Spring Work Day

 We had a good turnout at the Camp Daniel work day last Saturday.  There was lots of work getting done in many different areas of camp.  The picture above captures Tim Mandich, whom was working with his brother Matt, working on camp vehicles.

 There was work done in the woods where the new mound septic system will go.  Even with all the prior work being done, there were still trees and brush that needed to be cleared.  One person was working a chainsaw, and in the picture above, Jake is taking brush to the burn pile.

 The two guys from the Three Lakes area were put to work on installing railings on the Trapline Lodge.  They got two done.  So now there’s only one left!

 The under 25 set was put to work staining the Lumberjack and Trapline Lodges.  They braved the heights and got a lot done.  They even stained all 8 dormers on the two buildings.

 Rudie Koch and intern, Nick Sterry were given the task of sanding the new railings on Lumberjack so that they can get stained at a future work day.

Continuation of work day jobs

 After the last work day, Tony and the guys have continued on with jobs that were started by the group from Racine.  Steve, Nick and the guys are shown above working on the tongue and groove on the porch roof.

 The framing crew is on vacation this week.  These picks are from last week. (obviously, as there’s no snow!)  They have finished the sheeting, which they are working on in the picture below.  They starting to put the house wrap on before they left.  When they come back next week they will have 2 or 3 days of work left.

 The photo below is of the inside of the barn section of the building, which we will use as a chapel.  We are really excited about the interior of this space.  It’s going to be great!

 Tony and the guys also continued the job that was started on the work day of the porch railings.  They finished all four on Lumberjack Lodge.  They look “right” and finish the look of the building.  On an upcoming work day, one of the jobs will be to sand and stain the railings.

 Tony and the guys have also continued work on the brush and tree removal that was started on the work day for the area where the septic will go.  He even got most of the stumps pulled out.  We even had a large burn pile last week to get rid of some of the previously gathered brush and trees.

Calvary Memorial Work Day

 Last weekend, Calvary Memorial Church, of Racine, WI brought 53 volunteers to Camp Daniel for our largest ever, work day.  The week prior was filled with preparations for the tasks to be tackled.  And Friday was spent shoveling the 8” of wet heavy snow that fell throughout the day.  The group traveled from Racine Friday night, and spent the night in Lumberjack Lodge.  As you see in the photo above, Saturday morning broke clear and snowy.  After 2 shifts of breakfast, they were off to the races.  Following is a rundown of many of the jobs that they worked on.

 Lynn Sedelbauer was visiting for the weekend, with his daughter Laura.  While Laura helped out in the kitchen, Lynn worked with 2 others to clear the future septic system area of all trees and brush.  As  the guys limbed the felled trees, there were kids and teens on hand to pull the brush into a large burn pile.

 Another group started the job of building the railings for the Trapline Lodge porches.

 Sewing Central was set up in the Piantine home, as Jen worked with 4 ladies on the curtains for the Trapline lodge.  They ironed, measured, cut, pinned and sewed the day away.

 A group of 8 volunteers took on the many tasks the Karol planned in the Factory.  They did a lot of cutting for the crafts that 200 campers will do this summer.  At one point, they had 3 cutting boards going and a number of people with scissors, all doing a great job of the preliminary work of the craft projects.

 Tim and Marceaux worked in the garage with 2 guys that knew their way around vehicle repairs.  In the photo below, Tim is showing us the snow on the lawnmower deck that he was putting on the John Deere after removing the snowblower.  (He has been warned that if it snows again, he’ll have to drive up to camp with his shovel!!)  The guys also changed oil on some camp vehicles, switched out a water pump, got the salt spreader wiring problem fixed and other things that I don’t really know anything about.

 Tony had planned many jobs in the Trapline Lodge, including installing the stall doors in the bathrooms, and some finish trim work too.

 This group cut, sanded and polyurethane boards that will have hooks attached and be mounted in the dorm bathrooms.

 There were 2 groups of plumbers working on Saturday as well.  These guys were installing the sinks and faucets, of which there are 12.  Another plumber attached all the fittings for the drains.  They also got a couple of toilets installed.  It was a good jump on such a large job.

 We had some electric work.  These two gentleman installed exit signs, ceiling fans, smoke detectors and digital thermometers.  I believe that completes the electric work in this building.

I managed to miss getting a photo of another group that was working on installing tongue and groove on the porch ceiling of the Hartley House.  And we couldn’t have made it through the day without the awesome help of two ladies in the kitchen.

What a blessing Camp Daniel has received in the people of this congregation. This is the second year that they have come for a work day, and the third year that they will bring their junior high group for a missions trip at camp.  There were 63 people signed up for the workday, which is amazing considering that they only have between 200 and 300 in the congregation!  It’s always amazing to step back after such a work day and see how many projects have been completed.  It gives our staff a needed boost!

  

Framing started on new building

Since our last blogpost, the framing crew has started working, and it’s fun to watch them, as they are so fast and efficient.  Naturally, they started with the lower level.  With so much of the walls being concrete, they were able to put up two walls, and start right in with the floor trusses.  

After the first set of trusses were up, they sheeted what will be the first floor, then added the second section of trussing.   

From this view you can see the taller studs that will be the tall open area that will be great for Marceuax’ work.  The room closest to you in the photo will be for all the construction tools.

You may have noticed that the floor is gravel.  We will most likely be pouring that ourselves.  We saved a lot of money by not having that done by the concrete crew.  It can be poured after this first stage of building is done.  We will probably do at least part of it this spring, as we can really use the storage space that it will provide.

In the pic below, you can see the start of the second story.  The area closest to you is the barn, which will be used as chapel and multipurpose.  Since they won’t be putting in the windows right away, they sheeted right over the openings.  When the time comes to install the windows, you just cut out the plywood.

 The last two pictures show the upper floor.  They framed the interior walls and most of the exterior walls, then started sheeting and lastly, adding ceiling trusses.  The plan was to have a crane for them, but with the road restrictions, we can’t get one here, so they had to use the boom that they have here.  Right now, they have over half of the trusses that you see below in place.  

 After the above trusses are set, they will start on the barn side which is the open area in the pic below.  The trusses go the opposite direction, and they have the barn shape.  

 Pretty good for one week’s work!

While the framing crew has been busy with the new building, the Camp Daniel staff has been working all week on preparations for the Largest Ever Camp Daniel Work Day!  We have 60 people coming this Saturday....details in the next post.