Barre, VT – June 16-22, 2024

First a few things about Barre-Montpelier VT.  The area around Barre has and still does produce the most granite in the state thus Barre is known as the granite capital of Vermont.  Maple syrup is another product of this area.  Ice cream shops selling maple flavors are plentiful and many crews took the opportunity to indulge in the delicacy over lunch or on the way home from the job. This was especially appreciated as the temperature reached the 90’s several days this week.  Montpelier, just 6 miles from the base is the capital of Vermont.  With its population of just over 8,000 it has the lowest number residents of any capital in the US.

This week we were blessed with 2 groups.  One consisted of 10 girls and their sponsors from the Mifflinburg PA area.  The other group of 6 came from Greencastle/Marion PA area.

Eric’s crew worked at Sandra’s house for several days.  They dug and installed a French drain after which they made a border around the drain.  They cleaned and prepped the basement for flood board and trim.  Also, more screws were put in the metal roof and caulked where needed.  Additionally, some shingles were replaced on another roof.  On Friday they spent the day installing flood board, trim, and some painting at Piper’s house.

This week Leon’s crew continued what was started last week at Debra’s house.  That consisted of mostly outside work of regrading drainage areas, repairing water damaged concrete block joints, deck step and back step replacement/repair, installing carport siding, repainting carport wall, replacing some soffit/facia, and installing lattice around the porch. Interior work was installing basement insulation.

Jack’s crew worked on several projects.  They removed junk and pumped water from the basement of Nate’s house. One day they did some cleaning and assessments at Terry’s house. Another couple of days were spent at Christopher and Chelsea’s place digging and installing a French drain with a sump pump to evacuate the water collected by the drain.  Finally, on Friday his crew helped set up and connect to services the 4 additional RV’s that arrived at the project on Thursday.

Cory, one of the weekly volunteers was recruited to be a crew leader for several days.  His crew did some things around the base camp but primarily worked at John’s place where they painted the stairwell, covered the insulation in the basement with Tyvek, installed a dehumidifier, installed a light in the stairwell, and installed a basement vent. At least 5 jobs were signed off this week.

Next week a few new jobs will be signed up and started.  A highlight of the week was when Ty Rolland, the vice chairperson of the Long-Term Recovery Group, Hope Coalition, joined us on Thursday evening and filled us in with how the flood devastated the area.  He then shared the steps taken to clean up the infrastructure and how long it took until the main roads and side streets no longer had dust flying after a vehicle traversed that road.

As a side note the Church of Latter-day Saints has cooked every Thursday evening meal for us.  This gives the cooks a chance to visit the sites being worked on and bring the crews some frozen treats.

Edith Carr arrived on Wednesday.  She will be taking over the office manager’s duties when Roland and Linda Stutzman leave on Saturday.  Anita Schrock will be arriving Saturday to replace Linda as assistant cook.

Respectfully submitted by Roland Stutzman for the team of Dan, Edith, Leon, Eric, Jack, Carol, and Linda.