Mize's Bucket Brigade Saves the Day

Phyllis Machledt writes:

After a day of relaxing at YS falls, we were back at work again moving cement at Mt. Osborn.  This time we were more efficient (Mize helped with a training session for the bucket brigade.)  Since the line had to extend pretty far back to reach the ladder, we were a little shorthanded so Brother Lawrence recruited 4 more women from his church.  They really made the difference!  Not as many people had been able to come on Saturday as he had predicted.  The ladies stayed all day and spent some time telling us about their families and Jamaican schools.

The neighbor children – Karon, Jeffrey, and Akeem – were joined by Latanya.  Veda, Pauline and Opal “supervised” them bringing back the buckets.  I say “supervised” because some 7 to 9 yrs olds have short attention spans.  However, the kids worked really hard, and they don’t even go to Mt. Osborn.  We were able to accomplish even more than we did on Thursday in terms of concrete mixed and moved.  On Monday once the concrete dries, the wooden forms will be removed and put up on the remaining beam areas.

We discovered that some of the men working were volunteers from other churches and some were paid construction professionals – which is good because we don’t have the particular skills needed for this type of construction.  Brother Lewis, the chief carpenter, will be there on Monday to finish with the forms. Because of a confusion about dinner at the church, we ended up with patties instead of dinner at the hotel.  For those who wanted a dip in the pool, that was a good move.  The hotel was hosting a wedding so there was a lot of music late into the night. Tired from the hard physical labor during the day, the team all went to bed early During reflection everyone expressed satisfaction in what together we had accomplished

Phyllis Machledt