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Past Events

2^nd Alumni Service Project

Appalachia

June 10–16, 2001

Alumni Serve in Appalachia

        During different weeks in the months of June and July, five alumni along with family members and other groups volunteered at St. Peter's Church in Welch, West Virginia. St. Peter's, along with four other small Catholic Churches in different towns, is located in McDowell County in the southernmost tip of West Virginia. The parishes are staffed by four Divine Word Missionaries (three priests and a brother). Alumni were invited by the pastor, Fr. Xavier Cooney, SVD, to participate in a service project.

        The main project was to help renovate a house obtained by the parish. After having been abandoned for over fourteen years, the house was in bad shape. The SVD community arranged for five different groups to help make the needed repairs. In addition to the Alumni Association, four youth groups from different parts of the country volunteered to help. Thanks to the wealth of skills of one of our alumni, Matt Lahey, he and Lenny Uhal also took on the job of installing a shower stall in a half-bath in the rectory at St. Peter's.

        The alumni who participated in the service project included Clem Boenne (Perrysburg '60/Miramar) and his wife Betty, Nick Schroeder (Perrysburg '65/Epworth 1965-66), Matt Lahey (Perrysburg '69/Epworth 1969-70) and his son David, Lenny Uhal (East Troy '83/Epworth '87) and his son John, and Antonio Miranda (Epworth '00). Below are reflections by two alumni about their experiences with the service project:

        Clem Boenne wrote: Betty and I returned from a service project in Welch, West Virginia, last Friday. It was only for a week, but it was great. The project was to renovate half of a duplex house for the poor. It's only been six months since my surgeries and I wasn't able to do much, but we were helpful. We didn't stay at the church hall, but at a motel (we were too old to sleep on mats or in a camper). We really took it easy and made the trip part tourist/sightseeing vacation. And even with the work, the folks there were very friendly and understanding when we got tired. That was good because the heat and humidity and the climbing involved kind of did us both in.

        The Divine Word Missionaries that I studied with in the 50s asked if anyone wanted to join in, and three alumni showed up that week. We worked with a youth group from Northern West Virginia who also came to Welch to help. There are three more weeks with other groups planning to finish up what we started. It was great being around such good natured and talented young people. Their week also included visiting a nursing home, a Christian Folk concert, preparing a meal in a soup kitchen, and a tour of the historic town. We were able to join in with many of these activities, but were also able to retreat to the motel when we needed. The kids even did the cooking and cleaning for the week, and were participants at daily Mass and morning and evening prayers each day.

        Welch is in Southern West Virginia. With the decline of the coal mines, it lost about 60% of its population. I think unemployment is still about 40%. Most of the parish is made up of retirees. There are four Divine Word Missionaries there, two Americans (one priest and one brother), one Polish priest (who is a whiz with computers), and a priest from Vietnam. The four manage the mission parishes in the county. There were two seminarians there from China as well when we were visiting. They were helping out and practicing their English before classes start for them in the Fall. Anyway, if we are in better shape, we want to return next year. We wish that these service projects were more common in the Church.

Director's note:
         A week after Clem and Betty returned home from West Virginia (and a day after he wrote the above reflection), Clem died of a heart attack. Clem was the first alumnus to sign up for the service project to Jamaica back in February, but had to cancel his participation due to health issues. He and his wife were able to join alumni in Welch. It was almost "a dream come true" for Clem. He was a big supporter of the Alumni Association and particularly of the service projects. In fact, in lieu of flowers at the funeral, the family followed Clem's wishes and asked that all donations/memorials be given to the SVD Alumni Association. Funds are to be used for future service projects. Please keep Clem, Betty and their family in your prayers. Thank you for your generosity and support of the Alumni Association.

        Following Clem's death, Betty wrote: "I am at peace about Clem's death. I will always be grateful that Clem and I were part of the service project to Welch, West Virginia. The Church and the people there have a special place in my heart. The experiences in Welch deepened and strengthened our faith. Thank you for offering us this wonderful opportunity."

        Matt Lahey wrote: The service project to Welch, WV in June was more of a vacation to me. It meant working side-by-side with SVD Alumni Clem Boenne and his wife Betty, Lenny Uhal and his son John, teens and their chaperones from Morgantown, WV, and St. Peter's parishioners-especially our wonderful friend, John Early, who spent a lot of time with my son, David, discussing West Virginia wildlife and hunting. St. Peter's pastor, Fr. Cooney, SVD, or X (for Xavier) as he came to be known, provided comfortable quarters and good food, besides an ample dose of his Irish humor. Brother Rogers Hannon, SVD, and Fraters Peter and Wei joined our group and opened their home to us, making our stay more comfortable. The hard work of tearing down collapsing ceilings and cutting out aged plumbing became second-place to the fun we had working together. The end product of re-habbing this old home in Welch for some needy family is truly the great time we all had getting the job done.

        The surrounding mountains and lush, green forests were the backdrop for our work. The friendly and outgoing people of Welch made the experience a pleasant one. From the early morning mist that settled in the valley till the cool evening breezes that made sleeping perfect, this time in Welch was more about enjoying the place and the people than the days that were filled with back-breaking work. However, it was the work with Lenny, John, David, Clem, Betty, John Early, and the Morgantown group that gave this project such meaning.

        It took a couple days to come down from this West Virginia "high," but I am looking forward to going back. Since being back, we received word that our "working buddy" Clem Boenne passed away. David and I went to Bremen, IN, to attend his wake and visit with Betty, who remains the strong and supportive wife of this good and generous man. She knows that Clem is finally home, in the place his Father has made for him.

        David and I feel fortunate to have been involved in this project-to have met and worked besides such a great group of people committed to making this world a little better place.

        Alumnus Nick Schroeder worked at St. Peter's Parish in July, after the rains hit West Virginia. He did not get much of a chance to work on the house like the other alumni. His reflections center around providing flood relief. Nick wrote: I was there at the same time as a youth group from St. John the Evangelist parish in Summersville, West Virginia. There were 5 youth (from 13 to 15) and four adults in that group. We cleaned out two basements that contained several inches of slimy muck. Given the smell and interesting texture of some of the muck, we tried not to spend too much time thinking about what we were shoveling or pumping out of the basements. Everything that was in the basements had been ruined. The basements had been full of muddy water. The people living in the houses had already cleaned a couple inches of slimy muck from the ground floor of their homes. All carpets, appliances, etc. were ruined. The National Guard was quite busy picking up all the stuff that people were discarding.

         I worked in some fairly old houses (there aren't many new ones in that area anyway) and, once the muck was removed, we just sprayed down the basement walls and kept spraying water until we had gotten rid of the muck. It's awful stuff, just a drop of muck would be enough to make your shirt filthy, or quite visibly pollute ten gallons of water. After we thought we were rid of the muck, we'd scrub down the walls with a heavy bleach solution to try to kill off any bacteria, etc. that was still there.

        One of the last things part of our crew did was to do some door-to-door surveys of needs and distributing forms to file claims with FEMA. It was almost three weeks after the flood and there were still houses that needed help, but no one had been there yet. I don't know if it was lack of knowledge of who to contact, the independent West Virginia attitude, or some combination that kept people from contacting either government or relief organizations.

        We also worked in a couple of makeshift warehouses. One contained a lot of clothes that had been shipped in. This included a significant amount of winter clothes (not to handy in July and August). The other was a building being used by St. Peter's to hold furniture, paper products, etc that were starting to come in by the truckload. Brother Rogers Hannan, SVD, was organizing the collection, and eventual distribution of this stuff.

        It really felt uplifting attending morning prayers and daily mass again. I probably haven't been to mass five days in a row since 1967. Being a part of the service project was a really great thing for me.

        Nick