
PDA Mission Trip #25 (Gatlinburg, TN): Day 3

It’s hump day, and I think we made it through the first hurdle just fine. However, as you know we’ve been missing Mary and Bob Wasik terribly, and today it just boiled over into having to express our emotions in a musical tribute. So, lucky blog readers, you too can see our raw response to the absence of Mary and Bob on our mission trip participants. It may not be appropriate for young children, so exercise your best judgment about who you show this moving musical extravaganza to! Click on https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pq6L_RT1wjTft7nD217t50A38jhyLPTj/view?usp=drivesdk
Now back to the daily basics of what we are really here to accomplish….
Noel Ball’s wife and daughter came to see the progress this afternoon. All the sheet-rock walls are painted! The ceilings were painted north to south yesterday, and east to west today, to make them perfect. After lunch, part of the group painted the second coat on the exterior back of his house – a festive pearl gray that Noel’s wife had picked out herself. Teamwork was evident for this task. Lucille, Dottie, and Maxine painted the low-down siding while Lynn, Bob, and Dave Francis manned the ladders to paint the high siding. We were able to paint the whole back of the house (a fine day’s work, by George!) —Maxine and Lucille
P.S. Noel had a hip replacement since we were here in October, so he can stand up a little straighter.
Six of us went over to Mike Morgan’s house, the veteran who some of us helped in October. Alex, Elisa, and Bernadette sanded the log siding in the basement. The siding had weathered various shades of brown while stacked outside. Sam sawed and installed shelves for Mike’s tools in the basement. I spray-stained the pickets a red mahogany along his amazing wheelchair ramp, with Dinah wiping the drips. Thanks to the blowing wind, the white streaks in my hair as well as my shoes are now red mahogany. Mike says he likes my new, hip spray-on tan.
Mike moved into his house last November 30 and the next day had brain surgery to have a stent put in. He had been told last year that he had only 6 months to live, but now he can walk without a cane and he spends much less time in his motorized wheelchair! In March 2018 he had arm surgery because he had lost the use of one hand. He can use his thumb and two fingers, so he says he’s clumsy and drops things a lot. His wife, Diana, has a heart murmur. Tank, his therapy dog, is as lovable as ever! Mike and Noel are very appreciative of our help. It means a lot to us that they help as much as they can. —Diane
Over at the “far-away” project (an hour east of Gatlinburg), Dave Bastine, Edco, Bruce, and Stuart continued refurbishing two bathrooms – installing toilets, door molding, and a bathtub. Fletcher and Jim joined them in the afternoon, with Fletcher supervising the interior work, and Jim joining Fred and Hunt in cutting steps for the front entrance. Bob Beard with just the right tools and Mary Beth also made an appearance at the “far-away” project. —Jim
Dinner tonight was two varieties of baked chicken, rice, peas, salad, and freshly baked cookies.
The photos below are from Noel’s and Mike’s houses.
Tomorrow night we will host our homeowners and Hearts in Action work coordinators for a spaghetti dinner. Noel will give us a tour of the beautiful stained-glass windows, which he installed here at Gatlinburg Presbyterian Church, where we eat and sleep. The windows were donated by a church in Chattanooga.
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PDA Mission Trip #25 (Gatlinburg, TN): Day 2

Tonight’s menu featured meatloaf and baked potatoes, along with stir-fried veggies and roasted carrots. I have been remiss in not mentioning that we have had devotions each morning and evening. Tonight they were led by Lynn Cairns. Maxine Aldridge took the lead this morning. We are getting a full measure of faith mixed into our fun. And speaking of fun, we are in the second evening of “Game Night.” It is amazing how much fun we can have with dominoes and “Scattergories!” —Lucille

Seven Presbyterian Disaster Agency volunteer team members had come from North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, and Maryland. We met our contact for the day at Lowe’s on one of his several trips picking up supplies for the project. He is a story of grace. Building his own house a few years ago until he could no longer afford to do so, he said it became necessary for him to humble himself and go begging. He asked for food at a place where eventually he was able to make a deal: he would volunteer two days a week at the agency in exchange for assistance completing the construction of his home. He learned of the hungry and poor and was given a job with the organization that had helped him. He is compassionate about his care for those who have fallen on hard times. He welcomed our help with the rebuilding of the house of a woman who lived in a dilapidated trailer home.

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PDA Mission Trip # 25 (Gatlinburg, TN): Day 1

Here we are starting Mission Trip #25 . . . our silver anniversary! So glad to report that everyone made it to Gatlinburg safely. Our final two arrivals showed up today at dinnertime. But let me step back a day. Sunday afternoon/evening was reunion time with a big group southern dinner at the Dolly Parton “Stampede” restaurant (just kidding). We ate at the same Mexican restaurant we went to in October . . . ”No Way Jose’s Mexican Cantina.” (This time I’m not kidding.) The portions are large and delicious, but it’s not a Southern gravy and biscuits kind of place. Back at Tennessee’s GPC (Gatlinburg Presbyterian Church), Mary Beth and Fletcher led the evening welcoming ceremony and prepared us for Monday’s work sites. Everyone was tired and by all reports slept very well.

?Meet Noel Ball, on the right, a 72-year-old retired mechanic, stained-glass installer, and furniture carpenter who went to school with Dolly Parton.
Today, many of us got to go back to Noel Ball’s house. This was one of our worksites last fall, when we were putting up 2 x 4 framing and it was open to the sky. Now we were pleased and impressed that so much had been completed and our work on this day would be painting dry-walled interior walls. And thank goodness for us that we were able to be inside, because temperatures today were only in the 30’s and we had snow flurries. Fletcher and a couple of others headed up to another location to check out work that needed to be done on a double-wide trailer that was being renovated.
We reunited back at the church for a delicious ham dinner, complete with pumpkin cake and carrot cake for dessert. The most valuable players on every trip are our cooks, and they never disappoint.

?His granddaughter Jessica made him leave his house.
As happy as we are to reunite with long-time friends like Bob and Jean Beard, we are missing our regular favorites . . . Mary & Bob Wasik, Jerry & Maxine Brown, Karen Smith, and Carol Anderson. We miss you guys!!!

Noel’s house rising from the ashes 18 months after the wildfires.
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