AmeriCorps NCCC Week 1

The AmeriCorps NCCC Gold 5 team is off to a tremendous start during their first week at camp.

• TUESDAY: The team arrived Tuesday afternoon, met the staff team, moved into the blue house, and had a brief and windy tour of Sound View. It is always a pleasure to point out many of the projects accomplished by all of the previous teams.

• WEDNESDAY: Starting to get cold - but not unbearable. Breakfast in the dining hall followed by a day of training with Kendra and Sadie. Team members will hopefully have the opportunity to work with kids and families this winter so it is important to for archery, farm, and zip line training.

• THURSDAY: Still windy and getting colder. Jim Hall and Aaron Maeda came out to camp to train the team in the camp maintenance shop. A great way to do this was assembling a picnic table using more of the wood salvaged from the floating dock taken apart by the summer AmeriCorps team. Three team members rebuilt the trailhead steps that lead up to Calvinwood to be more adult-friendly. A grilled cheese and soup lunch in the dining hall along with great conversation was nice as well.

• FRIDAY: Really cold and staff dealing with preventing freezing pipes. The team kept the shop warm by feeding the woodstove and completed two more picnic tables on their own. We hope to build at least eight for the tent-cabin area.

Next week - MLK Day of Service, more tables, rope holders, chick coop repairs, building the overlook fence, and the teams first “away mission” with the Nisqually Land Trust.

On the Tour

On Tuesday’s tour, a barge was headed north. Perhaps it was too windy to deal with Treble Point and was planning on slipping between Anderson and McNeill Island instead.

Old Trail Stairs

Although still sturdy, these trail stairs were hard on adult knees.

Preparing the Trail

Team members dug out the old stairs to prepare the slope for the new wooden ones.

Installation

The team assemble the new stairs on the warm and flat dining hall floor and brought it outside to place on the trailhead.

New Stairs

Complete, sturdy (going both up and down), and a satisfied team.

Dock Lumber

Plenty of 2 x 6 boards were salvaged from the old floating dock. They have been stored in the lumber barn since September.

Choosing

The lumber is old and appropriate pieces are hauled out to cut into picnic table parts.

This'll Do

Most boards can be salvaged to at least one piece of a picnic table.

Into the Shop

Boards are brought into the shop where they are measured and cut. Into “kit” pieces.

Saw Training

Volunteer Jim Hall trains team members (and Sadie) on using the chop saw.

Sanding

The worst of the splinters are sanded off. Some of the dock wood is decades old and sat out in the elements the entire time.

Measuring

It is nice to have a roomy shop. Some of the boards are 16’ and need considerable floor space.

Preparing Tools

Aaron Maeda, Jim’s nephew, helped with training the team on creating the kit pieces and the final assembly.

Assembly

Pieces are complete and assembly begins.

Drilling and Bolting

These tables will be in constant use in the tent-cabin area. Legs are bolted on to make them secure.

Completion

The team poses by completed picnic tables.

Awaiting Painting

After the cold snap ends, tables will be painted and sent into service.