Today is

• Sunday, June 20, 2004: Arrival Day.
• Monday, June 21, 2004: Mozy Monday.
• Tuesday, June 22, 2004: A Touch of Rain?
• Wednesday, June 23, 2004: Does Noah live near here?
• Thursday, June 24, 2004: Picnic Day!
• A few pictures to document our week.

June 20, 2004: Arrival Day…

Greetings from Buchanan County (specifically Oakwood), Virginia.  Our travel day went very smoothly.  On a beautiful, crisp, clear day – the group – 40 strong, met at the church to pack the vans in advance of the 8:15am church service.  As the service opened, the group was introduced and commissioned by the congregation – heading off to Appalachia on (Eagles) wings and prayers.  

The clear driving day with low humidity made for a particularly enjoyable trip through the mountains.  The team stopped at a Shoneys in Wytheville for lunch and to break into the work teams for the coming week. 

The work teams were divided as follows (Every year each team has a name – See if you can guess the theme.  Answer at the bottom of this day's journal.):

Group Name	Fraggle	Simon Peter	Plymouth
Group Bandana Color	Yellow	Black	Red
Team Members:	John Humphrey	Jay Kalin	Andrews, Erik
	Chris May	Russell Eutsler	Danielle Matthews
	Sam Bright	Rachel Kalin	Ryan Callaway
	Kim Truitt	Wes Sievers	Lauren Bright
	Katie Webber	Meghan Wildermuth	Nicole Miller
	Jeff Wood	Katie Hollamon

Dwayne Johnson	Blarney Stone	Grand Canyon	Pride
Orange	Pink	Green	Purple
Ken Fowler	Tom Tucker	John Mattingly	Tom Roh
Susan Harris	Tara Neider	Brian Lamar	Artie Smith
Andy Harris	Danielle Durbin	Ali Mattingly	Amanda Cohen
Maureen McAllister	Erica Miller	Matt McAllister	Sarah Martin
Mark Neider	Sean VanDeuren	Christine Whitlock	Wes Harris
Shane Miller	Colter Bright	Maureen McAllister

Center: Twin Valley Middle School

When we arrived at the center (Twin Valley Middle School), we were amazed at what wonderful accommodations we have this year.  Here are some of the features we’re going to enjoy this week.

• A converted high school, so rooms are good size. 
• Sleeping in classrooms – 2 or 3 for each boys and girls.
• There is Air Conditioning throughout the building.
• Showers have both Hot and Cold Running Water
• A full size gym is available for games most of the time.
• Supply Room is in a separate room
• A huge cafeteria for meals and for Evening Gatherings
• Soccer / Football field outside the gym – with Track.
• Pool  next to the school – open a  couple days during the week.

Next, we met our ASP Staff. . They are:

• Center Director: Erica Langford.  2^nd year of ASP Staff. Last time in Leslie County, KY. Graduated from U Florida. MS in Accounting(?). Has a job in Atlanta for the fall.
• Supply Person:  Ross Frischmuth. 2^nd year of ASP Staff. Graduate from U Illinois. Last year in Harlan County, KY. Going to Boston after ASP for work.  Geoscience and Metallurgy. Internship with Episcopal Church. 
• Food Person. Laura Demaster – 1^st year ASP Staff. Senior @ UNC. Clinical Lab Science major
• Finance Person. Emily Doughty. 1^st Year ASP Staff. Boston University graduate, Going to Atlanta for work in the fall.

Tomorrow, we’ll be able to send information about the type of work we’re doing at the seven different homes we’re serving.

Here is information on the school in which we’re staying. 

Physical Address:  Twin Valley Middle School, Rt. 460, Oakwood, VA 24631

Mailing Address:

ASP

General Delivery

Oakwood, VA 24631

Center Phone: 276-498-1380

Center Fax:  276-498-1381

EMAIL: buchananva@wcgnet.us

Note:  Each Team name is a kind of “Rock”…

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June 21, 2004: Mozy Monday…

On Monday, as each work group prepares for their first workday, folks take just a little longer to retrieve things from the Supply Room, get the lunches made, and find their tools. And, once the full team arrives at the worksite each day, the group does its best to take some time meeting and getting to know the family whose home they will work on during the week.

Each Day, we’ll take a closer look at the work being done by a workgroup or two.

Grand Canyon Serves Faye. Faye’s house has a bedroom in which the floor (and walls and some ceiling) needed to be repaired. The ASP team from last week (Week #1) replaced much of the floor, but the walls, ceiling and possibly roof needed to be addressed as well. The Grand Canyon team, led by John M and Brian L, is removing the existing rotted/damaged wallboard, insulation and ceiling (and, oops, pounded out the window today as well). Along the way there will be electric and insulating work to do as well as some potential framing and roofing. Ali M, Matt M, Maureen M and Christine W have also gotten to know Faye’s neighbor’s children – Shayna and Sabrina - who are over at the house regularly. Grand Canyon group (see list above) spent some time battling the bees and hornets that had taken up residence in the ceiling.

Plymouth Rock Serves Floyd & Loretta. Floyd was born and raised living in the home they’re in now. The home is tucked away in a small hollow just southeast of Vanzant. The home has several parts – the core structure, over 80 years old, up to the present home which as seen a couple bedrooms, a kitchen and a bathroom additions over the years. Most recently, a family room was added in 1999. Alas, this winter, a boulder came down off the mountain (10 feet behind the house), and plowed into the back/side of the house. In addition to some damage to the siding and wall structure, the foundation was knocked a bit loose as well. The Plymouth Rock team is digging and then pouring footers to build piers, run girders, and generally re-strengthen the home’s foundation. Additionally, it’s been discovered that the home has no ceiling insulation in parts. This and home siding and guttering/fascia will be done in the coming days.

A special note for Floyd and Loretta – their last (second) daughter is getting married this coming Saturday in Grundy. It will be held in neighboring Grundy, where she lives.

Ice Cream!

After the workday was complete, and a second good dinner. The group sang and talked throughout the devotional – all in preparation for the trip to the Dairy Queen for some ice cream. The Davidsonville team invited the 20 members from Greensboro, NC as well as the ASP Staff to join us. It was a blast (and very tasty)!

Good Night for now.

Look for a few pictures of our activities tomorrow…
Thank you for your continued prayers for the work teams..

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June 22, 2004: A Touch Of Rain ?

Repeating the work group teams for quick and easy reference…

Group Name	Fraggle	Simon Peter	Plymouth
Group Bandana Color	Yellow	Black	Red
Team Members:	John Humphrey	Jay Kalin	Andrews, Erik
	Chris May	Russell Eutsler	Danielle Matthews
	Sam Bright	Rachel Kalin	Ryan Callaway
	Kim Truitt	Wes Sievers	Lauren Bright
	Katie Webber	Meghan Wildermuth	Nicole Miller
	Jeff Wood	Katie Hollamon

Dwayne Johnson	Blarney Stone	Grand Canyon	Pride
Orange	Pink	Green	Purple
Ken Fowler	Tom Tucker	John Mattingly	Tom Roh
Susan Harris	Tara Neider	Brian Lamar	Artie Smith
Andy Harris	Danielle Durbin	Ali Mattingly	Amanda Cohen
Maureen McAllister	Erica Miller	Matt McAllister	Sarah Martin
Mark Neider	Sean VanDeuren	Christine Whitlock	Wes Harris
Shane Miller	Colter Bright	Maureen McAllister

Does it Rain in Appalachia?

When we arrived in Appalachia on a crystal clear day Sunday, it was the first day in 21 that there had been no rain. Monday was the second day in a row without rain. However the streak did not last.

As we arose on Tuesday morning, a steady drizzle fell from the sky. Knowing that over half our groups were working on some roofing or roofing-related project, it could be a slow and soggy day for them. Lord willing, however, the rain eased by the time breakfast was complete, and as the work crews left for their sites, they were driving in steady sunshine.

“Page Two: The Rest of the Story”

For those of you familiar with the Paul Harvey approach to radio news broadcasting, this heading will be eminently recognizable. We learned today of our own ASP “spin” on “Page Two”. Our dear staff member Emily, was doing the supply run* for the morning, and she arrived back at the center surprisingly early for the normal supply run. Well it turns out that she’d shopped for all the “Page One” supplies, but she forgot to turn the page and get the supplies for the four “Page Two” work groups. O-O-P-S!

We love her anyway! We’ve always believed that ‘flexibility’ is the watch word for a successful experience at ASP. Those affected teams, followed her to the Hardware Supply store and picked up the necessary materials before heading to the work sites.

Today, we feature the Simon Peter (Black Bandana) and Dwayne Johnson (Orange Bandana) groups. *

Simon Peter serves Juanita. Let’s just say that Simon Peter’s group was not going tobe affected by the rain, one way or the other. (They work inside – and in a room with an air conditioner! Miss Juanita has a very unique situation for ASP. Her home is wired in an unusual manner – sufficiently different (and out of code) that the Inspectors have threatened to condemn her home. ASP, and this week Jay and Russell’s Simon Peter team, are working to rewire and restructure where necessary to prevent the condemnation. All the outlets are at six feet off the floor level. They are not recessed into the wall. The task involves bringing the outlets down to the correct level and framing the rooms to bring the walls out to the electrical boxes. Once the framing is done, the sheet rock, tape, mud and paint is the rest of the task. Jay K, Russell E and Wes S have been working the framing aspects, reworking the closet and bedroom while Rachel K, Katie H and Meghan W. have been following up with the tape, mud, and paint. Several rooms in the house need this kind of attention.

Dwayne Johnson serves Diane. (Dwayne Johnson is the professional wrestler and entertainer known as ‘Rock’.) Diane’s home needs a new roof. Ken and Susan are working with our youngest team – Mark N, Andy H, and Shane M. – The roof is not steep, but there have been past fires and rot which have damaged a number of the rafters and decking. The entire week will include rebuilding, where necessary, the rafters and deck, before putting the tar paper and shingles up on the roof. Today was a special treat for this team. I couldn’t understand why, at dinner time, these usually very hungry boys were coming to me and saying they didn’t want to eat dinner! Well, at quittin’ time, Diane brought pizza(!) back to the house (at 4:30pm!) for the team, so they’d already eaten when the mission teams sat down for dinner an hour later.

Culture Night – Blue Grass Immersion

After the workday was complete, and a third good dinner (Tuesday Tacos), the mission team listened to a father & sons trio (usually a quartet, but the mandolin player couldn’t make it) for 90 minutes in a great presentation of some real fine bluegrass music. The group mixed in a fair amount of gospel and country as well as an acapella piece or two. An extremely enjoyable evening. (Followed by a quick trip to DQ with the interested group.)

A Special Visitor

Chris Mattingly, son of John and Carol, is an ASP Staff member this year. He is serving in Hancock County, TN. He has a day off tomorrow and has decided to come down and visit us during his time off. Yeah, Chris!

Good Night for now.

Look for a few words (and possibly pictures) of our activities tomorrow…
Thank you for your continued prayers for the work teams..

** Each Day, we’ll take a closer look at the work being done by a workgroup or two.

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June 23, 2004: Does Noah live near here?

I can hear him building that ark!

Repeating the work group teams for quick and easy reference…

Group Name	Fraggle	Simon Peter	Plymouth
Group Bandana Color	Yellow	Black	Red
Team Members:	John Humphrey	Jay Kalin	Andrews, Erik
	Chris May	Russell Eutsler	Danielle Matthews
	Sam Bright	Rachel Kalin	Ryan Callaway
	Kim Truitt	Wes Sievers	Lauren Bright
	Katie Webber	Meghan Wildermuth	Nicole Miller
	Jeff Wood	Katie Hollamon

Dwayne Johnson	Blarney Stone	Grand Canyon	Pride
Orange	Pink	Green	Purple
Ken Fowler	Tom Tucker	John Mattingly	Tom Roh
Susan Harris	Tara Neider	Brian Lamar	Artie Smith
Andy Harris	Danielle Durbin	Ali Mattingly	Amanda Cohen
Maureen McAllister	Erica Miller	Matt McAllister	Sarah Martin
Mark Neider	Sean VanDeuren	Christine Whitlock	Wes Harris
Shane Miller	Colter Bright	Maureen McAllister

Repeating the question from yesterday: Does it Rain in Appalachia?

Well, once again the answer is a resounding, Yes! And today there were buckets of water coming out of the sky during the morning hours. Enough heavy stuff to stop traffic on the road and have several places where local high waters stopped cars from passing temporarily.

Based on the two inch-plus rain in the morning, I halfway expected Noah and his arc building buddies to be arriving on the scene!

“What did you do during the rain?”

Rain does put the teams working roofing projects into “relationship” building mode, and the stories returning from a day of ‘relationship’ building can always be enjoyable. Here are a couple:

• Fraggle: “We extended our relationship with the family and particularly the children by watching Scooby Doo with them!”
• Plymouth/Grand Canyon: “Our relationship building was around a big game of ‘Clue’ (Colonel Mustard with the Lead Pipe in the Study!) and a few games of ‘Twister’. We really whipped those 8 and 9 year olds!”

At the Plymouth home, the group learned much more about the impending wedding ceremony of daughter Angie which is coming up quickly - On Saturday!

Today, we feature the Blarney Stone (Pink Bandana) work group. *

Blarney Stone serves Jerry. While the Blarney Stone work team has made some decent progress working on restoring the functional bathroom facilities to Jerry’s home, they have alos become most innovative with some of their extra time and scrap building supplies. Due to the sub-standard plumbing, the electricity has been turned off to Jerry’s home. Tom T and Tara N are leading the group toward restoring functional plumbing to the home. The initial problems stemmed from the pronounced settling of the foundation supporting both the front porch and the bathroom areas. Week 1 groups shored up the porch and now Davidsonville is working the bathroom problem.

When supplies are low/limited or there have been other support tasks to take on. Demonstrating a keen sense of stewardship, Danielle D and Erica M cleaned the bathtub that was going to be thrown away. The cleaning process included dropping it down a five foot ridge to get it to the creek. After a long time of being knee deep in the ice cold water, the tub was actually white underneath all that dirt!

In addition to the supply shortage (Blarney Stone is far away from other groups and sometimes their supply visits are missed by staff members), Tom T and Tara N had to destruct what the previous group had constructed to solve some of the plumbing issues that didn’t get resolved prior to floor installation.

While this was ongoing, the youth (Danielle, Erica, Sean, and Colter) had a plan of their own. They decided to build a dog house for Jerry’s loving pitbull, Bud. It is the only house that DUMC has started and finished in a single ASP week, taking a few hours of otherwise idle time! It was constructed from bathroom wood scrap with a blue tin roof, courtesy of a neighbor with some available tin roofing supplies.

Evening Gathering – Picture Frames

After the workday was complete, and a third good dinner (Tuesday Tacos), the mission team listened to a father & sons trio (usually a quartet, but the mandolin player couldn’t make it) for 90 minutes in a great presentation of some real fine bluegrass music. The group mixed in a fair amount of gospel and country as well as an acapella piece or two. An extremely enjoyable evening. (Followed by a quick trip to DQ with the interested group.)

A Special Visitor

Chris Mattingly, son of John and Carol, is an ASP Staff member this year. He is serving in Hancock County, TN. He has a day off tomorrow and has decided to come down and visit us during his time off. Yeah, Chris!

Good Night for now.

Look for a few words (and possibly pictures) of our activities tomorrow…
Thank you for your continued prayers for the work teams..

** Each Day, we’ll take a closer look at the work being done by a workgroup or two.

Return to the top of the page.

Thursday, June 24: Picnic Day!

Group Name	Fraggle	Simon Peter	Plymouth
Group Bandana Color	Yellow	Black	Red
Team Members:	John Humphrey	Jay Kalin	Andrews, Erik
	Chris May	Russell Eutsler	Danielle Matthews
	Sam Bright	Rachel Kalin	Ryan Callaway
	Kim Truitt	Wes Sievers	Lauren Bright
	Katie Webber	Meghan Wildermuth	Nicole Miller
	Jeff Wood	Katie Hollamon

Dwayne Johnson	Blarney Stone	Grand Canyon	Pride
Orange	Pink	Green	Purple
Ken Fowler	Tom Tucker	John Mattingly	Tom Roh
Susan Harris	Tara Neider	Brian Lamar	Artie Smith
Andy Harris	Danielle Durbin	Ali Mattingly	Amanda Cohen
Maureen McAllister	Erica Miller	Matt McAllister	Sarah Martin
Mark Neider	Sean VanDeuren	Christine Whitlock	Wes Harris
Shane Miller	Colter Bright	Maureen McAllister

Morning Devos, Missing Staff -

The 7:15am devotional time is one which is prepared by the staff on Monday, and then the rest of the week is done by the volunteers. This week we have had three excellent devotionals prepared by the Davidsonville youth. On Tuesday, Danielle Durbin and Erica Miller; On Wednesday, Katie Webber; and on Thursday Wes Harris and Matt McAllister.

Thursday’s devotional was a bit unusual, because the ASP Staff wasn’t there! The group had switched from “in front of” the school to “behind” the school, and they’d forgotten! We still love them.

What’s for lunch today?

Each day during the week, each workgroup designates one or two folks to make and pack its Peanut Butter & Jelly (or this year, turkey and cheese) sandwiches and fruit. It is almost expected that your work crew will supplement this with potato chips and possibly some soda, gatorade, or water at the worksites from the stores.

It is also nice to eat with the family, so each work crew typically brings several extra sandwiches in the event there are additional folks (family or visiting staffers) at the house over the lunch hour.

Today, we feature the Fraggle Rock (Yellow Bandana) work group. *

Fraggle Rock serves Ruby . (Text and inspiration provided by team member Katie Webber.) Fraggle is helping Ruby on Keen Mountain. (It’s called Keen Mt. Because the people who live on it are all related to a Keen.) Ruby is a wonderful lady living with her daughter and two granddaughters, Elizabeth and Sarah. Elizabeth and Sarah are sweet little kids of nine and six years respectively, full of energy, who adore Chris M. and keep us on our toes... or at least on the roof. But with good reason, we’re replacing the shingles on their roof. Fortunatly the roof isn’t too steep, unlike some of the other houses. We Fraggles share a close bond and understand each others needs and desires for the house… hardly ever. But we do know what needs to happen, we all understand what the rest of us are going through, panting away on the roof unfer the hot Virginian sun, and we all have had some good laughs, whether it be Sam B. knocking the broom off the roof into the patch of poison ivy, or Jeff W. tying ice cubes in his hair to stay cool, Kim T. falling asleep in the car on the way home (EVERY SINGLE DAY!), or me, Katie W. again, unable to hit a nail with a hammer but having excellent aim when it comes to my thumbs. ( John H. now refuses to hold nails that I’m about to hit ) My thumbs are still sore, even though I havent hit them once today.”

By Friday, the group anticipates wrapping up all the basic shingling tasks on the home.

Dinner – Family Picnic Time

After the workday was complete, the traditional Thursday dinner picnic this year is at Poplar Gap State Park. This reclaimed former mine site is filled with wide open fields on the top of a mountain on which several multi-purpose game fields as well as hiking trails with magnificent views of both the surrounding mountains and the scars of active open pit mining to the west.

More special than the beautiful park of course are the beautiful people who attend the picnic. These families, whose homes we’re working on this week, are grateful for the opportunity to come out to the park for a meal, spend time visiting with us and with each other. In particular, today’s picnic held something very special for the Plymouth and Grand Canyon teams. The dozen or so family members who attended the picnic were great to have, and on top of that, both Floyd and Loretta played the guitar – several gospel songs to which the youth and adults were mightily impressed.

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Darn! The road home from the picnic takes us right by the Dairy Queen. What a shame, we just have to stop! Yeah! A couple of the ASP families also were able to stop with us and grab some ice cream before heading home.

Wow, quite a long and wonderful day.

Good Night for now.

Thank you for your continued prayers for the mission teams..

** Each Day, we’ll take a closer look at the work being done by a workgroup or two.

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Photos to Remember

Here are some sights of our ASP experience. More pictures are on the way. Place your cursor over each image to view its caption.

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