Day 6: Thursday June 25, 2009

Well it’s back to the grindstone again. Rich and I are up when Pat knocks on our door. Usually it is the other way around. She wants to get an early start making the creamed dried beef,

Pancakes are on the menu for this morning, regular and blueberry. The kids prefer regular, the adults prefer blueberry so everyone is happy. The creamed dried beef can be over pancakes, toast or biscuits. With link sausage and the apples previously described.

The best part of the day is the fact that today is the last day that we have to build three hundred sandwiches. Hooray!

I am waiting for the bread order delivery, which is late. It does arrive by nine, so we are back to the Inn on time. This is one of the two days that Rich is working in the field with a group in Montgomery. So he heads there.

The rest of us just rest, read, nap.

We have an unusual number of vegetarians here this week, mostly girls. As a result it is important that tonight’s soup be vegetarian vegetable. So Pat and I head to the food store for the makings and then to the school to double check the food order that came in from US Food this afternoon. One of the PACE interns met the driver and made everything was put away.

Chopped Sirloin Steak, real mashed potatoes and the menu called for green beans. I substituted baked beans instead. I usually will not modify the menu because there are always people in attendance with food allergies. But to be frank I was tired of moving the cans of beans from location to location.

We have our group picture taken tonight around six thirty, right in the middle of clean up. We all donned our “Life Builders” T-shirts to be recorded for posterity.

Even with the picture we were out of the kitchen by seven. We are now back at the Inn enjoying what is left of the daylight. Nancy has her computer out to trace her daughter/s trip to London. She is also emailing the information to Ed Elrod back home. Sometimes we think our hours are weird, but we noticed that Ed posted our last piece on the church BLOG around 4 am in the morning.

Day 5: Wednesday June 24

The best thing about Wednesdays is the fact that we only have to serve breakfast. After breakfast the groups put in a half day and then have Wednesday afternoon and evening free. So do we.

The griddle I use uses propane so I have it under a canopy just outside the entrance door. Everyone passes by on the way in. I light the griddle as soon as I arrive in the morning. Mostly because the sky is just beginning to lighten. Otherwise the flame is so blue that you cannot see it. This early I can see and adjust the flame for what I want to cook. This morning it's eggs over easy.

We also served scrambled eggs, scrapple, toast plus cereals, fruit etc. It always surprises me how popular PA Dutch scrapple can be. The groups from Western PA and VA have never had scrapple. I tell them here in the south you should try scrapple. After all you eat grits, which is only cream of wheat with sand in it. And they do try it, and some actually like it.

Breakfast goes smoothly. While we are eating, an adult stops at our table to say she has been to several different work camps and the food is usually mediocre but raved about what we are serving.

There is always the inevitable sandwiches for tomorrow. For some strange reason the kids are excited about the frozen peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The adults are not so excited. We finish and are out by 9:30.

Each group heads their own direction for the day. Millie and Nancy head toward Charleston, about 40 miles away. Pat and I do some typing of this blog. Rich and Kathy head to Greenbrier Resort about ninety minutes away.

By the time Pat and I were finished typing it was time for lunch, so we went into the dining room, only to find Millie and Nancy there, so we joined them.

I am desperate for a cell phone signal, since my business calls forward to my cell phone, so I can get my messages. This means heading the eighteen miles to Oak Hill. Just as I was saying to Pat here is where I had a signal last year my phone beeped to say the same. I called home. During the conversation the signal disappeared. So we moved another mile down the road. That did the trick.

The Whipple Company Store is a museum in a building that was a coal mine company store. To me it is fascinating. In the basement of the building is a print shop. I have contacted the people who run the operation to volunteer to sort through the piles of papers and printing plates, etc. I am going to spend some of my time over the weekend doing just that. We spend several hours of the day talking with the operators of the museum toward that goal.

We have an hour before we are to meet Nancy and Millie for dinner, so we drop by the local Walmart. In aisle 16 we run across Millie with a cart full of clothes. The place we were going to have dinner was backed up by two bus loads ahead of us so we moved on to Bob Evans where we had eaten before. Were served by the same waitress. We all have specific requests regarding our food order, somewhat confusing to her. After this time we promised to call ahead to our waitress the next time we plan on coming back so she can call in sick.

We are all feeling pretty good from a relaxing day when we are all together again at the Inn.

Day 4: Tuesday June 23

For some reason five a.m. creeps up on you. The alarm is very faint, but you still can’t ignore it.

This morning is PACE McMuffins. Somewhat easy but you still have to build at least 180 sandwiches. Nancy Carpenter has a busy morning baking cinnamon rolls, which are so popular that previous campers actually ask us if and when they will be available. She also is making a new item that Pat and I saw as an appetizer at our local Bob Evans. Sure enough they are available. Breaded small apple slices that when heated and coated with sugar tastes like apple pie.

The morning routine is the same. However we are experimenting with freezing the peanut and butter sandwiches. If it works it means we can make them well in advance. Please don’t mention this to Carmella Dorr. But time marches on.

After breakfast Rich goes on to the town of Montgomery to work with a crew. The women in our kitchen group along with Betsy accompany me to hike the Ansted rail trail. Nancy and Millie stay at the Hawk’s Nest Lodge, a state park that has a gondola down to the river. Betsy, Pat, Kathy and Carl drove on to the town of Ansted to the head of the rail trail. The two mile trail follows a roaring stream past some old coal mines down to the river at the location of the gondola. So you don’t have to walk back up even if the grade is never more then a 3% a train can maneuver.

This is the first time in the four years Pat and I have been coming here that she was willing to walk it.

“Wow, I eat better here than I do at home.” Just one of the many compliments that follow dinner.

The salad bar soup of the day was Country Tomato. Campbell’s tomato soup with spaghetti sauce added for additional flavor. We are going through tremendous amounts of applesauce every day.

Chicken is the main course with rice and carrots and the left over chicken soup from Monday as the gravy. But the highlight is the strawberry short cake with whipped cream.. Nancy baked 160 short cakes in the morning and the rest of our crew cut up four flats of strawberries.

Day 3: Monday, June 22

Monday Breakfast is always more difficult than the rest of the week. The problem is the fact that the kids actually get up on time and are to breakfast in one large group. As the week goes on they are more tired and spread out over the 6:30 to 7:30 that we serve breakfast.

Faced with having to build the peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches (100 of them) in the morning means a concentrated effort of almost everyone. We coat each slice of bread with peanut butter and jelly in the middle. This is to keep the sandwiches from being gummy by the time they are eaten at lunch.

When Betsy (From Manor Church) first joined us I explained that our group (CAMT) was experienced and everyone knew their job. For that reason alone Monday breakfast went like clock work. French Toast from the griddle we travel with, bacon, mixed fruit, cereals, and juices. Pat and Millie oversee the breakfast line while Betsy handles the drinks. Rich and Kathy handle the lunch line dispensing sandwiches, fruit, chips, lunch bars, and sodas.

Nancy Carpenter is our designated baker. She bakes two sheet pan cakes and a case of chocolate cookies that will be offered for lunch tomorrow.

At 7:30 the group that is responsible for today’s cleanup in the dining area are looking for instructions. The school has an ongoing problem with ants so the clean up after each meal has to be strenuous.

We all sit down for our own breakfasts. It is the break we need. We just put in a fast paced two hours. We now have to prepare for dinner. And build those dreaded sandwiches for tomorrow. We’ll tackle the salad bar items this afternoon, till then we are free until 3:30. We finish by 9:30 and head back to the Inn.

The girls go directly to the school at 3:30. I always stop at the local Food Mart to pick up milk for breakfast, but tonight I am loading eight watermelons to go with the cake for dessert.

The salad bar items are taking shape, from chopped celery to beets. The mainstay of the salad bar is the applesauce and soup that we serve each night.

The Sloppy Joe beef is being heated, and we are ready to steam the peas. I added the Sloppy Joes to the menu here after we served them at Outley House, another outreach of CAMT. I did have to chuckle when Rich who prepares the mix from scratch for Outley, asked me what my recipe was for them. Institution is my recipe. If it is not complete when we buy it I do not want it. Time is our important factor. It must be pretty good, many came back for seconds.

“Welcome to my cruise line” I told the leaders at the Sunday meeting. The school only has tables to seat about 140. So we had to break the groups into two seatings. The 5:00 group does the salad bar and then the main course. While they are finishing dinner and clearing the 5:30 group starts with salad bar. The first night I have to circulate through the hall prodding those who are finished to make room for the newcomers.

We are cleaned up and out by 7:00.

Back at the Inn everyone disperses to their own interests. I go out to the yard between the building and the falls. The Inn is located at the falls of the river. The river is also very wide. The falls, which are probably not more than six feet high, create the constant roar that becomes synonymous with home. I find Kathy and Rich already there sharing a book that was part of the curriculum of a teacher friend at Haverford. I sit in with them mostly contemplating the band of sunlight that is marching up the mountain across the river as the sun is setting.

We should be in bed early but it’s hard to give up the beauty and solitude here.

Day 2: Sunday June 21, 2009

Toudor’s Bisquit World was 50 minutes late in opening up this morning. Explanation Later.

Around eight this morning I brought Pat her coffee and a Danish in bed. The last service like that for at least two weeks. I then headed to the school to rearrange things in the walk in freezer and cooler. The school was locked. So I went down the hill to Toudor’s for my breakfast. Sitting in the corner of the dining room was a well dressed mature man with his bible open and several reference books. I couldn’t resist “If you don’t have your sermon ready now, it’s almost to late.” This led to an extensive conversation while I ate my omelet. A transplant from California, his wife was from here, so they have retired here. During the discussion we were saying how friendly everyone here is. So friendly that it is hard to complain. Toudor’s Bisquit World was 50 minutes late in opening up this morning. They just opened , no apology. Being from California he was having a hard time adapting to the way business and time runs here..

By the time I got back to the school it was once again open and I was able to get my key. I picked up Pat and we went back to the school to spend the afternoon sorting and organizing.

We are looking for the rest of our group to arrive around four this afternoon.

Millie And Nancy are right on time. Rich and Kathy Are running late so there is only four of us in the dining room for dinner. We decide to go to the school at seven. I have a leaders meeting and the others will start making the two hundred plus sandwiches needed for Monday morning. Just as we are ready to leave for the school Rich and Kathy arrive. They put down their bags and head out with us. Postponing dinner.

At the leaders meeting I gain a volunteer from Manor Presbyterian Church (formerly Faggs Manor) so Betsy joins us making sandwiches. As hard as it is to believe we have a good time building sandwiches and getting to know each other.

We finish in a little over an hour. I take Rich and Kathy down the hill to a Pizza shop for there dinner. The others head back to the Inn.

As a result Rich and Kathy return with me for the 9:30 Dori Gillstrom Memorial Ice cream social. It is always a highlight of the week.

Day 1: Saturday June 20

It rained for the first 140 miles. Normally we would have left last night (Friday) and now we are paying the price. But the need to finish up the loose ends at home, both business and personal, called for an early start this morning. We are due in Gaulley Bridge around one this afternoon. But around two is more realistic.

Gauley Bridge is just how we left it last year. As we pull into town the police have someone stopped. The signs say 25 miles per hour – strictly enforced. We of course learned last year, but we also discovered that Brenda’s (the janitor at the school) brother in law is the mayor and he will fix tickets when necessary.

Our first food order was delivered on Thursday. As a result the lunch room of the school is jammed with dry goods. Including many items moved from nearby Montgomery, left over from March. But that is another story.

Pat and I take a quick inventory and then move on to check in at the Glen Ferris Inn for our two weeks here.

This week Millie Williams and her cousin Nancy Carpenter along with Rich Smith and Kathy Southerland will be working with us. We will be feeding 208 every day.

The last thing we have to accomplish is a quick run to Lowe’s. Quick is a 17 mile run over mountainous twisty roads. There are so many twists that I would like to just have the franchise for arrows around here.

A Birthday Party for 50 Women

The Sheila Dennis Shelter in Philadelphia provides three meals a day, counseling and job training for women who are having trouble getting back on a steady and positive path. Covenant's Adult Mission Team (CAMT) has prepared lunch at the shelter several Saturdays this year.

During an earlier visit, Barb Rhinehart, a member of the mission team, noticed how sad many of the women looked and decided that what they needed was a party!! She led the planning for a "birthday party" for all the women during the June 13 visit.

Members of the congregation contributed towels and washcloths, toiletries and clothing. Covenant's quilters made beautiful tote bags--individualizing each of the 50 bags so they wouldn't get mixed up (no small task!), and the Sunday School children made birthday cards for everyone. Nine team members not only made and served lunch, but also decorated the dining room with colorful tablecloths. There were balloons and birthday cakes complete with candles. It was truly a festive occasion that was an uplifting experience for women who don't have much to cheer about on a day-to-day basis.

There was no question about whether the women loved the party! They made a poster to display at Covenant expressing their appreciation.

The quote of the day by one of the women: "It makes me feel like going to church!"

When God's people act out the love He has for his people, even those who may have strayed from the "straight and narrow," it touches, people deeply and can help change lives.

Richard Smith, team leader for the shelter visits, makes all the arrangements for the monthly lunches served Saturdays at the Outley House Shelter for men or the Sheila Dennis Shelter for women. He sets the tone of loving and respectful service to people who are trying to find new directions for their life.

Like to join in? Call Covenant (610-648-0707) for more information.

Next mission trip: West Virginia where PA Christian Endeavor (PACE) hosts youth mission teams who repair homes. Covenant's team prepares three meals a day for the young people. Teams will be there June 21 through July 4. Check back for news starting June 22.