We’re ON for tomorrow - Tuesday, September 22, beginning on-site in Nauvoo at 8:30 am.   We’ll quit working around 2 pm or earlier if we get done with as much as we can accomplish for the day.  A team of 10 +/- cutters and pullers from among those of you listed on this distribution will pick up from where we left off on Saturday morning.  We spent Saturday delimbing the large tree canopy branches from inside, through and on the house and then we bucked the trunk to a point where the root ball gave us an indication that it was just about to rise:

The root ball of the 36”-diameter tree that fell through the mobile home will definitely fall back into its hole with one more cut, and there are one or two others that should also stand up once we clear the branches and separate the top sections from their trunks, too.  We’re currently making firewood piles for Jan Hoadley and her godson, Conner.  They’re burning the smaller vegetative debris in burn piles we created, one in the front yard and one in the back.  (With all we piled up they may still be smoldering when we return on Tuesday!)  Skid steer access to the rear of the property is a problem.  We’re working on how to cut through the frame of the mobile home (the owner has given us permission to do so) so we can create a pathway for the skids.  They aren’t able to get around either end of the trailer as trees, abandoned vehicles and the mobile home frame in those locations are creating blocked pathways.  If you kno anyone with an acetylene torch set up who would be willing to either operate it with us for a day or let one of our team who knows how to use it borrow it for a day, we’ll use it to cut through the mobile home frame and create that pathway.

There’s plenty still to cut even if we don’t use the skid steers until September 29.  The weather forecast is for sunny skies and warm temperatures.  No rain is in sight.  Bring your standard gear - PPE, saws, gas and oil - and maybe some replacement chains, too, as it’s all oak hardwood!  Ropes, wheelbarrows, wedges and sledge hammers if you’ve got them will all help is we don’t use the skid steer.  A lawn chair to sit on, snacks for breaks, a lunch if you plan to eat and plenty of water and electrolyte replacement should be part of your gear, too.  Pickles (we consumed my last gallon jug of them in Sheffield so start bringing some of your own!) and pickle juice and/or yellow mustard for cramps.  A change of clothes for driving home will make you more comfortable on the drive back to Birmingham, too.

Jim Pressler will introduce a new volunteer to us - Mark Martin - who has expressed interest in working with us.  He is a puller and will not be operating any power equipment.  Jim, please remember to ask Mark to wear steel-toed work boots and bring work gloves.  We’ll loan him head and eye protection.

In His Service,

Bob

Bob Thompson