New screens installed at 3rd Branch The project came out of the preparation week with a tremendous head start. The screening and shutter repair work moved quickly from our primary site, 3rd Branch, to last year’s secondary site, Paspahegh. The work on the upper vents was so far ahead that, after completing 3rd Branch and Paspahegh, they returned to our 2019 site, Appamattuck, to finish the cabins there. (The vent work was something not in our work plan back then.) There were even shutter and screen repairs made to a squirrel-damaged cabin in last year’s Weyanock site.
Bill installs the last composite ridge cap on 3rd Branch Cabin 4. The roofing team was able to install composite roofing on 2 cabins in 3rd Branch and finally was able to put a new composite roof on the historic shower house next to the Powhatan dining hall. This has been on our list for 3 project years. They were also able to repair holes in asphalt roofs in a 3rd Branch cabin, replace the outdoor kitchen roof on the 3rd Branch lodge and repair the damage caused by a fallen tree in a 2nd Branch Group cabin.
New closet and paneling in the Nurse's Cabin Long-deferred work to finish the interior of the Algonquian Nurse’s Cabin was nearly completed, moving it closer to being able to be used by park visitors renting the dining hall. By the end of the 2nd week, we had completed the stabilization of 3rd Branch and Paspahegh, and had made repairs to cabins in all but one of the 6 group cabin sites.
Our Halloween decorations won an honorable mention We also had some fun with new after work activities. Since Halloween fell on our first day of work, we had a Halloween decorating contest that brought out the creativity in our camping volunteers. We revisited the scavenger hunt that generated a lot more participation and some fun exchanges throughout the park.
Cathy’s sister Carolyn joined us for several days this year, helping with lunches (including providing one), painting and doing some screening. Bonnie, Troy and the kids joined us one evening while she was here, and Droz came by the next day for a long-overdue reunion with their aunt.
While the project preparation and execution is exhausting, the rewards of the work done, and the camaraderie of the volunteers reminds us each year why we keep coming back to do another one.
You can get a glimpse of the work and the fun in this year’s video, by clicking on the picture below:
While the project preparation and execution is exhausting, the rewards of the work done, and the camaraderie of the volunteers reminds us each year why we keep coming back to do another one.
You can get a glimpse of the work and the fun in this year’s video, by clicking on the picture below:
