September 10th Update

Schell Co. will open Monday Sept 12th. We will get here as soon as we can. I think Don H will be here at 7:30. The rest of us are driving in from all over the place. Please be patient.

Update on Schell Co people:

• Don Schell is in Steamboat Springs, Co…his house has roof damage
• Craig is here and will be in the office Monday…his house suffered roof damage..his family is in Colorado
• Billy relocated to BR will be in office Monday…house has no damage to speak of
• Helen…same as above
• Don Hanemann is back in his house!!! Will be here Monday am
• Tom Casey is back in house!!! Will be here Monday
• Melody Jacob…in Alexandria, La we do not know about her house. I don’t think she will be in Monday
• Steven Darce is back in his house!!!
• Alan Fensin…in Alexandria no word on house. No word if he will be in on Monday.
• Luke and Kevin in BR no problems
• Mike Miles in Ms no problems
• Pete Tucker in Lafayette no problems.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO SEND ORDERS TO THE FACTORIES.

We will notify all when we are capable of handling business as usual. However, please call us at the office we will be conducting inside sales and reacting to emergency orders as best as we can!! Please be patient with us. It will take a while for us to get back to 100% productivity!!! However, we are in a very good position to help restore things quickly!!

Visit www.nola.com this is a great source for info. On New Orleans. Also, please take a look at the following attachment. I think this says it all about those who live in the area that is affected by Katrina.

Dear America,

I suppose we should introduce ourselves: We're South Louisiana.

We have arrived on your doorstep on short notice and we apologize for that, but we never were much for waiting around for invitations. We're not much on formalities like that.

And we might be staying around your town for a while, enrolling in your schools and looking for jobs, so we wanted to tell you a few things about us. We know you didn't ask for this and neither did we, so we're just going to have to make the best of it.

First of all, we thank you. For your money, your water, your food, your prayers, your boats and buses and the men and women of your National Guards, fire departments, hospitals and everyone else who has come to our rescue.

We're a fiercely proud and independent people, and we don't cotton much to outside interference, but we're not ashamed to accept help when we need it.

And right now, we need it.

Just don't get carried away. For instance, once we get around to fishing again, don't try to tell us what kind of lures work best in your waters.

We're not going to listen. We're stubborn that way.

You probably already know that we talk funny and listen to strange music and eat things you'd probably hire an exterminator to get out of your yard.

We dance even if there's no radio. We drink at funerals. We talk too much and laugh too loud and live too large and, frankly, we're suspicious of those who don't.

We put Tabasco on stuff without tasting it first.

But we'll try not to judge you while we're in your town.

Everybody loves their home, we know that. But we love South Louisiana with a ferocity that borders on the pathological. Sometimes we bury our dead in LSU sweatshirts.

Often we don't make sense. You may wonder why, for instance - if we could only carry one small bag of belongings with us on our journey to your state - why in God's name did we bring a pair of shrimp boots?

We can't really explain that. It is what it is.

You've probably heard that many of us stayed behind. As bad as it is, many of us cannot fathom a life outside of our border, out in that place we call Elsewhere.

The only way you could understand that is if you have been there, and so many of you have. So you realize that when you strip away all the craziness and bars and parades and music and architecture and all that hooey, really, the best thing about where we come from is us.

We are what made this place a national treasure. We're good people. And don't be afraid to ask us how to pronounce our names. It happens all the time.

When you meet us now and you look into our eyes, you will see the saddest story ever told. Our hearts are broken into a thousand pieces.

But don't pity us. We're gonna make it. We're resilient. After all, we've been rooting for the Saints for 35 years. That's gotta count for something.

OK, maybe something else you should know is that we make jokes at inappropriate times.

But what the hell.

And one more thing: In our part of the country, we're used to having visitors. It's our way of life.

So when all this is over and we move back home, we will repay to you the hospitality and generosity of spirit you offer to us in this season of our despair.

That is our promise. That is our faith.