Wayland to Waveland’s
‘Mission to Mississippi’
Day 2
OCT. 17, 2007 – WAVELAND, MA
From Cindy Lombardo, W2W Co-chair
This morning everyone showed up on time and we drove to Lagniappe for a great breakfast, filled the coffee urn and were on site by 7:05. Only 5 minutes behind schedule! The guys began working while the 5 female volunteers set up the coffee station, filled the coolers with ice and drinks and the day began.
The weather was warmer than yesterday. By 10:00 the first side wall was up on one site. This motivatd the other 3 crews to work harder and by lunch time 4 more walls were up. Lunch was delivered by our great helpers, Suzanne, Nancy and Kitty. They even made "special lunches" for a few of us. Ice coffee was in demand so we turned the hot coffee into cold! A big hit. WE could use Dunkin Donuts here.
While the men toiled, the women unloaded the rest of the big rental truck and drove the contents to Ms. Hazel's house and saw the work being done at Melanie's. After lunch and refilling all the coolers, the women went to Maple and Taranto Street to shovel, hoe and rake the foundations. This site is warmer and a little bit buggy. We all got a little punchy shoveling the hard dirt especially when there was a backhoe on site that could have done a better job! It kept us busy for a while.
Kathie and I met with Carol and Lynne from Lagniappe to review the families. Some are struggling to get their financial loans in order We are confident that most will qualify for the loans, but we may lose a couple in the process.
Kathie and I approved our 6 and 7th families and tomorrow we are interviewing a Waveland police officer who has been on the force since before Katrina. He has a fiancee and is planning on getting married soon. Carol also interviewed two other traditional families that we will meet if any of our current families drop out. This is hard for us as we have become close with them and their stories. But, we will end up with the right families for the homes.
We returned to Combel Street to see 1 house completely framed and the roof trusses being put on. Another one soon followed and by the end of the day almost all four houses were framed. It is an incredible sight and one that took us 2 weeks to do at Melanie's. All in a day and a half. Ken knows his crews when he told us that if the right guys signed on this would be easy. It sure looked that way today. What a credit to the team. Everyone was packed up by 6:15 and Day 2 ended.
I am so fortunate to be a part of this incredible experience.
More to follow tomorrow.
Cindy
Framers gather during a break at the Combel St. homes going up. In only two days, the crews have nearly completed the rough framing of four houses!
Framers gather during a break at the Combel St. homes going up. In only two days, the crews have nearly completed the rough framing of four houses!
Framers pose in front of one of the four houses at Combel Street!
Lunch Break, Day 2 at Combel St.
The roof trusses went up on almost all of the four houses at Combel St on Day 2!!!
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