It’s the 14th of September and to paraphrase Erich Remarque “it is all quiet on the construction front," gradually, day-by-day, regular Church life is making the new areas its own and a familiar sense of “normality” is starting to settle over the campus.
This is not to say everything under the new building project is finished, there are many tasks still to do but happily the “growing in space” is done, at least for the present, so now it is all about the “growing in spirit.” So, what of those remaining tasks, what, at least to me, represents success at the end of the new building project? Well, there are some obvious things such as the cabinetry that will deliver shelves to the new library, storage and working surfaces for the Altar Guild and last, but by no means least, display cabinets in the Narthex. Then there is a raft of “nitty-gritty” purchases still be done that will equip the vesting room with clothing racks and various other spaces with shelving. There are to be display monitors in the Narthex and the “coffee nook” to equip and the “Good Shepherd” stain glass panel to install in the Great Hall. The parish hall is still to be completed and to that end the new carpet should be installed within the next two weeks followed by a final coat of paint (the hall's walls not the carpet) and soon a new telephone system will be installed in the Church offices. Outside, the scruffy “contractor grade” grass will be removed, and new grass seed laid and before the end of the project a new exterior lighting package will be installed. There is also a punch list to work through, although with Scott Crumley’s eagle eyes on every stage of construction it is a very short list indeed but nevertheless there are some electrical issues to resolve, not least to standardize the timed lighting systems so all our new rooms work the same way, some touch up painting to be done and a wee bit of dry wall to repair. With that short "to-do" list I find it somewhat humbling to look back in time towards the genesis of the new building project and think about the great number of parishioners who gave so freely of their time, talent, and treasure to make the “growing in space” ambition a reality. For my part it has been a great privilege (and no small amount of luck to get involved just as the fun part starts) to have had the opportunity to “masquerade” as the project manager and a great deal of my thanks goes to Scott Crumley and Jill Woolard for being the nicest and most tolerant “contractors” I have ever worked with. What ODEC has today is a testament to their professionalism and skills……... …….. and with those almost “Oscar worthy” sentiments I must also thank everyone else who contributed so much over the past two years in particular Gretchen Hood, Mal Higgins, Ann Perry, Bill Waide, David Burt, Ned Kuhns, the accounting team and a special thanks to Father Bob for, in the most part, trusting me to get on with it! Finally I must thank anyone and everyone who has followed this meandering, diatribe of a blog – some of it even written in Britspeak - over the past 2 plus years (in some cases even posting the occasional comment). You have been very generous and forgiving! With that I’ll just “Giss on”*and bid you “pip-pip.” Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach. “Giss on”: Cornish vernacular for “Stop talking absolute rubbish”; Cornwall a county in England (it’s the one right down in the southwest tip of England) “Pip-pip”: 1930’s English aristocratic term for “goodbye”
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AuthorDavid Beach is our Building Project Manager, and has been an active part of our parish family for more than a decade. He is retired from NATO and the British Army and is a joy and blessing to all of us. Archives
July 2021
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