First Church
of Winsted

Serving Our Community Since 1778



DAY 5 & 6





More Painting, Sorting, and Some Fun & Games



Wednesday was a shorter workday because the children did not have school. In the morning, Bob and JT continued to paint outside walls that were severely in need of painting but were very hard to access.





Rain, Cat, and Debby went to work sorting out years of donations of clothing, sports items and toys, and hundreds of pairs of shoes. They started by moving everything out of the third-floor storage room and sorting on the second floor.







They were able to sort the clothing by gender, type and size, and then put them back on the shelves in the third-floor storage room.


The most important thing we did on Wednesday was to take the residents and staff of Casa Hogar to a buffet restaurant about 45 minutes away. The buffet was spectacular, and no matter how finicky your taste, there was something you would like. Surprisingly, the hostess didn’t blink an eyelash when we asked for a table for 22! We were seated at one very long table.





While everyone ate to their hearts’ content, the kids then went to the play area and had a wonderful time. Some people are kids long after their chronological age would indicate otherwise.





There was something in the play area for everyone!









It was a great time together!





When we got back to Casa Hogar, the kids still had energy to spend time with us and play games.





Although our Spanish vocabulary varies from person to person, all of us now know the Spanish words for “hide and seek” and “tag”.


The staff made alternative arrangements for feeding the children breakfast on Thursday morning, as we told them that we would paint the kitchen on Thursday. Before we could start painting, we had to send JT to the roof to negotiate with the ants. All we wanted was for them to stop crawling on the wall for a few hours while we painted. JT wasn’t very persuasive in negotiating a truce and had to resort to a can of RAID.





Here's the kitchen before we started painting. The walls didn’t look that bad to us.





But as we painted, the difference was more noticeable.


Rain liked the highs of painting.





Debby and Cat managed to handle the lows.





For lunch, I suggested we bake bags of chicken nuggets from Sam’s Club in the guest kitchen and feed the children outside. Debby said I was out of touch with reality and that I should get a McDonald’s Happy Meal for each of the children. Guess who had to drive to McDonald’s. Each child got a Happy Meal, and each older child and staff member got a double Big Mac or a QPC. Our team of health freaks decided to have turkey sandwiches on Mexican rolls.


On Thursday afternoon, 3 children were dropped off at Casa Hogar by State officials. A few of the children stayed temporarily at Casa Hogar a few months ago. Something happened and State officials took custody of the children and placed them in a State-run facility for children. 2 of the children were despondent and cried for days. The social workers spoke with the children and learned that they wanted to return to Casa Hogar. So, the authorities brought the children to Casa Hogar this afternoon.


Because we completed our tasks earlier than expected, we took a trip to a neighboring town to visit Dona Rosa’s pottery studio where Oaxacan Black Pottery is still produced. We listened to a presentation by an artisan about the mining of the clay and watched her work with the clay.





We allowed each resident of Casa Hogar to purchase an item at the studio. Mari, the director of Casa Hogar, encouraged them all to get a black clay whistle shaped like a bird. The children did exactly as she suggested and were using the whistles before they reached the parking lot. We helped get them into the Casa Hogar van, wished Mari godspeed, and told them that we would see them Friday morning. We may be worn out, but we’re not crazy!





First Church of Winsted



95 N. Main St, Winsted, CT 06098