July 26 ~ERT Mission Trip~

As soon as my photos from the last post uploaded we left for our usual breakfast at Logan's.  2 eggs, bacon and toast and we split a cinnamon roll.  Sharon had an orange juice but because Dave ran out of juice and couldn't fill the glass, he didn't charge her.  He also only charged us $3 for the same breakfast as yesterday since it was our last day.  Each day as we left he thanked us for helping out the people here in DuBois.  Sharon noticed a newspaper clipping on the wall with a story about a fire in his restaurant in 2001.  It mentioned how the town rallied around to help him rebuild.  We think he might have a greater appreciation for volunteers because of his experiences.  We always heard a "God Bless You" as we walked out the door.
When we got back to the church we met Pastor Carr who would be giving us our assigned work site.  As soon as the other teams arrived he began sending teams out.  We were joined by two women from LaTrobe, Pa. which is about 1 1/2 hours south and a female pastor from around the DuBois area.  She is a circuit pastor, something I didn't even think the Methodist churches still did.  She has 5 churches so she has the service at a different church each Sunday for 5 weeks and then starts the circuit over again.
The job today was to clear out a basement and sanitize and disinfect the walls and floor.  It didn't sound like more than a half day job but as it turned out it was packed with tons of catering items such as cake pans, muffin tins, casserole dishes, warming trays, crock pots along with canning jars and various household items that had been stored there for years.  There was carpet to pull up and because the water had been about 4' deep in the basement even the items and boxes that were sitting on the four tables were still wet.  The only way to remove the items was to take them out a window that was under a deck.  Certainly not an ideal situation.  However, our group of 5 came together as a team and tackled all obstacles and finished the job around 2:30.  The homeowner's sister was there and helped to identify the items that she wanted kept.  She was so nice and when we broke for lunch she brought a sandwich out on the patio and ate with us.  Sharon and I felt as though we were fortunate to have met such wonderful people during our first ERT experience.  We learned so much and are very much looking forward to our next trip.

One of our other teams just across the alley.

Our new team, Lorraine, Lola, Janis, homeowner's sister, me & Sharon

The city work crews have been working non-stop since the flood picking up unsalvageable items

This is the window under the deck that we passed most of the items to Sharon who then carried them to the curb

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?  And who will go for us?"                                               And I said,  "Here am I.  Send me!"
                                                                                                 Isaiah 6:8

Friday, July 26 ~ERT Mission Trip~

Today is our last day working in DuBois, Pa.  After breakfast, Pastor Tucker will send us out with another team to another work site.  Our last assignment was a difficult day on Wednesday but nothing really that was too bad.  The day before we arrived, our team had to remove some muck and debris (including mold) from the crawl space, but when we got there all we had to do was remove flooring and about 24" of the walls from the floor.  Today we may not get so lucky.  Oh, well, a good breakfast at Logan's will give us a good start.

Our favorite breakfast spot, fresh cinnamon rolls and a full breakfast for $4

The very grateful home owner

Our team, Hilliard ERT with MaryAnn, Becky, Grant, Sharon, Carol, Tim, Vickie, Linda, Diane (ERT Coordinator for Western Pa) and Pastor Lance Tucker (First Methodist Church, DuBois, Pa)

Yesterday, our Hilliard team left at 3:30, and all of the other teams were finished as well so Sharon and I had the rest of the day off.  We had a nice supper at Ruby Tuesdays and explored the town including the churches that surrounded our home UMC church here in DuBois.  I took a few pictures of their stained glass windows.

Presbyterian Church

United Church of Christ.  We were admiring this window when a lady came around the corner and offered to let us enter  and see the inside.  It was a beautiful sanctuary with an equally beautiful pipe organ

It is impossible to capture the beauty of a stained glass window in a photo

DuBois First Methodist Church

DuBois UMC

There were two sets of three windows in the UMChurch

Wednesday, July 24 ~ERT Mission Trip

Seeing this rainbow as we left Akron made us believe it was going to be a good trip.

We arrived in Dubois, Pennsylvania last night around 8:15 in the evening.  The ride up I-71 was nice but we hit some rain and traffic in Akron.  After that the sun came out and we saw a rainbow.  I-80 from eastern Ohio and the western parts of Pennsylvania were really pretty and there was hardly any traffic at all.  We met the Emergency Response Team from Hilliard and were prepped for our job in the morning

The First Methodist Church of Dubois

Breakfast was at 7 a.m. and although the church provided a continental breakfast, we opted for a local restaurant that had a full breakfast with 2 eggs, home fries, toast and bacon for $4.  Tomorrow he bakes homemade cinnamon rolls.  We arrived at the work site at 8 and got right to work.  The team had started on this house the day before but we still had a lot to do here today.  This home was right next to the small stream that had overflowed and caused all of the damage.  We had to pull her laminate floor and the subflooring under it.  We also removed the lower 2 feet of the paneling in her living room.  We started on the kitchen but will have to finish it in the morning.  It was a great feeling helping this woman with this work.  Every home in this neighborhood had flood damage in their homes.  One woman down the street had to be rescued from her home by a boat.

Monday, July 22

Sara, Matt & Evelyn came up to visit this past week end.  It is so nice to have them close enough that they can just pop in.  The rain kept us from doing too much but we did manage a swim or two, once in the hot tub and Sunday in the pool and we rode over to the zoo to see the dinosaurs and the Animals on Safari Show.  Evelyn loved the animal show but the dinosaurs....not so much.  I think if they hadn't made noises and she hadn't just woke up from a nap she might have liked them better.

Today, Sharon and I spent the afternoon purchasing school supplies for the Backpack & School Supply Give-Away that is coming up in August.  We made visits to Big Lots, Flower Factory and Walgreen's and made a big dent in our needs list.  Last year we gave away 100 backpacks in the first hour so we are hoping to have enough this year.

Tomorrow, Sharon and I are driving out to Dubois, Pennsylvania to put our Emergency Response Training to the test.  On June 27 the town of Dubois got 6" of rain in 3 hours and the entire town had to be closed down because of the flooding.  There are still hundreds of homes in need of being cleaned out and because of the heat last week the mold is taking over at an alarming rate.  We will be working with a team from the Hilliard Methodist Church and we are looking forward to getting more familiar with what will be expected of us.  Our hope is to eventually get a full team at our church.  If I have internet access I will try to update the blog while we are there working.  Otherwise, you will have to wait until this weekend when we plan to return.  I pray we can make a difference for someone.  I am secretly hoping that it isn't as humid as it was here last week but I'm sure that whatever the weather, this is going to be an unbelievable experience.

July~Independence Day and Beyond

Yes, once again life got a little too busy for me to sit down and write.  I hope I can remember to share all of the great times that we have been having since our company arrived on July 2. Trish came in on Tuesday and the kids were signed up for Dino Camp at the zoo.  They loved the dinosaurs and the camp experience and in the afternoon we went to Zoombezi Bay.  The weather was just about as perfect as you could get and we ended the day on the giant slide while Lily slept.

 Unfortunately, during our 4th of July Picnic, I was also very preoccupied and didn't take any pictures at our picnic until late in the day during the treasure hunt and most of my cousins had already gone home.  Too bad because my sister and her daughter, Amy and her husband were there, Mom and Dad made an appearance and about 30 others, all family and mostly on the Wilson side of the family. (some that I knew but most, I didn't have a clue)  It rained all day so we spent the afternoon in our garage.  I was so glad that I spent nearly a week preparing the pool, pulling weeds from my flower beds, mulching and mowing when all I really needed to do was to fire up the blower and move the truck out of the garage.  I do think that in the 30 or so years that we have been having picnics around the 4th, this is the first time we had rain so hard that we couldn't even be outside.  I guess that big garage came in handy. After dark, when it finally quit raining, we set off some fire crackers and enjoyed ourselves with just the immediate family.

Budding musicians

It's a Treasure Hunt

The treasure is found and all are happy

Lily trying to pet the fish

Sara and Matt headed home on Thursday night as they both had to work on Friday.  Trish and Chad left early on Friday because Chad needed to get back to Dover.  Luke and Lily stayed with the Grandparents until Sunday, July 14.  We did the co-grand parenting thing which gave us time to recharge our batteries in between visits.  While they stayed with us we went to Dayton to the Boonshoft Museum before Judy, Amy and Brian flew back to Georgia out of Dayton Airport.  On Monday, Sharon and I took the kids to Slate Run Farm to geocache and see the farm.  If you go, just FYI...the farm is closed on MONDAYS!  Bummer, but we had our picnic and found our geocache and had milkshakes at Steak and Shake on the way home. To make Luke's day, Sharon let him fish in her pond and he was on cloud 9 after catching 3 fish before we could even bait a second pole. On Saturday, I took them to the Grange Audubon Center and Bicentennial Park to play in the fountains.  We also wanted to find another geocache on the Metro Parks Geo Trail but this one eluded us and the day was getting short and our patience was getting even shorter so we left empty handed.  Sunday, we loaded Luke, Lily and their tadpoles up in Grandma and Pop Pop Ed's car and sent them back to Delaware.  It was a wonderful two weeks but I am exhausted.  I hope everyone had as much fun as we did over the Fourth!

playing at the water table at the Boonshoft Museum

Geocaching at Slate Run Farm

Fishing at Sharon's pond

Lily was the "keeper of the worms" not bad for the little girl who hates bugs!

playground near the Audubon center at the climbing wall

3-D Sidewalk Art at Bicentennial Park

Fountains at Bicentennial Park

Lils on her bike

Lils with Grandma Great having ice cream at Tacketts in London

Bicentennial Park

The morning after!