THE NEXT PHASE OF THE HALL PROJECT, is to let the concrete dry and begin on the numerous other projects that need to be done. This phase will last through until the first of August when the framing begins. There is much to do including: curbs, landscaping, and rain gardens, until the actual Hall raising begins and most all of it will be done by only the local volunteers. ¹

Pre-construction meeting at Burlington Hall, all trades. Backfill east and north side of foundation. Grade and clean easement areas. Clean up site. Many of the volunteers during the next couple of weeks will be going to their annual district convention, so the number of volunteers working on the job site will be diminished.

I arrive today at ten to check the site and find two trucks from Cascade Gas inside and working on the gas line. I join them to watch and take photos. The work scheduled is to extend the line from near the road to next to the foundation where the meter will be located. I am glad that I stuck around because one of the workers was going to drive a metal stake into the ground next to the concrete for supporting the gas line. I informed them that there is two water lines in the location where the stake would have gone, not to mention the six inch tight line roof drain. Any stake driven next to the east side of the hall would surely penetrate a pipe. Mark stops by to get the most recent plans and to make a copy of it for the surveyor, Bob who will be here tomorrow. It only takes two hours for the three gas line workers to finish and then they eat their lunches in the shade next to the office. I am able to witness to them a little.

I open the gate this morning at six am, park my van in the attendant location and begin working on the narrative while waiting for Don and the kitchen crew to arrive. It is six-thirty when they do and get busy making coffee and then preparing breakfast. At seven, Theo arrives and it is not until almost eight am before the next worker, Roger drives in. Theo says that we need an excavator and gets into his truck to go and get one. There is concern about where the other twenty-some persons that were to show up today. We do not eat breakfast until eight-thirty and then there is only ten workers which includes the three in the kitchen. Then the Project Coordinator Steve arrives with Patrick the Construction Coordinator and they tell us that there was not suppose to be meal service today, so they stopped at the local “I-Cafe” for breakfast with Allan and Robert. ²  

After all the mix-ups are resolved, we get to work on the water line. This is the primary project today because the city is turning the water off from eight am until twelve noon. The city workers arrive soon after and we go to work digging the trench to connect our fire hydrant to the city main but they leave telling us that they will be back. As we are getting the trench near completion, the city inspectors return and stay with us until be have completed the connection. Once we have finished digging and prepared the connection, we open the two valves and also cut the main to drain all the water in it. Already set up is a gasoline motor pump that is turned on to pump the water out of the trench through a fire hose and onto the property some seventy feet away. The water main drains for over twenty minutes with the pump going full speed. The inspectors and all of us just wait and watch and thousands of gallons drain from the water main. As soon as it is dry, we make the finish cut on the water main and then bring in the connecting piece of pipe which include a coupling at one end and at tee at the other end. The tee has the downstream end capped off. It is noon when we begin lowering the pipe into the hole and word is received from the kitchen that lunch is ready. Roger replies, “The water is turned off on the whole street. We can not stop working until the water is turned back on.”

We install and tighten the flanges and next wrap the the connections with plastic. The progress is going so well that one of the city inspector says that he will begin opening the water main slowly to allow the pipe to fill up. He also recommends that we open the new hydrant slightly to allow air to vent. It is about one pm and I hear the second inspector′s phone ring and overhear the conversation from a city person stating that there is a complaint that the water is not back on. He says to tell the complainer that it should be back on in fifteen minutes. Then I see one of the neighbor′s walking towards the work site, walk towards him and greet him “Hello, how can I help you?” He says that is has been over an hour since the water was suppose to come back on and he has work to do that requires water. He then asks how much longer will we be without water? I tell him that the city inspector has already gone to turn the water on and invite him to look at what is already completed. I walk to the trench and he follows. Then I tell him that the pipe connections are complete and that all we still need to do in drop those two concrete blocks into the hole, and point at the two large concrete blocks. He says, “OK, I will give you one more hour to finish.” I can totally relate to how he feels. ³  

As he walks away, I notice that the city personnel are turning the valves to each home back on. I am glad for our neighbors that their water is being restored. We continue to work on placing the concrete blocks and soon get them “perfectly” in place. ⁴   These are Theo′s words after both of the huge block have been dropped into the hole. The city inspector also requires us to put concrete behind the blocks and one of the brothers comments that this is totally overkill but regardless of how we personally feel about the city′s requirement, we continue to readily comply. Roger calls the local concrete provider and tells them that we only need one or two yard and that we are willing to wait until they get a truck that has leftover concrete from a job. Meanwhile, since the water is back on for the neighbor, we stop work and retire to the tent for out lunch. It is about two pm when we hear the concrete truck arriving. Several of us meet the truck and invite him for lunch but he says no thanks. So, we begin the pour and in a short while the void behind the thrust blocks are filled with concrete. The driver cleans his truck and leaves and our work of backfilling the trench with sand and compacting continues for another couple of hours. At about four pm, work on removing the final areas of the original bank of dirt commences. In order to do so, part of the temporary gate has to be removed. Then at five, the word is to pack out so everyone begins to shut down the equipment and tools, and go home. Since there is so much equipment on-site, I volunteer to spend the night. Soon, it is only me and I have to close up the first aid trailer, the dining tent and then close the gate. At home, I cook my supper, take a shower, do some laundry, finish my journal entry for the day and upload it to the web server; all of this before eight-thirty pm. Today began at five am and I am back at the project site by nine; an extreme long day participating in this special service to Jehovah. I can only thank our God for this privilege.

I am still sleeping when the kitchen crew arrive and open the gate, but the noise wakes me so I get up and check the clock and find it to be six-twenty-seven am. My alarm was set for six-thirty. Then I get busy unplugging the security lights and moving the cord to the coffee pot in the tent. It begins to perk as I continue with my routine: opening the gate wide, moving cones, opening the first aid trailer, picking up any trash and then getting a cup of coffee.

Soon there are quite a few workers arriving and the call for breakfast is made. After a short tool box discussion and a prayer we enjoy a fine breakfast including biscuits and gravy. Immediately after eating, the workers get right to their jobs of working the earth around the foundation. The new sidewalk will begin at the north property line and connect to the existing city sidewalk. As you walk on to the Hall property from the city side walk, after ten feet, you will turn left, pass the new fire hydrant and walk up to the asphalt entrance driveway. At this point you will turn right and follow the driveway straight for about fifty feet where the sidewalk, alongside the driveway, will begin a large curve towards the overhanging drive through in front of the hall. It will then continue straight along the front of hall, past the front doors and straight out into the parking lot on the west side of the hall. However, there is still some of the dirt left in the area where the temporary gate was installed. So, the first thing that needs to be done is to dig up and haul out the rest of that dirt. ⁴

On Monday morning I received a call from Roger who asked if I had a pressure washer and if so, would like a job. I replied: “Does it Pay anything?” to which he replied, no, it for the hall. He then asked me to pressure wash the hall foundation and the driveway and that it needed to be done before the work this weekend. I contact a few brothers in the local English congregations to help.

At eleven am today, Tuesday, I set up my equipment begin in the north side of the main auditorium expecting Bob to arrive at about one pm. In the two hours by myselƒ, I have only finished two of the twenty-four blocks that have been divided by cutting the slab an think that this is going to take a long time. When Bob does arrive, the added manpower increase to work output about three or four fold by sweeping the debris ahead of the washer. Never did I know that pressure washing could be done so much faster with additional help. At about four pm, the high pressure line blows out and stops the work. Still, we are able to finish nearly twenty sections of the main auditorium. I go to the hardware store and purchase a new hose, after which I head home to get off of my feet.

Wednesday, just after noon I arrive and set up my equipment for today′s work. Shortly after beginning, Mike arrives and joins right in. I had begun the driveway so we finish that first during which Rey arrives and joins us. In no time we have finished the driveway and then move to the last few sections of the main auditorium. With one person using the pressure washer and two persons pushing brooms, the remaining work goes really quickly. Then we divide the entrance area in half and work each side from the middle outwards. The work is completed before three pm and thank the brother from their help as I pack up my equipment. Since it is a very sunny day, the concrete dries quickly and we are able to see how nice it now looks before we leave the project site.

I arrive at six-fifteen and find Mark, the chef for the day already on the site. I park my van in the security parking area and then begin taking care of my duties which include setting up the cones at two locations, getting the trash and recycle bins ready for the day, and bringing the power extension cord to the dining tent for the coffee peculator. Then I go to the dining tent in hopes of finding hot coffee but it is not ready yet even though the smell of coffee wafts through the air. I suspect that a cup is not too far in the future. I greet Mark and then walk the property and pick up several pieces of trash. When I return to dump the trash, I check and find a pot of hot coffee available. What a treat!

Soon, the work crew has arrived and we have the tool box meeting and then breakfast which includes biscuits and gravy, my favorite. After breakfast, the work begins but soon thereafter it begins to rain. However, this rain is accompanied with lightning and thunder, but each time I see the lightning I count, one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three and continue until I hear the thunder. ⁶ When I see the flash, I begin counting but never count more than twenty second. After each twenty count, the thunder sounds some seconds later and determine that the thunderhead is over four miles away in distance or altitude (or a combination of both) and thus it would be safe to continue working. This flash of lightning and counting twenty seconds occurs continuously during the entire work day, except for one lone strike which is about one mile away. Further, several of the brothers comment that they have never, in the northwest, seen such a continuous thunder storm that we have seen today. Instead, their experience in past years has always be that a thunder storm would only last for an hour or two at most. I concur and reply that this is more like those storms that I saw in my youth during the summers in Texas. The lightning and thunder continues all day, (and later into the night, a very odd weather phenomena, and probably based on the Bible′s prophecy of mankind destroying the earth. (Revelation 11:18)

I awake at six am, get up and begin my Saturday morning routine. Soon, the kitchen crew begins to arrive, earlier now since breakfast is being served at seven-thirty am. The reason is that we only have from eight am until five pm to work on Saturdays and we need to be on the job at eight am. The concrete truck arrives shortly after eight am and the concrete begins to flow. The sidewalks begin to take shape and it takes three trucks to finish the day. Some of those here to work the hard stuff are professional concrete persons doing a lot of work in Seattle, some on Interstate 5 and other places of notability.

Mark tells me that there are two things that are certain about pouring concrete. When I ask him what, he replies, (1) concreter gets hard and (2) it cracks. The earthwork continues all day preparing the east side for landscaping with grass and putting in the several tunnels for different pipes. Also, the irrigations system is being dug and installed throughout the day. This system will provide a watering of all the landscaping without having to find a hose and a sprinkler and then remember to move the sprinkler every hour. Yes there are several of us that will be so glad to have this automatic watering system covering the entire property. Just think, no more worring about plants dying in the hot weather from lack of water.

On Monday I get a call from Roger for a couple of things happening this week. First, the slab will be ground by a couple of brother on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, the fence contractors will arrive to begin installing a new section of fence in the southeast area of the property. Also on Thursday, we will get a delivery of a fork lift to be used on-site to unload and move the building materials for the new Hall.

Since the interior slab will be ground Wednesday I go to the hall Monday afternoon and clean up the slab to make it ready for the brothers when they arrive. I use a hose to move the dirt and sand getting all the dirt into two areas, one in the main auditorium and another in the entrance area. Also, I move all of the wood materials off of the slab and stack them on the drive through. It is late when I finish and I think it looks good. I arrive on Wednesday at nine am and find Willie and Josh from Sequim already set up and ready to go to work. However, there is a problem with the vacuum in that it does not suck. Willie tells me that the cause is the previous job that had some glue on top of the concrete that is now in the vacuum sock filters. He says that he needs a couple bags of course sand to run through the system to clear the glue out. A little while later, Mike arrives with the sand that Willie had asked for but it is too fine. Mike returns to get a courser sand and that does the job. Soon, Willie and his son Josh are running the two concrete grinders and they finish the grinding in only a few hours. He tells us that after it is all vacuumed up, we will still need to pressure wash the surface to remove the remaining dust. At this time, Mike, Larry, Rey and myselƒ agree to return tomorrow morning to do the pressure washing. Rey says he will also bring his pressure washer in the morning.

Willie checks the ferry and is able to get a reservation for the ride back to the peninsula tonight and so they begin to pack out. While they are packing up their equipment, they keep the vacuum attached for us to finish sucking up the remaining concrete dust. After the dust is all bagged, Willie and Josh finish packing up and then go for supper with Mike. Everyone leaves by four pm and I am left to lock up.

Thursday morning at seven-thirty, I arrive on site and set up my pressure washer. I am just about ready to crank it up when Rey arrives and backs up to the slab. I help him unload his large 3000 psi machine and then give him some gas to get is going. Then Larry arrives and brings a new push broom stating that this is one to be kept on the site for the project. I tell him that he should write his name or something on the handle. He asks me for a “Sharpie” to write with and I grab mine out of my van, hand it to him and he writes “Oak Harbor” on the handle. It will become another of numerous tools that have or will have “Oak Harbor” on the handle. We get to work cleaning the slab and soon after Mike arrives to help. With two machines and four workers, it takes us less than two hours to clean the concrete. Wow, I never knew it could go so fast. The other three leave and I remain to wait for the fence workers and the forklift. To keep busy while I am waiting, I begin pressure washing the surface of the entrance at the gate.

Mike returns at eleven-thirty to tell me to make sure the fence is on our property and I tell him that Roger has already strung a line where it is to be installed. Just as he is about to back out, the fence crew arrives at the gate; he pulls into the property to allow the crew to come in, then he heads out. Then a large truck-trailer comes down Ronhaar and I recognize it to be the forklift. I help him into the property and let him know where he can leave the forklift. When the driver gets out, he says he recognizes me from the district convention, saying that he parked next to me and we met. It only take a few minutes and the two brothers are gone. The fence crew works for three hours to get the eleven holes dug and the poles set in concrete. They leave at two-thirty but I continue the pressure washing for some time before I pack out.

At seven am I am awaken by the garbage truck driving down Ronhaar Street and get up to retrieve the bin. As I approach the bin, Larry drives up to see if anything is going on at the project site today. I tell him that there are some deliveries coming today but I am not sure which materials will arrive. He says that no one showed at the Dan′s home for early service.

I awake at six to open the gate, coil the security light cord and make a pot of coffee. Soon after, the first delivery arrives which is the two container boxes, both on one trailer. The driver backs up and drops the first box with no problem, but the second box will not slide off the trailer because there is gravel on the trailer bed. So, he uses the forklift to help the box to slide off the trailer. Once in place, he drives off and then Mark arrives (with his bull dog Max) and tells me that the truss delivery trucks will be arriving soon which they do and then after some discussion about the best way to stack the trusses, the two drivers begin working to off load the trusses. One man operates the boom while the other attaches the chains to the trusses. Once the load is lifted into position, Mark and I then remove the chains from the load; a process to be repeated many times. First, all of the small bundles are put in the center of the parking lot and then the large trusses are hoisted to the west side of the foundation and stacked in such a way that the top truss will be the first one installed. I notice an eagle flying high overhead and I zoom in for a photo. ⁷

After unloading this delivery Mark leaves and I have another cup of coffee. Then Steve arrives he looks over the delivery to determine where best to move the materials so as to make them readily accessible for the framers next week. No sooner than we have begun to reposition the truss bundles that another delivery truck arrives, this one loaded well above the cab and pulling an additional fully loaded trailer. When he climbs down out of the cab, he tells us a second truck is on the way. The driver then dismounts his fork lift and begins to unload the truck and trailer. Meanwhile, Steve and I begin to move some of the material bundles to different locations. This truck no sooner unloads and leaves and then another truck arrives carrying bricks and mortar. The palates from this truck are unloaded between the porta-cans and the gate where they will be out of the way until the second week of construction. Soon, the second truck of wood materials arrive and begins unloading the bundles. Slowly, the center area begins to fill up from all the off-loaded bundles and then this truck leaves.

Steve backs his truck up to one of the container boxes (c-boxes) and we move the air compressor and equipment into c-box. We continue to reposition the materials, sometimes moving the bundles two or three times to get the right order for the framers. We work late into the afternoon moving bundle after bundle and putting stickers under each one. ⁸ Finally, Steve honks the horn repetitively indicating the we are done. He asks me if I will be here tomorrow to help him and I say yes. He then gets into his truck for the long drive back to Snohomish where he lives. I go to my home for a shower, dinner and a movie before I return to stay on-site for the evening.

Steve arrives around eight am and soon the roofing materials arrive and offload. Also, Harry drives in to set up the electrical tie in boxes (called stingers) for the framers. We go right to work repositioning them between the two c-boxes while the next truck off-loads the scaffolding materials, bundle after bundle. Then we go to work moving all of the scaffolding bundles to the sidewalk around the foundation. Next, we take the air compressor out of the container box and relocate it to the east side of the foundation.

In the afternoon, Mike stops by with a hose to clean off the slab so that it can be sealed tomorrow. Then, Audrey brings Marina by so she can watch Mike. I bring a couple of bottled waters for her and Mike. Later, Mike and Marina leave and I stay until the sun sets and it turns out pretty nice. The last two days have been pretty hard for me but this is what I want to do.