Denare Beach – August 2-8, 2026

This was a transitioning week for leadership. We bid farewell to Duane and Adeline and welcomed Mark and Denis. There was also change in the kitchen as we said “till next time” to Sara and Hannah, as they were replaced by Judy and Brigitte.

Our Long-Term Volunteers were Hannah (who moved from the kitchen to a work crew to complete her last of 6 weeks), as well as Jan and 2 CMU scholarship students, Lia and Ethan, starting their 4 weeks of service.

We were blessed by 11 weekly volunteers, Connie and David, in addition to a group of 9 youth and adults from the Shantz Mennonite church. Numerous puzzles were completed and many loud games of cribbage. Some of the group took in a hike at the crevices, then a tour of the Northern Gateway museum, and for some, the highlight was the traditional Friday evening boat ride on the lake, with swimming and cliff diving, guided by Steven.

Over at the O’Brien home, the volunteers installed kitchen cabinets and countertops, finished the fascia and caulked the bathroom stack on the roof. At the Monias house, we started the week sanding and finished the painting by Friday morning. Well done and thank you to all our painters. Our expert tapers and “mudders” spent the week at the Harrison home getting ready for painting next week. Over at the Lauze place we installed the kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanity and door/window casings and baseboards.

Thank you to our leaders and long term & weekly volunteers for hard work, conversation, laughter, and lasting friendships.

Denis