Road Trip that I think is funny.

ROAD TRIP
Take one FEMA trailer, add an impassioned man: Washington is about to get shaken up
Saturday, August 19, 2006
By Bob Warren
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

The idea didn't come to Rockey Vaccarella in those harrowing hours after Hurricane Katrina, when he clung to the rooftop of his flooded Meraux home. It didn't come four days later, when he finally left his native St. Bernard Parish, exhausted and shocked at the near-total devastation that lay before him.

No, the idea came during a fleeting conversation with another frustrated Katrina victim.

"A gentleman said to me, 'You know, somebody ought to take a FEMA trailer and park it on the White House lawn,' " Vaccarella said.

So was born Vaccarella's quest: to pull a trailer to Washington, stopping along the way to raise awareness of the plight of south Louisiana, and maybe, just maybe, share a meal inside the trailer with President Bush.

"I don't like negative," Vaccarella, 41, said. "So I'm not doing it to bash the president or anybody else. Just the opposite: I want to thank him for all he's done -- but tell him please don't forget about us."

Against a backdrop of back-patting and high-fiving Friday morning, Vaccarella's caravan -- a few vehicles, a couple of motorcycles and, of course, the trailer -- pulled out of Chalmette for the three-day trip to Washington.

"Is this beautiful or what?" Vaccarella asked no one in particular, shortly after an enthusiastic display of shadowboxing to the theme music from the movie "Rocky," played by members of the Chalmette High School band. "Me, I think this is just beautiful."

Vaccarella said his stops on the way to Washington -- the itinerary calls for overnights in Montgomery, Ala.; Columbia, S.C.; and Richmond, Va. -- will give his crew the opportunity to spotlight the plight of post-Katrina south Louisiana.

"There's so much that needs to be done," he said. "I'm going to tell everybody, 'Hey, you can't just let this whole place go to waste.' "

Vaccarella, his wife and their son live in a FEMA trailer in front of his house. But that's not the trailer he's towing to Washington.

"FEMA had some problems with us towing our own FEMA trailer," he said. "So the trailer we're pulling is borrowed, but it's an exact replica of a FEMA trailer."

And its heavily stocked with the staples of south Louisiana cuisine. One of the members of the caravan, Jason Miller, also known as the "FEMA gourmet," will handle all the cooking and plans a special treat for Bush: redfish roulade.

"I guarantee he'll like it," Miller said with a grin.

Obviously, getting an audience with the leader of the free world won't be easy. And getting him to come inside a trailer for a meal, no matter how delicious, borders on the impossible. A White House spokesman said Bush would not be able to meet with Vaccarella.

Vaccarella knew he faced long odds in getting dinner with the boss. Steve Scaffidi, a crew member documenting the journey on video, said patrons at a Metairie bar Thursday night had initially installed Vaccarella as a 99-1 underdog to dine with Bush, but he remained committed to the mission.

And while it doesn't appear dinner with the president is in the cards, late Friday another ranking government official did commit to a meal in the trailer. Donald Powell, federal coordinator of Gulf Coast rebuilding, plans to dine with Vaccarella, a Powell spokeswoman said.

Powell should expect an interesting conversation.

"We've got a real story to tell," Vaccarella said.

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Bob Warren may be reached at bwarren@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3363.