Answered prayers for St. Jude Thaddeus School

Persistent rainfalls flooded and caused damage to parts of the area along the Hi-Line. In some areas, the damage left people praying for a miracle. Yet for St. Jude Thaddeus School, the heavy rainfall was the answer to its prayers.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, St. Jude physical education instructor Dana Roe stood in a "lake" of water covering the Havre Central Gymnasium floor. In the ball room and physical education room, the carpet squished beneath his feet.

Roe said needles from a pine tree, located on the west side of Havre Central, loosened clogging the drain pipe from the roof. The water leaked from the ceiling of the ball room, spewed to the floor of the stage and then trickled down the stage steps onto a 20-by-30-foot section of the gym floor. The total damage was about $30,000, according to Roe and Tim Herron, who co-chairs as assistant activities director with Roe.

Both Roe and Herron called the damage a blessing in disguise because for the past three years, the school has been working to get the gym floor refinished. The last time the floor was refinished was in 1996. Roe said three years ago, the original bid to get the floor refinished was $28,600.

Most of the flood damage will be covered through the school's insurance. The school is responsible for paying the $500 deductible.

Luckily, the Havre Central Booster Club had $7,500 in reserves for to get the floor refinished originally before the storms struck the gym. McDonald's also had a three-year plan to give the school $5,000 over the next three years to go toward the original bid of getting the gym floor refinished. The school will not only get a newly refurbished gym floor, but will be able to fix the damages caused from the flooding.

"Mother Nature kind of helped us our on that deal," Roe said. "As hard as our booster club works to get money … we can't expect them to put away $12,000 in a short amount of time."

"God is good to us," St. Jude Development Director Stacy Rismon said.

The damage caused paint to peel from the ball room walls, floor boards to bow in the gymnasium and ball room, and the steps and stage floor also sustained damages that will be fixed. Roe added that the Knights of Columbus 1644 meeting room below the ball room had water damage as well. Big Sky Supplies of Missoula was sanding down the varnish on the gym floor Tuesday afternoon.

Otis the Havre Central '49ers mascot, a painting done in 1996 by Ned Malone in the middle of the gym floor, will be replaced by a new graphic design by Jeff Ralph. Another new addition to the facility is the new wooden lettering, located on the west side on the outside of the building, that spells out the gym's name. St. Jude sixth-grader Nathan Korb made the new sign as a 4-H Club community service project because the original sign had normal wear and tear.

Roe said the '49ers volleyball team has continued its season without its home gym. He said the team has been practicing in the Lincoln-McKinley Primary School gym while work is being done to the Havre Central gym.

"Havre Public Schools has been really cooperative with us for our volleyball players to use a gym," Herron said.

Due to HPS' cooperation, Havre Central will host the end of the year seventh-grade girls basketball tournament Oct. 16 and the Havre Middle School seventh-grade basketball tournament Dec. 18.

The Saturday, Sept. 11, Havre Central Volleyball Jamboree will take place at the HMS gymnasium this year instead of at the Havre Central gym. However, Roe and Herron predict that the gym work will be completed the first week of October. Havre Central is still planning on hosting the Harlem Ambassadors basketball event, where a team similar to the Harlem Globetrotters will play two quarters of competitive and two quarters of non-competitive basketball with members of the community, on Oct. 23.

For now, Roe's physical education classes have been held at Pepin Park or the school's playground, or in a classroom during inclement weather.

Herron said Havre Central is not only used by St. Jude, but by the community as well.

The gym is used by the Montana State University-Northern Lights and Skylights and the Havre High School Blue Ponies basketball teams, adult education volleyball and by the Havre Youth Basketball program.

"The gym is a resource in our community," Herron said. "We're trying to get it up and running.

"We don't hoard it, we share it," he added.

The tree that caused the drain to clog has been removed by Frontier Lawn & Landscape, who donated the time and labor cost.

Persistent rainfalls flooded and caused damage to parts of the area along the Hi-Line. In some areas, the damage left people praying for a miracle. Yet for St. Jude Thaddeus School, the heavy rainfall was the answer to its prayers.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, St. Jude physical education instructor Dana Roe stood in a "lake" of water covering the Havre Central Gymnasium floor. In the ball room and physical education room, the carpet squished beneath his feet.

Roe said needles from a pine tree, located on the west side of Havre Central, loosened clogging the drain pipe from the roof. The water leaked from the ceiling of the ball room, spewed to the floor of the stage and then trickled down the stage steps onto a 20-by-30-foot section of the gym floor. The total damage was about $30,000, according to Roe and Tim Herron, who co-chairs as assistant activities director with Roe.

Both Roe and Herron called the damage a blessing in disguise because for the past three years, the school has been working to get the gym floor refinished. The last time the floor was refinished was in 1996. Roe said three years ago, the original bid to get the floor refinished was $28,600.

Most of the flood damage will be covered through the school's insurance. The school is responsible for paying the $500 deductible.

Luckily, the Havre Central Booster Club had $7,500 in reserves for to get the floor refinished originally before the storms struck the gym. McDonald's also had a three-year plan to give the school $5,000 over the next three years to go toward the original bid of getting the gym floor refinished. The school will not only get a newly refurbished gym floor, but will be able to fix the damages caused from the flooding.

"Mother Nature kind of helped us our on that deal," Roe said. "As hard as our booster club works to get money … we can't expect them to put away $12,000 in a short amount of time."

"God is good to us," St. Jude Development Director Stacy Rismon said.

The damage caused paint to peel from the ball room walls, floor boards to bow in the gymnasium and ball room, and the steps and stage floor also sustained damages that will be fixed. Roe added that the Knights of Columbus 1644 meeting room below the ball room had water damage as well. Big Sky Supplies of Missoula was sanding down the varnish on the gym floor Tuesday afternoon.

Otis the Havre Central '49ers mascot, a painting done in 1996 by Ned Malone in the middle of the gym floor, will be replaced by a new graphic design by Jeff Ralph. Another new addition to the facility is the new wooden lettering, located on the west side on the outside of the building, that spells out the gym's name. St. Jude sixth-grader Nathan Korb made the new sign as a 4-H Club community service project because the original sign had normal wear and tear.

Roe said the '49ers volleyball team has continued its season without its home gym. He said the team has been practicing in the Lincoln-McKinley Primary School gym while work is being done to the Havre Central gym.

"Havre Public Schools has been really cooperative with us for our volleyball players to use a gym," Herron said.

Due to HPS' cooperation, Havre Central will host the end of the year seventh-grade girls basketball tournament Oct. 16 and the Havre Middle School seventh-grade basketball tournament Dec. 18.

The Saturday, Sept. 11, Havre Central Volleyball Jamboree will take place at the HMS gymnasium this year instead of at the Havre Central gym. However, Roe and Herron predict that the gym work will be completed the first week of October. Havre Central is still planning on hosting the Harlem Ambassadors basketball event, where a team similar to the Harlem Globetrotters will play two quarters of competitive and two quarters of non-competitive basketball with members of the community, on Oct. 23.

For now, Roe's physical education classes have been held at Pepin Park or the school's playground, or in a classroom during inclement weather.

Herron said Havre Central is not only used by St. Jude, but by the community as well.

The gym is used by the Montana State University-Northern Lights and Skylights and the Havre High School Blue Ponies basketball teams, adult education volleyball and by the Havre Youth Basketball program.

"The gym is a resource in our community," Herron said. "We're trying to get it up and running.

"We don't hoard it, we share it," he added.

The tree that caused the drain to clog has been removed by Frontier Lawn & Landscape, who donated the time and labor cost.