Sunday, June 12, 2016

Weekend A Time To Relax!

After a week of working on projects a chance to relax and unwind is always in order. Tom and Carol Lee Iverson, another NOMADS couple, invited the group to have lunch at their home. The invitation was accepted and we traveled to Pardeeville for lunch and a tour of the lake. Brats were in order for the day, however the real treat was venison brats. After a full lunch and desert, the group had the opportunity to tour the lake via pontoon boat.

The afternoon was absolutely ideal for cruising the lake. We had the opportunity to see the unique features of the lake that was formed by constructing dams for mills on the Fox river.
 For those that were more adventuresome Tom did put his sailboat in the water and took folks out for a ride on the sail boar. The wind gave the boat quite a push and sent the group speeding acorss the lake.

On Sunday morning the group was up bright and early so they could have breakfast on the farm. The Marquette County Dairy Breakfast was held at the Malpe Lawn Dairy Farm near Westfield. We were able to have a "farmer sized breakfast" and still make it to church on time.

Friday, June 10, 2016

First Week Completed

Each morning as a group we meet for a period of devotion and planning for the day's activities. Each team member will conduct one of the devotional times. To me spiritual growth is an important part of our work and it gives me the strength to carry on.

The playground equipment was stained and repaired this week. It not only looks much better but will give youngsters a great place to play this summer. A little paint and some elbow work will make such an improvement in the appearance of the campground.

All of the water connections have now been marked with bright blue posts and the leaks have been repaired. This is just another part of making the campground not only more attractive, but also more inviting.

Many of the picnic tables throughout the camp need to have boards replaced and in some cases completely rebuilt. The lumber arrived this week and now the boards are being stained before the tables are assembled. The staining and varnishing process will take several steps.

One of the projects has been to build two cabinets for the dining hall. The cabinets are to be used for storage and are designed to open and close as needed . Basically they are base cabinets on casters. The only part of finishing the cabinets now is to put the trim work on and stain or paint them. I have one more set to build next week. The greatest challenge was to build the cabinets without a plan:


We finished the week with dinner together. Fellowship is also a great part of the NOMADS experience. We did invite John and Nancy to join us for dinner. John and Nancy are campground hosts and they have gone out of their way to accommodate our needs.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Our First Week!

Our NOMADS team was divided into 4 groups to work on different projects at the Camp. The Camp promptly supplied all of the materials and has been very supportive of our work.

Linda and Cindy was one of the work groups. Their task was to stain and repair the playground equipment at the family camping area. This required staining and some painting as well as some minor repairs to the equipment itself. 


Ruth and Janice was the painting team. Their task for the week was to prepare the outhouses near Loop C for painting and then to paint them. They were able to complete the task during the week. 
 Bruce and Ricci comprised team 3. They were responsible for replacing the marker posts at each of the water connections and make any necessary repairs to the water lines. The were also able to complete the task this week.




Mike and I made up the final team. Our task was to build two rolling cabinets for the camp store. One of the cabinets was for Lake Lucerne and the other is for Pine Lake. This has become quite a task, and we should have one of the cabinets completed this week, and hopefully the second will be completed next week. 

Our Camp Hosts and the entire team at Pine lake has indicated they are well pleased with the work we are doing here and appreciates our efforts. 

Monday, June 6, 2016

Our Mission Project for June, 2016


Our first NOMADS mission for the year is a project at Pine Lake United Methodist Camp near Westfield, WI. The camp was established in 1948 and has been in operation since that time. During our stay we will be working on various repair and improvement projects that will enable the camp to provide an improved atmosphere for the young campers. The camp not only offers programs for children, but has several camping opportunities as well.

The team consists of 8 members. The team members are from the states of Connecticut, Indiana, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Linda and I have been designated as the team leader for the project. On Sunday we all worshiped at the Faith United Methodist Church in Westfield.


Linda and I were the first to arrive so that we could be sure everything was functioning and the sites were ready for the other team members. The camp sites are not designed for the size of rigs that are common today, but we were able to get everyone in place. The camp does offer electrical service and water connections for the campers, however the sewage is another challenge.


My first task was to cut the grass in the camping area. It had not been cut in some time, and I wanted the sites to look nice when the guests arrived. Following the grass cutting, I inventoried the picnic tables so we could build the additional tables that were needed and repair the ones that needed to be repaired. I also had to locate all of the water connections so we could install posts to identify the locations of the connections. Soon after I completed these tasks the other team members arrived.