While many have attempted to heal the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina with gifts of food and clothing, one Ironton native recently helped affected children with the gift of entertainment.

Shay Hannon, a graduate of Ironton High School, is a member of the children’s theatre group The Pickled Pepper Players at Marshall University where she is pursuing a degree in theatre.

Traditionally, the group tours local schools to entertain and educate children, but this year, the group decided to bring their show to the children who needed it most.

On its “Gulf Coast Relief Tour,” the group gave 24 performances of children’s theatre plays for young audiences at 13 locations in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The trip took 10 days and covered 2,400 miles.

“It was a great experience,” Hannon said. “I’m thrilled that they asked me to go and take part. Performing for the kids, just to see how happy it made them, to see us dancing and singing, it was amazing.”

Of course, not everything about the trip was so wonderful. Hannon said she was overwhelmed by the level of devastation she witnessed.

“Seeing the damage of the hurricane on TV is totally different from seeing it in person,” Hannon said. “I couldn’t believe how tremendous the disaster was.”

For 10 days, the students traveled together, packed like sardines into one RV.

“You learn a lot about each other,” Hannon said with a laugh. “That was a tight squeeze. I never knew how important space was.”

That wasn’t the only sacrifice that the cast made, according to theatre professor Mike Murphy.

“The cast really gave up their ‘dead’ week (the week before final exams) to go down and do this,” Murphy said. “I can guarantee you that each one came back with much more than they ever thought they would.

“They learned a lot about themselves, the human spirit, and the resiliency of the people on the Gulf Coast. They saw a whole lot of devastation and communities coming together to rebuild.”

The performances staged by the Pickled Pepper Players during the trip were “Molly and Her Marvelous Mind” and “Professor Pocus”, both described as character-building shows. They had done the same performances at Marshall in late October to raise money for the trip.