Dawson Springs, KY – Jan. 14-20, 2024

This week we added Crew Leader Marian Hosler and her husband Wilbur to the team.  It was the last week for our cooks, Lois and Erma Wenger.  Our other crew leaders are mentioned later in this report, and Dave Hughes was our Project Director with his wife, Patti as Office Manager. Long-term volunteer Calin Driedger continued at the project and we were joined by a group of 8 men and 7 women from the Penn Yan area of New York.

We continued work on the 5 new houses which are under construction. It was extremely cold here this week for loading up in the mornings.  We concentrated our efforts mostly on indoor tasks.

Crew leader Eric Douglas and his “E team” began with the first coat of drywall mud on Monday at Norma  Russell’s house.  (E is for excellent). By Friday they had mostly completed three coats and it is almost ready for painting.

Marian Hosler and Mark Bergman and their teams joined forces for the homes of Alan Ladd and Lila Torres which require similar tasks.  Drywall hanging and finishing continued.  Both houses needed work on porches and stairs, which proceeded as weather permitted. Cellulose insulation was blown into the attics with a machine that required volunteers to fill the hopper and another to guide the hose through the attic access. It was a messy, dusty job.  This was Mark’s last week here as Crew Leader. His knowledge and experience have been a great contribution to the project, not to mention his enthusiasm and kindness.

Keith Barth led a crew at the Shelby Cummings house where they completed the interior trim, did some painting, and installed closet shelves. They worked on similar jobs at the home of Darrell Randolph.  Kitchen cabinets are expected to arrive next week from the MDS shop in Kansas and next week’s crews will be with installing them.

Homeowner Alan Ladd came for supper one night accompanied by Stephanie and three young children.  It was a delight to have children at the camp, doing coloring pages and drinking from their own blue MDS water bottles. Alan told how they sheltered in an interior hall while the tornado passed.  He said they survived by the grace of God. Their Case Manager, Stacey Menser, was here as well, and she expressed how beautiful it is when people of so many faiths come together.  Truly it is beautiful when we all do our part. This seems to fit with some lines from a poem Eric quoted during morning devotions:

We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,

There’s something for all of us here,

There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,

And the task you must do is the near.

— from Be the Best of Whatever You Are

By Douglas Malloch

Patti Hughes, Dawson Springs, KY