April 10th Work Day
Saturday, April 10, 2010
By Karen Walk
We had a great workday at the Washington Ames House today. A little cooler than we expected, but not bad. The morning started about 8:30 am with Curt, Lana, Chris and Dennis Kreutzer, Donna and Colton Northrup, Dean Wiegers and Kelley Burch working in the yard. Curtis dug a rose garden with a backhoe from Cargill. An antique rose bush from Donna Krenzel was planted in the garden. This rose bush came from the old Johnson’s Store, a business that was in Leoti many years ago. Donna said this is a very, very old bush. Several other rose bushes were transplanted from the north side of the “big house” property. A vintage bird bath will be mounted on a disc, painted and put into the garden a little later. Ties, mulch and some of Margie’s prize rocks were added to finish the “historic rose garden.” We’ve still got a little extra dirt pile that we will go ahead and use to fill small holes and low places in the yard.
The guys, along with Lana and Donna worked removing a lot of tree stumps and a huge cactus from the yard, with the help of the back hoe. Those young boys did great swinging axes to cut off the roots of the trees. They stayed pretty clear of the cactus, though! Kelley was on hand with a Wheatland Electric tractor loading the cactus on a trailer, filling in huge holes, and loading several big trailer loads of yard waste to be taken to the landfill. Lana and Dennis were our truck drivers in their pickup and a Cargill trailer from the mill. It was great to have such hard working people and their equipment.
While all of this action was going on outside, there were a number of people inside working. Jeanene French, Deana Reh, Virginia Knobbe, Glenda Ford were busy removing wall paper in the parlor. Don French and Donna Northrup were out on the back porch, priming wood for new screens, and putting several together. That will be great to have them all done. Hank Knobbe was in the basement cleaning up the furnace room and then worked on another project replacing a bunch of round headed screws with countersunk screws in a large piece of peg board that is hanging on a wall. I know this sounds real weird, but… trust me, I think it will look cool after it is wallpapered! We will have to get some pictures of this to show you all what we are doing there!
The coffee pot was on this morning with cookies by Jeanene. Then we all stopped for a great lunch prepared and served by the WCHS football players at the Western Hardware. Throughout the day, we had several people taking a tour of the house, these included Kenny Farr, Tere Howard, Charlie Blau and Doris Langdon. People are always impressed with the beautiful woodwork and especially in the fact that it has never been painted. All in all, we had a great day and really appreciate everyone’s help.
By Karen Walk
We had a great workday at the Washington Ames House today. A little cooler than we expected, but not bad. The morning started about 8:30 am with Curt, Lana, Chris and Dennis Kreutzer, Donna and Colton Northrup, Dean Wiegers and Kelley Burch working in the yard. Curtis dug a rose garden with a backhoe from Cargill. An antique rose bush from Donna Krenzel was planted in the garden. This rose bush came from the old Johnson’s Store, a business that was in Leoti many years ago. Donna said this is a very, very old bush. Several other rose bushes were transplanted from the north side of the “big house” property. A vintage bird bath will be mounted on a disc, painted and put into the garden a little later. Ties, mulch and some of Margie’s prize rocks were added to finish the “historic rose garden.” We’ve still got a little extra dirt pile that we will go ahead and use to fill small holes and low places in the yard.
The guys, along with Lana and Donna worked removing a lot of tree stumps and a huge cactus from the yard, with the help of the back hoe. Those young boys did great swinging axes to cut off the roots of the trees. They stayed pretty clear of the cactus, though! Kelley was on hand with a Wheatland Electric tractor loading the cactus on a trailer, filling in huge holes, and loading several big trailer loads of yard waste to be taken to the landfill. Lana and Dennis were our truck drivers in their pickup and a Cargill trailer from the mill. It was great to have such hard working people and their equipment.
While all of this action was going on outside, there were a number of people inside working. Jeanene French, Deana Reh, Virginia Knobbe, Glenda Ford were busy removing wall paper in the parlor. Don French and Donna Northrup were out on the back porch, priming wood for new screens, and putting several together. That will be great to have them all done. Hank Knobbe was in the basement cleaning up the furnace room and then worked on another project replacing a bunch of round headed screws with countersunk screws in a large piece of peg board that is hanging on a wall. I know this sounds real weird, but… trust me, I think it will look cool after it is wallpapered! We will have to get some pictures of this to show you all what we are doing there!
The coffee pot was on this morning with cookies by Jeanene. Then we all stopped for a great lunch prepared and served by the WCHS football players at the Western Hardware. Throughout the day, we had several people taking a tour of the house, these included Kenny Farr, Tere Howard, Charlie Blau and Doris Langdon. People are always impressed with the beautiful woodwork and especially in the fact that it has never been painted. All in all, we had a great day and really appreciate everyone’s help.
What a great day! Lots of laughing too. Really enjoyed it. Hope more can come join in the fun the next work day. No need for "skills", just a smile & some elbow grease or even just good coversation! The yard looks great! You guys did wonderful. See you next time!
Deana
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