A week of work and now sore muscles

Vienna,  GA.

We have completed our first week here at Dooly Campground in Vienna, GA.   The only employee at this campground is Stacey, a young mother and wife who is solely responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the entire complex.   She does a great job but is so very thankful for the twice-a-year assistance she receives from NOMADS.

Some of you reading this might assume we are working at a campground for RVers.  That is not the case. Dooly was founded in 1875 as a Methodist Camp Meeting.   It currently is being used for various activities such a Vacation Bible School, Walks to Emmanus groups, occasional weddings and other community events.  This weekend there is a Prison Mission group meeting here.

There are 9 of us working on this project.   As is our usual practice we attended the local Methodist church on Sunday morning.

Stacey prepared dinner for us on Sunday night in the camp dining hall.  Her husband Matt did a bang-up job grilling steaks!    After dinner we reviewed our goals for the next three weeks.

On Monday Len got to work on a stubborn pipe leak that had been giving Stacey problems for some time.  

It was stubborn for Len too.   After several attempts at fixes, he finally got the leak repaired on Wednesday.

I had a fun job on Monday.  They have a very large baseball, volleyball and soccer field that was in desperate need of mowing.  The lawnmower is a type I had never operated before.  I will say this - if I ever have a large yard again, this would be my choice.  

Hey Rick - is this like your John Deere baby?     As I said, it was a large field and took a full day of work to get the tall grass mowed.

In between attempts to fix the leak, Len built a portable ramp to be used to enable wheelchair access into the conference building.  This is only the frame.  I haven't taken a picture of the completed ramp.  He did a super job.

Most of Len's Tuesday was spent completing the ramp and working on the leak.  I, not having enough of riding around on that large mower, mowed the rest of the campground, including around the pool area, the dining hall, the conference room, the parsonage (Stacey and Matts house), the cabins and general grounds.  In the afternoon I did my very least favorite task, I PAINTED!    Oh how I abhor painting but I know I can't always avoid it.   The little painting I did was to prime one wall in the parsonage.   Enough of that I say!

On Wednesday the correct parts were received for leak repair, allowing Len to complete that job.  I picked up branches and dead limbs which were all over the place.   I loaded then into a golf cart/trailer and unloaded them on the brush pile.  In the afternoon Len assisted me as there were some that were too heavy for one person to lift.

In rained most of Wednesday night into the morning.  Therefore, we found inside work to do.  Len and I hung blinds on all the windows and doors in the dining hall and changed smoke detector batteries.

Every day Stacey prepared lunch and break snacks for us.  

On Wednesday we attended a dinner and bible study at the Vienna UM Church.   The guest speaker that night was our own leader Gene Wengert.   They do this each week.   They have a simple dinner from 6:00 to 6:30 with a short bible lesson following.  This week they served vegetable soup, pimento cheese sandwiches and banana pudding.  The whole event took less than an hour.

Every one of us agree - four days a week is about all we can work.   Friday was very welcome.  Time to rest those aching muscles.