Friday, March 26th

For all of this week our 19 were supplemented by several from the conference center staff: Gale and Margaret, the caretakers; Janet, the director; and Jean, an intern.

On this day further work in the Center itself, removing and replacing the sliding glass door at the handicapped entrance, and making repairs to the exterior siding and gutters, was completed Three days. Edd, Seth and Keith did this.

Repairs were also made on the residence ceiling to restore the sheetrock that had fallen when it became water-soaked. With ladders and boards stretched across the stair opening, Dave W., Roland, Tom, Eric and Ron somehow all found space to work in this narrow area.

Thursday's Race Against Rain

On Thursday we were promised rain – first by 8 in the evening, then in the middle of the afternoon. We were really under the gun, because the roof on the residence and on Jacob’s Well both only had tar paper down. Breakfast was served at 6:30, work began at 7, and, though we took breaks, the day didn’t end until well after 5.

Atop Jacob’s Well lodge -- Dave W., Glenn, Ted, Eric, Albert, Debbie, Gale and Jean -- the old soffits were removed, rafter extensions replaced as needed on the roof overhangs and sheathing repaired, all this after the roof was stripped of its three layers of shingles and paper.

In the large living room on the inside of Jacob’s Well, Dave M., Peg, Ted, Rose Ann and Margaret, caulked and sheetrocked and then paneled the ceiling with tongue and groove knotty pine. This sounds relatively simple, but first they put on two additional coats of finish on the T&G boards, find a dry place to store them while the other work was done, and then finally nail them in place, so that the joints and nail holes were virtually invisible.

Wednesday's Work

Kevin, who had been working in the Center adding amperage and new plates to the outlets used for meals and coffee and made other electrical modifications in the kitchen, finished his work.

This was a most beautiful day! If one had to be up on a roof, this was the day to do it, and we were up on three, with the Shingle-Belles working right through three-quarters of supper to finish their project. On Thursday, the Shingle-Belles divided up to assist others: Rose Ann to Jacob's Well living room; JoEllen to the residence roof; Debbie to Jacob's Well roof.

In the kitchen for the entire week were George and Joanne. They turned out wonderful, tasty and filling meals and desserts to keep us going through our long days.

On Tuesday

It rained on and off on Monday and Monday evening, but work went on. Besides the window-work, we began to tackle three roofs – a porch at the rear of the residence, the residence’s main roof and a lodge. The porch roof had suffered a puncture from a falling branch. Debbie, JoEllen and Rose Ann went to work on it. They removed a square of the roof so that they could insert a plywood patch and re-shingle the entire area. Things were complicated by there being two layers of existing shingles – running at 90-degrees to one another and a nearby skylight.

On the main roof of the residence there was a large dormer which had been leaking. Part of the problem was a smallish, ineffective cricket intended to deflect rainwater. The work which began on Monday to remedy this, however, led to even more rain water penetrating the roof when the wind blew the plastic cover aside. By Tuesday this was taken care of and further work on the roof proceeded – removing old shingles, adding a new drip edge, etc. Don, Lloyd, Ron, Tom, Roland and Margaret (one of the caretakers of the property) took the lead with this effort.

Monday, March 22nd

By late Sunday afternoon all 21 of us had arrived at Wellspring. First we toured the various work sites, then we sat down for a meal prepared by Ingrid, the staff cook. Following supper we divided ourselves up to deal with the various challenges and briefly planned how to deal with them -- at least initially.

The weather was good. Energy abounded. We were ready. And so on Monday morning we began. Two of the large double-pane windows in the Center had insect damage on their lower supports. Very carefully the weakened materials were removed from the bottom and both glass panes released from the frames. Then, the lower supports were rebuilt, new caulk put in place and the glass returned. Total time: two days. Seth, Edd and Keith handled this job.