by Kitty Merrill | Apr 7, 2017 | Building and Grounds
Have you been coming to UUCV for a while but not making connections? An easy way to do this is to volunteer. We love volunteers at our B&G Work Party. No commitment necessary, just show up on the third Saturday of the month at 9am. Choose from a list of jobs that need completing, one that matches your interests and skills. Soon you will feel the pride of being a part of the whole church, the building, the grounds and the people.
Eight intrepid workers showed up for the B&G Work Party on a drizzly wet morning in February. In attendance were Mike Sixbey, Geoff Dann, Merle Oberg, Joyce Sattler, Cindy Camillucci, Bill Peltola, Linda Pietrzak and Kitty Merrill. Work inside the church included: installing baby changing tables in the RE restrooms, moving furniture, replacing burned out fluorescent light tubes, installing new emergency lights and cleaning out the Lost and Found. Work on the outside church grounds included: pulling weeds, raking pine needles, clearing drains, and cleaning up the trash enclosure.
What a difference a month makes. In March, Mike Sixbey, Bill Peltola, Geoff Dann, Bryan Buck, Linda Pietrzak, Cindy Camillucci, Merle Oberg and Joyce Sattler attended the work party. We focused our energy on weed removal and parking lot cleanup. In addition five members of the Friendship Sangha of the Heart, Neil Ortenberg, Anna Mares, Chris Garlington, Lisa, Otero and Dave Davidson, worked to weed and clean-up the meditation path. At the end of our work party we marveled at the improvement to the church yard. We felt proud of our crew for showing up and pitching in. Please thank them and plan to join us next month!
– Linda Pietrzak and Joyce Sattler
by Kitty Merrill | Feb 27, 2017 | Building and Grounds
by Linda Pietrzak
7PEAT, the environmental action group of the Social Action Committee, has been looking at ways to decrease our use of disposable cups, dishes, and silverware. When we have a food event at church the recycle and trash bins overflow. They and Building and Grounds want to commend the UUniques and the Meditation Group for bringing their own service to their monthly potlucks.
As part of the Church Mutual Insurance recommendations to improve safety around the church, Joyce Sattler and Linda Pietrzak painted the handicap ramps with yellow paint where they slope off to the sides to make the slopes more visible.
January’s Work Party saw 17 different jobs completed. Bill Peltola replaced door lights in Berg Hall and the Sanctuary, tested emergency exit signs, and removed pine needles. Mike Sixbey trimmed the Australian willows around the light standards and cleaned the gutters. Mike Duffy repaired the dented shelf in Becky’s office, relocated stepping stones and cinder blocks, thinned lavender near butterfly garden, weeded the butterfly garden, and re-adjusted a ceiling tile in the nursery. Merle Oberg removed ivy and weeds from the property and raked pine needles. Linda Pietrzak cleaned the lavender bed near the butterfly garden, weeded the parking island and the butterfly garden. Cindy Camillucci weeded the Meditation path and back island. Joyce Sattler removed century plants from a parking island, labeled trash toters (bins), replaced a drain cover, picked up trash, and fed and supervised the rest of us.
by Kitty Merrill | Jan 27, 2017 | Building and Grounds
What a great sermon! It was so good to have Rev. Dana talk about the work we do as a ministry. Doesn’t the B&G Work Party Ministry sound like a fun activity to participate in? I hope you felt moved to come out and enjoy our camaraderie on January 21. If you couldn’t make it, we will be there on February 18 from 9:00 to noon. We are a great bunch of people.
I am excited about all the changes that will be coming in the next months. The chance to see the drought stressed plants come back to life, and weeds and brush that were too hard to remove could at last be removed.
We had to replace one of the original garage door openers. The new opener is so quiet and smooth operating.
Church Mutual completed a safety assessment of our church. They identified areas we need to correct. B&G has been working with individuals and committees to come into compliance. We appreciate all the hard work everyone has done. The safety of our church members and guests is a high priority for B&G.
by Linda Pietrzak
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 30, 2016 | Building and Grounds
If you haven’t been out on the Ralston side of the church, step out after the service and take a look. The vegetation removal has improved the appearance of the area and it can look better still.
There’s still plenty of work to do: Roots to be removed; irrigation system to be redesigned; and we need to think about how best to use the area. When all that is done we can finally begin the design plans. Think about how you can help in the process. Come out on the third Saturday of the month to help the process go faster.
The December Work Party was attended by: Sharon Kufeldt, Bill Peltola, Mike Duffy, Mike Sixbey, Cindy Camalucci, Joyce Sattler, and Linda Pietrzak.
The big project was pruning the Australian willows in the back parking lot to improve lighting from the light standards. Earlier in the month some of the burned-out light bulbs were replaced in the soffit lights. This will improve nighttime lighting around the church.
We also did some routine maintenance by replacing fluorescent tubes, sweeping the east entrance to the church, testing emergency exit lights, working in the raised beds, and checking the remaining soffit lighting. Securing the wooden screens on the stage was also discussed. M
by Kitty Merrill | Dec 1, 2016 | Building and Grounds
I have written about how much more we could get done if more people came out for the monthly B & G Work Parties. This month extra people came out and we got fourteen out of sixteen jobs completed! I figured out the secret to get more people to come out for the Work Parties. All the church needs to do is to have activities each 3rd Saturday morning that involves a lot of participants, but that only one member of the couple needs to be actively involved in after the set-up, like say…a Craft Fair.
With the extra help, we hung several items on the wall in Rev. Dana’s office, disposed of a broken card table that had been dumped on the property, removed volunteer pine trees, watered the olive tree by the front door, emptied outdoor trash cans, picked up trash, weeded the butterfly and covenant gardens and sorted and dated items in the lost and found (Do you know where this is located?), removed dead shrubbery, adjusted the timer for the lights in the parking lot, swept up the never-ending pine needles and as a special treat, visited the Craft Fair. The workers in November were Merle Oberg, Bill Peltola, Joyce Sattler, Linda Pietrzak, Mike Sixbey, Kitty Merrill, Joe Hutchins, Cindy Camillucci, Jim Merrill, and Peter Mortensen. Can you recognize our guest workers? You are welcome to be a guest worker any third Saturday. In fact it could be your Christmas/ Chanukah/Yule gift to the church. Wouldn’t that be a lovely tradition to start? It could even be a family tradition! –by Linda Pietrzak
by Kitty Merrill | Nov 1, 2016 | Building and Grounds
This is what was accomplished on October’s All Church Building and Grounds Work Party:
- A door stop on the storage room for committee and sound equipment was adjusted.
- Bulky trash items in the trash enclosure were made ready to recycle.
- A file cabinet was magically opened and set aside for future donation.
- Earthquake brackets were painted to match the wall behind the new bookcase in the west alcove.
- Fluorescent light tubes in the sanctuary were checked and replaced as needed.
- Placement of three white noise machines was investigated.
- Watered another Australian willow tree.
- Checked Safe Sleep trash (It didn’t need emptying because they are taking care of it themselves.)
- Picked-up trash around the property.
- Removed some dead shrubbery.
- Gave the kitchen a final cleaning before the Auction.
- Swept the ever present pine needles from the parking lot.
Now for the math test for the newsletter. If that is twelve things accomplished. How many people were working for three hours? (Answer is below)
I am worried about the Australian willow trees that are planted around the parking lot. They look so stressed from lack of water or maybe from having their roots over crowded in the planting beds. Does anyone else notice them and their changes? I hope you are all doing rain dances or whatever practice you have that can help them perk up.
These are the people who were working during the work party: Cindy Camalucci, Kassie Erickson, Merle Oberg, Bill Peltola, Mike Sixbey, and Joyce Sattler. During our “Kick-back, socialize and enjoy snacks” part of the day we were talking about what could be accomplished if we could increase the number of people who came out. How many of you remember the “War on Weeds” we had at Terry House?
Once a year, more than a dozen people showed up to get rid of the weeds. Those who couldn’t work in that way brought food. We worked most of the day. We had a motivation: If we didn’t get rid of the weeds, the fire department would charge us to remove them. How can we get that motivation here?
by Linda Pietrzak
