The last day of camp is traditionally a day to party. We had a cookout with hot dogs and fried chicken, and then - we worked!
Kevin Murray and veteran camper Ben H lead a crew that got the shed doors hung.
While that was happening, Justice, Logan, and Jacob took the initiative to lead the rest of the gang in cleaning out the brick shed! It was so impressive to see our guys don their gloves and masks and start a project on their own. They gave directions, found a set of hurdles, cleared the tires, and sent old rotten foam pads to the dumpster. They went into the musty, dusty shed.and whipped it into shape, even borrowing brooms from school and sweeping the floor. Impressive!
Kate Csizmadia, owner of GEG Painting, returned to help the campers paint the newly-hung doors. She's such a good sport that she ran the grill for the cookout while the doors were put in place!
At about 3:00, parents and friends arrived to watch our campers get their certificates, their commitment credit rewards, and ACI pins. There were thanks and applause all around. What an amazing experience! Not many young people have built the legacy that our campers have. We're so proud!
Arin, Miss Lauren, and Rosa.
Twins Joshua and Matthew are painting pros!
Getting the Dutch doors aligned.
Crews working on both sheds.
Logan, Jacob, and Justice decided to clean out the old brick shed. They did an amazing job!
Michael's a high flyer - clearing the hurdles they found in the brick shed!
What a great day leading up to our finale tomorrow! While the campers ate lunch, we had a second visit from our friend Josh Burton, the financial education officer for Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, as well as visits from Terry Phillips and Linda Bach of ACI. Thanks for stopping by!
Then we got to work - and it was an exciting workday. Kate and Rudy from GEG Painting brought the kids shirts from Sherwin WIlliams, and lead the campers in caulking and painting the shed. It looks great! We went from muddy brown to crisp grey with white trim in just over an hour. Kate promised to come back and help us paint the doors tomorrow.
We needed more electricity than the generator could produce to run saws and the welder, so two crews headed down to the loading dock. Our friend Lee Brinkmeyer from Valcom, who helps the afterschool program with drywall, brought his welding gear and helped the campers make some cool figures with rebar and metal "wings!" Some of the campers who weren't sure they wanted t o try welding loved it so much that they took a second turn!
Kevin and Gene had the other team of carpenters fabricating the Dutch doors for the shed. By the time we wrap up tomorrow, the doors will be in place and our shed will be complete. We're planning a cookout, and all the campers will get their completion certificates as well as the gift certificates they've earned through t heir Commitment Credits. It'll be a real celebration!
Josh Burton with our campers!
Painting's underway.
Joshua might need a little help on the high parts.
We continued to work on the siding today, and managed to get the last boards in place. Hooray! Now we're ready to paint tomorrow.
It's so exciting to see the project come together, but also to see the crew come together as a team. This is the best year yet for teamwork, with everyone pitching in and working to their strengths, and the more experienced kids coaching the others. I'm so very proud of this group!
It's so exciting to see the progress we've made and know how much our campers have learned in just two short weeks! What an amazing crew of kids, and truly wonderful volunteers we've had.
On rainy Wednesday, we had visitors from Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's office. Jared Borg, deputy director of regional representatives, and the local representative. The treasurer has written about the importance of early trade career exploration, and his representatives really appreciated our program.
Dave Sommer and Gary Ashmore from HGC stuck with us, and while many of the campers went inside to play Jenga, a small but mighty crew hung pegboard on the interior walls.
Thursday was a much nicer day, and Dave and Gary were back to help Kevin Murray and Gene Young from CBC lead the kids through measuring, cutting, and installing the rakeboards and soffits. We even got a start on the siding in the back. We appreciated Forge Lumber going the extra mile to bring a special delivery in the afternoon - thanks, Tom Tieke at Forge!
Progress continued on the roof, too, as Jim Durham helped the kids get another bundle of shingles up. He'll be back next week after his daughter's wedding this weekend. Congratulations and thanks, Jim!
It was so cool for our campers to learn tuckpointing from Ron Asbury , a foreman from Hummel Industries. Ron had the kids mixing mortar, jackhammering out old broken bricks, replacing them with new, and mortaring the new bricks as well as areas where mortar was missing. This was a great learning experience for our campers, and also made the old abandoned brick building look a LOT better! Thank you so much to Ron and to Scott Whittle of Hummel who made this possible.
We wrapped up the day with birthday cupcakes - baked by Miss Anne - for Logan Thomas, who turned 14 years old. This is Logan's second summer at camp - he's our caulk expert, and a great member of our crew!
Our campers made more progress Tuesday on the roof and on electric wiring. Volunteer Jim Durham, who retired after 40 years as a crane operator just last week, came to help our crew learn how to shingle the roof, and Ohio Valley Electric and Ben Parks OV Electric were on the scene in spite of a morning of drenching rain.
One of the best things about camp is seeing the smiles it brings to the faces of the volunteers. These are the moments that make this experience so worthwhile.
Jim and part of his roofing crew.
Kelvin shows Bruce how to cut the opening for the outlet, while Lafi waits for a turn.
We got the rafters and the plywood up on the roof today! The kids, under Kevin Murray's guidance, build the rafters and rakeboards as a system on the ground, and then had a genuine "raise the roof" experience when they hoisted it up into place. It was pretty exciting! Steve Denier of Denier Electric came by to bring us t-shirts and safety glasses, and four gift certificates for our "Commitment Credits" program. He was pretty impressed with our kids' work! Thanks, Steve! Tomorrow, Jim Durham will come to show the crew how to shingle, and our friends from Ohio Valley and Ben Parks Electric will help us run some wires! Keep your fingers crossed that the rain holds off......