In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Gulf Coast unincorporated town of Waveland was in similar straits to San Leon. They had no governmental infrastructure, and the national and even local media were far more fixated on the destruction of larger towns like New Orleans, Biloxi and Gulfport. Waveland was left to fend for its own, much has San Leon has started doing.
The people of Waveland got wind of the situation in San Leon and recognized a sort of interstate Gulf Coast kinship. (There is a sort of cultural bond that binds the entire coastline from south of Tampa clear to the Mexican border.)
Led by the TrailGrazHers, Waveland’s female trail riders, the Mississippians filled a half-dozen or so horse trailers full of relief supplies and brought them into town last night, accompanied by two Mississippi deputies and a news crew from Biloxi. Photos can be seen here.
According to San Leon newspaperman “Gator” Miller, tonight, (unofficial) officials from the two unincorporated towns plan to sign an official (unofficial) “mutual defense agreement and peace treaty.” (We didn’t know they were heretofore at war.)
“It’ll be full of highfalutin’ humorous language,” promised Miller to HairBalls over the phone a couple of days ago, and indeed it is. Here is the full text:
Treaty of Peace and Mutual AssistanceKnow ye by these presents that the residents of the picturesque and amenable communities in that part of The Sovereign State of Mississippi Known collectively as The Mississippi Gulf Coast (including Waveland, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, Diamond Head, Biloxi, Pascagoula, and contiguous environs)
And
The residents of that charming and sunkissed portion of The Great State of Texas Known collectively as The Bayside Communities (including San Leon, Bacliff, Bayview, Hillmanville, and surrounding dots on the map)
Have joined together this day in an amicable agreement of mutual assistance and good will.
In the event that either party shall suffer catastrophe, the other party shall provide for their needs to the best of their abilities.
The signatures below attest that there exists an eternal sisterhood between these communities that supersedes all man-made governments, and that springs from the principles of common decency.
Dated this 23rd day of September, 2008 at San Leon, Texas
-- John Nova Lomax
