For the second time, I am assembling my Bill Campbell costume—Halloween will be here before you know it anyway. I can’t quite manage the moustache, although sadly with enough time and without my strict attention, I could approximate a semblance of one. Sigh. As Bette Davis once opined, “getting old ain’t for sissies.”

Oops, as is my wont, I have digressed. Let us return to the business at hand.

In the last issue, I suggested that in the wake of this recent catastrophe it would be the small and sustained efforts of folks without tons of money who would make the difference in the types of lives 3 million displaced persons would be rebuilding. The sheer numbers of fundraisers in this small community has been mind-boggling. It is virtually impossible for someone without a lot of money to support all of them, but most of us can give blood and we can all go through our closets or drop by the dollar store and buy a few toothbrushes. Make sure when you do cruise the closet you are giving away a quality piece of clothing. Being homeless doesn’t mean these folks want the clothes you generally keep for scrubbing the floor and used underwear is completely unacceptable.

I wanted to acknowledge some of the smaller efforts made hereabouts for those less fortunate. While it is terrific that Destin Commons has made a 100,000 commitment and quickly put together an evening of music last Sunday, plus had generous attendees donate a lot of money, it is the smaller efforts that touch my heart.

Cuvee Beach jumped on the bandwagon early, donating all monies collected on Labor Day to the Red Cross. I happened to go to the restaurant that night for two reasons: I wanted and needed a nice night out after being glued to the TV for days, and knew I would get it there as the food and service is always impeccable. Further, the money I spent would be wisely used by the Red Cross. A win-win for patrons as well as the Red Cross and Cuvee Beach raised $5100.

Lew and Nora Hogue are two local musicians with strong ties to New Orleans. Nora got her start in the entertainment business there and went back from time to time to dazzle the tourists. She and Lou know a number of musicians who reside there. They enlisted their friends to gather at Theo’s Pizza Pub to raise some money for storm victims. Initially the money was to be for musicians, but ultimately the $1500 they garnered was sent to Mount Herman, La., a small community near New Orleans where one of the music makers lives in a community that seems to have been forgotten by many of the helping agencies.

Last Saturday, in a hastily thrown together benefit, a number of area musicians played their hearts out all day in the blazing heat to raise money. Among those donating his time and melodious voice was The Beachcomber’s own web guru, Bill Garrett. There isn’t a nicer guy in Destin than Bill and I’m proud to know him. The musicians and the merchants who assembled on the green and those providing items for the silent auction did some good work. Even before the money was counted from silent auction winners, more than $20,000 had been tossed in the kitty. I also managed to lose my keys inside my locked car and had to be rescued by a Walton County Sheriff’s Deputy named Wayne Grandstaff, but that’s a story for another day.

Lastly, but not least there’s The Boathouse crew. Boathouse regulars are proud of their attachment this small bar and eatery on the Destin Harbor. If you haven’t been there, that’s fine with the locals who hang there. My brother has been going there for years and he and the other regulars actually keep track of how many days of the year they drop in for a beer or a bowl of gumbo. It’s some sort of local endurance contest I think, but when the chips are down these guys put a beer in one hand, and a donation in the other. Last Sunday they raised money specifically for Habitat for Humanity, who will be doing a great deal of homebuilding in Louisiana and Mississippi in the months to come. In just a few hours, $4,000 was raised for the organization. Boathouse regulars can take a well-deserved sip of lager knowing they have done their part.

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