“I went from a cesspool to a rose garden,” Gayle Fontenot remarked on her re-location from Slidell, Louisiana to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Gayle and her 12-year-old son, Casey, escaped the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina just in time to spare their lives, nothing else.
Starting from scratch, and resolving to settle in Pigeon Forge permanently after weathering prior hurricanes Betsy and Camille, Gayle explains that she is not looking for handouts, but a permanent paycheck for sustenance. A former hotel food and beverage director, Gayle Fontenot is sending resumes to local hotels and hopes to financially recover soon.
Though she admits that sometimes she has to excuse herself to the bathroom for a good cry, Gayle is keeping a thankful, hopeful attitude and is happy to live in the beautiful Smoky Mountain foothills. She had planned on retiring in the Smokies one day; she just arrived a little sooner than expected.
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