As a continuing effort from the Grounds
Ministry to maintain and improve the exterior appearance of our
church, on Saturday, June 11, 2011, David Turner, Jason Turner
and
Michael Broadhurst played Joshua and knocked down some walls. On
Monday, David and Michael were joined by Tanner Furman to finish
the jobs, oversee the Portsmouth Sherriff’s work release crew
pick up the major debris and clean the whole area.
Two weeks prior, the church had received a
warning notice from the Portsmouth building inspector that the
stucco on the half-walls around the kitchen door must be
repaired within 30 days. Our inspection of the non-stuck stucco
is that to
repair it would be quite costly and perhaps not in the best
interest of the church. In addition to being a “left over” from
the 1970s architecture that has already been removed from the
front of the church, the walls gave a bit of privacy to those
folks who needed a wall to hide behind. They regularly left
“presents” for us. One of the walls was so unstable that Michael
actually knocked part of it over with his hands and then kicked
the rest of it down with one foot. The walls needed to go.
David arranged to have a Bob Cat front
loader delivered to the Church on Friday for our use in
demolition and clean up. Without that piece of equipment, the
job would literally have taken months to accomplish.
Years ago, large holly trees were cut down
in the area between the Sanctuary and King Street.
The
stumps that were left behind were quite tenaceous. They refused
to rot away and actually continued to put out new holly shoots.
While we had the Bob Cat, we decided to take out the stumps. Not
as easy as it sounds. Even the 6300 pound Bob Cat had to take
several running starts and crash into each of the stumps before
they moved enough to let go of their grip on the soil. The four
stumps are gone.
While
working on the stumps, we noticed many bags, lots of articles,
gobs of “stuff” hidden behind the boxwoods under the Sanctuary
windows. The shrubs had become a closet of forgotten clothes,
old boots, decomposing underwear, old magazines and who knows
what else. Think of the squirrel who hides his food for the
winter but never really remembers where it is. Some of this
stuff had been behind the shrubs for quite a long time.
Similarly,
the space under, around and behind the air conditioner by the
King Street entrance to the Sanctuary had been long used as a
hiding place – both for “stuff” and for people. As you walk down
the sidewalk beside the church, it can be pretty scary to have
someone speak to you from behind a fence and behind an air
conditioner. It has happened. We opened that space so it is
easier to see into and around the AC unit and less inviting to
hide there.
The space behind the Social Hall and the
Quality Shop parking area needed some attention, also. The crepe
myrtles got a haircut, the grass was trimmed and the whole area
raked and blown clean. Make sure you take a look at the trimmed
and opened area that Clara will soon turn into a little
paradise.
The work to maintain and improve the
exterior of our church never ends. There is always something new
to cut, trim, paint, remove, build, repair, install or design.
The
work done this weekend is only preparation; now comes the design
and creation of what the spaces are to become.
Please contact Clara Spanos to offer your time talents and
treasure to help keep the outside of our church attractive and
welcoming.
It is what visitors see first.
To God be the Glory!
