Competitor in the Masonry Competition While modifications to the well for the Burmese garden offered continuing challenges, March brought with it some visitors to campus and some interesting events along with them.
Competitors build their wall while the tenders replenish mortar One Block at a Time
On the first Wednesday in March, Faith hosted the Masonry Apprentice and Educational Foundation’s high school masonry competition. There were 22 individual competitors from 4 area masonry programs, including 1 from the Dept of Corrections. The participants were given a specification sheet, cinder blocks, bricks, and mortar. Using their own tools, they set to work building the required structure. The event was timed, and each result was measured by the judges, with points deducted for every 1/16th of an inch that was off in any measurement, among other criteria. Scores were given by group and individual and prizes awarded accordingly
On the first Wednesday in March, Faith hosted the Masonry Apprentice and Educational Foundation’s high school masonry competition. There were 22 individual competitors from 4 area masonry programs, including 1 from the Dept of Corrections. The participants were given a specification sheet, cinder blocks, bricks, and mortar. Using their own tools, they set to work building the required structure. The event was timed, and each result was measured by the judges, with points deducted for every 1/16th of an inch that was off in any measurement, among other criteria. Scores were given by group and individual and prizes awarded accordingly
The winning entry In addition to the competitors, there were “tenders” who mixed and distributed mortar, also ensuring it didn’t dry out for any individual competitor. The difference between this and the real thing? Each structure had to be broken down, the blocks cleaned of mortar and then stacked neatly on pallets when the competition was over. At the end of the day, the parking lot was spotless and, unless you noticed the pallets of bricks and cinder blocks, you would never have know that they had been there. But we enjoyed the chance to see these budding masons demonstrating their craft.
Fallen limb from the live oak Need some Firewood?
Live oaks are protected trees in Florida. You can’t prune them without consulting an arborist, which the church does on a regular basis to ensure the many trees on their property are healthy. That only works so well, since 2 major limbs fell on Peeler Hall several years ago within weeks of each other and the recent arborist visit.
Live oaks are protected trees in Florida. You can’t prune them without consulting an arborist, which the church does on a regular basis to ensure the many trees on their property are healthy. That only works so well, since 2 major limbs fell on Peeler Hall several years ago within weeks of each other and the recent arborist visit.
So it probably shoudn’t have been a complete surprise that another limb parted from it’s trunk in the courtyard off the sanctuary. Dave happened to see it fall, and even with pictures of it from several angles, it is still hard to show how BIG it is. The limb separated from its trunk and planted itself in the courtyard, over the breezeway, on the classroom building roof and over into another courtyard. This would take some time to remove.
New water tower for the well Well. . . Water
In an effort to provide water to the Burmese garden, there has been a considerable amount of work and re-design on the well to ensure the water continues to flow even when the volunteers are gone over the summer months. The design that evolved over the last few months incorporated 2 different pumps and 2 sets of holding tanks, including a method to fill the tanks automatically using a timer.
In an effort to provide water to the Burmese garden, there has been a considerable amount of work and re-design on the well to ensure the water continues to flow even when the volunteers are gone over the summer months. The design that evolved over the last few months incorporated 2 different pumps and 2 sets of holding tanks, including a method to fill the tanks automatically using a timer.
Dave and Fred pressurize tanks by the well The latest updates included stabilizing the surface mounted pump, mounting and plumbing in a new water tank on a platform, installing valves to keep the water pressure more constant and programming the timer which will enable the pump to fill the tanks at regular intervals. Getting the entire system to work involved several re-designs and the help of some more volunteers.
Dave sealing screws on Fermin's roof And more . . .
One of the higher priority tasks that we hadn’t been able to address was a leak in the roof of the house occupied by the church’s caretaker and his wife. The building is a converted school trailer, so it’s roof has some similarities to an RV roof. There seemed to be 2 possible sources of leaks – the many screws securing the roof and several seams along the roof ridge and down its slope. Since the leak was confined to the northwest corner of the roof, we focused on first cleaning, then sealing the screws and seams. We applied self-leveling sealant to almost all of the screws, but we had to wait several days for more supplies before continuing. In the interim, the rains came, but no water leaked below.
One of the higher priority tasks that we hadn’t been able to address was a leak in the roof of the house occupied by the church’s caretaker and his wife. The building is a converted school trailer, so it’s roof has some similarities to an RV roof. There seemed to be 2 possible sources of leaks – the many screws securing the roof and several seams along the roof ridge and down its slope. Since the leak was confined to the northwest corner of the roof, we focused on first cleaning, then sealing the screws and seams. We applied self-leveling sealant to almost all of the screws, but we had to wait several days for more supplies before continuing. In the interim, the rains came, but no water leaked below.
We stayed with our plan to tape the seams on the nw corner, but armed with the information that sealing the screws had stopped the water, our attention turned to the rest of the roof. The rubber seals under the screws were deteriorating, so we decided to seal all the screws on the roof to prevent future leaks. A week later, we had some help with this in the form of a college mission team. They washed all the screws and applied sealant to more than half of the remaining screws before the weather forced them off the roof. Fermin and Cathy finished the task the next day.
While we had painted almost all of Peeler, the final section of Peeler that needed to be scraped and painted was the front porch, including the upper siding, which had been neglected for years because it was difficult to reach. Joe, Sandy, Cathy and Pat tackled it, at certain points having to lay on one roof to scrape and paint the soffit above. However, since it was a section that was most visible from Wesley Hall, it made a difference once finished in the building’s appearance.
Feeding 50 college students requires a lot of food It’s Spring Break
With Spring Break under way, we had visits from 2 different college groups on an alternative spring break. The first group was from Illinois on a “Mystery Tour”. They would travel each day to a new location known only to their leaders. After working on a project in that location, they would head out to a new city. Jacksonville was the next to the last stop before heading home. We signed up to serve them breakfast and lunch, and they were a joy to meet and serve. They even enthusiastically helped with the clean up and kept thanking us for the meals.
With Spring Break under way, we had visits from 2 different college groups on an alternative spring break. The first group was from Illinois on a “Mystery Tour”. They would travel each day to a new location known only to their leaders. After working on a project in that location, they would head out to a new city. Jacksonville was the next to the last stop before heading home. We signed up to serve them breakfast and lunch, and they were a joy to meet and serve. They even enthusiastically helped with the clean up and kept thanking us for the meals.
Clearing the upper half of the fallen limb The next week, another college group – this time from Florida – arrived to stay at Faith for a long weekend. After their work in the community ended, on Monday they volunteered to help around Faith. We had them digging trenches for new pipes by the well, cutting up the tree limbs in the courtyard and cleaning and sealing Fermin’s roof. They also moved some pallets of cinderblocks and bricks from the parking lot to storage. They were another great group and saved us old folks a lot of heavy lifting.
Putting Tom to work by the well Coming and Going
Joe and Sandy had commitments early in March that caused them to head off to Georgia, so we said our goodbyes, thanking them for a lot of work done this winter. Not long after, we had a surprise visit from Tom and Dau, our friends (and Cathy’s distant cousin) from our sailing days. Passing through Jacksonville on their way north, they spent the night, and the guys put Tom to work smoothing out the path to the well, using the tractor and a box scraper. Since we were unsuccessful in persuading them to stay another day, we sent them on their way north again the next day.
Joe and Sandy had commitments early in March that caused them to head off to Georgia, so we said our goodbyes, thanking them for a lot of work done this winter. Not long after, we had a surprise visit from Tom and Dau, our friends (and Cathy’s distant cousin) from our sailing days. Passing through Jacksonville on their way north, they spent the night, and the guys put Tom to work smoothing out the path to the well, using the tractor and a box scraper. Since we were unsuccessful in persuading them to stay another day, we sent them on their way north again the next day.
Dau says goodbye
