Well the ice and snow storm of February 2015 is not suppose to hit your own yard. Just as we were making plains to go to central Tenn. to assist them in ice damage removal it seems I have to clean debrief from my own yards. The big Cedar tree in Mom's yard took the power out. the rest is just laying in the yard.

Camp Sumatanga Called and We Responded!!!

On Wednesday, January 28, 2015 I received a call from Camp Sumatanga's development director, Rev. Mark Paris, asking if we might be able to help camp out with a critical and immediate need: firewood for the fireplaces at camp...enough to last the rest of this winter and perhaps even have some left over for the beginning of winter next year. What better place could we hope to find logs than in a forest, and the woods all through camp had plenty to offer us.  And as we have been fortunate not to have any severe storms to follow behind for some time now, many of us were eager to get out and rev up our chainsaws for some controlled, safe practice. By Tuesday, February 4, 2015, we were able to field a team of 13 cutters, pickers and tractor drivers, plus Abel and a new to us (but as yet unnamed?) skid steer owned by Dean Charles.  All braved the cold temperatures and responded to Camp Sumatanga's request.

The 13 members who participated in our Camp Sumatanga deployment on Tuesday were (front row, kneeling): Larry Taylor, Buddy Williams, Boyd Martin, Bob Suellentrop, Bob Thompson; (back row, standing): Ken Clements, Rev. Sam Williamson, Tim Smith, David Moser, Bob Nabors, Dean Charles, Ray Miller and Henry Averyt.

We took our working orders from camp maintenance acting supervisor Stephen DeMedics who showed us downed trees - some deep in the woods and others just off the roadways at Ropes Course, Pool Camp, behind Hillcrest Cabin and behind Cabin 3.  Some logs he wanted cut up into fireplace length (18 inches) and the long, straight trees he asked if we could simply cut into 18-foot sections yet bring them to a clearing (in Pool Camp) so that they could be cut into useable lumber by someone with a portable sawmill who was expected at camp the next day.

Here's one of the long trees lying deep in the woods and down a gorge that Larry Taylor had to section before Dean Charles' skid steer could haul it out using arbor straps and logging chains.

This is Dean's skid steer (as yet unnamed) which was new to us on this deployment.  But we thank God for it and for Dean's skill in driving it.  What a wonderful addition to the equipment armament of our disaster response ministry!

This is Abel - Asbury UMC's skid steer - which was piloted today by Bob Suellentrop.  We always say that the skid steers easily do the work of 5 men and we were thrilled to have both Dean's and Asbury's vehicles working with us on Tuesday.

Having two skid steers enabled us to divide into two sub-teams, thereby doubling our work capacity for the day while safely cutting in two different physical locations simultaneously.  That allowed us to cut A LOT of wood!

Here Tim Smith and Rev. Sam operate camp's power splitter.

Here Buddy Williams is sectioning several of the large-diameter trees we brought out of the woods and to the splitter station, preparing them to be split later.

And finally, here's a picture of the split wood crib awaiting its use in the various fireplaces at camp.  By the time the camp staff brings all the logs we cut in the woods to the splitter, and the logs are split and stacked in this crib, it should be full and camp should have firewood to easily last it through this winter and into the next.

We were blessed by the camp staff who prepared lunch for us consisting of hamburger steaks with optional white gravy, grilled green beans, white rice, a salad, a roll and sweet tea.  We are generally very happy to work for food and Tuesday was no exception.  We thank the camp staff for whatever impositions they may have suffered while preparing this great meal for us! As we wrapped up our day, Stephen declared that we were welcome to come back to camp anytime to run our saws in the woods - for practice as well as for the practical results of that practice - more firewood for camp!  Don't worry, Stephen, I'm sure we WILL take you up on that offer at some time in the future! Please watch your email for upcoming announcements of service opportunities as we learn of them.  We'll hope to see you out working with us sometime.

In His Service, Bob Bob Thompson

Gentlemen,

It was a blessing to work with each of you today at Camp Sumatanga.

Before leaving camp I went to the maintenance shops and said good-bye to Stephen DeMedics and Mark Paris who were helping Sam Williamson load up a truck there.  They thanked us profusely for the help we gave them today.  Indeed, by the time they finally split the big logs still to be split which are already at the maintenance shops plus load up and bring the remaining logs both teams cut at Pool Camp this afternoon and then split them, they should be set with firewood for some time.  And the super-long straight logs we preserved at Pool Camp will be converted into usable lumber planks of some dimensions when the camp neighbor brings his portable saw mill to the site tomorrow.

They offered to host us any time we “itch” to operate our chainsaws as we await the severe storms for which our ministry was created to follow and respond.  They said they always have trees down or needing to be taken down in the woods - as well we saw today!

For now our one day work assignment has been completed, but we can go back again any time.  Stay tuned for a brief MailChimp blast (in a day or so), complete with a few pictures, so we can share what we did today with our full roster of 360+ friends of the ministry.

Thank you, each of you, for your help today.  

In His Service,

Bob

Bob Thompson

Team,

We are CONFIRMED for our workday on Tuesday, February 3 at Camp Sumatanga, 3616 Sumatanga Road, Gallant, AL 35972.  We'll meet at the camp headquarters building at 8:30 am to receive our exact assignments.  (Please check the estimated time and driving distance from your starting point using Google Maps or MapQuest to assure your on time arrival.)  From my discussions with Mark Paris, our contact at camp for this workday, for those of you familiar with the camp layout the first group of trees we’ll be cutting will be on the road leading up the hill to the ropes course.  The second group of trees will be around the pool camp.  We will take direction from camp's maintenance staff as to what size we’ll be cutting the log into and where the logs we cut are to be moved elsewhere on the campus for splitting. 

11 team members (8 cutters, 2 cutters/skid steer drivers, 1 picker and 2 skid steers) have already confirmed and committed to participate in this deployment.  We should be able to work as at least two teams simultaneously but at different locations in the field and hopefully we’ll thereby complete all the work asked of us by quitting time (around 3 pm). 

Everyone on this Tuesday's team has worked on at least one CFC deployment in the past, so you're all aware of the requirements of working with us if you're going to operate a chainsaw: you’ll need full PPE (helmet, eye protection, ear protection, chaps and steel-toed boots; work gloves and an upper body protective vest are optional, but recommended; let me know if you’ll need to borrow any required piece (other than the boots!) from our loan locker so I can bring it with me for you); and your chainsaw must be US Forest Service compliant with a working chain brake and spark arrester.

As this will be our first outing of the year, our one piece of annual bureaucracy will need to be undertaken before you will be permitted to work: completion and filing of your Adult Volunteer Release and Waiver of Liability paperwork.  Your personal copy of the 4-page form is attached.  No alterations to this form are permitted.  Please (1.) print it out, (2.) print your name at the top of each page, (3.) sign the document in the appropriate spot and (4.) have your signature witnessed, (5.) make sure you’ve entered something in every blank and (6.) then bring it along with you to give to me on Tuesday morning.  Then you’ll be good to go for the entirety of 2015.

Bob