WEARY STE. GEN RESIDENTS CELEBRATE

STE. GENEVIEVE About 300 weary residents, tired of fighting floodwaters for weeks on end, relaxed together Saturday afternoon at the Ste. Genevieve High School football field.

"This day is for you," said picnic organizer Walt Timm. "Eat all the food you want, talk to friends, relax and try to forget about everything for just one afternoon."

A group of residents organized the county-wide picnic to thank "the behind-the-scenes people who did so much in fighting the flood," Timm said.

Floodwaters ravaged dozens of homes, businesses and historical landmarks within the small community of Ste. Genevieve, displacing more than 450 people, said Mayor William Anderson.

Hundreds of residents, volunteers, National Guardsmen and members of the U.S. Coast Guard worked tirelessly to erect the floodwall, barricading a majority of the community from the encroaching Mississippi River. Ste. Genevieve's fight to save historic landmarks became national news, drawing more volunteers and more money to finance the effort.

Since the floodwaters have receded, people are now able to drive on the river-side of the floodwall and to approach the 25 to 30 foot tall barricade which protected many residents from the water.

Homes in front of the floodwall stand vacant, deserted and drying. Some are missing porches; others have collapsed altogether. Some residents have made feeble efforts to clear the debris, hauling saturated furniture, flooring and belongings out to the street to be collected with the rest of the garbage.

"If we could work as fast at cleaning the area up as we did to erect the floodwall, we'd be doing pretty well," said Anderson. "But that just can't be the case it's a slow, deliberate process that's going to take time, lots of time."

Anderson said the city hopes to clean up and restore the area within the next two years.

"Very few families have moved back into their homes , only the ones who suffered the slightest damage," he said. "Others are waiting for insurance checks or inspections by the federal government."

Saturday's picnic was designed to allow everyone a day of rest and to solicit more donations for the flood victims.

Coordinators of the event came up with a unique-twist on the traditional collection box. The first order of business of the picnic was to construct the "Sand Banks" a large cardboard box with a piece of plywood with slots on top.

Men who had assumed positions as levee supervisors during the recent flooding were assigned the task of "sandbagging the box."

"You can critique their performance," Timm told the gathering. "If they're not doing it right, be sure to tell them about it."

The men fetched leftover sandbags standing near the football field and created little levees around the sides of the box. Then they placed the cover over the top and added more sandbags.

People cheered and clapped as the men went about their duties, forming a small brigade around the perimeter of the box.

"Where's the plastic?" one man joked. "I need plastic this thing's gonna leak if we don't have plastic."

Don Pritchard, another organizer of the event, said that the task performed by the men almost became a reality early Saturday.

"They had projected the river's crest at 35.9 feet yesterday," Pritchard said. "If they hadn't revised that, we'd all be out there sandbagging Main Street for real."

Pritchard has lived in Ste. Genevieve for two and a half years, and said he's never seen anything the likes of the recent flooding.

"It was incredible," he said. "But so was the community's response.

"I've never seen a group of people so focused, so determined to overcome such a tremendous obstacle," Pritchard added.

Another reason for the picnic was to tell the world that Ste. Genevieve was again "open for business," Pritchard said.

"This town was shut down by the flood," he explained. "We weren't able to have the Ste. Genevieve County Fair or the Jour de Fete, which in itself attracts more than 25,000 people.

"We didn't have a summer this year," Pritchard said. "We want to get the word out that our antique stores are still here, much of the historical district was unhurt by the floods and that people of Ste. Genevieve are ready for the tourism market to pick up again."

Anderson said the city hopes to be able to host the county fair next year, but does not see the Jour de Fete returning to the area for at least another year.

"We were hit hard," he said. "That's why we needed to do this."

All of the food for the picnic was donated, cooked and served by area residents. For entertainment, two men did a stand-up comedy routine about the flood, a group of women clad in nun-habits from Ste. Genevieve County did their own rendition of songs from the motion picture "Sister Act," and a group of children in historical dress did a short skit.

"We wanted everyone to know that no matter what they did in the flood-relief effort, they made a big difference," Anderson said. "Everyone helped in one way or another; it was truly a community effort."