August 2015 Trip Summary

Our Mission Trip to Rutledge Tennessee August 15— 22, 2015
Seven Holy Spirit Parishioners were blessed to have the opportunity to serve people of the St. John Paul II, Rutledge, TN
area. Clay & Diane Gubbels, Stan Buman, Ruth Nellesen, Ed Miller and Jim &
Bev Tierney made the trip.
The week began on Saturday with Mass at 7:30 a.m. at Holy Spirit, celebrating the Holy Day of the Assumption of Mary.
We left with a blessing from Father Tim. Made it all the way to Glidden for our first stop for Ice at Caseys. Only one
potty stop at a rest area before stopping for lunch at Subway in Galesburg, IL. Note Gas was $2.99 gal. there.
After a few detours in Louisville, KY, we arrived at 8:15 for our stay for the night. Extended Stay USA Dutchman.
Economical but probably not recommended for future stays. Lobby smelled so bad, Clay had to go outside for fresh air!
But the rooms were ok and it was a good way to start the week as we realized during the upcoming week that we really
had it quite good in comparison to conditions that some people live in. Texas Roadhouse was right behind the hotel so
that was a plus after spending many hours in the car during the day. A walk was good for us. Delicious food and then to
bed for a tired group of travelers.
Sunday, August 16: Some took advantage of the Grab-n-Go breakfast at the hotel while others opted to check out
Panera Bread for something that was baked that morning instead of packaged a month ago.
We left the hotel at 8:30. We made a stop at Artisan Center in Berea, IN. It was a travel center and we used it for a
potty break and time to get our limbs moving and checking out the many unique items they were selling there. Lunch
was at Cracker Barrel in Middleboro, KY. A bit of a wait to get in, a chance to browse their front store as was their goal.
No purchases. Lunch was good for some, not as expected for others but filled us enough to make the last leg of the trip.
Following a curvy road up Joppa Mountain, we arrived at Toppa Joppa around 3:00 p.m. Everyone got settled in, each
finding a bed for the week. Ruth chose to sleep in Joe's office rather than share a large room with Stan and Ed. Good
choice/Ruth! -Diane & Clay had their own room, Jim and Bev their own and Stan and Ed had the choice of numerous
bunk beds in a large area. They did, however, have the largest bathroom you can imagine for just two guys, while the
rest of us shared a much smaller bathroom. We worked well as a team though. No one ever had to bang on the door
for someone to come out! There was also a half bath off the kitchen area.
We were greeted by Mia Gleber and Matthew Bayens. Mia is a long term volunteer that has been at Toppa Joppa since
the first of the summer. Matthew had only been there a few days and was going back to school at Loyola on Tuesday.
Mia graduated from Loyola as have several of the Glenmary volunteers. We also met Donna Turchi, another long term
volunteer that has been with Glenmary for a couple of years. She has been a key and very important person in the
Glenmary Toppa Joppa Volunteer Program. She is leaving Glenmary at the end of the year and will be very difficult to
replace. Her relationship with the people there is indescribable.
We were off again to St. John Paul II for the Spanish Mass at 5:00 in Rutledge. There was a smaller crowd than normal
that evening because there had been a men's retreat in Morristown and the families were there with them. Even
though we didn't understand a word Father Steve said, we were able to understand that he was talking about the
Eucharist, the Living Bread. Their choir, including guitars, was interesting. They were singing praises to God from the
heart, even if not on key.
After mass, we went to the grocery store for Mia to buy milk, bread and whatever we thought we might need for the
week. Their list of what they already had was extensive so we did not need much! Then back to Toppa Joppa for
Lasagna with the most delicious Marinara Sauce ever. Diane, did you get the recipe from Donna? Please share! And
then there was dessert — fresh blueberry cobbler, with whip cream. Yum! Following dinner, we gathered in the living
room for Evening Reflections, to pray and reflect on what we were expecting in the week ahead, why we were there and
how we would be serving but also in the way we would be receiving. Matthew read the "Take the Long View" Prayer, a
workplace prayer, a future not our own.
Relections were held each evening to pray and to think about the day and how it affected each person.
Monday, August 17: Breakfast was on our own with everything supplied that we could think of. Cereal, bread, bagels,
bananas, blueberries, blueberries and blueberries. The guys had a goal in mind to get the shop organized and began
early with that. Continued at it all week and it looks so much better!
At 9:00, Joe Grosek arrived with the details of where we would split up and go for our first site projects. We all prayed
together as a group before Clay, Jim, Stan, Matthew, Donna and Joe left for Tammie's trailer. Their eyes were opened to
true poverty when they saw how Tammie lived. We think that she has a 10-12 year old son who was removed from the
house and an older son with a meth addition. No water, no electricity in her home. There were no doors on the trailer
but she was actually living there! They began with replacing & leveling floors, cutting wood for a future wood stove to
heat her trailer, sanded railings, installed plexiglass, boarded up door area to install a door at a later date, replaced one
section of sill plate and base board. Siding metal had to be removed to do that. They capped piping on the roof and
worked on the siding. That was enough for one day to return later in the week for more.
Mia took Ed, Ruth, Diane and Bev to the Lee house. Bea lost her husband to cancer 4 months ago and was just
recuperating from a fall on the ramp on the back side of her house that was slippery. Diane and Ruth tackled a paint job
on the back outside wall of her house that Joe Grosek had replaced last year but had not had the opportunity to apply
paint. Ed trimmed a bush/tree that was hanging over the ramp and pulled weeds in an area right outside the back door
that apparently had been her garbage drop while she was laid up with the broken leg. Bev cleaned the ramp and Bev
and Ruth applied a thick coat of stain with grit added to reduce slipping and improve traction so Bea wouldn't fall again.
Bea was so sweet and appreciated our work. She was determined to do something for us — provide a drink? Sure, we
would take that and we were glad to see bottles of water that she brought us. Bea's home was rather dilapidated,
needed some tender loving care and had lots of rubbish outside. We would have loved to attack more of the premises
but Mia told her that was all we were doing that day and Joe would be back to talk to her later about more work there.
Lunch everyday was packed and eaten at the site, since most locations were quite far from Toppa Joppa.
.Wereturned to Toppa Joppa. We were advised in earlier emails that the work at Toppa Joppa came last, the otherwork
sites took priority. That was quite apparent. There was a list of projects at Toppa Joppa near the door and everyone
was eager to cross a few of the projects off before we left at the end of the week. The riding lawn mower was in the
shop and it seemed it may have been there for quite some time! The guys had checked out an old lawn mower in the
garage area and got it to work. As soon as we returned, Diane started mowing the long grass and Ruth, Ed and Bev
attacked the flower gardens until rain sent us inside. Ruth became known as Moses sometime during that day —
"Walked with Moss" prompted that nickname, right?
That night, Father Steve and Brother Craig fixed us dinner at their house. Father found a great deal on hamburger -
$3.99 for 5# (?) Turns out it must have been mostly fat because the hamburgers were smoked by the grill fire more
than they were grilled! But they tasted great and all of the sides of brats, beans and sweet corn made for an excellent
meal. To top off the meal, Brother Craig made homemade Apple Crisp and an icecream dessert! Father showed us his
chickens between rain drops. He has 2 special hens, one of which had two chicks following her around. In the other
pen, were Solomon, the rooster, Ruth, Naomi, Mary, Martha and two others that didn't get bibilical names. Father is
very proud of his chickens. Took pictures of Father and Ruth, alias, Moses, with Fathers walking stick collection. Back to
Toppa Joppa for Reflections. Mia led reflections. We were asked if our expectations were being met, based on what we
had experienced so far.
Tuesday, August 18: Eggs and sausage breakfast for those who eat eggs. Then the three stooges and Joe went to Gwen
and Jen's trailer. Gwen's daughter, Jen lost custody of her children because social services said the conditions of the
home were not acceptable for children to live in them. They put steps up to the back door and installed two new doors.
The trailer was 'shocking' so they tried to fix it with a grounding rod. Didn't work. Fortunately our guys are well
grounded and didn't get shocked. A deck had been built previously.
Meth (or at least drugs) is a huge problem in that area. The trailer house next to Gwen and Jen had been vacated and
thieves broke in, stripping the copper out of it, rendering the trailer useless. Most likely selling it to buy drugs.
The girls and Ed visited the Ridgeview Terrace of Life Care Nursing Home that is very close to St. John Paul II in Rutledge.
We played Bingo with the residents and visited with some after the Bingo game. They got $10 Bingo dollars, just for
playing and the winner for $15! They spent their Bingo money on snacks and pop later in the week. Herbie passed out
the bingo cards and was pretty proud of his task. Ruth and Diane had a wonderful experience with Ruth and Gayle.
Gayle and Ruth were a pure joy. Gayle was a bit ornery. When handing out juice & water before bingo, Gayle accidently
go 2 orange juices. She said that would be good for a HarveyWallbanger! Gave us a good chuckle. Diane asked what
was in that drink and she told me. I told her I would have one sometime for her! They said we couldn't take pictures
but when were took them for a walk outside, they said, "Now you can take a picture, we don't care!" As much as we
wanted to, we didn't. They talked about their families and they asked us about ours. It was so much fun visiting with
them and we both even got a hug when we left. They made our day as much as we probably made theirs.
Ed and Bev visited with AnnaBelle Smith. She had been a teacher and shared a bit with Ed about her background. Then
there was Joe Brown with his Booming Voice and Eileen Collins who shared all about her family and was so proud to
show the pictures of her children and grandchildren. Lovely people there and visits with the residents was much
appreciated.
Tuesday afternoon we were scheduled to go to Adoration at JPII but the guys were tied up with delays in their job so
Mia, Ed and the girls went to Adoration. Father Antonio, Father's Glenmary associate from Columbia led the weekday
Mass followed by Rosary and Adoration. Bev met some of the ladies that she had met on previous visits and met
another gal for the Family Profiles.
When the guys returned, we went down the road to Joppa Mountain Pottery. We met McDonald & Ann Crosby, true
mountain people by the looks of them! McDonald showed us the process of making pottery. They are beginning a
project that will be completed by next year. Each group that visits are invited to become creative and 'decorate' a
square piece of clay with something that reminds you of Joppa Mountain and stay at Toppa Joppa. They plan to put all
of the squares together as one large piece of art. Some of the group contributed with works of art! Several purchased
Toppa 16-pp-1 pottery mugs from McDonald.
Back to Toppa Joppa for more outside work until time to get showers. Tuesday night turned out to be beautiful. We
went to Cherokee Lake Dam. On the way we stopped to see the tomato farms at Santana Farms (parishioners at PIO.
Donna bought Mexican Dinner from the Mexican Food Truck, Taqueria La Estrallita. One of the parishioners, Leticia
Ramirez has this food truck and produce stand alongside the road across the street from a gas station. We had Mexican
Tacos, Homemade Tamales, Rice, Beans and Fruit, all prepared by Leticia. Very good. Spent a bit of time relaxing at the
area. Ruth began a conversation with a couple and found that the woman was originally from Harlan, Iowa. Brought her
up to talk to Clay. Ended up Clay knew her family! Small world. On the way home, we stopped by a waterfall from
Appalachia. Stan 'drank' of the living water. Not. Actually when Donna had problems with their waterline, they filled
jugs from the pipe to flush toilets, etc. She said, "Do Not Drink The Water!" She said she would not wish to use the
same bathroom as Stan if he actually did drink the water.
Wednesday, August 19: Trio and Joe went to Shoaps. They are a Grainger County Catholic couple who live in a very old
cabin with an addition. The wall needed reinforcing. This couple is in their mid 70's. The husband has dementia and
Father says you can't believe much of what he tells you so the story of having 3 farms is not true. Their son, Michael
(33) also lives with them. Michael is a little slow; however, very polite and helpful with whatever was asked. The older
gentleman had lost his leg. He retired from the Post Office and was a Navy veteran. They had 3 dogs and the place
smelled terrible. Clay and Stan worked outside and poor Joe and Jim had to do the inside work. That was quite a
process. We took 3 treated 4 X 4's on the outside and two 4 X 8 sheets of plywood on the inside of them and drilled
through the 4 X 4's, through the logs, through the inside wall and through the 2 X 6's on the inside and ran 5/8th steel
rods through and pulled the wall back together. Before we could do anything to the inside we had to move numerous
material away from the wall upstairs. What a mess!
Matthew left for home for a few days before classes were to start at Loyola. Great young man.
The gals and Ed went to Kingswood School, a non-profit, co-ed residential group care home for children and youth
between ages of 5-18. It provides a Christian home-like environment to displaced children that have been taken from
their homes because of neglect, abuse or the parents are not able to take care of them anymore. They are wanting to
open a thrift store in a large house on the campus, that had a room full of personal care supplies. They needed to be
moved to another location. Mia, Ed and Diane moved a 10 year or more supply of toothpaste and numerous other
items from the house and organized them on shelves so they could be easily accessed for distribution as the children
needed them. Ruth and Bev went through bags and bags of donated clothing and sorted them by gender, etc. so they
could be ready to hang or displayed for sale in their future thrift store.
Plenty of time upon return to Toppa Joppa for outside work. Ed did a great job of powerwashing the house while Diane
mowed AGAIN, Bev weeded, Ruth vacuumed and then more weeding.. A quick dinner of bbq pork that Donna had
prepared and frozen earlier. Blueberry and Peach Cobbler for dessert! Went to Maynardsville for Wednesday night
Mass and Bible Study following. Deaconate Candidate Larry Rossito led in the study of the History of the Mass.
Everyone tired after a long day and the trip to and from Maynardville.
Thursday, August 20:
Joe and the three stooges returned to Tammie's and carpet tiled two rooms, built a closet, moved furniture, did more sill
plate replacement, constructed a door frame and added the door on the back side to replace the piece of plywood
covering the opening and sealed off the other vent pipe. Insulation and skirting to be added by another crew.
The girls and Ed, along with Mia and Donna moved the majority of the canned and bagged items from the Food Pantry
to the United Methodist Church. The Food Pantry is operated by three churches in Rutledge, St. John Paul IL, United
— Methodist and one other. On Saturday, August 22, a food handout was to be held at the parking lot of the United _
Methodist Church. Any sun dresses that we brought from Carroll and left after Thursday night mass were also going to
be put out for anyone who could use them. Later we found out that Pastor Ryan of the United Methodist Church had
incorrectly informed us that almost all of the food pantry items were to be moved. Per Father Steve, only the out-ofdate
or close to out-of-date items were to be handed out in the Saturday give-away. Oh well, we did as we were told
and not to worry. A couple of Fathers parishioners would deal with it on Saturday. Mia took us to Nancy Cerventes
house to show us the purses, head bands and other items that Nancy had made. The purses are made with crocheting
and pop can tabs. Ruth took several pictures and the plan is for Donna to make a brochure for Nancy to begin selling her
crafts. Nancy was babysitting with a darling little girl, Mariana. Loved swinging in hammock. Nancy fixed us a
wonderful lunch, all cooked outside in a ceramic bowl or pan over a turkey fryer. She doesn't like to cook inside. We
were introduced to Papalo, similar to cilantro. She grows it in her garden and sent some back with us. Also made
homemade tortillas, rice and chicken and fresh pineapple juice. A real taste of Mexico near Acapulco, where she is from.
Back to more outside work and then to Rutledge for Bible Study and the bi-lingual Mass at St. John Paul II. The church
was extremely full because they were celebrating the men that had attended a weekend retreat. Several from the
Maynardville church were also there. The sundresses and school supplies were set out. Unfortunately there are a lot
more boys than girls there for the sundresses. Diane and Ruth handed out bubbles and beanie babies to the kids. Clay
and Bev talked to Helen Roach about helping her raise money for the church. She had 2 sterling silver candelabras made
in Taxco, Mexico that she said were worth near $1000 and Brother Craig had mentioned that we might be able to have a
raffle for them to help raise money for the church. TN doesn't allow raffles. Clay will check with Michael Loehr to see
what he thinks they are valued at and maybe put on ebay. We hope to be able to help Helen get at least $500 for the
church. Back to Toppa Joppa - Donna bought pizza for dinner. Some used some papalo for topping the pizza.
Friday, August 21: Last day. Pancakes With Blueberries, of course, and bacon for breakfast. Check things off the list on
the hoard_ The guys went to finish the wall at Shoans and aonly the rittv stain to a ramo. Then returned so Clay could
finish mowing. Got it done too!!! Stan was busy marking another item off — replacing roof on Wood Shed. Jim and Joe
were out and about picking up all the unused lumber at the work sites.
The gals, Ed, Donna and Mia were traveling around the country trying to find Laura's trailer. Finally found it. Or they
found us. Laura lived in a trailer the size of a small travel trailer. She was moving to a 2 BR apartment in Newport, TN
about 90 minutes away, so her grand-daughter could stay with her. Her son, Vinnie was there to help us. It didn't take
long for us to load her boxes and few belongings, cat and dog to her new home. She made sure he didn't forget her
cigarettes and those they made?!. Chuckled at that. She was in heaven in her new place and she and her son were so
appreciative of our help.
Back at Toppa Joppa, everyone pitched in to clean and finish up the projects there. All week was quite hot and humid
but Friday was much better weather. Everyone was ready for Vinegar Pie at Clinch Mountain Restaurant. On the way
we stopped at the Central Point Trailer Park where many of the Hispanics that work on the tomato farms live. Leticia
Ramirez' 12 year old daughter, Lorena, runs a Mexican Store in a small area behind their trailer. She manages the
inventory and sells some Mexican grocery items, select children's clothing, rosaries and misc. to others in the trailer
park. We bought popsicles and/or Mexican cookies and a rosary from her to help support her. We saw the grassy area
where Glenmary holds the summer camps for the children. Next stop — Veterans Point Overlook where you can see for
miles. Great view of Cherokee Lake and Clinch Mountain. Just around the corner is the Restaurant. A very homey type
restaurant. Donna and Mia know the owners and family well. We were 'entertained' by a blue grass country band
during dinner. Most topped off dinner with vinegar pie, except Stan who had to have rhubarb strawberry. A unique
experience. Back home for our final reflection. Stan had prepared a beautiful prayer with thoughts and reflections of
the week of service. We all agree it was a very good week, humbling and gratifying week in which we were able to
provide hope and love for the people that we served but we also received a very great blessing by being of service to
others.
Stan's Reflection Prayer as requested.:
Lord, thank you for calling us to serve you and your children in the greater Joppa Mountain vicinity; to do so with a
group of people who previously have not worked together; to help your children without first passing judgement on
their worthiness. Thank you for granting us safety in our work and our travel. We ask that you continue to bless us
during the remainder of our trip.
Lord, thank you for the parents you have given us. Through our week of service, you have helped us better appreciate
the self sacrifices they endured to not only provide us a more comfortable life, but also provide us with the solid base
of our faith.
Mother Mary, even during your pregnancy with God's son, you led by example, serving Elizabeth in her time of need.
Upon returning to our own community, please remind us of the many people in need; whether it be physical labor or
visitation. Help us to carry on your work such as we have accomplished this week.
Ed's comment: The bonding of the group with morning and evening prayer gave me the feeling that we can do these
projects. The sincere appreciation shown by the people that we helped was very heart warming and created lasting memories.