Day 3 – Monday, March 13 (first working day!)

Early to rise, early to work. Most of the 31 volunteers had eaten breakfast by 7:30, and within an hour, were on the road to our various work locations. Unfortunately, some took a tour of the area before arriving at their intended destinations. (Note: Peggy’s staff think this means they probably got lost on the way).

It was a long morning of preparation for the five volunteers who went to the LaFollette Elementary School. Approximately 300 kindergarten to grade 5 students were entertained and educated about Canada and, in particular, Ottawa. Some musical renditions in French and English were received with thunderous applause and stomping. Tomorrow, the two local Middle Schools will be visited by the same troupe.

Meanwhile at the build site, paint was being applied to walls and workers, bathtubs were scrubbed and shined, and siding was applied to the house. As scaffolding arrived a day late, two sides of the house still need to be completed.

Historical Society volunteers found themselves laminating obituaries for part of the day. The curator arrived to give the group a tour of the museum and a full history of LaFollette, followed by a trip to the Wedding Chapel. If you’ve got $150 for an hour and a half (or $100 for the 30 minute version) that’s all it takes to be married in Tennessee!

The REACH team worked all day removing doors for painting and painting trim and walls. REACH is a health and community social service agency similar to the Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre, with a slightly greater number of programs and a much larger catchment area.

The weather was perfect again today – hot and sunny. The rain held-off until we had finished our work for the day.

After a long day of work we were treated to a pontoon boat ride down Norris Lake, where all sorts of birds were observed - Blue Herons, Kingfishers, some type of cranes, and turkey vultures. There were spectacular homes with 500 step stairways down to the water.

Right after the boat ride, the rain began with lightning and some spectacular thunder. Hopefully this will put out the fire in the forests in the immediate area. Luckily though, the rain did not extinguish the candles on Peter’s birthday cake!

Peggy

Blog - Day 4