Good Shepherd had 26 people participate in C in A this year. Most were our regular group of people who have been coming for years. But we did have a couple of new people and, hopefully, we will add new people every year. Our regulars will tell you that once they participate they look forward to the next time!
We were fortunate to work with the B. Frank Joy Construction Co. for the 3rd straight year. They request having Good Shepherd assigned to their house because they enjoy working with us and "our people are hard workers and can handle whatever they come up with." There was much to be done and the jobs were well organized.
This year the project house and yard were quite a challenge! Inside, the kitchen needced major cleaning (which took ALL day) as well as the other rooms. All the bedrooms upstairs, the hall, and the living room were painted. Some minor electrical work had to be done and a washer was installed and hooked up. There was also some carpentry projects including fixing / hanging doors. Pastor Joye spent the afternoon on her knees scraping paint off the floors.
Outside there was LOADS of yardwork. Many overgrown bushes and trees were attended to, including all variety of removal, trimming, pruning, dethaching, and weeding. Several truckloads of debris were taken away, including several large stumps and an entire delapidated aluminum shed and its rotting-wood contents. After the weeding and the clearing, some beautiful azaleas were planted and mulch beds were laid. A new lawn mower was purchased, asembled, and put to work pronto to reclaim the front yard.
The front porch roof and columns were scraped and painted. The largest project by far required use of a backhoe to dig a trench from the front door to the sidewalk to install a sloped, handicapped accessible ramp. Footings were dug, concrete was placed, and a wooden ramp was designed. (This had to be delayed over a few days in order for the concrete to dry properly.) Someone donated a furnace for free and it was scheduled to be installed later.
The house was a BIG project. Much was accomplished in the one day but some late-day rain and the scope of some of the oarger projects forced Joy Co. to come back another day to finish. Steve from the B. F. Joy Co. called to thank us and lay the groundwork for us to help them next year.
Faithfully,
Janice Taggart
