After Hour Activities

The hotel had a hospitality suite that the volunteers could congregate in after a hard day.  These are a few of the friends that we made.  The couple in the 3rd picture from the top, actually brought their 2 children with them.  They would alternate at the site and entertaining the kids.  It was great to see and know that this kind of giving and caring was starting at a young age.

Pictures from Day 9

So what happened to Pictures from Day 8.  I'm not sure.  We were pretty busy and I must have forgotten to take any.  So the end came on Day 9.  The rented scaffolding came down, and each house, in order from top down, #3, #1, #2, were in various stages of completedness.  At lunch break we had extra prayers, a special meal (fried chicken, cole slaw and potato salad) and then an individual presentation to each of the home owners in their new home.  The rocking chair was sign by those who worked on each house and the owners could use them on their front porches.  As with other dedications we have been on, this is a very emotional time for all.  One of the volunteers had written on one of the wall studs, "Rock slowly, pray slowly, enjoy the view and remember we did this because we care"

Time to go home.

Pictures from Day 7

Ah, the sun.  Do you think maybe the mud will dry out?  Don't count on it.  Great progress is made today.  Roofing and house wrap and siding and windows and doors and more details were accomplished.  Because of the rain delays, we were told that the adjusted goal was to get each house dried in.  In other words, to the point where plumbing and electrical rough-in, insulation and dry wall could be done.

Then it was off to the Botanical Garden for dinner.  On the menu, BBQ ribs of course.

Pictures from Day 6

Maybe this was the day that it was suppose to rain starting at 10am and continue for the rest of the day.  It rained so much.  But everyone was smiling and laughing and having fun doing more of God's work.  We did get a lot done.  The pictures, order from top to bottom, our house #3, house #1, and house #2.

Pictures from Day 5

It was suppose to rain all day (I think).  But we managed to work in between the rain drops.  Then it cleared off an this was the sun set.  What wonders and beauty.  By the way, because Fort Wayne is on the very Western side of the Eastern Time Zone, the sun doesn't set until late in the day.  There weren't too many of us that actually ever saw the whole thing because we were usually asleep.  I just happen to catch this while saying good night to Lois.

Yeah! Our Day Off

We had a day off on Sunday.  Most of the 60 plus volunteers didn't waste any time going out and doing something.  There was the Auto Museum.  There was the Cathedral.  There was the Botanical Garden were our Wednesday dinner would be held.  There were walking paths along the 3 three rivers that make there confluence in Fort Wayne (a very strategic location during the civil war).  And the Fort.  And the BBQ Rib Fest.  And so many other things to do and see.

We decided to take in the BBQ Rib Fest and a walk on the paths along one of the rivers.  While walking to the Fest we found that the Fort was open with free admission.  The following are some of the sights along the way.

Picture(s) from Day 3

It doesn't look like much has happened today.  Look closely.  The main house and roof are sheathed, the porch roof is up and sheathed and there is ice shield on the edge of the roof.  What slowed us was the discovery that the gable end wall of the garage (very right hand side) was not plumb.  It took a lot of thinking, planning, grunting, sweating and endurance to get it pulled (with a Come-Along) into its proper position before we could sheath that part of the garage.  What you can't see is that almost all of the interior walls have also been built.  Oops, the shower/tub that was delivered was for a right hand installation (drain on the right side), but the plumbing was set up for a left hand unit.

Notice in the background that the second floor walls of the 2 story house is taking shape.

Pictures from Day 2

Was it raining again.  Today, Sunday the 29th, I honestly can't remember.  But it did rain some each day except for the last couple of days.  But the mud never really dried up.

Things are beginning to look like a house and because Karen Spain, the new owner, was on site in the mornings (she had a second shift job) the structure was already becoming a home.

Pictures from Day 1

It had rained the night before.  Our first task was to cut up some of the OSB and make walkways.

The extra mud on Amy's shoes added about 5 lbs.  It stuck to everything and was impossible to get off.

Some pre-planning and building had taken place.  The slab was poured and marked for walls.  The window and door header/jack/stud/jams had been pre-build.  Now just nail it all together.   I think Amy and Lisle were really doing some powerful ministry by the number of nails that they drove.

It was a great first day.

Some Pictures Drive out and Meet and Greet

So this was Wednesday in Defiance.  We had just gone thru a micro burst.  Now this downpour.  Visibility was about 50 feet.  I'm thankful for Amy's driving skills.

This is the planned development.  The 3 house are in the lower right hand side of the cul-de-sac, lots 26, 27 and 28.  The land was donated to Fort Wayne Habitat for development.

The architects renderings of the home designs in the development.  The houses are more complicated than usual for a Blitz Home Build, but were designed to blend in more with the nearby development.  The "porch front" development is to encourage the neighbors to get to know each other.  We found out later that the owners of the houses we were working on already had plans for baby sitting, mowing lawns and other neighborly gifts of time.

Being Tired and Accomplishing More

Yup, I have to admit, it has been a long week.  There was no rain today.  Just beautiful sunshine.  Phil, our house lead carpenter, asked me to trim out the garage door opening (7' high and 16' wide).  I thought great, I'm so tired I can take my time and do this at my own pace.  By 10:30 Phil came and wanted to know how I coming along.  The trim needed to done so the siding crew could get moving on the front of the house.  I stepped up the pace.  After lunch, as I was standing back admiring my mornings work, Phil came by again.  "Go help Tom and Dave on the gable."  Not quite an order.  But my legs were still recovering from spending a few of days on the roof.  Tom and Dave are both very experienced at these Blitz Builds.  Tom and Sally's boys were over at House #1 doing roofing as it is there business back home.  Tom, Dave and I worked on the accent siding on the gable over the porch for the afternoon.  Every piece had to be cut and trimmed, fitted and trimmed again, before installing it. 

I finally got down at the end of the day and looked around at everything that had been accomplished.  I was amazed.  Everyone else on the site must be as tired and sore as I am, but there was so much accomplished today.  Some because there was no rain.  But more importantly, we all realize that we are doing God's work with our hammers and saws.  And with his help we will always accomplish more than we expect we can.

We've been working with so many wonderful people.  Each of us taking pictures as we can (yes, I'll get them posted when I get home).  But I found out last night that my roommate Marv Riggins is one of the group photographers.  In a week or so he will post to his "Flicker" account pictures of this Blitz Build.  About 450 so far that my be edited down some.  The URL is:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/40532181@N05/   or if you "Google" PARIGGINS you will see his flicker account listed first.  I hope you take the time later to view them.  They should be great.

Have a wonderful evening.  See you in a couple of days.

Peace to you all,

If it were your house....

Since our house is furthest along, all spare day volunteers and experienced roofers were lent to the other 2 houses. In a way it made our job easier because there weren't a lot of extra people always looking for direction....especially nerve wracking when they are looking to me!

Yesterday I thought I'd learned how to side.  Apparently I didn't really learn the 100% correct way to side.  Today I learned how to undo and start anew. The credo here is if there's any doubt, ask yourself what would you do if it were your house. So Tom, our crew chief mentored me in siding 101.!And as a bonus I got to work with Lisle, perhaps the first time this build. Scott was assigned to putting trim around the garage doors and helping trim out a front gable....nothing requiring a harness or balancing on a pitched surface. Bet his legs liked that!

Today 2 homeowners were on site, Karen and Kathy.  Part of the day Karen, our homeowner, worked with me. She is very proud of the finishes she chose and how they are turning out. The siding is a medium dark gray clapboard style, with white trim and a white shingle-style vinyl accent in the front gable. The finishing touch will be black shutters.

Kathy is accruing hours like mad. Most days she comes to the site and works til mid day and then goes home to clean up before going to her second shift job. Since she is well over her required 300 volunteer. hours, she has asked if her hours on site could count toward a friend of hers, since a disability would make it hard for the friend  to achieve her required 100 construction hours (a portion of the overall 300 hours.).

Finally, the best thing about today was no rain! Our first woke day without rain.  However, there's still plenty of mud.

Another "well oiled machine"

Phil Off, one of the leaders from Blitzhome Builders, typically leads the morning devotion.  Recently he detoured from the Bible and talked about the Shackleton expedition.  Though they carefully planned for years, the worst winter in the history of Antarctica left them marooned. Ultimately they set off in a rowboat toward civilization and 3 years later found it.  All survived.  The reason Phil told the story was to reset our expectations on what was going to be accomplished on the project.  We would not finish the houses...instead the goal was to completely finish all exterior work by week's end. As well planned as this Build was, Indiana rain and mud ruled the day.  For the first time in the 17 years of the Blitz Home builds, they missed "drying in" the houses in 3 days. All sorts of things can't happen until you have a roof and sides that keep out the rain. Electricians and plumbers can't continue roughing in; drywall can't be hung etc.  Just like God steered Shackleton and his crew home on a different timeline, these houses will be finished...Only on a different schedule, and by other volunteers.

A word about these BHB'ers. Awesome well oiled machine! When about a dozen Hancock members worked on the Fuller Center Legacy build in Atlantic City after Hurricane Sandy, we were all thrilled when our very respected crew chiefs Tim and Charlie, called us "a well oiled machine" .  High praise from those guys. Well I would use the same compliment to describe this group. They practice Christianity with their hands.

 Let me tell you about Marv, who happens to be Scott's roommate. Marv owns an accounting firm back in Rockford, IL and Is very involved in the local Habitat affiliate.  Some years ago he was introduced to BHB and now this is his 8th or 10th trip with BHB. He drove down with a fully loaded commercial panel truck he has outfitted with shelves, tools, extension cords, etc....a truck that would be the envy of any tradesman.  Marv, the accountant, loves doing this kind of work and his truck demonstrates that. And,by the way, he's one of many BHBers who drive to the Blitz builds with fully loaded trucks.

Planning and Endurance

Originally the plan was for sheet rocking.  Well that hasn't happened yet because of all of the rain.  The plan continues to evolve and change with each day.  The priority for the day was to get the shingles on the roof.  That sounded possible for our house, House #3.  House #2 isn't too far behide as it is very similar in design (both 1 story).  House #1 is a 2 story design.  The trusses weren't up yet.  However, by the end of the day, with lots of modified plans and lots of endurance by a lot of volunteers, there are singles on most of House #2, House #3 is about half done and House #1 is gaining with some sharing of volunteers from House #2 and House #3.  Are you confused yet?  And what has become the usual, it rained again.  We waited out the showers.  Then went back to playing in the mud.

I spent time today with Tom Deur and other working on the roof while Amy worked closely with his wife, Sally, cutting shingles, passing us tools, supplies and listening to us yell lots of numbers, as we were shingling.  Tom and Sally are wonderful people who raised some really wonderful sons.  In their construction business, they have done and seen almost everything.  One son now run the business which has expanded and has grown to be a well respected construction company.  But they all continue to come every year to the Blitz Build site.  As Tom put it, "I meet really great people, and can teach others stuff they might never learn."  They have been coming for over 10 years to these builds.

Did we tell you about Omer from No. Chelmsford.  Yup, just up the road No. Chelmsford.  Maybe that will be for another blog.

At lunch break, we were all asked how many years people had been coming.  It was amazing.  For some of the volunteers, this was there first time, but there were many with 10, 15 and 20 or more years.  That is true dedication and endurance.  Not just the physical endurance for the 10 days that these blitz builds usually are for, or the mental endurance to stay focused, safe and watching out for others on the site, but the endurance to continue to care about others.  To want to be part of helping make a better life for someone else.  I'm sure that your continuing prayers for all them is welcomed and appreciated.  Thank you and good night from Ft. Wayne.

As Amy mentioned we were working on two different roofing crews today.  What she didn't mention was that Lisle has specific instructions to not go up on roofs.  Oh, well.  The crew that I've been working with includes Steve and Bert.  Both seasoned Blitz Builders.  We were finishing the sheathing over the garage area.  Each layer of plywood or oriented strand board (OSB) requires a "H" clip between the rafters.  This supports the OSB so that it doesn't flex as much when weight is added.  Steve had run out of "H" clips.  He asked if I had three.  I handed him four.  He commented that I couldn't count.  My response was "I'm a musician and can only count to 4."  "Really," he said, "what instrument do you play?"  "Well, I sing in the choir and play hand bells," I replied.  He said "Hand bells!  I also play."  Bert piped up and added that he also played in 3 choirs.  Two of them rehearse on the same night and they are staggered so he can make both of them.  So, up on this roof out here in Fort Wayne, Indiana, building a house for a very deserving lady, are 3 bell ringers, making beautiful music with our hammers and nail guns instead of English Hand Bells.  Could God's plan have come together any better?  Peace.

Kyu and Ban Ho

 Whatever you do or wherever you are, aren't your memories most shaped by the stories of people you meet? Today I want to talk a little about a partner family where the wife has worked every day with us and her husband as he can.  A partner family is one who is working the program to qualify for a Habitat house. Beyond the needs assessment, the partner must volunteer 300 hours, of which a minimum of 100 must be construction hours on houses other than their own. They also have to take financial management classes as well as other classes on "paperwork"....all the nitty gritty of home ownership. I met the wife, Kyu, at lunch my first day. I grabbed a seat at the table with Kyu and a few friends of hers. Lian, who had been in the US the longest, 5 years, explained that they were all Burmese refugees who came to Ft. Wayne via refugee camps in Thailand and Malaysia.  Kyu has been here for 2 years but her English is limited, and out of shyness speaks very little. According to a local Habitat volunteer, Catholic Charities has sponsored many Burmese in the area and now Ft. Wayne has the largest immigrant Burmese population in the U.S. Kyu is a "background person." She wants to be helpful but due to limited English she stays in the background  sweeping out the rain and mud from the house, picking up trash or "spotting" folks up on ladders. Whenever she catches your eye, there is a shy smile.   On Saturday she dragged another Burmese young man over to introduce me to her husband, Ban Ho.  His English is better, but still quite broken. He is the opposite of Kyu--he wants to tell you his story. He now works at a chicken processor where there are "many, many chickens". He often makes deliveries to local stores.  He likes that better than his first job at a warehouse. He told me about his escape from Burma, when he had to run through the forest at night, always watchful for the Burmese soldiers who would shoot at him. He ran for many nights...for either 7 or 70 nights...I couldn't quite figure it out. His journey to  safety took him from Burma to a Thailand refugee camp, then to Switzerland, then New York, then Chicago and finally to Ft Wayne.  There was some bit of pride that he traveled to so many places.  He and his wife are happy now, but they don't like the winter too much. :)

Today there was a lot of progress made on the outside of our house. Lisle helped install windows. Scott and I were working on different roofing crews, each crew on a different face  of the roof. We probably would have finished, except another rainstorm swept through, bringing with it lightning and thunder. So it forced everyone inside and all work had to stop. Other crews finished up the tyvek (not sure if garage was finished as well) and started siding.

Local color and connections

Sunday was a day off for everyone.  No one from the Massachusetts contingent complained.  After a late and casual breakfast we decided to check out the annual Ribfest in downtown Ft. Wayne.   On our walk into the riverfront festival, we passed historic Fort Wayne which happened to being having a Civil War encampment.  Got to tour and  brush up on some US history about 100 years later than our usual local lessons.  The rest of the afternoon was spent enjoying the food, drink and music at the Ribfest.

What was interesting was recognizing a few local folks in the crowds. These were employees from local companies who had spent a day of service on the Habitat site. Each day dozens of locals showed  up to help. With lots of materials, wood, plywood and trusses to be moved, their presence was critical.  We could chat while working alongside, or when we broke for lunch. For many this was their first time doing this type of volunteer work and you got the feeling it wouldn't be their last. So it was cool to recognize a few at the Ribfest.  Made me feel a bit more connected to Ft. Wayne and our project here.

TV Coverage

Here are a couple of links to TV news stories about the build:

http://touch.wane.com/r2648/473894af

http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/local/Build-Three-Homes-In-Eight-Days-No-Problem-VIDEO-263895071.html

Amy and Lisle make cameo appearances - look for the blue hard hats

How to put a newbie to work

It's a good thing that when building a house from scratch there are lots of walls that can be built right from the get go.  It's an excellent project to throw inexperienced people at along with some experienced folks and have the newbies feel like they are contributing right away. That's what happened with me. Early Thursday morning, our first day on the job site, I was given some brief instructions on placement of the 2s x4s on the marked sills by a friendly guy and then started banging away. About 70 bangs later I had my first nail in. By the fifth nail I had halved the number of hits required and it  just kept getting better throughout the morning. And then what a thrill it was to be part of the manpower to lift the exterior walls. That alone was worth the price of admission (a 13 1/2 hr drive , the last stretch through a ferocious windstorm and then torrential rains that left 11,000 people without power that night.)  Later on they had the home owner and daughter, who worked all day on site, have the honor of counting down the "1, 2, 3, lift" whenever another wall needed to be lifted and put in place. By the time we left that first day, most of the framing was done and the transformation from empty concrete pad to home was well under way.

Hi All -  What a ride out.  We left the Swanson home at 4:01am and drove West.  Lisle kept the breaks and driver changes to under 15 minutes, so we arrive at 5:30pm.  I'll figure out how to get some pictures up soon.  We experienced some of Indiana's partly cloudy.  Had a meet and greet with ice cream at the local Habitat facility.  Met with the families.  They are all so thankful that we (70 or so) are willing to do God's work in this way.  Karen is a mother of 3, and it just really fun to talk with.  She will be moving into the house that we are going to build.



Day 1 of real building - It had rained in the night.  So lots of mud.  Cement slab poured before we got to the site.  The local Habitat group had come in and marked wall locations and pre-built most of the door and window framing.  We hammered lots of nails at the 16" on center marks and started putting up exterior walls.  Once they were done, crews were set up to sheath the exterior walls and another to build the interior walls.  By the end of the day almost all of the walls were up and sheathed.  Sore and tired.  Meeting lots of people, new friends and some old ones.  Remember Shreavesport (spelling) or Atlantic City.  Great fun chatting and remembering.  Peace to you all.



Day 2 - It's raining when we first arrived.  So lots of mud.  The mud made things really fun to slip and slide around.  As these are the first 3 houses in the 115 house development we need to schlep around the development to get anywhere.  The roads are being being paved today, so it should be a little better from now on.  Roof trusses were the big objective.  Yup, it now looks like 3 houses.  Two are single floor and one is a two story affair.  Our house even has about 15% of the roof decking down.  Not as sore but still as tired.  We keep reminding ourselves of the fact that we are not in a race to be the first to get stuff completed, but that we are all in the trenches working hard for a wonderful cause.  Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.