Dear Cutters for Christ Team Members and RUMC Disaster Relief Correspondence Listing Members,

 

We fielded a team of 8 participants today for our final Cutters for Christ coalition team workday at Camp Sumatanga in Gallant, Alabama.  From left to right our team was made up of Ray Miller, Bob Thompson, Boyd Martin, Hunt Cleveland, Buddy Williams, Dan Bedore and John Calhoun; Not pictured: Bob Suellentrop.

 

I'm sorry to report that my video camera malfunctioned - in the on/off world of computer lingo it was most probably an I/O (inept operator - me) issue - and so I do NOT have ANY video whatsoever of the big pine coming down, which was our first assignment of the day.  Here are some still images, nevertheless.  It was my first use of our new Stihl MS461 77cc chainsaw - which we were able to acquire this past spring thanks in great part to the generous donation we received from the Riverchase United Methodist Mens organization in recognition of our RUMC Disaster Response Ministry involvements.  We equipped it today with its 28-inch bar (Jim Pressler had used it the two times we were at camp in the past two weeks but with the 25-inch bar on it) and I must say it stepped right up to the job.  I'm just so disappointed we couldn't capture the felling on video for you all to see.  Yes, a tree of that size does make loud noises as it crashes through the surrounding trees coming down and a really exciting "wump" when it finally impacts the ground!

Using our chainsaw certification course training and some additional practical woodsman hints from Buddy, we felled it exactly where we designed it to fall.  Once it was down on the ground we measured the trunk to be 76 feet from the base to the start of the branches and 110 feet to the top of the foliage.  The diameter was 29 inches at our cut point and someone counted 65 tree rings, more or less.  It was a great team effort from everyone: from those clearing away smaller trees from the path where the tree would fall, to the still photographer of the event, to the engineers planning the locations and angles of my cuts, to the shoulder tapper and sledgehammer wielder who wedged my tree cuts at the appropriate time and who let me know when the tree began to fall and it was time for me to move away and let gravity do its job!

The remainder of our day was spent at the ropes course.  Unfortunately for us old guys, we had to park at the street and walk up a washed out mountainside access road - and I do mean walk UP - almost a half mile to the job site, lugging all our gear, tools and accessories with us up the trail and then back down again at the end of the day.  At the ropes course we felled 10-12 trees, both pines and hardwoods, that the camp staff had flagged for us as being the ones they particularly wanted taken down.  Another great effort was undertaken when felling a red oak tree there which Buddy navigated to bring down beside a small building standing only three away, but not a single twig ever touched the structure.

 

Camp provided us with a great lunch consisting of a side salad, homemade vegetable soup (the best!), our choice of grilled pimento cheese sandwich or chicken salad on a hoagy bun, cole slaw, pasta salad, the choice of a brownie or banana pudding for dessert and an array of beverage choices.  Thank you camp staff for nourishing us!  We WILL work for food!

We trekked back to the ropes course to finish the day's assignments and having taken down all the trees the staff had tped for us, we departed for the ride back to Birmingham somewhere around 3 PM.

Some of you have asked about the new Nina Reeves Chapel that has been built to replace the structure that was demolished by the trees that crashed through it last spring and which we were called upon to buck (cut up in sections) remove.  Here are pictures of then (the chapel is buried under the downed trees up toward the foliage ends of them) and now.  The replacement chapel is very nice and it looks like the interior is all but finished except for the clean up.

 

We're down and on the side now until a natural disaster hits or someone calls needing the services we can provide.  Don't forget the UMCOR ERT recertification course this Saturday at Vestavia Hills UMC - the contact person is Denise Williams at dwilliams@vhumc.org - and the full UMCOR ERT certification course that will be held in October, the date of which I'll tell you as soon as Denise tells me.

In His Service,
Bob

Click below to see the felling of a big Oak tree next to the out house.
Felling of a big Red Oak at the Camp Tuesday

Dear RUMC Disaster Response Ministry Correspondence List Members:

 

For those of you with EXPIRED UMCOR ERT badges, we have just been invited to participate in a half-day recertification badging program this upcoming Saturday - sorry for the late announcement but we just received the invite today - at Vestavia Hills UMC.  The program will be Saturday morning, September 21, from 8:15 AM to 12:30 PM.  This is a great opportunity to bring your expired badge up-to-date and be ready - before we're needed - for the next natural disaster in which we'll be called upon to serve.

 

Please contact the VHUMC Missions & Outreach Director, Denise Williams, directly at dwilliams@vhumc.org for more information or to sign up for the course.

 

Denise has also informed me that VHUMC will be hosting a full-day certification course at her church sometime in October.  As soon as the date is set she has promised to alert me so that I can share the information with you.  I know many of you who have never before been certified have been asking about a full certification UMCOR ERT course nearby, and this would be your perfect opportunity to obtain a badge, again, before it's needed!  I promise to let you know just as soon as Denise firms up the date and shares it with me.

In His Service,

Bob

Hi Everyone,

Roll Tide and War Eagle! Hope both fan groups will be smiling at the end of the day!

As of this writing five coalition CFC team members have replied affirmatively that they'll be participating in our Tuesday workday assignments at Camp Sumatanga:

Bob Nabors

Bob Thompson

Boyd Martin

Buddy Williams

Ray Miller

Just want to remind everyone that we could use additional cutters, so please let me know by tomorrow night (Sunday) if you'll be joining us (I need to have the count by then so I can send in our lunch reservation).

Remember...the "big pine" - WILL come down first thing on Tuesday. Be there to see it live!

In His Service,

Bob Thompson

Dear CFC Crew and Disaster Response Ministry Mailing List Members:

Thanks to all who worked with our Cutters for Christ Coalition Disaster Relief Team yesterday at Camp Sumatanga!  Please check out our work day team photo below.

For the second week in a row we divided into two groups and dispatched to separate locations in camp for quite different job assignments.

Group A consisting of Alan Weeks and his winch truck Angel, Bob Suellentrop and his skid steer Abel, Henry Averyt, Ray Miller and Richard Griffin, assisted by camp employee, Sammy, and the camp's backhoe.  They went to Pool Camp and pursued the assignment of pulling out root balls left behind from the serious wind storm that took down the trees last spring.  A coalition CFC team actually cut up those trees last spring after we received the call to come to camp and help clear that storm debris, but we were told that others would follow us and they would remove the root balls that remained in the ground after our portion of the work was completed.  Well, as no one ever came and did that, we were asked if we could finish the job now after all.  With the help of the three mechanical assistants (Abel, Angel and the un-named camp backhoe), the 6 human laborers dispatched the job quite efficiently!

In addition, Group A also removed additional debris piles near the newly rebuilt Nina Reeves Chapel - the old chapel was demolished by the trees which fell on it last spring; a coalition CFC team was also responsible for cutting up and removing those trees several months ago - and a debris pile located near Rev. Mark Parris' home by the lake.

Group B consisting of Bob Thompson, Boyd Martin, Buddy Williams and Jim Pressler and directed by camp employee, Eddie, were assigned the task of driving to the top of Chandler Mountain to the "neon-lighted steel cross" located near the mountain-top chapel and then hiking down the mountain about 70 feet with all their chainsaw gear to clear the sight lines for the new Wi-Fi transmitters that the information technology staff were installing on top of the cross.  This team ended up felling 15-18 trees that were each 50-70 feet tall which would have blocked the Wi-Fi signal from making it to the receivers at camp in the valley below if they had been permitted to remain standing.

Our work at Camp Sumatanga is still not finished, so we have scheduled another work day at camp for next Tuesday, September 17.  Before leaving camp yesterday we scoped out the major jobs yet to be handled: felling several dead trees around the rope course apparatus that will be marked with tape for us by camp staff (so we'll know exactly which trees they want to come down there); and using our chainsaw certification training skills we'll carefully fell the remaining "big pine" that needs to come down in order to clear the Wi-Fi sight line from the mountain-top cross to the food service director's house.  It's at least 90-100 feet tall - actually, maybe more - and a good 30+ inches in diameter.  Perhaps you'd like to see this one come down in person?!

If you can serve with us next Tuesday, please let me know by Sunday afternoon, September 15 if you'll be joining us.  Lunch will be provided by the camp staff (which is another reason I need to know of your participation by Sunday as I need to alert the camp chef as to the number of meals she'll need to prepare for us; and by the way, we so appreciated the meal the camp prepared for us yesterday - chicken parmesan with spaghetti and steamed broccoli, a side salad, fresh baked bread, a brownie for dessert and iced tea to quench our thirst - what a fantastic gift in appreciation for our services and we thank Chef Donna and the entire camp staff for it!)

We are blessed not to have to be providing any storm-related disaster relief at the moment, but that doesn't mean we remain idle.  Working at camp or anywhere else to keep our skills proficient is important and we're happy to provide our services to those needing them.  It does not require a disaster for us to enjoy the fellowship of our fellow cutters, pickers and drivers and even without a disaster we can always deliver our coalition CFC mission objectives: to share the joy of Christ and the love of Jesus through the services we provide and the work we perform both with and for those we serve.

In His Service,

Dear CFC team,

We are ON again for another day of work assignments at Camp Sumatanga on Tuesday, September 10.  We will convene at the camp office at 8:30 AM and pick up our assignments there from 4-Wheeling Eddie.

Be prepared to pull root balls from their holes in the ground.  We'll have the use of Abel and Alan's winch truck - Alan, have you given YOUR truck a name??? - and camp's backhoe to help with the root balls.  But also be prepared to continue felling trees, as well, as we continue to help establish Wi-Fi sight lines to several of the receivers in different locations around camp.  As the Wi-Fi transmitter is atop the cross on Chandler Mountain and the trees up there also need to be felled, as well, a team will be dispatched to that location, too.  I'm particularly personally interested in using our chainsaw certification training to fell one last tree that's in the way between Donna Bailey's house and the cross.  It's maybe a 60+' tall tree with a 28-30" diameter.  We've asked camp to make sure it's on camp property and if it's not, to get the necessary permission from the property owner to allow us to take it down before we return next week.

In a happy change of the originally announced plans, camp's food service director has stated that lunch WILL be provided for us next Tuesday after all, but she's asked me to email her an with accurate count of our team members participating by Monday so she'll know how many to prepare for.  So please reconfirm your participation with me by reply email.  Here's who I have working on Tuesday so far:

1. Henry Averyt

2. Boyd Martin (who will trailer Abel to camp)

3. Ray Miller

4. Jim Pressler

5. Bob Suellentrop

6. Bob Thompson

7. Alan Weeks (with his winch truck)

8. Buddy Williams

 

BRING PLENTY OF WATER AND ELECTROLYTE REPLENISHMENT!!!  We worked until 3:30 PM at camp last Tuesday and I think that will be a good quitting time for us to aim for again next week.  As always, you may decide that you want to quit earlier depending upon the weather (it may be hot and humid and we'll all call it quits if a lightening storm comes up!) or if you have other commitments you must attend to.  We certainly want everyone to be safe and work only to their capacities and in their comfort zone.  If we don't complete our assignments and need to schedule a return, we certainly will.  So if anyone needs or wants to leave at any time, that will be perfectly okay.  Also remember insect repellent and sunscreen.

 

Bring all your standard gear for chainsaw work - especially protective wear minimally consisting of chaps, helmet, eye protection, gloves and boots.  (I have the helmet with ear muffs and a mesh face guard and the green-colored chaps I wore last season - all still perfectly good - that I would be happy to sell to anyone very inexpensively - say $30 for everything -  if you don't have that PPE already yourself.)  Remember your gas and bar oil.  I'll bring whatever is remaining in my 5-gallon tank of stabilized 92-octane ethanol-free gasoline that you can pour from into your own smaller gas cans…but you'll need to supply your own oil to mix to your particular saw's specifications.  No charge for the gas!

 

In addition, to help with the root ball removals you'll want to also bring axes, hatchets, sledge hammers, crow bars, limbing saws, shovels, ropes and chains, etc.

 

Our work at Sumatanga continues to be coalition ministry work - that means wear your yellow Cutters for Christ t-shirts!  We have 2 shirts remaining in our originally purchased inventory - both size Large - if anyone has a need for them.  Our t-shirt minimum donation remains $5 each.  If you don't have a CFC t-shirt, an UMCOR ERT green t-shirt or an RUMC Smurf blue DRM t-shirt will work.  (If you don't have any of those, your wardrobe selection is up to you but we'll be needing to outfit you with one of them or another!)

 

We also have 4 pairs of CFC vehicle magnets (see below) remaining available.  As we did for the t-shirts, we are subsidizing the cost but still charging something in order not to fully deplete the funds we were given by Prof. Tom White in Clay when we spent so many weeks clearing his back yard.  A pair of magnets - one for each side of your vehicle - is $20.  (Your purchase can be tax deductible when you make your check payable to "RUMC" - or 'Riverchase United Methodist Church,' which serves as our funds holder and disperser - and write "Cutters for Christ" on the memo line of your check).  Buddy, Boyd, Henry, Jim, Ray and I already have ours.  First come, first served for the remaining 4 sets.  Please let me know and in the order I receive your request, we'll bring yours to you next week (or or save them for you until we see you later if you're not working with us next Tuesday).

 

Disappointingly we did not take any photos of our work last week.  Shame on this photo journalist!  We split into two teams and each team worked independently at different locations around camp and kept quite busy on separate assignments.  But this week I'll be more attentive to my documentary responsibilities, so make sure you look good!

 

That's all I can think of tonight.  Let me hear from you and rest up for a full day of work on Tuesday.  For anyone needing directions to camp they are:

 

- I-459 north from Birmingham to I-59 in Trussville;

- I-59 north to exit 166 (Ashville/Oneonta exit);

- North (left) on Hwy. 231; travel 3.5 miles;

- Right onto Co. Rd. 35; travel 3.4 miles;

- Right onto Co. Rd. 44 (Sumatanga Road); travel 1.7 miles to the camp office which will be located on your left.

 

Depending upon your actual departure point, allow yourself an hour to get there.  See you Tuesday!

 

In His Service,

Bob