Roger Cowles

The News editor

Haywood Babino is a Dallas Cowboys fan, but he missed his favorite team’s come-from-behind win Sunday — with good reason.

About the same time the Cowboys scored their winning touchdown, Babino and his wife, Linda, were accepting the keys to their new home, the 100th house built by Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County.

“It’s a good feeling, a great feeling, an overwhelming feeling,” a smiling Babino said after the dedication ceremony. “I can’t wait to sit back and see my first Cowboys game in there,” he said, as the Dallas Cowboys cap he was wearing shaded his eyes from the bright afternoon sun.

“People wonder, are there good people. Well there are, this is the result of good people,” Babino said about the house in the 700 block of Woodworth Boulevard in Port Arthur. “People volunteered their time, their services, their supplies,” he said. “It is very appreciated.”

The drive to build the house was initiated last spring by Ike Akberry, who was then president of the Rotary Club of Port Arthur. Akberry’s company, Icon Builders, was instrumental in helping secure much of the labor and supplies for the house. The Port Arthur News, Lamar State College-Port Arthur and the Port Arthur Independent School District were also sponsors of the build, providing publicity and volunteers. Jim Snell Master Plumbers under the direction of Rotarian Perry Snell provided much of the plumbing work for the house.

Linda Babino said they are looking forward to a big family dinner once they get moved into the house and settled. Haywood’s son is in the military in Japan and the couple is just waiting for him to get back.

“Our oven will get a work out. He loves banana pudding,” Linda Babino said. Haywood said they will set up a pit outside and use some of the oak growing on the property to grill.

Uliana Trylowsky, director of Habitat for Humanity of Jefferson County, said the couple had gone above and beyond Habitat’s requirements for sweat equity. Habitat requires homeowners to provide 300 hours of “sweat equity,” volunteer hours working on their own and other homes. The Babinos have gone well beyond that requirement, Trylowsky said.

Habitat for Humanity homes are not free to the homeowners. Once moved into their new home, the family will make monthly, interest-free mortgage payments into a revolving "Fund for Humanity" which provides capital to build homes for other families.

Other partners recognized at the dedication ceremony Sunday included Absolute Insulation, Tony Colvin Building Supply, Conkling Construction, David the Roofer, Entergy Texas, The Garcia Co., Knife River, Orange County Building Materials, Parker Service Co., Redi Carpet, Ritter at Home, Sherwin-Williams and Tri-Supply.

“We just want to say thank you. We are so grateful,” Linda Babino said as Sunday’s event drew to a close.

rcowles@panews.com