Fred Schulze Photography (retired): Blog

Appalachia Mission

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:33:27 GMT

The next St. Joseph Church Men of Faith Appalachia mission trip to Auxier KY is scheduled from Tuesday, June 4 through Saturday, June 8, 2019. Information packet for this mission trip can be found at http://www.sjparish.org/Missions. Photos from the 2018 mission trip can be viewed at https://www.fschulze.com/auxier2018. Below is an article about the 2018 trip that appeared in the July 2018 edition of the Catholic Cabin.

2018 St. Joseph’s Church Men of Faith Appalachia Mission Trip

By Fred Schulze, St. Joseph’s Missions Committee

“Good Morning Arkansas Boys!” shouted an elderly woman from her front porch as one of the work teams walked by her house on South River Street on their way to a job site. That greeting alone made the long 13.5 hour ride from Conway AR to eastern Kentucky worth it. This was one of many gifts that the 17 men of the St. Joseph’s Men of Faith Mission group received while using their time & talents repairing homes in one of the most impoverished regions of the United States.

On Tuesday morning June 5th, the St. Joseph’s mission group left the church parking lot in Conway at 6am sharp for their 5th annual Appalachia mission, and returned home on Saturday night, June 9^th. The group included Deacon Richard Papini, Don Greenland, Ray Blake and Robert Jordan from Tulsa OK, Mark Enderlin, Ron Gatto, Bob Gunther, Raymond Gunther, David Hambuchen, Don Kremer, Joe and Joseph LaRocca, Glenn McKay, Bryan Morgan, Mike Mullican, Billy York and Fred Schulze.

The mission group worked in conjunction with Hand in Hand Ministries of Auxier, Kentucky. The Hand in Hand Ministries Auxier Center is an old school building that’s been renovated to include air conditioned dormitories, family apartments and offices. This small campus, along the banks of the beautiful Levisa Fork, also contains workshops, a materials warehouse, food pantry, and a large kitchen. The staff prepared fantastic meals that were served in a dining hall which also serves as a conference room.

In beautiful mountains and hollows, Appalachia is home to generations of proud families, many dealing with extreme poverty. Hand in Hand Ministries serves these residents by building relationships and performing home repairs and doing other projects. The staff of Hand in Hand Ministry pre-qualified clients for home repairs and assigned certain jobs to the St. Joseph’s mission teams. Other groups serve with Hand in Hand Ministries throughout the year, but some of the most difficult jobs were saved for the “Arkansas Boys”. The projects on this trip included building a wheelchair ramp, replacing a roof, replacing a porch, and gutting the interior of an old mobile home - staging it for future renovations. Experience to do the needed work was not necessary; volunteers received on-the-job training by craftsmen from St. Joseph’s and Hand in Hand Ministries, including carpentry techniques and the use of various tools. In addition to the work, there was plenty of time for prayer and reflection, as well as fellowship while traveling, dining, and relaxing together.

Interacting with residents with compassion, talking to them and hearing their stories, was just as important as doing the actual repair work on their homes. The stories that were shared among the volunteers, not only about the jobs, but also about the conversations they had with residents, tugged at the heart. The work certainly built hope in the local residents, but it also transformed the lives of the St. Joseph’s volunteers. A recurring comment made during the "reflections" meeting, held during the last night in Auxier, was that the volunteers received more “gifts” than the gift of time and labor that they gave.

The next trip to Auxier is scheduled for June 4 through June 8, 2019. More information about this trip will become available sometime during March or April 2019. Information about the various work performed by the St. Joseph’s Missions Committee Ministry can be found at http://www.sjparish.org/Missions and by visiting the “St. Joseph Parish Missions Committee” page on Facebook. Information about Hand in Hand Ministries and their center in Auxier can be found at http://www.myhandinhand.org/ and on their Facebook page.

Sea of Japan

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 03:26:18 GMT

I had a rare day off while providing engineering support for a customer in Japan in 1995. I decided to see the Sea of Japan simply because I never saw it before. I asked one of my Texas coworkers to join me, but he didn't want to go because I didn't know how to get there; he didn't like the idea of traveling in a foreign country without making plans. To me, the fun part of this trip was to figure it out on the fly. So, I set out on this adventure on a cold, rainy day by myself. I first took a train from my base in Matsumoto City to Nagano, which is in the general direction that I wanted to go. I didn't speak nor read Japanese, so at the Nagano station, I asked a young person for help (young Japanese, especially high school kids, speak English). He pointed me to the train that will take me toward the sea. It was a long train ride through beautiful snow covered mountains & forest; the snow banks in places along the tracks were almost as high as the train itself. I met a new Japanese friend on the train, who help me with the meal service during the ride. He recommended that I get off at the Naoetsu Station. After arriving there, another young person pointed me down a road toward the sea. After a 15 minute walk, I arrived at Funami Park - my first look at the Sea of Japan - near the mouth of the Seki River, in Joetsu-shi, Niigata Prefecture. I enjoyed spending a few hours in lousy weather, walking on the beach, taking pictures with my Pentax point-&-shoot film camera, and had a great meal at a local noodle shop along the beach (grateful for the picture menu!). I actually enjoyed feeling vulnerable & humble while visiting this foreign place - not able to speak & read the language. I didn't go hungry. I interacted with some nice folks along the way. I got back safely to my base city that night. It was a great day off!
Sea-of-Japan_boatsSea of Japan

Hoops Hero

Fri, 22 Feb 2019 03:04:14 GMT

I enjoyed photographing high school sports for The News Connection - a local newspaper in north Texas. I was working behind the basket for this basketball game at Lewisville High School; this spot on the court can be dangerous at times. The ball in this photo was quickly flying out of bounds & toward my face. I made a quick decision to hold my ground, get the photo, & worry about my face later. This young man, Lewisville senior Broderic Matthews, reached in & batted the ball off to side just before it was about to crash into my camera & face. I was so grateful! This photo made the sports page. Days later, his math teacher, who was one of my photography students, told me how Broderic loved seeing this photo of him in the newspaper! Photo made in Lewisville TX on January 20, 2009.

Matsumoto Castle and a Photographer

Tue, 15 Jan 2019 18:29:12 GMT

While working in Japan during the winter of 1995, I woke up one Sunday morning to a beautiful snowfall. I walked from my hotel to Matsumoto Castle to photograph the 16th century castle in the snow with my little Pentax point-&-shoot film camera. The falling snow was wonderful to walk through - very quiet & peaceful. When I arrived at the ideal spot to make the photo, a photographer with a medium format camera on a tripod was already there working the scene. I photographed him & the castle as he worked. When he saw me behind him, he extended his arm toward the castle and, with a smile, motioned me to join him at his spot. Since I didn't speak Japanese, there was little verbal communication between us as we photographed together. It ddin't matter; we both shared the joy of photographing a beautiful scene. I made the same photos that he did (although his quality was probably much better with a larger format camera), but I didn't post any of those photos. I thought that this photo told a better story of the experience. Details: Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. Scanned Kodak Gold Max 400 negative.

Retired, But Still Photographing

Fri, 11 Jan 2019 00:47:12 GMT

Happy New Year! I'm retired and relocated from Flower Mound, TX to Conway, AR. Photos from some previous jobs & assignments are still available for viewing. Contact me, using the contact page, if you need a copy of a photo. In the meantime, I'm updating my this Web site with old & new personal work, as well as local projects for non-profit organizations. Please contact me if you have questions regarding any of my photos. Happy viewing! Fred