Bob Hieb - Working Together

It has always amazed me what a group of people coming  together with single mind are able to accomplish.  It was so with the remodeling of Fellowship Hall a couple of years ago.   We were underfunded for the project yet felt that Beverly Baker’s  plans so well designed needed to be completed . We decided that we could save the $50,000 underfunding and still complete the project as designed if we did the work ourselves.  As you remember, we took out the old stage ourselves, removed the old floor ourselves and installed the paneling and columns ourselves. When we asked for volunteers, we had 40-50 people show up. I can remember that we had planned on a 6-hour day to remove the stage, clean the lumber, load it on trucks, and clean the room. By 11:00 the entire area was removed and cleaned — and we even took a 9:00 coffee and donut break! The same happened with the floor removal. The Karen members were operating the chipping hammers to remove the tough spots. Woody Ford sized and milled the baseboard. Tom Solley donated the plywood paneling, and many of you helped in painting. Even the youth helped to clean the ceiling grids. When the grids were cleaned, the ceiling tiles looked too discolored to keep. Gaga Woodward agreed to give the financial support to renew and replace the tiles. The final result was a completed project that everyone was pleased with and that was completed with available funds — no borrowing. Even the spoken support during the remodeling was an immense help in getting the work done. When we come together on all of our projects and programs, we can accomplish similar results.

(If you have ideas for a future article, please contact Anne-Britton Arnett at 896-2337.)