Friday, July 24, 2015

And there are never really endings, happy or otherwise. Things keep going on, they overlap and blur, your story is part of your sister's story is part of many other stories, and there is no telling where any of them may lead.

Erin Morgenstern

Today was moving day! As a community we packed up and moved all the PV tools, kitchen items, beds, etc to St. Vincent DePaul for safe storage. With the help of a U-Haul and many eager helpful hands everything went very smooth and quick. In the afternoon, there was even time for a group to go spend time with the residents at Glen Rogers Manor playing banana bingo and visiting.

The final closing reflection is always a bittersweet occasion. It is a wonderful time to look back at all that was accomplished during the summer, but also there is the reality that is all over until next summer. Thank you to all who came this summer and to all who followed along. A big thank you also to The Way for opening your doors to us and to the people of Wyoming County for opening your lives to us. Many wonderful memories were made that will be cherished during the year.



*** Come back to check on pictures that will be forth coming in the next week ***

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Buddha

Today was our final day of going on home repair sites for the 2015 West Virginia summer program. Since it was the last day, we had a lot of little projects to finish up, but we did start (and finish) two sites today. One site was simply putting up two light fixtures for a lady who lives out side of Pineville that we have worked with in the past. Today we were finishing up a project started by the NIU students during their spring break. For the most part the installation went without a hitch. The crew that worked on this then headed back to The Way to put the finishing touches on the handicap bathroom that is now completely installed, other than the shower.

The other new site from the day was a painting and flashing site in Bud. Another group had built two new porch roofs for her, but they were leaking at the end. We were able to put new flashing on and adhere it in a different way that should stop the leaking. While were there we painted her porch railings and roofs while to freshen up the whole place. It looked fantastic when the volunteers left.

We also had a crew go up to Glen Rogers and put the finishing touches on the roof that was installed yesterday and go up the hill and add a little WD40 to the newly installed door. All is working well now. When this group arrived back at The Way the diligently went to work reinstalling the flooring on the stage that had come up over the winter when the accumulated snow on the roof started melting and leaking into the building.

The final group started the day finishing the painting at The Way (all of which looks fantastic!) and spent the afternoon doing the all important end of the summer dump run. I have to say they were all very excited to go to the dump and check out that road. I was glad when they returned they weren't disappointed.

 We had another wonderful dinner tonight, pork, green beans, pasta, salad, rolls, etc. It made sound familiar, we had a similar meal earlier in the week, but they were both wonderful. The cook of these meals had brought so much food that he need to cook twice! Bet you all wish you were here...

We had a wonderfully creative reflection tonight led by the crew from the midwest. They used the idea of cooking and ingredients, and what ingredients it takes to make up a PV volunteer. We each shared an ingredient we thought was important, they were put in a bowl, mixed up and "baked" in the easy bake oven that was stored in one of the rooms. Love seeing the young folk and creativity!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

You have to care about your work, but not about the result. You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel, but not about how good people think you are or how good people think you look.  

Amy Poehler

What a productive day! As we are winding down we are trying to finish up projects we started at different points in the summer and complete all the ones we are committed. We, for the most part, finished up at the site in Glen Rogers. All that is left is a quick adjustment to the door. That same crew also went back to the two sites in Clear Fork that we worked on at the beginning of the summer to put some flashing on one roof and straighten the underpinning at the other. Kudo's to the crew for a long day, but very rewarding day!

We also started a rubber roofing job in Glen Rogers for a family that we started working with many years ago. It was great to see the family again. The site, which I thought  would last two days, is almost finished!



The third and final site of the day was camp. Today was the last day that we are going to be able to open The Way to the kids in the area since Friday we will be in the process of moving and packing. From what I heard there was a mean game of dodgeball that took place and several great games of hide and seek. Thanks to all the kids that came and played with us!

For dinner tonight we had a couple of visitors, old friends from the Itmann Food Bank, Rose and Linda. They were asking after everyone and told us to tell everyone hello. It was great to see and spend time them both. The meal itself was fantastic as always. Lots of veggies and lots of stuff cleaned out of the refrigerator!

At reflection tonight we talked about change, the good and bad if it all. Change is inevitable and the more we embrace it the better.