Reunion of Alaska Work Team with Roy Moore

May 1, 2009

Gene Allison worked very hard to get the Alaska work group together with Roy Moore, who was visiting from Alaska. Brenda greets Warren Woolf and Gene as we gather at a restaurant in Barnesville, Georgia.

Brenda, Sue Woolf and Roy Moore. Don and Betty Hammonds in background. We jumped right into reminiscences of the Alaska work trips of 1991 and 1992. Some of the team had gone four summers.

Those who arrived first gathered outside the restaurant. Harry Espy was in from Chattanooga, Betty and Don Hammonds and Sue and Warren Woolf from Atlanta, Brenda Nave from Austell, and Gene Allison from Nashville.

We gathered around a long table: Brenda, Pat and Curtis Martin, Betty and Don Hammonds, Harry Espy, Jo and Gene Allison, Roy Moore, Warren and Sue Woolf.

Mitch and Virginia Crowley arrived and we had to add another table. Brenda and I had a good visit with them. They remembered that their daughter Carol had been in Rod's musical acoustics class at Georgia State in 1989. They had been on several mission trips and had some inspiring stories.

It was great to see Harry Espy and Jo and Gene Allison. As he had been for our original project, Gene was the planner for this enjoyable event and we were grateful for his initiative and hard work.

Roy, Gene and Warren continue the conversation after lunch. We stood around another hour and talked.

Gene asked us all to share some memories about these building trips to Mt. Redoubt Baptist Church, and then Roy told us a bit about developments since those trips. Roy's son Lee has been pastor of the church since 2000, having been a teacher and coach in the area before that. The church had gotten quite low after a big plant in the area had closed with the loss of 300 jobs. But the church had grown back up to 80 or so members and recently has been in the 50-60 range. Roy still works hard on the church and the ministry, having been in ministry there on the Kenai Peninsula for 54 years!