Thursday night bonfire

This wall was built by us

The night ended with our evening group circle in which everyone was thankful for their experience and the ability to help others. The chaperones were thankful for the opportunity of seeing friendships develop and strengthen throughout the week. The Senior Youth Group Mission trip is truly a special time for the children as well as for the adults.

Tomorrow the group heads out of Orland Maine to a water park in Portsmouth New Hampshire. After spending a couple of hours there, we will be returning to Madison where everyone will be happy to have a warm shower and a comfortable mattress to sleep on.

Even with the overcast skies and a 30% chance of rain, the work groups were able to be outside. The highlight of the day was that our group hosted a community cook-out for the local residents and the employees of H.O.M.E

Kids just hanging

In the end, one group was able to go and practice their demolition skills by working in a house that needed to be gutted. Dressed in their protective gear, they removed the floors and cabinets.

The other groups remained on the premise working in the daycare, helping organize the thrift store and working in the market store.

The sky cleared by noon and by 3pm we were off to the state fair in Bangor where there was plenty of fried dough, oreos and kool-aid to be eaten.

And because there has been a request  (everyone was happy cooking(candid shots are sometimes deceiving))

We made a duck. And built a house.

The rest will be left to pictures

Mr. Meier’s group (Ned, Carter, Lauren, Caroline and Izzie) worked on a house that needed its shingles repaired, insulation underneath the house and cinder blocks neatly stacked onto a trailer.

H.O.M.E’s primary source of heating is through use of firewood so Mrs. Kane’s group (Taylor, Brandon, Kat, Devin and Gracie) worked on a firewood pile. The group worked as a team to split the wood and then restack the pile in preparation for winter.

A new house being built from the ground up brought much excitement to Mr. Chin’s group (Chris, Nick, Janie, Erin and Milan) as they were able to swing hammers and on occasion hit the nail. The walls on the second floor needed to be framed out and then cover with plywood, so there was lots of work to do and all the kids enjoyed the hard labor.

Mrs. Allen’s group (Ryland, Tyler, Kaila, Leah, Emma) had the most important work for the day- cooking dinner for the group. However before they could start that, the group needed to reorganize another shed on the site and then do some painting around the Chapel that is on site. From there, they were off to the food store to get all the supplies for chicken parmesan with pasta and fresh salad….. Delicious!

The night ended with team building exercises by Morgan and group recap of each groups experiences so far.

Our first stop was in Marlboro, Ma where we stopped to eat lunch. Everyone had a choice between Five Guys burgers, Papa Ginos or Panera Bread. Majority of the kids chose Five Guys while most of the adults did not.

Once we got into Maine, the rain started and we were all praying that it would stop when it was time to unload. Fortunately, by the time we stopped for dinner, the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset in the town of Camden. We were also able to meet up with Ned Berky who came from New Hampshire after visiting some relatives. Our mission trip team is now complete.

Tomorrow morning we meet with the H.O.M.E volunteer that will assign us some work projects…. Stay tuned