Saturday & Sunday June 27-28

Even after working past 10 pm on Friday, Little Tony and the guys were hard at work by 7 am trying to get everything done so that they could make it to the Able Picnic at Bay Beach. Late on Friday, Little Tony used the heavy equipment to make a firm walking path (seen below) from the gravel road to the snack stand. That area had become very soft and messed up from all of the heavy equipment driving and turning in that area. Shortly after 7 am, Richard had the cement mixer making mortar. Little Tony used the mortar to attach the cap pieces on the short walls in front of the beach area. Once attached, the walls are perfect for sitting on to enjoy the views. Once that project was complete, the rest of the mortar was used to start the cement block retaining wall that is needed for the bocce court. Little Tony got both corners done. After another trip to the shack in Athelstane for more barn boards, Tim trimmed out the bathroom. The closet door will be made another day, as the rain forced him to stop working. (the saws were both set up outside.

Karol left at 12:30 to pick up Annissa from Lake Lundgren Bible Camp, while the guys kept working. She left lunch out for them, which they never even touched. In a race again rain and time, no lunch allowed. During all of this, somehow all of the tools and materials that accumulated in the work zones were cleaned up and put away.

After showers, everyone left for the picnic at about 2:30, feeling very good about how the grounds look. The rain held off in Green Bay for the Able Picnic and everyone had fun. DJ had a little too much fun on the rides, and paid the price afterwards. As a reward for all the hard work done in the past week, the Kelly's, the Piantine's and the Hartley House gang all went to the budget cinema for a movie. (truth be told, Little Tony and Tim struggled to stay awake.)

Sunday morning, Little Tony and Karol worked on the final touch ups before the Cornerstone Church picnic. Little Tony cut some low branches where people will be walking on the new path, and he ribboned-off areas where people shouldn't be walking. Karol worked til 10 cleaning both bathroom floors, putting up shower curtains, installing a toilet tank and toilet paper holder. All the while Tony Sr and Jo were doing final preparations for the picnic. Thankfully, the threatening rain stayed threatening until evening, and the picnic goers had a good time.

Meanwhile, after running Mega, Tim and Little Tony had a missions trip meeting at Living Hope Church for those who will helping at Camp Daniel this summer. Afterwards, Little Tony went to the Mandich's for a visit and to pick up a motor boat that they are letting Camp Daniel use for the summer. At 5:30 it was off to the young adults group at the Falk's home, where Little Tony and Tim shared about Camp Daniel.

Friday June 26

Well this was the last of the super long days for this project. Everyone was a little low on steam today, but many things did get done. Tim, then Little Tony worked on the recycled drinking fountain (thanx Cornerstone Church!) It was mounted on the exterior of the Craft Cabin between the two bathrooms.

Speaking of bathrooms, the sink is finally done. Tim installed the sink, refitted the drawers (the plumbing took up a bunch of room) and put on the hardware. For the finishing touch, Karol enhanced the stones for that ooh la la "wet look." The shower in this bath gave Tim a run for his money, and thus far the shower is winning. But that part can wait. Tim and Karol ripped the barn boards that will be used as the chair rail. They decided to move the chair rail down about 5 inches so that it doesn't intersect with the stone backsplash. This required a quick repaint job of a 5 inch strip around the bathroom.

In the morning, Karol, Anthony and Big Anthony (DiBiase) went to Karol's dad's cabin to get rocks. He has big granite boulders from digging a basement a few years back. A tractor and some help from Big Anthony got the boulders onto the trailer for a short ride back to Camp Daniel. This rocks were so big and heavy that 6 was about all that was safe to carry on the trailer at once. Two trips were needed in the end. Getting them into place involved the forks being moved close together on the Skidsteer, and, of course, some help from Big Anthony.

Two more pallets of sod down. Yea!! It looks great. Nothing quite like the instant gratification of sod. Now it's water, water, water. With the main projects winding down, we were left with lots of construction mess. Tony Sr, Jo and Chrissy cleaned out the snack stand to get it looking good for the church picnic. The guys hauled away the 2x4s from the concrete forms, wheelbarrels full of sticks and debris from the topsoil, and lots of tools.

During lunch Don (the guy that made the tables for the snack stand, etc) came with tables he just finished for the lakeside patio area. The kids helped Karol out today by testing two 5 gallon buckets full of plastic ducks that were donated for the carnival. They were separated into floaters and sinkers. George and Rudy even caught two bunnies.

Thursday June 25th

Oh, the power of a fast approaching deadline, to make us work so hard, for so long, and in such heat! Another 12 hour day has come and gone. This morning, Tim, Little Tony, Karol and the guys started the day pouring concrete. They finished the areas started on Tuesday's pour. Below, you can see the finished ramp. After the pour, the massive fire ring was put in place. Tim used the skidsteer to put it in the hole that Little Tony and the guys dug for it.

Once the fire ring was in place, it was time to start the prep work to lay sod by the lake. John went to Lena to get sod and everyone else grabbed a shovel or rake and started leveling the sand. Little Tony and Tim used the dump truck and skidsteer to bring topsoil from the back of the property to the lakefront. The dirt was then leveled out so Tim and Nick could start laying sod.

Looking toward the Bait Shop.

View from the lakefront toward the Craft Cabin.

They laid three pallets of sod, with three more to go tomorrow!

Tuesday June 23

This morning Little Tony, Karol and the guys finished all of the prep work for a concrete pour. Just before lunch, Karol, Nick, Anthony and Tommy headed to Athelstane to fill up all of the empty fuel containers and salvage some aged boards from an old shack that we'll take down entirely later this summer. The boards will be used as molding in the "rock" bathroom. Tim and John brought many loads of sand to the pour site using the skidsteer and dump truck, while the forms were being finished and the beds leveled, compacted and wet down. The concrete truck came at about 3 o'clock. As you can see in the pics below, we poured half of the total job, and in sections. The other half will be poured tomorrow, weather permitting.

Afterwards, Karol left for Green Bay to pick up Anthony DiBiase from the airport. (He'll be here till sometime during the 3rd week of camp!) We're all excited to have him here again this summer.

The guys worked some by the lakefront, which ended, refreshingly, in the lake. What a hot hot hot hot day.

Saturday June 20, Sunday June 21

All of the rock is done on the Craft Cabin! It really looks great. The rest of the exterior will be finished in the cedar shakes that have been started on the south side (below). The guys really got a lot done from Friday evening (yes, they worked past dark) til Saturday noon. Eli and Dave left about then. Little Tony continued working Saturday and all day Sunday. He and the guys took down the old entryway to the stairwell that goes into the basement. Plus, they dug out where the new stairwell will be. It will run along the building, instead of going out away at a right angle. You can see to the left of the tarp that they dug down pretty deep.

They also worked on the lakefront. They scooped off the top layers of gravel and saved that for later use, leaving sand and dirt which will be leveled off and laid with sod. Basically the road will no longer go straight towards the lake, but rather turn to meet up with the path that goes behind the snack stand. Also, the fire pit will be placed around the bottom of this picture, almost in the middle of what was road.

They also made these two little walls on the newly poured path. They will act as a formal entrance to the beach. Little Tony and the guys laid concrete block and covered them with the rock and cap stones. It's the perfect height for sitting on and enjoying the view of the lake.

Friday

Eli and Dave came Thursday night from Black River Falls. They got to work right away on Friday. Dave worked on the electric in the dorms all day and Rick Bub Came over to help him out. They finished up the electric in both dorms and installed temporary lights. Eli worked with the Camp Daniel crew. Below, Little Tony and Tim layed the block for the shed overhang, behind the Craft Cabin. Below, Eli rocked the face of this wall. He mortared the joints as he went along. We had a little on and off rain, hence the tarp. Tony and the guys worked on more retaining wall to define all of the areas. Plus they got all of it backfilled. Ricj Bub brought over his skidsteer for us to use for a week or two! Little Tony put it to use right away and distributed about 15 pallets of rock and retaining wall that was delivered last week for the Illinois work group that will be coming later this summer. Thanks to the sale of the old little red tractor Camp Daniel now has a fund to purchase a skidsteer. There is now $4000 in it! When we get enough we will find one with a bucket, forks, and a snowblower.

The construction went well into the night with the lights coming out and fin ally with everyone pitching in the cultured stone was finished at about 10:15 PM. Chrissy and Karol spent a couple of hours today going over the immense grocery list for camp. It's coming faster than any of us are prepared for!! Little Tony and Papa Tony spent an hour that night finishing up camper and counselor matches. Papa Tony can send out all the acceptance letters he has ben working on this week.

Thursday

Today, Renee and Bart Lubinski came for a work day. They worked on the exterior of the Craft Cabin. They nailed on tyvek wrap, put up trim and edging, then started putting on the cedar shakes. Little Tony and the guys put the retaining block on the edge of the new path and made a wheelchair ramp to the upper area. This involved a lot of back fill of gravel and sand. Also, Tony started mortaring cement block behind the Craft Cabin where there'll be a shed overhang.

Tim finished prepping the exterior of the Craft Cabin so that work can begin tomorrow mortaring on the rocks. He also prepped the water fountain, and (let's face reality) had some fun on the skidsteer that we're borrowing for the week.

Nancy and Tom List also came out for the workday today. Nancy went to town on priming and painting the 2x4's for the exterior trim. Tom helped Tim and the guys with the block work and back fill. Tonight they're sleeping at Jo and Tony Sr's.

After dinner, Eli and Dave, from Black River Falls, arrived for tomorrow's workday. They'll be sleeping upstairs tonight and tomorrow.

Karol and her sister, Janice, made lunch and dinner for all of the workers. Also, they worked on craft projects for camp, went thru theme night stuff, carnival prizes and camp awards.

Wednesday June 17

Today Tim, Little Tony and the guys did a lot of prep work for the workdays that begin tomorrow.

They finished back filling the new retaining walls by the Craft Cabin. They finished putting the mesh on the exterior and installed the trim around the windows, doors and along the edge of where the exterior rock will stop and the shakes will start. Rick Bub came over and installed the grab bars, toilet paper holder etc.



Little Tony, John, Anthony and the guys left this afternoon for Appleton, where they spoke at a kids Wednesday night service. Georgie helped as they spread disability awareness to the kids. They learned how to talk to a person with a disability, what one shouldn't say and act, etc. The kids had a time to ask DJ questions about being blind. Now the children will be better equipped to be friends with other kids with disabilities that they encounter at school or church.


Tim and Chrissy drove in to Green Bay to buy materials, and help lead the Wednesday night youth program at church.

Karol went to Lakewood today to her once a month get together with a few local Christian women. When she got home, her sister, Janice had arrived to spend a few days helping with camp preparations. Karol then planned for the 6 upcoming workday meals, and got things ready for the people that will be painting during the workdays. Afterwards, Janice, Karol and Annissa went thru 3 big boxes of Luau stuff that was donated for camp theme nights.

Tuesday

Tuesday. Tony and the guys put the retaining wall around the edge of the new concrete patio on the side of the Craft Cabin. Then they brought in gravel and sand to back fill the wall. In the below pic, Tim is wrapping the exterior with tar paper and tin. The rock and cedar shake exterior installation will begin soon. Below, Tony and the guys laid the cement block that will be a hidden retaining wall on the other end of the Craft Cabin. From the wall and to the right will be concrete. Tim got this end ready for exterior rock and shakes as well with the tar paper and wire mesh. He also trimmed out the doors and windows.

The guys also took apart all of the concrete forms from yesterday.

Chrissy had to resend the grant application that she worked on yesterday. Then she and Karol inventoried all of the paper goods and food that are on hand for camp. It was a little tricky this year as the Craft Cabin used to be where all of the kitchen stuff was stored. Now it's all crammed here and there around the grounds.

John finished mowing the grass. In the afternoon he and Sue left for Able Family Night, and did a few errands on the way.

Jo and Tony Sr. went to the food bank and got food for work days and camp.

Annissa and Karol went to the storage unit and went thru some of the theme night decorations and costumes.

Each year we try to take our residents, or the guys, as they have become known as, on a vacation for a week. We have been to places like Mackinac, Disney, Great America and the Renaissance Faire. This year the guys all decided they would like to go to Chicago to see the sights. So last week the Guys, Tony and Karol and the kids headed off as a family. They all picked things they wanted to see; Science, space, history, and ocean Museums-Richard and DJ, Navy Pier-Brian, Top of the John Hancock building-Nick, Buckingham Fountain, Architectural River Cruise-Karol and Annissa, Gioradanos Pizza-Tony, The Robot Store-Anthony, etc... So it it was a packed week and a new adventure especially for the guys who have never been to a city. Richard steering the tall ship with the captain standing by!

Deep Dish Chicago Pizza at GiordanosNavy Pier for boats cruises, ship sailing, eating, mini golf, amusement park, eating, fireworks, movies, eating, shopping, stained glass museum, eating!

Monday

Today was a full day on the Camp Daniel grounds

In the morning, Little Tony and the guys finished getting the concrete forms ready for a 10 yard pour. Tim caulked the molding in the large bath of the craft cabin, and Karol filled the nail holes. Afterwards, they worked with the ever-fun epoxy grout. Grouting the stone sink top in the small Craft Cabin bath, and the outdoor tables that Karol rescued from the St. Vinnie's store. Chrissy brought the Kelly kids out to Camp Daniel where she could work on a grant and the kids could swim and play.

After lunch John cut the grass. The concrete crew waited for the truck... Karol cleaned up the sink/dresser by staining the worn areas, then put on the new hardware. Still no concrete truck... Karol put mulch on the garden in front of the guys house. Still no concrete truck... Tim starts cleaning tools out of the Craft Cabin. Finally, 10 yards of concrete pull in.

The first section: by the Bait Shop

Second: Patio outside craft cabin

Third: continuation of main lakeside path.

The crew worked hard, and two hours later, they were putting finishing touches all three poured areas.

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Sunday June 14

We're back! Sorry we missed so many days. The blogbreak is over.

Sunday,

Today was Mega. John played a bible character today, Little Tony ran the computers and DVD's and Tim ran sound. After church, DJ, Marceaux, the Koch's and the Kelly's went to the Mandich's for a graduation party. Little Tony worked in the office, Jen left for two weeks of Joni and Friends camp in Illinois.At 6 all gathered at the Camp Daniel lakefront for our weekly dinner to talk about things going on this week. After everyone went home, Little Tony headed back to the office to work on camper/counselor matchups.

Saturday was the Living Hope Church community picnic. It was a great success and many new families came for the free blowup things, food and fun. Some came back for Mega and "grown up church" (That's what those who do Mega every week call the service in the sanctuary) John, Jen, Sue and the guys manned an Able booth to promote Camp Daniel and Able events. The Mega Micro Mini bus was there playing music. Annissa, and her friend Ruth did face painting for the kids. Karol ran in the Bellin 10K run in the morning, with Little Tony's cousins, Becky and Tim ( and by "with", I mean "behind"). After the run and a shower, it was off to the picnic for a brat and chips. Camp Daniel was happy to let the church ministries use the cotton candy and sno cone machines. They make every event better!

Last week Tim buffed down the concrete countertops. They are almost done. More info/pics to follow. He also trimmed out the large bath. Marceaux finally got his part from California and had the Mega van running. yea!!

Tony, John, Jen, Tim and Marceuax finally arrived home last night at 11PM from The Special Touch camp up in Alexandria Minnesotta. It was a great week of ministry and growth for all of them. Tim and Marceaux where both counselors. Tim took care of Curt who is in his 20's. Curt had a brain trauma as a youngster and is mentally disabled as well as physically disabled. marceauxs camper was Shannon who also has a brain trauma due to fever as an infant. Both of their campers where in need of total care. Tim and Marceaux recieved much from their time serving. The rest of the crew had an opportunity to do chapel services for people with a lower functioning mental ability. This opportunity helps the C amp Daniel team in learning more about reaching a group of people with gospel who have unique needs when it comes to learning. All where stretched and grew and brought home some new ideas and thoughts on the ministry.
The time in was also a time catch up with many old friends.
Tony, Jon and Jen Spent much time on what will become a process that could take many years to translate the new testament into a language of understanding for people with mental disabilities. This process began a few years ago when Tony and John went to Florida and met with some leaders with Wycliff about the possibilities of this. Since then they have worked on how it will be done as well as a format for it.
Saturday morning saw the delivery of 2000 Sq. Ft of cultured stone for many of the buildings at Camp Daniel. One of the guys helping with the delivery was an excavator and offered his services to us. He wants to donate time to the work. This could not have come at a better time as the opportunity for a donation of building septics for the dorms fell through and are really needed. God always provides and always when He sees it is needed!
After unloading the stone Tony, Karol, the kids and Richard, Nick, Brian and DJ left for a vacation to Chicago for 5 days. Although there was a breakdown of the Suburban they where going to borrow, they found rental vehicle that could sit 8 people after a search. please pray for the opportunity to get an 8 passenger vehicle for them. The guys picked places they wanted to go this week; museums, planetarium, Sears Tower, on a boat ride etc... So it will be a great vacation for the whole family.
Tony Sr. has been working on camp replies for campers this week as next week acceptance and rejection letters begin to be mailed out. Jo has been cleaning, stocking and getting the nurses trailer ready for camp. Jen and marceaux where off to wedding in Rhinelander. Jen's week was especially tuff last week as her grandmother died as Jen was enroute to camp. Jen returned to green bay for the funeral last Wednesday and then made the 9 hour trip right back to the camp for the last two days of ministry. Pray for Jen as she misses her grandmother whom she lived with over the few years, taking care of her. Also pray for Jen as prepares to head of to the Joni and Friends retreat for people with disabilities for another 2 weeks of ministry.
Look foward to the coming post of pictures from everyone week of camp last week.

Wednesday, Thursday

Wednesday:
On Wednesday, Chrissy entered the rest of the camper information into the computer.
Karol went to the food bank in Omro to get food for camp, and did some camp errands on the way down.

Thursday:
The Piantine and Kelly kids' last day of school! After school Chrissy took her kids to Green Bay. They visited Bay Beach and grandma's pool. Annissa and Anthony were picked up at school by Grandma and Molly Stonelake, whom is visiting for a few days, and went to McD's for lunch and to the park.
Karol cut the grass and worked on turning and old dresser into a sink base for the small bath of the Craft Cabin. Tim had already cut the holes in the back for the water lines and drain, and attached the dresser to the wall. Unfortunately, it had to be taken down and remounted with 2x4 and 1x4s in the back to give the sink extra depth. After getting that part done, Karol used the old wood top (which was too warped to use with a sink) to cut a strip to cover the ends of the raw lumber. The top (1/2" plywood and cement board) was then cut to size. The front is bowed and echoes the oval sink. Those were glued together and screwed down into the cabinet. The top drawer was cut apart and the front nailed into place. A 1 1/2" strip of cement board was cut and screwed on as an edge to all three sides.
The next part was the worst. Cutting the hole for the sink. For much of the circumference of the oval, the tools had to cut thru the plywood, cement board, and either an inch of pine, or a couple of inches of oak! The jigsaw was struggling and kept getting too hot. So while that was cooling down, the roto zip was used. That went only deep enough to get thru the first layer, but better than nothing! Then it was more slow going with the jigsaw. Too got again. Finally, in the back where the oak was, Karol sawed many holes with a 3/8 in drill bit to perforate the stubborn area. Then she broke it out. Let's just say, the hole is out, but it's not too pretty. Finally onto tiling, which turned out to take about 6 hours. The edges were done first, then the top, and finally the asymmetrical backsplash. It'll be a week or so before this project is finished. Really hoping to find an easier way to work with that epoxy grout!

The white line that you see in the above picture is the wood strip that's temporarily attached to aid in keeping the facing tiles in place til the adhesive dries.

Little Tony, John, Jen, Tim and Marceaux had their last full day of camp today.

Tuesday

Hello blogreaders! Karol here. Since there's not a lot of physical stuff going on on the grounds, I thought that I'd answer the question, "So what do you do when you're not at camp?" Here's what I did today:
7:00-8:00 am - run
8:00-8:30 am - shower
8:45-9:00 am - met with the guy we order our t-shirts from
9:00-9:15 am - showed Richard and Brian a job that Little Tony had left for them
put up blue tape in closet in craft cabin and painted first coat of a stripe
9:15-9:20 am - spackled holes in table tops that I'm redoing for our patio
9:20-9:35 am - ordered a plant for Jen's grandma's funeral, made two doctor appointments and talked to Jeff Sielaf about some tomato plants he's going to give us.
9:35-9:40 am - got together all of DJ's socks for a bleaching/whitening
9:40-9:45 am - painted the spackled holes on the table
9:45-10:00 am - charted (made diagram) of the gardens at Camp Daniel
10:00-10:20 am - breakfast
10:20-10:35 am - worked on paint and countertop samples for a lady I'm helping with her kitchen remodel.
10:35-11:00 am - Set up office to work with Chrissy later/finished charting garden/talked to Johanna whom was weeding her adopted garden at Camp Daniel
11:00-11:45 am - finished painting the stripe in the bathroom, and touched up the blue paint in the whole bath (the fun grout job left some mess on the walls)
11:45-12:00 - returned some phone calls and got camp banners from the garage so I know what size to make the one for this year.
12:00-2:30 pm - Chrissy and I went over the menu details for camp this year
2:30-3:00 pm - the internet isn't working in the office. I called Centurytel for some troubleshooting. No luck. They're sending a repairman out tomorrow.
3:00-3:30 - lunch
3:30-4:10 pm - mulch the garden behind the snack stand and plant a shrub by the lake
4:10-5:45 pm - I sewed the fabric to make the banner for camp this year and started on the shower curtain for the small bath in the Craft Cabin
5:45-7:15 pm - went to my client's house to decide on the finishes for her new kitchen
7:15-8:00 pm - Jen left a message while I was going saying she needed a phone number from the office, so I got that and talked to her for a while. I checked on the kids up at Jo's and said hello to Molly, whom is staying at grandma's for a few days. I emailed Tony giving him phone messages received today.
8:00-8:30 pm - while my dinner was in the oven, I did some research online. Thankfully, our Internet still works
8:30-9:30 pm - tucked in the kids and read a chapter of Harry Potter to them.
9:30 pm - Frost warning tonight! Gee, I thought it was June. Had to go outside and cover a bunch of plants.
9:30-10:30 pm - wrote this blog!

Sorry if that's everything you never wanted to know. Good thing is, next time someone asks what it is I do all day, I can refer them to this blog!

Monday

Today Chrissy came out to Camp Daniel and entered Camper information into the computer for this summer.
Karol worked on Tony Sr.'s computer for 2 hours again this morning, and FINALLY got the labels to print. (Of course, for how long it took, they probably could have been handwritten!) Then she finished planting the rest of the plants from the plant sale. Detour to check out the concrete countertop: still looking good! It's very light gray and powdery and rough (for a counter). Anxious to see what the grinding process will do to the color. Karol then organized stuff for carnival, theme nights and high tea for camp.
Nick went to his parent's house in Appleton to spend the week. Richard and Brian worked on leveling the sand where the concrete ramp will be poured by the Craft Cabin. They also picked up sticks and debris by the lake and brought extra sand to the beach.

John, Jen and Tony set up their chapel this morning at camp in Minnesota. Then they helped with orientation. Tim and Marceaux went through orientation and their campers arrived early in the afternoon. The afternoon consisted of recreation and evening chapel at 7 PM. Jen led songs around the campfire after chapel. It was a surprise when Larry Campbell showed up to visit the camp for the next two days. Jen will be doing the chapel in the morning and then leaving for her Grandmothers funeral. She will then ride back with her cousin on Thursday and be back for the Friday Night Chapel.