Start thinking about a Work Trip 2009 Reunion!
We could have it at Mary's barn, at a local park such as the Union Village Dam (which has picnic shelters and a sandy volleyball court!), or even a pizza-making party using John's wood-fired backyard clay oven.
A good time for a picnic might be late in May.
Please email Mary with your ideas!
Dear 2009 Worktrippers and Parents,
Thank you for a great ten days!
This was one of the most dramatic work achievements I've seen in my twelve church rebuilding work trips. All those roof trusses!
But that was not necessarily the most important thing about the week. I was so impressed by the way you treated each other, the way you met and worked with our hosts, the energy that was with us. Each one of you was essential to our project. And my special thanks to John, Dan, Lynne, and of course Mike for helping me out with your special gifts.
I hope that this has given all you young people an appetite for helping other people. There is a lot more to be done out there and lots of fun to be had doing it!
Best,
Mary
IMPORTANT PS: I have a few lost and found items:
I will leave them on my back porch if you want to pick them up.
After a very long day of driving that "featured" heavy traffic throughout northern New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, we arrived safely in West Lebanon and were greeted by our waiting families!
Thanks everyone for such a great work trip!!
Yesterday was a looong travel day from Anderson, SC to Washington, DC. Our early start was rewarded by an hour of wandering around the monuments on "The Mall," and then it was off to dinner at Union Station. We spent the night at Christ Congregational and will be heading out early Sunday morning on the last leg of the trip to the Upper Valley!
We spent the night at the Days Inn in Anderson, SC and then were off early to Washington, DC.
After our loooong ride, we'll have a tour of the monuments on The Mall, a dinner at Union Station and then will head to our final night at Christ Congregational in Silver Springs.
We finished up with a great half-day of work, and are now off to John Tanner State Park near Atlanta for a bit of relaxation before heading to Anderson, SC for the night.
Some of the highlights of our work today including moving the baptismal pool into position, helping with sheathing and papering the roof, and general site clean-up.
After lunch, prepared again by the ladies of Greater Bethelpore, we had a "thank you" ceremony in which we presented them with gifts of appreciation, including Work Trip 2009 T-shirts for Ealy and Rev. Brown, and Vermont maple syrup for the church.
Check out our final work photos now, and check back later for some of us at "play!"
Whooeee! What a day of work!
Today was our last full day of work, and we made it truly a full one! Just before lunch we completed the run of sissor trusses over the sanctuary. After another great lunch prepared by the ladies of Greater Bethelpore, we finished the remaining full-width trusses, and then finished the trusses over the front porch. An amazing amount of hard work in hot conditions! Everyone drank huge amounts of water.
In the evening we enjoyed (what has become) our annual Work Trip Talent Extravenganza! Trippers shared a great range of talent, from teaching us some basic Morris dancing to truly impressive singing!
Some of us ended the day by shooting hoops with a few of the Auburn Heights Thursday Night men's basketball group. Then we enjoyed a late lights out!
Another great day!
We started the day with Mary's team making scrambled eggs (regular and cheesey!), a fruit assortment and other goodness for breakfast. We had our usual Circle Time and left for the work site raring to go!
Most of the morning was spent finishing the few remaining trusses over the fellowship hall. Some of the kids also started work on a new sign for the church.
After much planning and arrangement of the boom truck (crane), we set and stabilized the starter sissor truss over the sanctary and were off to another amazing lunch prepared by the ladies of Greater Bethelpore Baptist Church.
After lunch we dove into putting up the run of sissor trusses over the santuary. By the end of the day we had completed more than half, which promises to make for an awesome day of work Thursday. Do we dare hope that we'll finish the santuary?
This evening we ate dinner with the normal Wednesday Night crowd at Auburn Heights Baptist Church, our wonderful hosts this week. We took every opportunity to thank them for hosting us, and they prayed for us and the work we do!
As you can see from today's photos, the kids seem to be enjoying their work! Or, maybe, they're just happy that the building's showers are usable again!
We made an amazing amount of progress today as we nearly completed placing the trusses for the rear section of the church. Everyone got involved and most of the day were climbing around like monkeys, as you can see from today's pictures.
Lynne led another team on a mission to Home Depot to get materials to replace Greater Bethelpore's sign. It will look amazing when it's done!
We were chased off the trusses by a late day rain, but are looking forward to plunging right in tomorrow!
This morning John's team started the day by making the famous Work Trip "Feature" Scones, using the awesome King Authur scone recipe (see the left side of this page. This year's "features" were: chocolate chip, butterscotch, blueberry, Craisins, and cheese. Also, the "World's Best Mixed Fruit Salad!"
After Circle Time, it's off to the work site. Looks like abnother beautiful day!.
Today the "work" part of the work trip officially began!
We survived the heavy thunderstorms and warnings of tornados that rumbled through last night --- and kept the adults awake! Unfortunately, the heavy rains saturated the drain field and shut down our bathrooms; we are using the showers and bathrooms in an adjacent church building until the system dries out.
Lynne's team started our day by making us breakfast featuring scambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, fruit salad and other goodness.
We followed breakfast with our usual Circle Time of reflection, then we were off to the work site!
As you can see from our photos, a major part of the work this week will be helping Rev. Brown, the contractor set up roof trusses. Everyone gets involved, from removing the protective covers and packing straps, to moving them into position for the crane, to setting them in place and attaching stabilizers.
Good Morning!
After a loooong day of driving, we made it safely to our hotel in Suwanee, GA!
We decided to change our reservations from the Days Inn to the Comfort Inn after checking things out; the two were next to each other and the Comfort could accomodate us better for many things.
This morning we have a little more than two hours of driving to go, then we'll arrive at Greater Bethelpore's temporary worship site. We'll spend the afternoon with them and evaluate the worksite, then head to Auburn Heights Baptist Church Phenix City, our home for the week.
Through the miracles of technology, we're posting this update enroute on Saturday morning!
We made it safely to Washington, DC last night and had dinner at Union Station. We then spent the night at First Congregational Church in Silver Springs, MD.
We were up early and hit the road at 8am sharp; we had breakfast at a buffet about 45mins south of DC, and now are headed south on I-95...
A few pictures from yestrday to follow...watch for updates to the Album area!
Someone just asked about doing laundry during our work trip...You should pack assuming there will be NO laundry facilities, since I don't expect that we will have that option.
At least we will have showers!
Mary
Two college "Alternative Spring Break" groups (Harvard and UNC Chapel Hill) have already been on-site at Greater Bethelpore this Spring. We were able to locate images from what we believe was the UNC-CH group's week on Picasa.
Ignore the date stamped on some of the photos...
Hi Worktrippers!
A couple of you have asked about bringing food for the bus trip to Alabama. Yes, it is nice to pack food to share, but I leave it up to all of you to figure out what's best.
I can suggest things that have been nice in the past:
These things will last for a little while, so we can always keep eating them after we arrive.
Some people like to pack their lunch for the first day, but our refrigeration capability is limited, so don't expect perishables to last long.
A reminder for Hanover High students: you have to fill out a "goldenrod" form for the missed day of school on Friday.
Does everyone remember where and when we're meeting?
At the WEST LEBANON MCDONALD'S PARKING LOT at 7:30 AM FRIDAY (17 Apr)!
Also remember that you'll need money for approx. seven fast-food meals on the road
More questions?
See you then!
Mary
Dear 2009 Church Rebuilders and Families,
We will be leaving in just over a week! We have a group of 29: sixteen girls, nine boys, two men and two women. Greater Bethelpore Baptist Church in Alabama has already had two college rebuilding teams help them out in the last month, and they will be ready to greet us on 19 April. There will be a contractor on the site giving us some direction, so we should be well placed to give them a big boost with their project.
I am re-sending a packing list as a reminder:
We ask that people not bring laptops.
Remember that our meeting time and place is 7:30AM on Friday, 17 April, in the WEST LEBANON McDONALD’S PARKING LOT.
Remember this link for information and checking in on us during the week:
http://nccyouthgroup2009.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to call me or e-ail me with more questions. I may think of other reminders as we get closer.
See you soon!
Mary
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| From WorkTrip2009 Day08 |
