First Church
of Winsted

Serving Our Community Since 1778



California Mission Trip 2024 - Day 7





Working on two houses



Unlike prior years when we would make Friday’s a slightly shorter work day to get ready for our return to Connecticut, we worked a longer day on Friday than any other day this week.


The team divided into 2. For of us went to work on the home of Paul and Randi. Last year we framed their house. Since then, the insulation was installed, and the sheetrock hung and taped. The final item to do before it can be painted is seal coating the sheetrock. That’s what we did.





It took us the entire day, but we seal coated all the ceilings and walls, with the exception of an area where Paul plans to cut a hole for the exhaust pipe for the wood stove.


Paul and Randi’s grandson was staying with them for a few days. Mason was a key member of our seal coat team, and we were impressed with his maturity and work ethic. We were also impressed with how much work Paul and Randi had done to their home. It looks beautiful, and their attention to the smallest of details was very impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that when Paul is not working on his own home, he is a volunteer with Tiny Pine Foundation and works on other construction projects.





The rest of the team, including all of the youth, worked on Pat’s home. They completed hanging the sheetrock and made good progress with the first coat of taping.


Here’s how the loft looked at the end of the day.





When we arrived on Monday, the bedroom was only framed in. The bedroom is to the left, the bathroom to the right in the photo.





After a lot of careful measuring, calculations, cutting of the sheetrock, fastening it with sheetrock screws, and then taping, here’s what the bedroom looked like at the end of the day (tool boxes were moved into the bedroom for storage until the next crew arrives).





As per the tradition of countless youth from First Church, they reach out now only to people in need, but share their love with the four legged creatures…





Pat inspired us with her “can do” attitude. She installed much of the siding of the house, used a portable air pump to find the leak in the gas line, and used a spray bottle to create her own paint gun to spray the crevices around the windows. When we arrived Friday, she quickly climbed down the ladder from the roof of the front porch, as we told her we didn’t think she should be up there along…





The highlight of the evening was additional performances of segments of theatrical works. Some were readily recognizable, such as the Wizard of Oz. Others were easily recognizable by the younger folks, but took folks like myself a little longer to catch on. We recognized their acting abilities by given each of them Chico State University attire (we’re staying in Chico). To mock my reputation for finding any Costco within a 50 mile radius of any jobsite, some of them left the Costco size labels and tags on for the photo.





The highlight of the evening was additional performances of segments of theatrical works. Some were readily recognizable, such as the Wizard of Oz. Others were easily recognizable by the younger folks, but took folks like myself a little longer to catch on. We recognized their acting abilities by given each of them Chico State University attire (we’re staying in Chico). To mock my reputation for finding any Costco within a 50 mile radius of any jobsite, some of them left the Costco size labels and tags on for the photo.





First Church of Winsted



95 N. Main St, Winsted, CT 06098