Sod busters!

08/16/2007

The Habitat New Orleans crew is living the good life. They arrived at the East Jefferson Family YMCA and were greeted by Dave, the Executive Director. He showed them to their accommodations in the Teen Center which includes a pool table, refridgerator, and tv/dvd setup. The showers are across the hall from their sleeping area and the grocery store they have shopped at is literally around the corner. Work began with Habitat for Humanity on Tuesday at the Musician’s Village. The crew split up with some people working on spacling with Katie and others working on putting up trim with Kenny. Drew, Tim, and Marti all jumped up as leaders and helped guide the groups through their jobs. By the end of the day, they were all pros. Wednesday was a great day for them. There was a dedication at a house in another part of the city. Our kids were invited to help finish the house and prepare it for the family. At the beginning of the day, the front yard consisted of dirt, a port-a-let, and a sink. By the end of the day, there was a lawn, flower boxes, and bushes planted. Max and Tim took the lead on this huge undertaking. Our crew single-handedly laid sod in the entire front lawn and planted the bushes. One of the long-time volunteers on the site told Katie something like the following:

“Usually we groan when we hear that there is a group of teens coming. Y’all are awesome! Thank you for coming down.”

New York and Frost Valley are being well-represented. Wednesday was also Emily’s birthday! There was cake and she got to choose the restaurant for dinner. They ended up at the Jukebox Diner (every New Yorker loves a good diner) for the evening before heading back to the YMCA for a showing of “The Princess Bride”. Everyone is getting along, working together well, and playing lots of frisbee.

Thursday they will be hitting the town including a visit to the French Quarter and Mardi Gras World. Pictures will be forthcoming and will be posted as soon as possible.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Zach eigenbrodt

Born and raised in Wisconsin, Zach couldn't keep himself out of the woods when growing up. He started working at a Northern Wisconsin YMCA Camp as a wilderness trip leader while in college and fell in love with getting kids into nature. The smiles on kids faces after returning from a once in a life time wilderness experience is why he is here today. Zach brought his talents to Frost Valley YMCA, in 2014, when he started as the Trips Coordinator and soon was promoted to Adventure Director. Zach loves all forms of Wilderness exploration, though some would say his heart lies most with canoeing.