highway is pictured above. 
With all the rain we have had lately the lake is really up. 

This is Cross Lake above that we crossed over into Louisiana. 

There are LOTS of corn fields in the northern part of Louisiana as far as the eye can see.
Some of them have oil wells in them. 

Finally we arrived in Baldwin, Louisiana at our destination, UMCOR Sager-Brown.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, including mine.  I love you very much!