Breakfast was from 7-8 and beautifully prepared by Susan, Colleen, Meredith, Ashley, and Allegra. The kitchen was spotless after the clean-up crew Kevin, Carolyn, and Joey were through with it. The meal was sausage, pancakes, and fresh fruit. Everyone packed their own lunches.
HOMES team leader, Greg Hawkins, gave us an overview of the project and we split up into three groups. Team One was Dan, Peter, Charlie, Merrie, Joey, Colleen, Susan, Carolyn, Linda, Allegra, Kristen, Greg, Graham, and James led by HOMES leader, Harrison. Harrison organized the group quickly and efficiently. We formed a line to pass cinder blocks and bricks to another part of the work site. After the cinder blocks and bricks were moved we began cleaning up the rest of the site by dumping all the leftover garbage into two dump trucks. This was physically demanding work. The temperature was mid-low 90s, and it was very humid. Much of the wood was rotten, and was infested by bugs of all types and sizes. We raked and shoveled beer bottles, needles, plastic, and other random household material. We worked for an hour, and then took a 10-minute break. Joey, Peter, and especially Greg had a scary experience with a spider the size of a quarter. The spider crawled up onto Greg’s neck. Luckily he swiped it off in time.
We were fortunate to have a neighbor stop by. His name was Ray, and was hurt in the coal mines in 1958 and has been out of commission since. He is stuck in an electric wheel chair. We left the site at 12 for a lunch break. We ate back at the HOMES house. Our eating area is air-conditioned. Getting out of the heat felt terrific. We ate the sandwiches, which we prepared individually. We were back at the site by 1 o’clock. We found that if several people began raking the debris, other team members could shovel. This was the most effective way in picking up the debris. The debris was put into garbage barrels and then dumped into a dump truck.
Everyone worked hard and at the same time enjoyed each other’s company. In particular the high school students did most of the heavy lifting. We finished around 3:30, and headed back to the HOMES site. If you’d like to get a sense for how much work the team did, look at photograph #3(the beginning), and then photograph #12 (the final product).
Everyone showered off the immense amount of dirt on their skins. The hot water felt great. The cooking team prepared baked ziti and garlic bread. For dessert we had strawberry shortcake. After dinner we had devotions where we talked about the difficulties experienced during the day. At 7:30 Father Devore held mass. We think everyone will sleep very well tonight. And then tomorrow morning at 8:00 we will be back at the site.
OSHA speaks
Hail, hail, the gang's all here.
In the beginning of the END.
Anything in there for me?
Give me a hand, please.
Which team is this...
Should I say what I'm thinking?
Wait 'til Weston sees this!
Keep that dog away from me!
Toto, we're not in Weston anymore...
Which ones are working?
1,2,3,...4,5...
Is it time for lunch yet?
Tote that barge! Lift that bail!
Eight hours later...
