Sunburn season is upon us, and boy did I get a whopper of one over the weekend.   Friday after work, Brian and I mowed Penny's lower 40 for the second time.  It was beautiful weather, so we thought it best to take advantage of it.  After mowing we enjoyed some adult beverages, and worked on organizing her garage; removing a plethora of cardboard boxes, breaking them down and boxing them up.  All told, I'm fairly confident to estimate that we prepped 50 or more pounds of cardboard for recycling.  Penny also donated around 50 pair of shoes to BR's collection for Haiti.  Way to go Penny!!!

On Saturday, Brian, Penny and I drove to Cuba/Rushford to go antiquing and pick up some perennials from the plant lady (another post).  Needless to say the weather was fantastic, so we had the sunroof open.   I've apparently forgotten that I'm Irish, have no hair, and tan like a fork in the microwave.  Top of the head burnt, when we returned to town, I donned a cap and spend 2 hours working on the bank in front of the house.  Raking, digging, planting, more raking, etc. etc. etc.  In the end, the bank showed improvement and I was left with two mountainous piles of soil and degrading mulch on the sidewalk.

Today, I awoke with a brilliant idea.  Necessity is the mother of invention, and it was necessary that I find some other way to get the dirt from the bank out back without having to use my rickety wheelbarrow.  I called Brian, who obliged my request to convert his Hummer into an urban dump truck using a blue tarp and a snow shovel.  We hauled the first load up the hill and the send we took to his house to use as base material for a raised bed.  We then headed to Wal-mart to pick up some potting soil for porch boxes and some topsoil to mix in with the soil at his house.  Dirt delivered, we planted sunflowers and put the cardboard from Penny's to the curb. We returned to my house and dug up some plantings for around Brian's house.  By time we were done his urban dump truck had been refilled with flora for his homestead.  Another side note, Brian donated two monitors and a keyboard to BR's computer drive for Haiti..  Way to go Brian!!!  Unfortunately, I put these both in the back of my car, and summarily forgot about them, so when i opened the back of the Suzuki on of the 25 pounders fell out and landed on my foot.   While my toes remained intact, I have a massive bruise and the monitor was kaput..,

After Bubba left I picked up weeds that we had pulled while plant picking and moved around 100 daffodil bulbs from the front of the house to the built in planter off of the back patio.  When I bought the 5 gallon pail of bulbs last summer I thought they would make a beautiful addition to the gardens, but let me tell you, a 5 gallon bucket of bulbs equals a LOT of plants that take up a LOT of room.  After planting, I weedeated around the house, planted geraniums in the porch boxes and moved some hosts to the back of the house, where I think they'll do better given the shade.

At 2:30 I went to meet Jim and Jen in Allegany to help out with work in Bob's Woods.  For those of unfamiliar with Bob's woods, its a system of trails that BR has made over the past several years.  Its an absolutely beautiful system that I would highly recommend it to any outdoor enthusiasts, including hikers, bikers, runners and walkers.  You can access the trail from several points on the SBU campus, as well as from Gargoyle Park.  There may likely be other areas that I am not aware of, but make the effort to go.  You won't be disappointed. We began at the storage area to pick up chainsaws, mowers, etc, and headed to the West end of the trail, where Jim and I mowed double wide trail paths (think of two snowplows following each other clear a highway).  We then parted ways to mow other parts of the west trail, with Jen trimming back brush and the like as we went.  After mowing we removed a tree that was blocking the path and proceeded to the East side of the system.  Again, Jim and I mowed in a follow the leader formation, and then split off with he heading toward gargoyle park, and myself doubling back to mow the south trail of the East end.  Imagine if you will that go for a 10 mile hike across an uneven, occasionally difficult in a wooded area , and for fun, decide to push the law mower the whole way.  Been there, done that.

We wrapped up the day on the gargoyle Park side of the trail system, and then doubled back to storage to unload.   On that note, I've taken muscles relaxer and smeared myself with lotion, so its off to bed for me.  Great weekend!!!  Congratulations SBU grads!!!!

-Nate

Sunday was the second day of local service weekend, and WOW, did we get a lot done.  You can read Jim's recap over at BonaResponds.org, but here is a rundown on my contribution...

Began the day at 10am again with a recap of avaialble jobs from Jim.  After that we broke into groups, with myself as part of the Rive Road Cleaan up crew pictured below:

It was our intent to cleanup along the roadway alone, but after surveying the area, it quickly became obvious that the area over the bank, directly next to the rive required significant attention.  I was stunned by the absolute volume of plastic bottles, styrofoam, shoes, typewriters, toys, siding, tires, and various other nonsense that people apparently just toss into the river or along the river bank.  Below is a picture of what we brought up over the hill to be hauled away...

Total count for trash at this location included 28 contractor bags (45 gallon) of trash, 14 tires, and two "mountains" of trash that wouldn't fit in bags.  What's not pictured is another pile of barbed wire and miscellaneous steel that had been tossed.  A few highlights of the day included the state police stopping by after they received reports that we were dumping trash (duh), and Jim's conversation with the township to arrange for the pickup of our collection.  At first they wanted to send only a pickup truck, but after further explanation, agreed that it might be a job more appropriate for the county to handle.  Below is the site after the county came and picked up the trash.  They ended up using a dump truck, a payloader AND a pickup.  The their credit, they also pushed a slab of dumbed blacktop off to the side so the area was more usable.  Jim later wrote his congressman to ask that the site be turned into a picnic area.

After the morning long cleanup, several of us headed off to dissassemble a wheelchair ramp that BR and CYS had put up the year before.  Unfortunately, Bill, the gentleman for whom the ramp was built, passed away a couple of weeks ago.  His wife asked that the ramp be removed so that it can be used later at another location.  We arrived between 1 and 2 pm and began by removing the deck addition that had been added on to the back of the porch to accomodate the length of the ramp.

While the guys worked on this portion of the teardown, I was fortunate to have an opportunity to visit with Mary, Bill's widow, who turned out to be a very kind, sweet, and good-spirited woman.  We talked about Bill, we talked about my uncle, and in some strange way, we bonded.  I could appreciate her feelings, and she could appreciate mine, it was rewarding to say the least...  

We continued by removing the railings and taking the ramp itself apart in two sections.  

We carried both sections, along with the cleaned up lumber to the front of the house for Pete from CYS to pick up on Tuesday night.  We also replanted several of Mary's shrubs and raked out the gravel at the ramp entrance to level the yard.   Mary needs some help with a painting project that she and Bill started, so perhaps we can get some more yard work done when we go over to paint.  Possibly this coming Saturday.

After the work was done at Mary's it was time to wind down the day.  Several crews met at storage to unload tools.  While there, we did some straightening and Jim, Mike, and myself threw together a second toolrack to hold the many rakes, brooms, shovels, etc.  that BR has accumulated.  The day was capped off with a cookout at Univ. Ministries where we shared our accomplishments with each other, and had the pleasure of Mary's company and kind words.

-Nate

I've been texting back and forth with Jim from BonaResponds about a possible Easter weekend trip to Rhode Island or Southern Mass to help with the flooding currently in progress there.   It's an 8 hour trip (not bad) and coincides with St. Bonaventure's Easter/Spring break.  I talked with my friend Pat, who teaches at Providence College who texted the following:  

"dude, sorry I didn't get to your message sooner, but I was out back working on my ark...  rain FINALLY stopped, but it is def f'ed up up here..."

To see what's happening, check out the local Providence news by clicking here.  Hopefully, we can pull something together and get in there to help.  Jim contacted HODR and is waiting to hear back.  What better way to spend Easter than in the service of others?

-Nate

St. Bonaventure's recruitment slogan is "becoming extraordinary", but for anyone that witnessed the amazing work that took place during today's International Service Day, the feeling was BEYOND extraordinary...   Here's a summary of what my day entailed.  A small, relatively insignificant contribution globally, but something that made an amazing difference to the people we helped, as well as in me personally...   

Began the day at 6:30 AM rushing to get things together for what I had already anticipated would be a busy day.  Packed the power tools in the car, scraped the ice (yes, ICE) from the windshield and pulled out from the house around 7 AM.   As today's efforts were in Buffalo, I filled the car with gas, filled my cup with coffee and sped off to meet George, a long time friend and father figure at his house to disassemble the canopy he was nice enough to donate to the BonaResponds group.  George is the type of guy that would invite a total stranger to the house for dinner, he's just THAT nice of a man and I have always respected and envied his commitment to his faith and the values that guide his life.  He reminds me of all that is good in this world.  Upon arrival at George's house, he happily threw on his coat, boots and hat (it was somewhere around freezing at his point in the morning) and joined me on his back patio.  After rummaging in the garage for some sockets and a wrench, he tossed on his knee pads and dropped to ground to wrench out the bolts that secured the canopy to the concrete.  I continue to be amazed at this man's generosity and vigor for helping others.  The bolts released, we muscled the canopy over the hedges and into the yard, where we proceeded to collapse the frame, fold the cover and bag up the goods in the back of the car.  All told the process was a cold, but painless 15 minute demonstration of George's commitment to the greater good.

Tent in tow, I headed back into town to pick up Brian, my bosom pal of nearly ten years, who I convinced that joining me today would be "good for him".  By this point its around 5 till 8 and I'm starting to worry that we won't be to Bonaventure in time to meet the larger group traveling to Buffalo.   For the sake of time, I chose not to swing by the office and collect the camera and newspaper clippings of the Haiti Crutch project.  I regret this, as we ended up with ample time.

Arrived in Olean promptly at 830 to find around 50 students in the Murphy auditorium listening to Jim's recap of the day's local jobs in Olean/Allegany.  I'm sure many of them would have rather gone to Buffalo to be part of the bigger event being held there, but his student leaders selflessly stepped up to lead the local crews while the rest of us disembarked.  As a side note, I saw Brother Ed today, a Franciscan Friar I met nearly a year ago through one of my MBA professors.   Someday soon I'll ask him to make time for me, as he seems the type one could talk to without feeling put out.

The ride up to Villa was absolutely beautiful with the sun shining through the clear, cold spring sky.  Brian and I of course continued our work to solve all of the world's (and our own) problems during the drive up, and I especially enjoyed this morning's banter with my best friend.  After a few minor course corrections, we arrived at Villa right around 1030, where there were already approximately 70-75 students getting ready to head out to the job sites.  After a quick run down of the available sites and a pep talk from Jim, it was off to do good in whatever way we were needed.

Brian and I debated only briefly about which job site to sign up for.  While I initially had hoped to work at the St. Francis Center, a home for young men who need shelter, we had met Sarita, a board member with the Bob Lanier Center who convinced us our help would be needed.  That being said, we headed toward the sign up sheet for same, but were promptly distracted by a small group of 3 students standing around an otherwise empty sign up sheet for the St. Columba-Brigid Youth Center.  Introductions were made, names were posted and we headed off to what we thought would be the building of a garden in memory of Sister Karen Kilmczak, a nun that devoted her life to given others a second chance, who was murdered on Good Friday in 2006 by one of the very men she worked with as part of her mission.  You can hear an interview with Father Roy on NPR from 2006 by clicking here.  I encourage you all to listen, as its a very moving story, and Fr. Roy truly captures her spirit in his description.

Based on the description of the work site I had received prior to arriving, I envisioned our group helping to take up sod, plant flowers and the like along side the youth from the center.  Nothing could have been further from the truth when we actually arrived, as the garden had already been planned for and their were no youth to be found beyond the basketball court across the road from the Church.  LOL  Nonetheless, with open hearts and ready hands we quickly fell under the direction of Paula, a long time parishioner who instructed us on the cleanup and organization of the Church's outbuilding and the moving of materials from the outbuilding to the Church proper.  After a brief meet and greet with Fr. Roy (below left, Kyle right) it was time to commence the workday.

Our fellow volunteers included Kyle H., a student at Villa, Bud, his friend and band mate, and Stephanie, another Villa student majoring in music.  Brian and I were both impressed with their willingness to help and their enthusiasm for volunteering.  While we were 10 years their senior, they showed a quiet deference to our experience and suggestions when appropriate, while we in turn deferred to their youthful energy, physicality and ability to fit in small spaces.

We began by shuffling and re-stacking the Church's collection of around 360 nativity scenes, displayed at Christmas.  The scenes were stacked in boxes, three folding table "shelves" high as pictured below, and required moving to make more space in the work room for other activities that occur outside of the holiday season. 

That being done, it was time for a lunch break.  Our hosts were too kind in providing lunch beyond the PB&Js we had been given at Villa, though their generosity did not go unnoticed.  Lunch turned out to be a blessing of fellowship and laughter.  Below you can see Kyle (left) and Bud (right) enjoying the feast of subs we very much enjoyed.

Following lunch, we began the process of moving books from the outbuilding to the Church proper where the Parish will soon have both a child's and an adult library.  There were several cart and dolly fulls that needed moving but we got it done and the Church will be more easily able to finish the project.  At some point, the sulfates from the sandwiches began to affect our judgment, and we couldn't resist dressing this otherwise ordinary wise man in an old choir robe destined for the trash.  He caught our eye initially for his brilliant coloring, but kept our extended attention based on his wearing of what appeared to be red women's pumps.  Whether historically accurate or not, our group along with the ladies from the church had a chuckle at his expense.  All in good fun.

Our many other tasks today included sorting books to be moved, organizing and moving candles, records and any number of other Parish collectibles, and literally moving Jesus (there were several tabernacles that needed moving) from one building to the other.  We wrapped the day up by helping Fr. Roy disassemble and reassemble around 150 bulletins for the Palm Sunday masses that had been stapled together incorrectly.  In all, a great deal was accomplished, even if we couldn't fully appreciate its impact.  Paula, Fr. Roy and the others were very thankful and invited us back next weekend, just in case we were at a loss for something to do. LOL

We returned to Villa for the "all hands meeting" where groups reported back on what they had accomplished.  It was ASTONISHING!!!    Students had painted walls, cleaned buildings, picked up trash, organized costumes, helped with props, met with locals and so much more.  While I knew we had accomplished a great deal in the eyes of those we were working with, collectively, we had in our own way, changed the face of Buffalo.  More importantly, as a whole, the volunteers from across the globe that answered the call to serve changed the face of the world one microcosm at a time. 

To end our day, students from the Moving Miracles program performed a dance routine to the music of Susan Boyle's rendition of "I dreamed a dream."  They were wonderful and served as an amazing thank you on behalf of the Buffalo community.

I mentioned at the start that today changed my life for the better.  Today something clicked.  Today wasn't work.  Today gave me a feeling I want to experience again, everyday, for the rest of my life.  Certainly I was tired, but it was a good tired; I felt fulfilled for the first time in a long time and I want to stay full, I want to keep that feeling.  While we were at the Church moving books for Fr. Roy, I came across the title "The Lessons of St. Francis" by John Michael Talbot (with Steve Rabey).  The book, which Fr. Roy was kind enough to give me, is about how we can bring simplicity and spirituality into our lives through following the example set for us by St. Francis.  Simplicity, Joy, Humility, Creativity, Community, Compassion, Service and Peace...  all lessons we can learn from the life of a man who lived 800 years ago, and exemplified by the actions of a volunteer group from western new york.

Thank you BonaResponds for the opportunity... 

"I feel all the richer because of my work with them, [not for them, but with them]."  -Sister Karen Kilmczak

-Nate

Photos from today's event can be found here...

Off to a busy start this week, traveling across the state a few times to spread the word about the great work our agency does every day.  On top of that, there's a buzz on the St. Bonaventure campus surrounding the upcoming Miriam Jones concert (friday) and the International Service Day (saturday).   It sounds as if they have a solid plan to get people to the concert, but i'll try to help out by calling some local stations with the details.  Also, for the first time, there will be a BonaResponds ad in the Times Herald, so hopefully that will improve attendance.  Every bit helps as some of my previous posts have demonstrated and it all adds up (soooo cliche, yet sooooo true)...  

As far as international service day goes, I'm pleased to report that my tshirt is ordered, my registration complete and I'm excited to get going on Saturday.  I'm also VERY pleased to report that I've recruited a very good friend of mine, "Bubba", to come along as well.  While he's not necessarily the most handy person I've ever met (we replaced stair treads this past Saturday), he definately has a desire and willingness to try.

If you're in the southern tier / western new york area and you're interested in lending a hand, check out bonaresponds.org and sign up.

This morning I dropped by BonaResponds.org just to see what they have been up to over the past several months since I last visited their site, thinking I should do something nice for someone.  As it turns out, the volunteers that make up this group, predominately students from St. Bonaventure University, have been keeping busy over the winter months.   For those of you not familiar with the group, its a volunteer service organization led by Dr. Jim Mahar, who organize both local and national service days, during which they help out people in need.   Their efforts have included helping victims in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina, Enterprise, AL after a tornado, and Buffalo, NY following some severe weather.  Additionally, they host multiple local services weekends around the region where they help out with smaller scale projects.   In fairness and full disclosure, I'm a Bonaventure grad, and Jim was one the professors in my MBA program.  

I was surprised to learn that the group has collected hundreds of crutches, canes and walkers to be sent to Haiti, and has gone so far as to begin production of make-shift crutches from donated materials...   I'm not sure what it was about this particular effort that struck me, but I thought to myself, "This is something I can help with.  This is something I can do."

I scooted off to the local Goodwill, where after a bit of searching, a helpful attendant appeared from a back room with an armful of crutches and canes.  After a bit of haggling over the price of a walker they had found, the collection was jostling around in the back of my car.  Excitedly, I stopped at the Hospital Auxiliary Resale shop to see what they had to offer and found another 3 sets...   Within a half hour and for around $25 I had collected 8 pairs of crutches, 3 canes, and a walker.  Amazing!!!!

The story doesn't end there though...   It so happens that I was scheduled to attend a lunch meeting at CARE for Children, where I serve on an advisory committee.   After telling them what I had been up to, they confessed to the existence of a "supply room" within which they believed there to be multiple additional sets of crutches for donation.   Five simple words, "Do you have any crutches?" likely resulted in another donation.  I can't wait to see what they come up with... 

Admittedly and ashamedly, this is probably the first real effort I've put into helping others in quite some time.  Sure I buy the occasional raffle ticket for a benefit, but as I said to Jim Mahar in an email reporting my progress, "I'm amazed at what a little time and a couple of bucks could accomplish."   A few inquiries and a gallon of gas buzzing around town will result in over a dozen people being helped.  Please visit bonareponds.org, tell someone else about them, and consider donating to their cause...

-Nate