Buildings and Grounds – January, 2018

by Linda Pietrzak
The December Work Party occurred on the 16th after most of the fire danger for Ventura had passed. What remained was the ash and smoke in the air. There were still piles of pine needles around the parking lot. Would anyone come out to rake and bag the pine needles? Twelve members of the congregation came out! Be sure and thank Geoff Dann, George and Ruth Owens, Rob March, Bryan Buck, Mike Sixbey, Haibiba Peterson, Sherry Anderson, Joyce Sattler, Bill Peltola, Merle Oberg, and Linda Pietrzak. They donned their masks and manned their rakes and got the parking lot looking great.
They also found time to complete other chores. Bill Peltola checked emergency lights and fluorescent lights replacing any that needed it, George blew pine needles into piles, Mike Sixbey and Ruth pruned bushes in the raised beds, Sherry weeded along Ralston, Ruth also sorted the Lost and Found, Bill emptied the trash cans out back, Merle worked on the sprinklers, and Joyce picked up trash outside the church building and checked restrooms for sufficient paper products, Geoff worked on the light fixture in the RE women’s restroom, and Linda finally watered the olive tree.
Remember the last time it almost rained? Merle Oberg noticed drops of water falling on him from under the eaves of the church. John Puccetti checked on a drizzly day and found that ALL the seams in the gutter were leaking. When the gutters leak, the water soaks through on to the wood soffit around the building. Not good! We finally found someone who would patch the seams and clean all the pine needles and debris out of the gutters. That work was completed last month. Just like your home, you fix one thing and something else pops up!