Tag Archives: SOWER Projects

And behind wall number one…

It’s been an interesting start to our new projects. While we ladies were working on getting bunk beds ready to paint,
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the guys got started on a bathroom remodel. And as often happens, what started as “we need to make some improvements with these showers” turned into “why don’t we take down this wall and move the showers over there.” The first wall was about as easy as taking a wall down can be.
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Remove drywall, remove studs, and done.
But then they tackled that interior wall. It seemed to have some interesting depth to it, but I don’t think any of our guys were expecting to see what that wall was actually built from.
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Wait. What are those things?
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Huh?
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These walls were constructed before the current owners took possession of the camp, so there’s no telling what the reasoning is for this interesting use of ammunition boxes. (Ft. Sill, home to the Field Artillery School (USAFAS), is located about 30 miles away, so maybe there was a big over-stock sale back in the day?).
Ah, but the stories these walls could tell!
I’ll keep you posted on the bathroom remodel and those bunk beds in the coming days, but here’s a picture of Gary I snapped before lunch. Did I mention they have to move the plumbing in the concrete floors?
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Thankfully he’s NOT the one using the jackhammer! Phew.

Week One Done

The first week on a project is always interesting. We’re beginning to find our way around the camp, getting better acquainted with our fellow SOWER workers, and, after a over seven weeks of being ‘off’, getting used to that alarm going off a O-dark thirty each morning! All in all it’s been a productive week!
Sandy and I tackled a fairly big painting painting job under the main dining hall.
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The basement room is used for a variety of purposes (mostly crafts judging by what was in the cupboards) and proved a bit of a challenge in that two walls were grooved paneling,
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one was board and batten,
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and one was cinder block.
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We set to it with gusto
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and by the end of the week had at least one coat done on everything!
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A quick second coat early next week, and we’ll be on our way to a new task. (Given the amount of paint they purchased, I’m pretty sure we won’t be putting away the brushes anytime soon!)
Meanwhile – the guys have been knocking items off their to-do list with record speed. They built two new sets of stairs the first day
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fixed the electric on three pumps and the heater, redid the plumbing in the bathhouse, and fixed the lights in the plumbing corridor (whatever that is!). Gary is pretty terrible at taking pictures of jobs in process, so I’m pretty happy I got those two shots of the stair building project. Then today I actually got an ‘action’ shot –
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Yep, Gary untangling an electric box. I think that really is his Happy Place!
All in all, it’s been a good week! And to finish off the week in royal style, Gary & I are leaving at REALLY Zero-dark thirty tomorrow morning (we compromised with an alarm at 3:30, departure by 4!) for a weekend at the Cabin. We’ll be seeing all the siblings and a couple of nieces and families, so while it’s not quite the Full Family Reunion we were hoping for, it will still be wonderful to (shhhhhh) hug the necks of those dear people!
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I promise we’ll wash our hands first!
Have a good weekend, friends! Pretty sure I need to be gettin’ to bed!
Steph

So where are we now? Rock Mtn Bible Camp – NE Pennsylvania

June 5 – June 25 (+/-)

Like most of you, I imagine, our summer plans have been turned topsy-turvy by this pandemic thing we’re all going through.  We THOUGHT we had a good plan to work some New York projects (ones we hadn’t been to before), take a month off to spend time at the cabin culminating with an All Family Family reunion, and maybe even get to see some friends along the way.  This was not to be. Our New York SOWER projects were both canceled and just this week the decision was (sadly) made to postpone our long awaited reunion until next summer. Sigh.  Hearts are heavy indeed these days.

When we checked with the SOWER office to see just where we could be useful, it turned out that the one Pennsylvania project we had not yet served at was open for volunteers, and there was another couple who wanted to sign up but were waiting for a Group Leader to sign up first.  Yep, that’d be us.  So we’re still working at a “new to us” project – Rock Mountain Bible Camp, but the lovely part is that it is quite close to Montrose Bible Conference where we’re practically family! (In fact we got to visit with some of those good folks today! So great!)

We haven’t met with our host to get our official assignments yet, but I know they have lots for us to do. Their summer is looking pretty atypical these days too, so they are happy for the help. We’ll also be working with a brand new SOWER couple and that is always exciting.

The rest of the summer is still being ‘fine-tuned’ it seems, so we’re waiting to see just where the LORD would have us go!

Thanks for coming along!
Steph

 

From Rural to Urban

We left French Camp Academy after a great project month
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traveled a bit up the Natchez Trace
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navigated our way through downtown Atlanta (at 5PM no less!)
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(Trust me, it got way uglier than this. We just stayed in our lane and plodded along with all the other 9,435 cars that were also on I20 heading out of Atlanta)
and finally made our way to our December SOWER project – Camp Westminster in Conyers, GA. (Check out the Where are we now page for a map of our location!)

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We unhooked our dependable gray truck for the last time (she is, as I write, being driven around by her new owners and will soon be on her way to Montrose Bible Conference where she will experience her first snowy winter!) and got settled in, awaiting our other two SOWER couples.

Once we got the house parked and plugged in, we took off for a jaunt to the nearest Costco for some long overdue eye exams. I’d like to say that ‘nearest’ actually meant ‘near’, but no. However since we were feeling the need for a Costco fix, back into the Altanta traffic we went. After two eye exams, two new pairs of glasses and a run through the store, it was a four $$$$ day. And we didn’t get heading back to Conyers until after three. (We’ve since been told that if you don’t get out of Atlanta by 3PM, you might as well just hang around until 7PM. We are seeing the wisdom in that!)
I couldn’t resist taking a picture of this picture of my eyeballs. Kinda crazy, right?
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But I digress. The rest of our gang is settled in,

we all worshiped together this morning and enjoyed a nice quiet afternoon (which may or may not have included a nap). Tomorrow we start work – the guys will be tackling a multi-shower tiling job, and we ladies will be counting and entering new inventory for the gift shop. For all of my whining about the traffic, we’re looking forward to being a little bit closer to civilization (and shopping – tis the season after all!) this month. The camp is actually quite rural, but it’s only minutes to the interstate, and then voila – you’re in Atlanta!

Have a great week everyone! I’m sure it will a busy one for all!
Steph