I have been out of town of late and that’s reflected in my recent “blogging” routine but have no concerns, whether I’m in or out of town it’s all quite irrelevant when it comes to the relentless march of building progress. What a difference a week makes but more about that in my next offering.
Today I’m going to turn my “blog light” away from construction and give you the “Bobby Moore*” on the ODEC team working on the construction project, a team that seldom gets a mention! Just this past week the Building & Facilities Planning Commission (BFPC) met under the able leadership of David Burt – I call him David The Yank (DTY) and he calls me David The Brit (DTB) – to discuss ODEC’s requirements for furnishing the new buildings and the Historic Traditions Commission’s ambitions for bookshelves and display cases. Establishing requirements is always a tricky process so I for one am very grateful to DTY and his BFPC for taking this on and whilst I sat in my car participating in the Zoom meeting from afar, I was struck by how lucky we are to have such dedicated parishioners who are willing to give of their time. There was Bob Perrine and Jackie Murray ably supported by Chaille Lindo all pitching on behalf of the Historic Traditions Commission and painting a vision for using the new spaces to bring ODEC’s rich history to life. Then after the meeting, Bob giving even more time to translate that vision into tangible requirements by providing detailed sizes for the proposed shelves and display cases, all carefully marked up on the floor plan for the Narthex and new Library. Then there was Father Bob and Gretchen Hood, the former describing his vision for contemporary worship in the Great Hall (couple of actions falling to me out of that) and then he and Gretchen describing how the rooms in the new rear wing would have multiple roles to maximize their usage. Of course, everyone had an opinion about furniture – in fact I think there were 16 different opinions from the 10 or so attendees – so how lucky we are to have two professional experts, and longtime building project contributors in so many significant ways, Ann Perry and Bill Waide. Ann who is ODEC’s own “doyenne of internal design” and Bill who is, amongst a great deal of other things, ODEC’s own “dean of furniture and fittings.” Between them they skillfully guided the discussion around the bear traps and pitfalls that without their expertise we would have certainly fallen foul of. Then, at the end of the meeting, both volunteering to apply their professional skills to computer model various options for furniture and fittings so the BFPC’s decision making processes will be better informed. Stepping away from DTY’s Zoom meeting there are many others who give unstinting support to the new building project. There is Carl Sterzing whose professional review of our contractor’s lighting package proposal made all of us more enlightened and confident we had a good proposal. Then there’s Doug Weiss who with infinite patience has led us through the intricacies of studio construction in order that we might realize another ambition. I couldn’t end this “shout out” to the volunteers without mentioning Stuart Forbes and his Tuesday Yard Crew for all the work they have done to clear up and clear out spaces before and after the flying fickle finger of construction has passed by and one more call out to Bill Waide for his expert advice in the field of neighbor relationship management (or otherwise)! Nearly last but not nearly least there’s the financial crew. Ned Kuhns for continually finding the money I’m continually spending, Diane Miller and Terri Piston for making it so easy to spend that money and for Jill Woolard, from the Crumley Group, for keeping all of the subs and their subs in tight fiscal order. And last but not least there’s Mal Higgins our friendly (at least to date) attorney at law not just because he has so freely given an exorbitant amount of his professional time over the past 18 months to the project but also, and more importantly, because he is the regular contributor of comments on this blog (brown envelop in the usual place Mal). So, folks, when you read about the exciting “doings” of those in the blogging spotlight such as the Bueno Wellie Gang, Ryan’s site team from Higgerson, The Crumley Group or the roof framers please also spare a thought for the rest of the unsung members of the team that make the wheels of our building project turn. Stay safe and stay healthy, David Beach. “Bobby Moore:” Cockney rhyming slang “Bobby Moore” means “score” so I expect that’s made it a lot clearer! A cockney is a Londoner who is born within the sounds of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow church and Cockney rhyming slang is a local form of speech. Other examples include “whistle and flute” means suit, “Adam and Eve it” means would you believe it, “apples and pears” mean stairs. Bobby Moore was the captain of the England football team (soccer) that won the FIFA World Cup in 1966 (since then our national side has not exactly been a world football dominating power so we English have to draw succor from the single win albeit over 50 years ago) so in rhyming slang “Bobby Moore” means “score” which in itself means “what’s happening” (after all of that description I’m beginning to wish I had just blogged “what’s happening”!!!)
1 Comment
Mal Higgins
12/11/2020 11:52:14 am
What a great behind the scenes account of the myriad players who have devoted so much personal time to Bobby Moore this project. [I am wondering if Bobby Moore can be used as a verb!]
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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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