This week Tim worked on the tile border in one of the dorm bathrooms. In the pic below, you see the two toilet stalls. The divider wall will be built after the tile is done. In this pic, you can see that Tim has removed the styro forms for the sink holes and cut the circle out of the plywood below as well. This concrete counter still needs to be dyed. We didn't come up with the plan to do concrete counters in the baths until after the red floor was dyed. So we'll dye the counters to match their respective floor. This one will be a little off, as we used up most of the red dye. The remaining counters will all be dyed at the same time as the floor. The tile border continues around the entire bathroom. The border is all that can be tiled until the counter is dyed. (In case you're wondering, the things on the counter are upside down trophies. They're for the winners of the talent show at camp this summer. They come pretty light weight, so we add mortar or adhesive to the base to make the trophy more substantial. Tim had some left over concrete today, so the bases were all filled, then turned over til dry)

Yesterday Tim built the forms for an 8" deep floating shelf for each bathroom. There will be a large mirror above each shelf. It's basically a primping area. There are outlets between the shelf and the mirror for hair dryers, shavers, etc. Notice the nice round edge so that no one (especially one in a wheelchair) can hurt himself on a sharp concrete corner. The concrete was poured today and troweled to a smooth finish. The forms will be taken off tomorrow, and these shelves will be finished with the other concrete.

Tony and the guys have been working this week on building the forms for another concrete pour. This is the last section to be poured, as it will tie into the blacktop that's in front of John and Sue's. We'll be pouring on Thursday.

I don't mention it every week, but the Camp Daniel staff has a meeting every Tuesday morning from 9 am til at least 10:30. With so many people working in so many different areas of ministry, the meetings get everyone up to speed on what's going on. Through all of the communication, lots of decisions are made. After that meeting is done, those directly involved in The Able Church usually meet for about another hour. We often all have lunch together, then off in many different directions. Of course, Able has Family Night on Tuesdays, so Jen, Marceaux and the guys have a short time between the meeting and Able. This week, Chrissy and Karol spent a couple of hours going over new food items that will be added to camp this year. You'd probably be shocked at how much time is involved to just make sure that we have all of the food we need for camp. The calculator always gets a good work out.

This is the grill area behind Tony and Karol's house. This picture was from a few weeks ago when Tony and the guys were still applying rock. Karol, with help from Tony and the guys built this shelf from scrap pieces around the camp. It hides the utilitarian storage area that is under the guys deck. Here you see it in place with the basic paint done.

This pic shows the final distressing/antiquing and some accessories. This shelf makes this area much more of a pleasant place to be.

Monday, May 3

Much work has been done on the Camp Daniel grounds since I last blogged. Below is the new sidewalk and area around the firepit. Tony and the guys worked for a good two days to prep the area. We (Tony, Nick, Richard, Brian, Tim, Karol, Marceaux, and Jen) poured on Thursday. It was a little different than previous pours in that we laid large slabs of slate and some other kind of stone (thanx again to Green Bay Nursery) into the concrete around the firepit. Troweling around the stones was tricky, as was keeping everything pitched properly.

All of the sod that was in the new paved areas was carefully cut out, stacked into wheelbarrows, then relaid by the bocce court. It was quite a puzzle

Tim prepped and poured the countertops in the two dorm baths that need to be done before camp starts. In the first picture you see the plywood base, which stays in place. On the front is a 1x3 board that hold the front edge. That piece gets removed after the concrete is

set up. The circles are two inch pieces of foam. These will be cut out to receive the drop in sinks. The countertops will all be dyed to match the floor in each respective room. Not shown in this picture is some pieces of rebar to give the whole thing strength and reduce cracking. For this project, Tim tried a product made specifically for concrete countertops, made by quickrete.

It was a wet and soupy mixture, and it took a long time for the cream that rose to the top to dry. After that, Tim was able to trowel the tops for a nice smooth finish.

Last Friday, Marceaux and Karol gave the ceiling of bedroom three two coats of paint so that Dave Detloff could come back on Saturday, and work on the tongue and groove. A large percentage of the walls were already done, so we thought it would be good for him to just finish it off. Of course, all of the hard parts were left, so he didn't quite finish.

The second bedroom's walls were sanded by the guys, poly'd by Tim and Karol, and sanded again by the guys.

Marceaux's been putting up the fluorescent fixtures in the baths. Next will be lighting in the mechanical room and the third bedroom.

Also, Tim started to tile the bathroom. I didn't get a picture yet, but I'll be sure to get it on the next blog. He started with the two border tiles that run around the entire room. He can't do more tiling until the countertop gets dyed, and the dying cannot be done until the walls are done. Everything really has to be done in the right order.

Last Tuesday Chrissy and Karol went to the Reinhart Food Show in Green Bay to get new products to add to our camp menu. Of course, many samples were had by both, and they found some yummy new additions for camp!

Sunday, April 25

Last week, the guys went on their annual vacation along with Tony, Karol and the kids. This year they chose to go to the Wisconsin Dells for 4 nights. They played in the waterparks, went to the House on the Rock, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Tommy Bartlett Exploratory and Knuckleheads for games, rides, and bowling. Getting ready to play laser tag. It was a lot of fun!!

Saturday, we had a work day. The Green Bay Community Church sent a great group of about 15 volunteers. They got so much different stuff done. What a blessing this work day was. The ceiling of the craft cabin porch is now all done in tongue and groove.

They got a bunch of rows of shakes put on the gable end of the craft cabin.

A couple of bundles of cedar shakes were stained.

Lots of painting got done in the dorm. Bath 1 was primed and two coats of paint. Bath 2 rec'd one coat of paint. The mechanical room received two coats of paint (pic below) and dorm room 3 was scraped down and primed.

The second bathroom was fitted with the stall divider wall, which was covered in cement board, taped and mudded.

Nancy List also put in a full day's work (which is the same as most people's two days of work) before heading to the office for a Camp Daniel bored, I mean board, meeting.

Not pictured, but also worked on:

The soffits of every dorm porch (8 in all ) were screwed to prevent bowing

The lights and ceiling fans were installed in two of the dorm rooms, and the first light was put in bathroom one.

David Detloff from Green Bay has put in many long days working on finishing the tongue and groove in the first two dorm rooms.

The cedar shakes on one section of the craft cabin was started.

Also worked on since I last blogged:

Tony and the guys got the rest of the Hartley House cultured stone mortared on. This took many days, and was a lot of work. They've also started the tuck pointing which will take several weeks to finish. They also finished the shed under the deck, minor landscaping, and also worked on trim work on the porch. Tim touched up the exteriors of the dorms, which both needed caulk and screws on some of the log siding. We've all also made many a trip to Menards for materials. Tim stopped in at Daltile to pick up a tile donation. The tile will be used on the walls of the dorm baths. He got it while the Hartley House crew was on vacation, so he ended up spending a half a day just to unload the 1,800 square feet of tile and stack it in the dorm. That was a day he needed the guys help! He also did a bunch of work in bath one of the dorm to get it ready to tile. I'll spare you the details and just show you the pictures when the fun stuff starts. Tony has been working on donations of tile, adhesive, and grout and was successful in getting two pallets of adhesive and grout donated. He also has met with Van DeYacht well drilling who will donate the wells for the dorms along with many of their suppliers.

Tony Spent time working on the bus fuel line and video system and Karol has been learning to use the new program and vinyl cutter to make graphics for the bus and Camp Daniel Signs.

Tony , and DJ spoke at the Presbyterian Church in Crivitz, who was Camp Daniels first supporting church.

Marceaux has spent much time doing spring maintenance on the heavy machinery and vehicles of camp. he also put in somedays getting the MEGA Bus ready for the Memorial day parade in Depere. Jen and Marceaux and Jen's parents went to Montana for the week for wedding showers and visiting Marceaux's family. Tim and Chrissy left for Minneapolis Friday for a Missions Convention at Bethany College. This capped a two week long blitz of fundraisers, meetings, and frenzy for the Kenya Missions Trip they are directing and Tony and Tim Mandich are going on with them. Check out the Living hope Church Missions blog at (www.lhcmissions.blogspot.com) for more info on the trip.

Tony Spoke at Living Hope Church to invite the church to be counselors at Camp and made an official announcement that Tim Mandich is coming on board full time with Camp Daniel. As John and Sue Koch open the new Able Church in Rochester MN, Tim will take over the pastorate of Able Church with Jen, Marceaux and Molly as his assisatants. Tim also is taking on the title of Development Director of Camp Daniel. He has ben working the last two weeks with Little Tony on a master proposal to get out to foundations asking for donations to the phase two building Capitol Campaign. He has met with several foundation directors and is pursuing grant opportunities. Tim will work with Chrissy in this department. Tim also is learning the accounting and office procedures from Tony Sr. in order to help run that side of the Camp Daniel Ministry. Tim has been voted in to the Camp Daniel Board, and will take the title of secretary, working with Tony Sr., little Tony, Jim Hukill and Nancy List.

Friday April 9, 2010

Gotta love Wisconsin!! In how many places can you wear shorts on Monday and be shoveling snow on Thursday! We awoke Thursday morning to 5" of the wet heavy stuff. It was actually quite pretty (especially knowing that it won't last long) Below is the wood shed that Tony and the guys made this week. It holds lots of wood, a bin for paper, and it has a counter for s'more making. On the side are handy contraptions to hold the marshmallow sticks. With a lot of scrap 2x4's and scrap siding, Tony made his niece, Molly, a play house. He and the guys started it on Easter, and are bringing it to Appleton today. He cut metal for the roof,which will be attached on location. He also put the metal on the roof of the wood shed, and on the back of a workbench that's on the porch.

Tim got the floor done! Two coats of finish, a sanding, and a final coat, gave this floor a beautiful, durable sheen. We absolutely love it. Karol ordered the additional colors that we'll need for the remaining cabins this week.

Before winter returned, Tim also did some trim work on the craft cabin so that volunteers can finish the exterior during our upcoming work days.

Since Annissa's room is done, I thought I'd show you some pics of the finished product. she's very happy with the end result. And the orange ceiling is pretty cool in person, so stop by for a visit!

Below is a chair that Karol and Tony picked up from the St. Vincent DePaul store in Green Bay. The wood was cleaned up and touched up with stain, and waxed. The seat cushion, although in good shape, was very dated, so Karol made a new cushion cover to match the living room.

Tony and the guys were masons over the weekend. Richard mixed the mortar, and Nick and Brian brought rocks and mortar to Tony while he applied the rock veneer to the downstairs exterior of the Hartley House. Of course, the bad part of the job is still to come in tuck pointing (filling in like grout between the rocks). They also cleaned up underneath the guys deck. They put in a shelving unit that Karol made last fall, a bike rack for everyone's bikes, and they put up lattice to hide this utilitarian area. All of the summer furniture was under the deck as well. That was brought out for summer use.

Thursday, April 1

Last Saturday we had a work day, but only Crystal Johnson came to help. So she and Jen worked outside cutting back perennials, and they also repaired a bad spot in the retaining wall by the garage. They also helped Karol with lunch because she was working with Tim in the dorms. They applied a first coat of polyurethane to one wall, and a second to the remaining four. The guys gave the walls a light sanding between coats, so they now have a nice, smooth satin finish.

Tim finished the polyurethane on Monday and he and the guys buffed and cleaned the concrete floors in one cabin and bath to prepare it for a

"dye job". Tuesday morning was the weekly Camp Daniel staff meeting. While Tony, Tim Mandich, Jen and Marceaux went into phase two of the meeting, which was planning for The Able Church, Karol and Tim got started on the floor. The cabin they were working on will be "Red Oak Cabin." Each cabin has a distinct color and a logo to identify it. The logo for this in an image of an oak leaf, and the color is red. So Karol projected the image of the oak leaf onto contact paper and cut out the shape with an exacto knife. The negative of the image was placed on the floor, then, using the contact paper as a stencil, she painted the image using green and yellow.
The contact

paper was then pulled up, leaving a leaf on the gray concrete. Then she used the positive piece of contact paper to protect the leaf from the red dye that Tim would be applying to the entire floor. The dye is a powder that's mixed with some liquid something or the other, and acetone. Just image a nail polish remover factory. Respirators for everyone in the room! Tim applied it with a pump sprayer. The bath and cabin were done in about 7 minutes. One gallon was the perfect amount. Then he switched to a second reddish color and applied a second coat. As you can see, the effect is quite modeled, which will be forgiving to dirt and dust bunnies.


The positive contact paper piece was pulled up. The leaf came out pretty good, but we thought it needed some detail, so on Wednesday, Karol took some oil based black paint, thinned it considerably, and applied an outline to the oak design.

When Tim was about finished with the second coat of dye, Bob Wegman, from Living Hope Church, stopped by, for a first time tour of the grounds. Tim and Chrissy gave him the tour. Chrissy had just finished the newsletter, and the Able meeting was still in progress.

Tim spent Wednesday in Green Bay running errands before going to youth group. Karol continued work on the exterior signs for the Camp Daniel gift shop and did a bunch of little stuff. Tony left for Appleton, where he spoke at a men's bible study group from Fox Valley Christan Fellowship. His brother in law, Jason, is a member of the group, and got Tony the opportunity to speak to the group in an attempt to get counselors and helpers for work days. Today, he put a new sink and toilet in Lora and Jason's downstairs bath, and went to the restore (Habitat for Humanity resale store) in Appleton, and was excited to find toilet stalls that we can use in the dorms. They are red, so they'll have to be either painted another color, or stripped to plain metal. We were just discussing the other day what we were going to do for dividers. New commercial stalls are quite expensive, so we were thinking we would have to do homemade ones. The timing couldn't have been much better!
Today, Karol gave a last coat to the yellow lettering on the exterior store signs, and worked on camp crafts. 120 picture frames needed to be spray painted. And she spray painted a super cool giant football helmet that Tony had found at Goodwill. It'll need a few more coats, but it's on it's way. Tim and the guys applied polyurethane via a sprayer to the 1x4" trim that be used in the dorms and also to the door jams for 4 interior doors. With this technique, the poly dries super fast, and is super fast to apply. Three coats and a sanding in one day! Tony picked up the finish that will go on the concrete floor while he was in Appleton. I'll be sure to show you the end result.

Friday, March 26

Jen's week: She worked on her newsletter on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Printer problems made her task harder than anticipated! With the wedding not too far off, she's been doing "wedding stuff" like dress fitting, cake decisions, etc. Jen also fit in doing therapy on Sue's neck and Nick's knee. And the funnest thing of the week must have been starting her taxes.

Marceaux's week: Marceaux started a job working with the census. He been working everyday, and in his freetime, he worked on the old van with the wheelchair lift, trying to get that running again. He also did work on John's van and Jen's car.

Karol's week: She edited the working draft of the Camp Daniel newsletter. She also started painting the exterior signs for the gift shop. Thus far; primer, two coats of green and first coat of yellow lettering. Two more coats of yellow to go and a few coats of a white directional arrow on each. She took advantage of nice weather and cut back the remaining plants from last year that were all around the Hartley House. She sewed a cushion for a thrift shop chair and cleaned up the wood on it. (I'll post a pic after the finishing touches are done)

Tony's week: He just found out that he was successful in acquiring, from a church in Ohio, a used commercial quality camera for making videos.
He worked on the sound system for camp. Every cord, wire, sound board, video, etc, were brought out, checked and reorganized. He sold some old equipment on ebay and at a sound store in Green Bay. He made a camera for the Two Night Show with Georgie Pongerins so that we can get a few more countries on our outgoing satellite feed.

Tim's week: He fixed the exterior siding on the girl's dorm. There was a section that didn't get attached properly. He finished the last (top) row of tongue and groove in room one of the dorm, and started to apply the polyurethane finish that he picked up in Green Bay on Wednesday, along with stain and supplies needed for upcoming workdays. He also picked up some tiles from Menard's and went over the prospects with Tony and Karol. There were also decisions made regarding the flooring, and many other finishes in the dorms.

Tony and Jo are coming home from Florida today.
Molly had a birthday on Thursday!!
John went out to Minnesota to address some issues on their new house, and Sue's been working. She took the guys to the library on Thursday.