Camp Harmon Work Day A Success!!

Posted by Jon Winston 
 

All I can say is... WOW!!!   Nearly 30 Sunrise Rotarians, family members and friends came out for to give it up for Easter Seals Camp Harmon.  According to Easter Seals Camping Coordinator Jennifer Highland and Chief Development Officer Tracy Chappell, this was the most ambitious event of it's kind at Camp Harmon... ever.

 

Jennifer, Tracy, chef Debbie and camp caretaker Pat were beside themselves in appreciation for this unsolicited, but sorely needed gift of maintenance and construction from our club.

Jeff Talmadge did an incredible job of organizing the day.  From ordering all of the supplies and having them on-site waiting for us when we arrrived; to defining, populating and scheduling the projects; to running around the camp all day keeping everyone productive and on track, the event couldn't possibly have been run more efficiently nor completed so successfully without Jeff's awesome preparation and execution.  We and Easter Seals owe Jeff a huge THANKS!!!

The projects we knocked off yesterday included:

  • General clean-up around camp (Bill & Kelly Buck, Jeremy Lezin, EarlCoutante, Shelley Sonnenberg, Dina Blair, Doug Feinsod, 2 Exchange Students and Bill Schultz): collecting fallen limbs from the redwoods ("widow-makers"), chipping it all into mulch; loading 3 huge dump truck loads to the dump with years accumulation of old wood scraps and assorted junk; collecting and coalescing trash; deconstruction of the farm animal pen.  The dump truck generously provided by Bill Schultz of Schultz Construction.  The Chipper and operator provided by Lewis Tree Service.
  • Reconstruction of the campfire stage  (David Robison, Tom Hart, John Lake and Tom Wichelmann): the most ambitious of the projects, involved demo-ing the previous stage and constructing a new one with new safety railings.
  • Constuction of the single propane tank enclosure (Andy Hartmann, Tom Stelling, Randy Parker and Aaron McDonald): constructed a 3-sided fenced enclosure to limit access and improve sightliness of large propane tank at the front of the camp.
  • Construction of the double propane tank enclosure  (Keith Henderson, Ross McClenahan and wife Robin Dunkin): constructed a 4-sided fenced enclosure to limit access and improve sightliness of twin propane tanks right in the middle of camp.
  • Stipping, cleaning and waxing of the Lodge floor (Karen Gosling, Barbara Williams, Carl Primavera, Rod Caborn and Doug Feinsod): Strip, clean and apply wax to the huge lodge floor.  This room is used for everything from dining to all-camp activities.   The floor hadn't been deep cleaned in years.  The refinishing came out GREAT!
  • Prepping for paving (Jim Cumming, Dina Blair, Nick Guerreo & bro): Jim and crew prepped all of the areas that will be paved with asphalt in the coming weeks.  The labor for the asphalt paving is generously donated by Ric & Stephanie Straus of Earthworks Paving Contractors.  And many thanks toChris Harn of Olive Springs Quarryfor the donation of base rock and hot mix asphalt for the project.

All of the construction materials were provided by Big Creek Lumber at reduced or no cost.  Big Creek also donated $250 in cash to the project.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers and donors!  And, once again, special thanks to Community Service Chair Jeff Talmadge, President Keith Henderson and Jim Cumming.  This project couldn't have possibly been successful without the hard work, planning and generous donations by these individuals.

Click here to view all of the day's photos in a slideshow.