Fee Hedrick Family Entertainment

The Mountain Press:
PIGEON FORGE, TN – Although he is in the entertainment business, David Fee and his associates at the Fee/Hedrick Family Entertainment Group are in the humanitarian business as well.

On Sunday morning, with a police escort and an awaiting units with the Sevier County Ambulance Service, Fee, his employees, Tony Culbertson and Dennis Nelson, and 12 victims of Hurricane Katrina arrived at the Comedy Barn Theater after a trip to New Orleans to deliver supplies and provide refuge for those left behind.

Some of the refugees were immediately taken by ambulance to local hospitals to nurse injuries suffered during last week’s hurricane, some not receiving any medical attention all week.

Fee and his employees left late Friday evening for New Orleans in a large, refrigerated box truck that was purchased to deliver supplies to devastated areas of Louisiana and Mississippi, arriving early Saturday morning.

National Guard troops saw the truck in through barricades and into New Orleans. Upon arrival, the group learned that a refugee camp in Metairie, La., a suburb of New Orleans, was in desperate need of supplies and further assistance.

Fee and his group arrived at a high school-turned refugee camp in Metairie, providing bottled water and other supplies donated by Sevier County businesses.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials asked Fee if he could take some of the refugees back to Tennessee, where their needs could be met. Lining the bed of the truck with donated mattresses, Fee was prepared to rescue the individuals.

“People had been coming to the Comedy Barn in droves,” said Fee. “They were wanting help and we’ve been putting people together who want to help and have been willing to supply help. It just turned out that way.

“One family in particular who wanted our help wanted to go back to their hometown in Mississippi that was wiped out, and they had friends and family members in contact begging for supplies,” Fee continued. “They had gone to U-Haul and all the truck companies, and nobody will rent you a truck to go down south. So we decided we would go buy a truck, fill it with medical supplies, food supplies and water, and take it to this town.”

Fee went on to say further, “By the time we got our truck, they evacuated the town, but we decided the idea was still valid. So, we headed down south not exactly sure where we would take our truck, and we knew that we would be needed.

“In Metairie, there was no flood or riot damage, but every third house and business was gone. Power lines were down, and there was no electricity. People had no food, no water, no medical care, nothing. They were outside sleeping on cardboard.”

Fee will also provide airline tickets to two of the refugees, who wish to continue traveling to New York to be with family members and friends there, after injuries they sustained are tended to.

He has also offered employment opportunities to some of the refugees who arrived in Pigeon Forge earlier in the week.

Fee said he is considering going back to the Gulf Coast and rescuing more refugees.

“There were so many convoys going in that direction, so it may be a mute point,” said Fee. “We have been talking about going to Gulfport, Biloxi and some of the other small towns. The country is doing a good job with the bigger cities, so we would just be in the way.”

Original Story:
The Mountain Press