Hurley, VA – March 24-30, 2024

Late Sunday afternoon, our new crew of capable weekly volunteers arrived. Three of the four men are from North Carolina and one from Colorado.

The men applied their skills to various jobs. They removed the chimney, replaced screws and completed the roof work at Ulvert Coleman’s house. The inside repairs will be finished in the future.

Some of the men worked at the Stiltner house. They drywalled, mudded and painted the pantry closet and installed the bifold doors. They finished repairing the steps and put on base trim in the kitchen and dining room. They also installed fascia on the house. When the repairs were completed, the owners signed off the job card and Rob offered a blessing prayer for them.

Verne and one of the guys replaced the outside door on Norma’s house. Some of the crew applied paint sealer on the roof at the McCoy house. They finished repairs at Patty’s place. She signed off the job card on both her house repairs and the garage.

The men applied finishing touches on the Atwell/Dotson house. They repaired the door catch, caulked the shower and connected the bathroom sink. They finished the kitchen counter backsplash and worked on the handrail on the deck. The contractor installed the septic system this week.

After the men applied underlay and strapping on the roof at Prater’s house, and then installed a new metal roof. Future needs include spouting work and flooring in the bedroom.

We completed a few minor tasks at the Baker house. They signed off the job card this week.

Tuesday evening, we enjoyed a special privilege of touring a strip mine. Coleman’s son-in-law met us at our base camp and then led our parade of trucks to the strip mine site, where normally only employees are permitted to enter. We watched the huge excavators digging and then dumping the unusable rock into immense trucks. The trucks climbed up the steep path to the top of the pit and dumped the rocks, being careful not to tip over backwards into the quarry. The excavators and trucks work continuously through the night. This shift expected to reach the actual coal level by morning.  At that point the coal trucks take over and haul the coal to the processing location where it is sifted and loaded onto train cars. What a fascinating and educational experience!

The team from Hurley, VA

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