First Church
of Winsted

Serving Our Community Since 1778
All Are Welcome



DAY 5





“They dug a ditch that did not want to be dug!”



Today was another bright beautiful day in California! We headed out to Tiny Pines and then split into three groups. One group consisting of Mike, Chaz, Alec, and Cam was driving up to a house we had worked on last year about an hour up into the mountains to dig down another 3 inches on a trench for a propane line for about 6 hours. While this seems like it would not take that long, the ground is rock hard and an axe pick is needed to break the ground to dig. To quote Alec, “They dug a ditch that did not want to be dug!”





They also hung clothing hanger rack, and caulked the shower and tub areas, sealed all roof penetrations, installed wood stove fresh intake (Chaz while also smashing himself in the face with a drill accidently – only a little dent to his nose!), hung a bathroom mirror, cut transition trim and started the dryer vent.





The second group which consisted of Laura, Lia and Jenna stayed at Tiny Pines to help with some refresh to the office, the store and the warehouse. They did everything from cleaning bathrooms to washing floors, refacing the store and putting out stock. Jenna spent time playing with Leggy, Alyssa’s Daughter who stayed with them.



The last group consisting of Debby, Jay, Sierra, Aiden and Julian went to the house in Orville to finish the projects there. Aiden and Julian finish putting up a chain link fence, Jay installed the butcher block counters and Sierra wash the windows inside and out. Debby prepped the floor for polyurethane, installed lighting outside by the deck, cleaned the bathroom from all the saw dust, installed a toilet seat lid, and with Sierra’s help, installed double sink vanity in the bathroom. Jay then started installing the counters which we will finish tomorrow along with applying the polyurethane on the hard wood floors.


We had special visitors last night, Mike’s daughter Christine, and grandson Alex came up from Orinda, about a 4-hour drive, to visit and have dinner with us at Black Bear Diner, which is a favorite of Mike’s grandson, Alex. After stuffing ourselves, we headed to Winco for dessert. Now Winco is a local grocery store chain that is open 24/7 and has bulk bins of food and candy. Probably there are 40 with candy, then 20 with dried fruit, and 20 bins of various trails mix. It is a fan favorite with the group, which is why we only let them go once while we are here! 😊


We headed home and Mike got to spend some time with Christine and Alex as they stayed overnight and would head home in the morning.







First Church of Winsted



95 N. Main St, Winsted, CT 06098