Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday evening from the beautiful marsh of the Gulf Coast...

Sorry I've been so negligent in writing, but my, we have been busy around these parts.  Steven, my 14-year-old grandson, is settling in just fine here with us, and he is doing well at school at Crenshaw on the Peninsula.  His progress report shows that he is making good grades, so we are thankful for that.  He has had two big projects to complete because he is nearing the end of the eighth grade.  One was on a book he had to read, "Witness," by Karen Hesse about prejudice and ill will. The other was on Robert E. Lee and we were able to find and use photos of the famous general on Stone Mountain to add a personal touch.

The school has a big talent show coming up on May 21 and Steven will participate in that. He is doing well with his guitar lessons and takes weekly from Michael Stewart here on the Peninsula. Michael is originally from West Virginia and is a very talented musician.  He also continues to play his drums and takes band at school.

We celebrated his big 14th birthday with several activities in his honor; cupcakes at school for his classmates, a chocolate birthday cake cut at the home of Terri and Randy Ward, his good friends and the owners of the two big dogs Steven bathes and cares for at their home.  And, then last night (Saturday), we had five couples over that have been especially kind to Steven in some way. Dana and Tim Turner from Beaumont came out. They have property here on the Peninsula and are now set up in their travel trailer on their lot.  The Turners bought Steven a wonderful acoustic guitar that he loves.  Becky and Rusty Cluck, our dear friends and neighbors here on the Peninsula, were also on hand, and they gave Steven a flash drive for his computer. He loved that! Michael, his music teacher, and his wife, GinGee, attended and gave him money for whatever he wanted or needed.  

Terry and Randy came to join us, too, and Terri found Steven two fabulous t-shirts (Rolling Stones and Rock) and an amp he needed for his guitar, so all in all, he had a wonderful birthday. Ted and I gave him a new leather guitar case, got Direct TV and Internet hooked up at the new house and some smaller gifts. His dad sent him a beautiful card with money inside.  Yea!  He said he loved getting "stuff" for his birthday. Each adult gave him one comment or piece of advice for his young life and that was a special time for everyone present.

Living on the marsh is different than living on the beach, but just as nice in a different way.  The wildlife and birds are amazing.  And the beach is just down the way a bit in walking distance, so we have the best of both worlds.  We met our next door neighbors, Dewey and Daisy Jones, originally from Houston, and they are a very neat couple.  

We are presently working on the Crenshaw Bulldog Talent Show for May 21 at the school and helping getting out promo material for the 24th Annual Crab Fest and Stingaree Music Festival to take place on Bolivar, May 29-31.  And, Steven will have a real graduation ceremony complete with cap and gown at the end of May.

Ted and I are fine and stay busy all of the time.  We each serve on several different rebuilding Bolivar committees.  Ted is on Housing with the Bolivar BLUEprint Committee and I serve on Human Resources, and both are active and interesting.  The Yahoo Group Internet site, Bolivar BLUE, which I formed shortly after the storm is very active also and we've made tons of new friends there.  Still no major payments from Texas Windstorm and so we all continue to wait to rebuild our homes.

Take care and stay safe.  We are hearing today much about the swine flu and see on TV that Mexico City is shut down for all practical purposes. There are cases in Texas, but so far, we are all well and safe here on Bolivar.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Life on the marsh in Southeast Texas

Steven, my oldest grandson, Ted, and I are getting accustomed to living a varied life right on the marshland on the Gulf of Mexico.  I never knew the different wildlife and birds that call this part of Texas home.  One can stand or sit on our long deck any time of the day or night and be entertained as if you are watching a televised program on National Geographic or one of the programs similar to that.  The birds are amazing in their color, flight patterns, habits and how they eat from what Mother Nature has provided for them.

We moved back to the Peninsula after having lived in a beautiful condo in Galveston for several months since the storm.  Because of having to ride the ferry back and forth, and waiting in the always long lines, much of the workday was spent in transportation and we needed to get back on Bolivar to seriously begin the building process. Our seven lots are cleared and cleaned of all debris (except Ted's boat collection) and we are ready to begin.

We have been busy getting settled into new quarters, cleaning, decorating and putting things away.  It's beginning to look like home now.

We attended a huge panel discussion yesterday sponsored by The Public Adjusters for our Bolivar Peninsula residents to learn more about how we can continue to fight against the injustices being meted out by Texas Windstorm Insurance Association.  No one here on the entire Peninsula has been paid fairly that we know of anyway.  Most are being offered the 11.2 percent settlement we were presented with, which is nothing like what we are owed.  The battle continues!

Steven Alan Brown, soon to be 14,  came to live with Ted and I a week ago from his home in Tennessee.  It appears that his mom (my youngest daughter, Nikki) and my son in law (Steve Brown) are getting a divorce and breaking up their beautiful home nestled in the pretty pastureland of Tennessee just under the Kentucky border. Divorce is always hardest on the children and Steven and Brendan are no exception.  

Steven has adapted well to life in Southeast Texas and my friends have been wonderful to surround him with lots of love and attention.  He had his first week in eighth grade at our new Crenshaw School and did very well. He made 110 on his weekly spelling test by getting all of those hard words correctly and a bonus word.  He was thrilled as was I!   He is also continuing to take guitar lessons here on the Peninsula and enjoys that music. One of my friends brought him a new iPod and complete set up yesterday to the gathering, plus $100 of iTunes gift cards and he was absolutely delighted. He was also given a $25 gift card by another friend for helping with the gathering.

Ted can teach Steven a lot about "man stuff," and the two will no doubt fish, build, repair, tinker and oh, did I mention eat?  He and I have always had a special connection and nothing has ever broken that.

Please pray for my children that God's will can be done and that Brendan will fare well during all of this.  He is getting to visit his dad this weekend in Georgia and he was excited about that trip.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to each of you, dear family and friends.


Thursday, April 2, 2009

Settled into a leased cottage on the marsh on the Gulf


Dear Family and Friends,

Ted and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary yesterday amidst moving yet again.  We have been able to secure a nice little cottage located in our community on the marshland and Gulf.  We are much closer to the water than we were in our home that Ike took out (yes, Ginger and Millie, I do know that hurricane season is coming again in June and I have been reading the predictions for this year).  It is amazing to stand on our long deck and watch a myriad of birds taking off and nesting in the tall spring grass of the marsh.  

We leased the cottage from Victor Emmanuel of Victor Emmanuel Nature Tours.  Victor bought the cottage some years ago because of its location on the water and he is kind to allow us to lease it for a full year.  Again, we know we are better off than many of our dear friends who still have no home to call their own.

We are continuing the battle with Texas Windstorm Insurance Association and they have not paid what they should to us or anyone else.  Our protest in Austin on March 13, the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Ike, was effective and we got their attention, which was our goal.  The claims adjusters began calling on Saturday morning offering some of our folks a slight increase, but still not nearly what they should be paying.

We have engaged the services of a highly sought after public adjusting firm out of Florida, The Public Adjusters, and signed on with Chip Merlin of the Merlin Law Group, also out of Florida, to pursue our case should it go on to litigation.  We feel we honestly have no other options and think that these professionals may have a better chance than we, as individuals, would ever have against the  system we are facing.  I am very impressed with Chip's record and he is representing us personally because of the Yahoo Group, BolivarBLUE, and the number of contacts we have by way of that means.

BLUE continues to grow and provide important information to our members.  We are having a large meeting on Saturday where we will meet members of the adjusting team, weather experts, engineers who have been on Bolivar, and many other professionals engaged in this major recovery effort.

Steven, my oldest grandson, son of Steve and Nikki in Tennessee, has come to live with Ted and me here in Texas.  He is a fine boy, very intelligent, and enjoying going to school at the brand new campus on the beach.  He has completed his first three days successfully and came home with a 110 on his very difficult spelling test today.  He will be going into ninth grade next year and we are very proud of him.  We trust Brendan, the youngest, will come for much of the summer here with us as well.  Ted is a wonderful teacher, instructor, and pal to these boys.

My son, Brent Stancil, resigned Val Verde Baptist Church in Groves where he has pastored faithfully for some 12 years.  He will be moving to Saint Petersburg, Florida, where he will pastor the Community Baptist Church there.  His last Sunday in Texas will be April 26th.  It is a sad move for DeAnna, who has been thoroughly involved with the church since her move to Texas. I do trust that all of my good friends there in Florida will visit his new church and help to welcome him to The Sunshine State.  Val Verde has not called a new pastor, and the search committee is busily trying to determine God's will for this good group of folks who love the Lord and each other.

Sorry I have been so negligent in keeping up the blog site, but with the Yahoo Group and everything else I am involved in, I have very little time.  I am including a photo taken at the big protest in Austin on a cold, rainy, windy Texas day.  I had the opportunity or challenge to question Jim Oliver, the director of Texas Windstorm Insurance Association for quite a while on the wet parking lot.  We did not get satisfactory responses needless to say.