Diary of the Dorm - 2007
New Dorm Update
October 11, 2007
Greetings Beloved,
It was June that the last report on the Dormitory construction was sent
out and I can hear my mother saying again, “Are you still working
on that building?” Yes we are but we are nearly completed.
Summer suspends all building operations at camp due to youth camp
ministry so we received a needed breather only to focus on building the
Kingdom of God, casting the nets for souls of teenagers to make peace
with their Creator. Good Tidings had a busy summer as usual. We had
teens from far away as New Orleans, Colorado, and the NY metro area
draw near to God.
After summer camp we restarted our building operation on the dormitory
with a friendly threat from good friend who was driving the Christian
Bikers weekend at the Good Tidings. Larry Myer said get it done by Oct
12th or else. I think he meant it, so we regrouped in earnest.
• The cabinets acquired for the camp by Robert
Bumbalo I installed in the bathrooms with the countertops, sinks and
faucets.
• Keith Rousselle completed the taping and painted the ceilings in the baths.
• Ann OReilly and Linda Novak have primed and
painted the bathroom walls and gave the building a good cleaning to
prepare for the rug installation in the back bedrooms.
• Tom Borman with his dad (Mr. B) installed the exterior doors.
• Mr. B and Tim Brown have three sides of the building sided with log siding.
• George Routis and I poured the concrete walkway at the building’s entrance.
• Larry Myer worked the backhoe around the building and the rifle range grading the site.
• Mr. B prepared the utility closet to receive the hot water heater and water tank.
The biggest challenge at this time however is the construction of the
bunk beds. We are using 2 X 6 rough lumber for materials. The total
number of pieces for each bunk is 19 pieces of wood and two pieces of
plywood. Those 19 pieces went through a extensive process that required
selection, cutting to length, planing on 4 sides, drilling of pilot
holes, mortising the vertical pieces, belt sanding, routing the edges,
sealing with polyurethane, finish sanding, second coating with
polyurethane and cutting the plywood to the proper size. Then the
assembly could begin by screwing them together. It sounds easy but
imagine trying to find a place to dry the polyurethane for 238 pieces
of lumber. We actually had to construct additional picnic tables just
to lean the boards on so now the camp has 5 more picnic tables. There
were boards everywhere. The horizontal pieces required 728 pilot holes.
That’s a lot of drilling. We generated enough wood chips from
planing and sanding to fill a hundred hamsters cages for years to come.
I love woodworking but this project has seemed never ending, weekend
after weekend. It looks like a bed factory in front of the garage. The
major contributors at this stage beside Ann and me were Ron and Linda
Novak. Ron brought his planer to the camp and planed all the boards
with his wife Linda. It seems God saved the Novaks for the end of this
odyssey when everyone else has given their last full measure. Other
assistants were Luke OReilly (the dependable), Josh Henderson (the
indefatigable), Darlene Reilly, Jayson Portinova, Kyle Brightbill and
Amanda Marie. With an all volunteer force we have seen the bunks take
form into a very nice piece of furniture. As of now we have two
completely constructed with another 6 to come on line. The last six
will have to wait as some materials are still in the middle phases.
A personal interest story regarding this project happened on a sunny
Saturday in September. Jose Rodriguez was up from the Bronx with his
youth group. We were short on volunteers and we were striving to get
the wood processed and first coated that day to meet the anticipated
needs of the Christian Bikers weekend and take advantage of the warm
dry weather. At lunch someone asked how we were doing. I said the
quality of the work is good but we were behind in the days objectives.
I asked Jose if his group could assist. His boys have never worked
power tools. There are few homes in the Bronx large enough to have wood
shops. Jose winked and said I’ll meet you down there. After lunch
Jose brought his group down and asked me to explain the operation. I
showed the young men the tools and what they did. Well, they wanted to
jump in and get a piece of the action. In an hour and a half we ripped
through so much material, sealing, sanding, routing, jointing and
drilling, that we had to just laugh. I worked with Juan even longer
teaching him how to handle a router, jointer and belt sander. He took
to it like a duck to water. We had great fellowship that day and some
young Christian brothers from the Bronx realized that they can do this
stuff.
My wife continues to amaze me with her dexterity handling saws,
routers, sanders, paint brushes, drills, all with one hand tied behind
her back. Her art training in college taught her how to use power tools
and brother how it has paid dividends. She won’t let me relax
until this project is done. This weekend George and I spent about 30
hours at the camp. I said to Larry, I can’t wait until I get my
life back. He simply said “I thought your life was Jesus’
life.” Ouch. I repented, stopped the whining and got back to
work. The good book says “iron sharpens iron”.
We need to complete the following.
• tie in the well into the plumbing system,
• connect the drains in the baths,
• carpet the rear bedrooms and
• complete the bunks and
• seal the log siding
• baseboard molding completion
This 2 year odyssey will soon be completed. It began two Novembers ago
when Nick McCarroll and Tom Doots poured the floor staying up all night
while it cured. Please continue to remember us in your prayers,
contributions and physical assistance. If you’re in the
neighborhood and looking for something to do, stop by the camp and see
the work.
Adios Hermanos y Hermanas,
Kevin J O'Reilly - Secretary
Good Tidings Bible Conference
New Dorm Update
May 8, 2007
Greetings Beloved,
We have made some steady progress in the last two weeks. Thanks to
Keith Rousselle’s tireless efforts, the all the bedrooms have
their ceiling and walls painted. We need only to do the top corners and
we are completed with this phase for the bedrooms. This allows us to
begin the finished interior molding process that Sam Makely will start
next week.
Matt
and Tom OReilly are home from college and completed sheet rocking the
bathrooms last weekend. We still have a small repair job to do on a
ceiling due to a water leak from a line pierced by a sheet rock screw.
But now Bobby Allen can begin building the shower stalls. Bernie
Aloisi hung two more interior doors and assisted with some
technical problems the sheet rockers ran into. More good news is that
Robert Bumbalo who did our finished plumbing several weeks ago was able
to locate some good used oak kitchen cabinets for the dorm. Robbie is a
kitchen re-modeler and he asked the homeowner who is removing his dark
cabinets for a lighter color if he would donate them to the camp. He
did. We just need to pick them up.
Sam Makely will be sending a team of carpenters up, on a volunteer
basis to do our finished molding. We have had a load of 1 x 4 and 1 x 6
knotty pine delivered by GNH today and Keith Rousselle is putting the
first coat of polyurethane on them as I write. Sam’s team begins
next Monday on the window and door jambs and casings. To date our
building has been carried by an all volunteer force. Now it’s the
seasoned veterans carrying the day where earlier it was the youth.
Professional men with families and busy schedules finding time to build
the resource to spread the Good News of salvation and forgiveness thru
the atoning death of Jesus the Messiah.
We also ran the power cable up the hill from the dorms utility closet.
It runs about 250 feet to the top of the access road leading to the
snow tubing run, archery and rifle ranges, and the top of the field
overlooking the Berkshires and Green mountains. Because of the
opportunity for future ministry, we diverted some financial resources
and time to make this happen. The Good Tidings board of directors
deeply appreciates the contributions of the Taylor family for loaning
us their backhoe and son to operate it. Matt filled in the trench last
weekend. We will have lamps lighting the path at night now to the
tubing run. Matt also earned a position on the GT summer staff roster,
good job Matt. Old fashioned hustle and hard work seasoned with talent
and a servant attitude goes a long way with Mr. B.
I am currently building the prototype of the bunk beds and will be
looking for assistance with the mass production of the bunks. Each bunk
requires two head/foot boards that will be identical. They will be made
of 2 X 6 spruce studs and 1 X 4 pine boards and ¾” plywood
for the mattress base. That means we need 64 head boards alone. This
needs to be a mass production operation like the trusses Keith Hvizdak
built at the onset of this project. If you have talent working with
wood and can donate time, let me know.
What’s next and whose on tap?
• Interior doors completion – Bernie
Aloisi (This is a long tedious job, please keep Bernie in prayer and
come help)
• Hanging two exterior doors – Help needed
• Install rugs – Frank Antsenberg, Kevin Mackey and Don Davis
• Tile bathrooms – Help needed
• Shower stall build – Bobby Allen
• Install bathroom cabinet and toilets – Help Needed
• Completion of the soffits – Jim and Annie Bolger
• Hookup of the well and hot water heater – Vince Cuzdi
• Installation of the siding – Mr. B and Tim Brown, Help Needed
• Taping of the bathrooms – Keith Rousselle or Lex Harned
• Priming and painting of the hallway and bathroom – Annie O, Keith Rousselle, Lex Harned
• Final grading of the grounds around the dorm – Scott and Matt Taylor
• Installation of the heaters – Paul Owens )
• Molding installation – Sam Makely
• Bunk bed construction – Help needed
• Entrance way concrete pad – Larry Myer
• Swimming Pool – Hmmmm, next year
A short testimony – Last weekend there was a ladies conference at
the camp. Seventy ladies came to connect with each other and with their
Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. They had some recreation sessions. Some
went hiking and some went to the rifle and archery ranges. I was in
charge of the rifle range and we put recently acquired match grade
rifles in their hands. After some initial safety training and
how-to’s on sighting and proper positions, these ladies proceeded
to shoot some amazingly tight groups and scores of 25 to 35 out of a
possible 50. For first timers this is very good. One woman scored
almost 40 two times in the prone position with all shots in the black.
I challenged her to try the sitting position next. After showing her
how it is done she shot an amazing 35 out of 50. I told her if there is
ever a gallery match in her area to sign up. I think we are beginning
to see the birth of the Good Tiding Rifle team.
Please keep the finances coming as we are putting them to excellent
use. All the pistons are firing in the Good Tidings engine to make this
summer a summer of salvation for as many young teens as the Lord will
bring in. Volunteers for cooking, cleaning, and landscaping this summer
will be needed. Pray for our enrollment, we need to fill all our
dormitory space with kids and counselors. Please keep the Bob and Deb
Borman in prayer as well. When the summer comes, they run long and hard.
PS, if you know of anyone replacing a deck we could use old 2 X 6 PT
lumber for picnic tables. We could easily use a dozen tables for
starters.
Kevin J O'Reilly – Secretary
Good Tiding Bible Conference
New Dorm Update
April 16, 2007
Greetings Brethren,
God has again worked above my expectation, exceedingly. He must have
big plans for this building because He is bringing in the volunteers,
and not just high school and college young adults but professionals. We
had on site this weekend, beginning on Friday no less than four
volunteer professionals. George Routis, a heavy equipment operator and
septic specialist, Robbie Bumbalo, a bathroom remodeler and plumber,
Paul Owens and licensed master electrician and Lex McGovern a full time
sheet rock specialist.
Yet, the hero of the day goes to a 14 year old heavy equipment operator
who worked with George, his name Matt Taylor, who brought his own Case
backhoe. Matt cut a 500 foot drainage trench and began to fill in the
septic tank hole. George was quite amazed at the finesse and confidence
this youngster had. Word has it he gave up the Tonka’s for the
big stuff at age seven. George oversaw his work and put the finishing
touches on the septic tank with the help of Joe and Erica Fratti. All
our pipes are buried.
Robbie brought the rough plumbing to completion by installing the
plumbing for the showers, toilets and sinks. The A team, James OReilly,
Joe Wade and Lex sheet rocked the bathroom ceilings and four walls,
then moved on to install the last window needing installing, and then
cut a hole in the ceiling for attack access. Thanks you for working
fast and doing quality work.
Paul Owens joined the party Saturday afternoon and worked until Monday
morning. Paul installed lights, outlets, switches and smoke detectors
with the assistance from a teenage volunteer, both from Long Island. We
are now running on house power rather than extension cords from the
other dorm.
Ann OReilly took a team of young adults and tackled the priming. Josh
and Josiah Henderson, half a dozen Rousselles, Stephanie and Jessica
Boullion managed to get some primer on the walls and a lot on
themselves. 75 % of the walls and ceilings are sanded and primed.
Thanks is due to Lex for assisting on showing the young bucks how the
pros get it done.
And I was the gopher. I was only expecting half the personnel of who
showed up. So I was constantly trying to keep people busy. Thanks again
to the Bormans for a great lunch and great cheer leading and assisting
in cleanup operations and securing loose sheetrock around the outlets
holes, and general oversight.
What is next?
Exterior and interior doors need installing. Bernie Aloisi has the
interior door well in hand. The plumbing needs to be tied together in
the utility room and then pressure tested which is my goal this
weekend. Then we can rock our last four walls and then tape, prime, and
paint the bathrooms. The sofits need completion and once Matt Taylor
fills in around the septic tank, Jim and Annie Bolger can complete the
last 30 feet of soffits. We will soon begin the finished painting. Then
the window jambs and molding will be completed by Sam Makely. Bobby
Allen is scheduled to build the shower stalls.
We need good used furniture, chairs and dressers. Ann is pricing
carpeting. We will need a serious team effort building the bunk beds
after that.
I feel like we are rounding third and coming home. Thanks for praying.
God is hearing your petitions. Remember, the fervent effectual prayer
of a righteous man availeth much.
Kevin J O'Reilly
Board Secretary
Good Tidings Bible Conference
New Dorm Update
April 9,2006
Greetings Beloved,
We are making good time bringing phases near completion at the new dorm
at Good Tidings. We fully expect to be online for the summer camping
season. God is miraculously providing resource . . . financial, labor,
materials and advice.
Keith Rouselle has completed taping the eight bedrooms. I can describe
the quality of work in a single word, smooth. Ann OReilly, Luke OReilly
and Joshua Henderson have sanded five of those eight bedrooms. I have
taken some great photos of these servants of the Lord, covered in dust,
and as the good book says, as white as snow. Luke installed furring
strips on the bathroom ceiling for the hanging of sheetrock.
God has again provided another professional carpenter to assist on
hanging interior doors. The doors are donated and are heavy, fire
resistant, solid core doors. Bernie Aloisi has been at Good Tidings for
two Saturdays. He set up shop, cut the doors to 80”, planned the
door swings and ordered materials one the first Saturday. Last Saturday
Bernie and I ripped and planed the door jambs and Bernie had all but
installed two of the doors. Bernie created a jig to expedite notching
for the hinges on the jambs. There are 21 hinges involved. Custom jambs
were needed since we used 5/8th inch sheetrock. One more day and all
our interior doors should be done. Bernie is another busy, full time
Christian professional from the area that heard of the work going on at
Good Tidings and asked to be involved. I gladly gave him my task of
hanging doors.
Since Bernie took over the door project, I was able to installed the
hot and cold water plumbing into the two bathrooms in the last two
Saturdays and have prepped the rooms for Robbie Bumbalo to install
toilets and the shower mechanisms this weekend. Also a local contractor
bartered with Mr. Borman and he filled on our electric trench.
Please keep us in your prayers this weekend. It will be pandemonium at
the camp. There is a board meeting, Paul Owens from Long Island is
going to finish the electric work. James OReilly, Joe Wade and Joe
Fratti are installing sheetrock in the bathrooms. Robbie and I will be
continuing the plumbing in the bathrooms. George Routis may be joining
us filling in trenches and completing the hookup of the septic. Friday,
Ann will begin priming the bedrooms with a team of painters. Pray for
safety and good productivity. I can guarantee the fellowship will be
excellent. This combination of professionals and amateurs love the Lord
and want to see a move of God. That is why they volunteer. They are
storing up treasures in heaven where the moth will not eat it or the
rust corrupt it.
To our donors, expenses expected soon are carpeting, materials for bunk
beds, door hardware, a hot water heater, a water tank, and purchase of
the vanity and faucets for the lavatories. We need material for
enclosures in the lavatories and we need molding for windows and doors.
I expect to be at Good Tidings every weekend through May. Send me and
email if you can volunteer. Mr. and Mrs. Borman always provide an
excellent hot lunch.
We need a plumber to install the water tank to the well and the hot
water heater. We need a truck and driver to move the siding waiting for
us in the Adirondacks to the camp. The dorm will have log siding.
If you would like to contribute to a project with a great return on
investment hopefully for decades to come, where you can assist a young
person finding a new life in Christ, where its leadership buys
materials out of their own pocket to install on their own time, Good
Tidings is the place. All labor to this point has been by volunteers.
That means every dollar goes to materials. Please visit our web page
for our address and send a check to Good Tidings and mark it
“building fund”.
www.goodtidingsfellowship.com
Kevin J O'Reilly –
Board Secretary – Good Tiding Bible Conference
April 24th, 2007
Greetings Beloved,
Progress on the dorm construction and the deadline are rapidly
advancing. Last weekend we proved the plumbing. Robbie Bumbalo’s
work was flawless, not a leak from any seam. However the sheetrock crew
did give us a leak in the ceiling so I had to cut a hole in the rock to
get at it. A split pipe and a bad crimp were repaired in the utility
room and we are ready for a hook up of the water tank, hot water heater
and rock the bathrooms.
As I type, Keith Rousselle is putting paint on the ceilings in the
bedrooms. Ann O and Debbie Borman are choosing carpet colors which will
determine our finished paint coat. I hope that Ann will begin the
finished coats on the walls in the bedrooms. If anyone would like to
volunteer, this is a lot of painting. This Saturday I will be rocking
the bathrooms and could use a hand. Once the paint is on the walls we
can have Paul Owens, the master electrician from Long Island come and
hook our electric heat up.
Jim and Annie Bolger were on site this weekend working the soffits and
it looks great. It looks like they have one more day’s work on
the soffits. Matt Taylor completed digging the drainage trench along
the access road and covered the septic tank.
Here is the short list.
• Soffit completion
• Siding
• Exterior doors hanging
• Interior doors hanging
• Bathroom build out (toilets, sink, shower install)
• Bunk bed construction
• Finished molding
• Grading the landscape
• Water tank and Hot water heater install
Givers and laborers please stay focused, we have rounded third and it is going to be a play at the plate. Please keep us in your prayers. God has been amazingly faithful bringing resources to the need. For your info I have personally put off skiing, striper fishing and turkey hunting this year to get this building online. Now how’s that for a sacrifice from a fat cat American. It is about getting souls into the kingdom of God for eternity. We have a Christian camp close to home with a five state view run by a director with the gift of hospitality and who paradoxically could care less about offending the world with the proclamation of the Gospel and who is willing to take reasonable risks in so doing. It does not get any better.
I have enclosed a couple recent pictures of the dorm.
Kevin J O'Reilly
March 15, 2007
We continue to make strides on bringing the dorm to completion by the
summer camping season. It is going to be close so pleasssssse keep us
in your prayers.
The taping has begun. Keith Rousselle, the GTBC board president has again rolled up his sleeves and took advantage of the warm weather and laid tape in several rooms. Keith has allot of work in front of him. Any volunteers would be appreciated. If you know any young person who would like to learn the skill, give Keith a call.
We are staged for the rough plumbing as well. I had dinner with Bob Bumbalo. Bob is a professional bathroom remodeler and tile-man. Bob asked what the pay would be. I said nothing. It's a missionary project for kids. He basically said, "I'm in". Bob and I are staged to install the rough plumbing on April 1. After that we can sheetrock the bathrooms (Nick, Joe, Matt, Tom and KJ please be ready)
I have had a commitment from Sam Makely from Greenville who is a professional builder to send a team of two carpenters for a week to do the molding and window jambs. He is sending them as volunteers and trusting that God will carve a hole in his busy schedule when we need him. When I told Sam of the need, he responded that finished carpentry is their specialty. I shrugged his idea off explaining that this is a missionary project by an all volunteer force. He repeated the offer. He met me at the camp last Sunday, I showed him the nearly completed dorm and we shook hands. Sam obviously want's a piece of the action and a chance at eternal rewards and putting his strong hands about the slimy neck of Satan. . . and squeezing.
In
April I will be hanging all the interior doors and Keith will be
bringing the taping to completion.We need to begin building bunk beds
somewhere between now and June. Ann OReilly will be assembling a team
of painters. Painting is an excellent opportunity for a non
professional builder to get a piece of the action at Good Tidings. Call
me or Mr. B if you are interested or email me.
We need volunteers to do finished electrical work, the rough stuff is done. This means outlets and lights.
I would like to thank our financial donors for keeping up with our volunteer labor force. So far, when we have had the labor, the financing has been there.
Here is what is at stake, camp director Borman sent this to me today:
This week I have to make hard budget / hiring decisions for summer. I
am moving ahead, with great anticipation, counting on the new dorm
being done, as per our previous conversations. With your help, and
God's Holy Spirit, I have, this day, set a (private / confidential)
goal of leading over 300 children and teens into a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, the King. That is my real goal for the
summer camping program. Everything else is just fluff... We don't want
to boast - but we do want to work together and to plan.
We are not going to let Mr. Borman or the kids down. We have kids coming from as far a Colorado and New Orleans and many from the NYC metro area this summer. Therefore . . . failure is not an option. Let's get it done.
Kevin J O'Reilly
Board Secretary Good Tiding Bible Conference
February 28, 2007
After taking a breather from the December/January push powered by local
high schoolers and later college and military people home for the
holidays, we began ramping up efforts to finish the project by early
summer. There remains much to do at the dorm to get it ready but a
couple of teams gave us a much needed push.
Jim Bolger of Greenville NY, a professional carpenter donated several
weekends to install the sofits. He and his daughter Annie worked as a
team and are about 70% finished with this aspect of the job.
Jose Rodrigues, a GTBC board member got his youth group to come up to
GTBC from the Bronx. Jose feels as I do that good Christian
discipleship includes service for the kingdom and his group could not
wait to get their collective hands on the dorm. These young folks
understand what is at stake, young people lives that need a personal
relationship with Jesus the Messiah and even the future of this country
and if we are going to continue to be Judeo Christian in world view,
values and priorities. These young people rolled out attic blanket in
the dorm. Whereas we needed tall people for the sheet rocking, we
needed the balanced smaller young men for this task. They worked in a
crawl space walking on narrow boards and the edges of the trusses
avoiding putting their feet through the sheetrock. Added to this team
were two local teenagers Jayson Protinova and old reliable Josh
Henderson. This is a tough, lousy job to be stuck with and they got it
done. The also prepped the rough window openings for the next team.
Last Saturday, Nick McCarroll and Jeff King installed 12 of the 13
windows in the building. Mr. Borman says the building is looking
fantastic with the windows in. God provided Nick and Jeff and sunny
winter day in the Catskill. The windows that Keith Hvizdak ordered fit
perfectly in the rough opening.
More good news is in the assistance of a plumber. An old friend Robert
Bumbalo from La Grangeville NY has said he would do the rough plumbing.
I will be assisting him. I expect to be every weekend at the dorm in
April hanging interior doors as well as helping with the rough plumbing.
Special thanks are due to our contributors who continue to provide us
with building materials. All labors to this point are done via
volunteers and it is my personal hope that we will remain so. We have
the talent in the body of Christ. If we are to win the day and the
battle against atheism and lawlessness rampant in our land then each
must be willing to sacrifice to reach the youth. As in the days when
Nehemiah built the wall around Jerusalem, we must labor and keep
God’s business a priority. The harvest is ready but the laborers
are few. This dorm must be completed on time. I told Mr. Borman to
market this building this summer, that we would complete it on time.
Please keep is us in prayer, keep financing the project, and if you
have talents in the building trades, call us - soon. Time is quickly
running out for the summer.
Here is what is left to be done.
- Exterior doors installation
- Interior doors installation – Kevin OReilly
- Tyvek outside walls
- Install log siding & trim - Tim Brown
- Apply metal siding to eaves
- Bathroom rough plumbing – Robbie Bumbalo
- Exterior septic tank – complete installation and backfill – Larry Myer and George Routis
- Gray water septic line – complete "clean out" at bend in field - Larry Myer
- Utility closet rough plumbing
- Utility closet electrical
- Purchase and install water treatment & storage in closets
- Bathroom green board walls and ceiling
- Frame shower stalls
- Frame toilet partitions
- Tile job at entrance way / rear door / bathroom showers / bathroom floors
- Install bathroom sinks and toilets
- Shower and sink fixtures
- Tape sheetrock - 10 rooms
- Prime & paint 10 rooms
- Bathroom mirrors installed
- Bathroom towel hangers installed
- Complete bathroom fan connections in attic to outside vent(s)
- Install interior electrical fixtures throughout
- Install interior electrical heaters
- Carpet installed throughout
- Bunk beds built
- New mattresses ordered – new linen(s) ordered
Please call us if you can help.
Sincerely,
Kevin OReilly
GTBC board secretary
January 10, 2007
Greetings Brethren,
I have some good news from the top O the Catskills. (a little brogue)
As mentioned earlier, being able to utilize the volunteer workforce of young adults in the area, home on the holidays from the military and college was paramount on my agenda this fall. The Insulation of the building in early December put us on that path. Having begun the sheet rocking prior to Christmas, we had what I thought was two full day of sheet rocking to get the building past the point requiring massive labor. Amazingly, we began . . . and ended in a single day what should have taken to or three days. On New Year’s weekend we were able to assemble a team of sheet rockers on Saturday that were able to complete the building save only for the bathrooms.
When we first arrived Saturday morning at 8 AM, we had (14) 14 footers and (9) 16 footers to install plus the (44) newly ordered 12 footers to complete all the ceilings and walls in the 7 bedrooms. All totaled, I had a hoped if we had enough labor with the experience gained by the previous sessions to hang 76 pieces of sheet rock. I felt it was remotely possible and would depend on volunteers showing up. I had only one day left to give myself since I had been on site every weekend for the last month.
The day began at 8 AM with my wife and me and three of my sons. Then our favorite ceiling sheet rocker, the 6’-10” Dan Harding showed up. Another major addition was Mike the guest preacher at the winter camp that ended that day, in from Chicago, and a builder by trade. We made Dan and Mike a team and put them to work in the ceilings of bedrooms that were not rocked at this time. James and Matt O’Reilly with Rachel Raffo began work on the 28’ X 16’ great room. Tom and Ann O’Reilly and I began the unfinished walls in the bedrooms. Mike, fast and talented in building trades, combined with Dan who did not need any lifts ripped through their ceiling much faster that I could have expected. Mike’s experience and Dan’s height, not using anything but a singe “dead man” T, put up 12 foot 5/8th inch sheet after sheet in fast order. Matt and James methodically rocked the great room at the pace I was looking for, for two strong young men with an engineering degree and chemistry background between them. I was hoping that we would get to the hallway ceiling before the day was done if all went well.
But this day God would exceed our expectations. Dan and Mike completed several bedroom ceilings and shifted to the hallway ceiling and completed that task . . . before lunch. James, Matt and Rachael had the ceiling completed in the great room and were on their second wall. Tom and I knocked off putting rock on the walls of two bedrooms. We had three teams working effectively and independently. I now had a problem I never anticipated. My supply of sheetrock, 76 pieces, was significantly whittled down and I had more people looking to join us. More teenagers let out from the winter camp wanted to join us so we put screw guns in their hands, struck a chalk line on the rock and let them go to town. These young folks included Jayson Portinova, Luke O’Reilly, Josh Henderson, Sean O’Reilly, Erica Fratti with her dad Mike (Who had suffered a heart attack three weeks earlier and needed to be jump started with the cables). With a work force like this, I was in danger of running out of rock in short order. I could not have dreamed we would get to the walls of the hallway this day. I ordered another (30) 8 footers for the hall walls and (8) 10 footers in the hope me might begin the bathrooms ceilings. GNH Lumber out of Windham NY, led by Bill Leber, delivered the materials promptly as they always have.
We then dug into lunch prepared by the Good Tiding kitchen staff who hung around after winter camp ended. After the lunch hosted by Bob and Deb Borman, we tackled the walls in the hallway and the Matt, James, Rachael, and Josh team completed the great room. Mike’s experience was critical in the hallway wall phase because it seems that stud intervals were 16 inches whenever a door was not involved on the north wall. There were four doors. Mike’s keen eye and experience navigated this problem easily not slowing us down. The extra 10 footers ordered for the bathroom helped Mike move around the stud spacing obstacles in the hallway. At days end we had only a few small spots around the doors on the gable ends and the bathrooms yet to be rocked. We hung a total of 108 pieces of sheetrock in the company of mostly young adults, my wife and I, Mr. Borman and Mike the only professional carpenter. We were able to capitalize on the labor pool available during the holidays. Many gave Jesus an awesome Christmas present, bed space for people to come hear about his forgiveness and gift of eternal life at Good Tidings.
It was an amazing day that left Mr. Borman and I stunned. 108 pieces of sheet rock were hung this day. We have had several “big days” at camp and this was among the best. It was truly a day of days at Good Tidings.
Now it is time for the windows and the external siding. We have finances for 6 of the 13 windows needed to date. The excavator, George Routis gave $200 for a window after giving two of his weekends as a volunteer putting in our septic system. Another area carpenter volunteered to install our sofits (roof overhangs) and will order the material. Furthermore, Mr. Borman, as camp director, has motivated people, prayed, provided materials and advice, and rolled up his sleeves and jumped in with us. He cooks, cleans, frames, insulates, rocks, jumps in holes and digs. If he ever gets down, not a soul would know. A leader like this is worth his weight in gold. Good Tidings has truly been blessed with a man who has over and over laid his life down for the kingdom with a servant attitude and old fashioned hustle. I also have a profound appreciation for my sons who have many times carried the day through service and sweat equity. Thank you, John, James, Pete, Matt, Tom and Luke. You too Nick McCarroll and Joe Wade, you don’t have my blood but you are my sons in the Lord and have carried the day many times at Good Tidings.
We need financing for the remaining windows, exterior doors, carpeting and plumbing stuff. We need tapers in April, painters in May. Ladies I will look to you to assist with the priming and painting to give the men a break so please be ready in May.
Sincerely,
Kevin J O'Reilly – Good Tidings board secretary