Fences, Friendship, & Fun
The High School Youth Group from Saugatuck Congregational Church in Westport, CT chose Whatcom County for their Annual Service Trip, and the WLTRG was happy to host them. They arrived on Sunday, June 25th with 18 teenagers and 8 adults. For most of them, it was their first trip to Washington State.
Laurel welcomed the team to the Volunteer House with dinner and the Team Orientation on Sunday evening. First thing Monday morning, they headed to their first job site in Sumas. There, they met Kyle and Mark, ready to get them started on their first fence building project.
The next four days were spent digging post holes, stirring cement, cutting boards, and installing hog wire. This team was ready to learn whatever we could teach them about the fine art of fence building.
In addition to the fence building, a few of the students went around to the front of the house and began to tear off the flood-damaged boards of the porch and front steps. At the end of the week, the homeowner allowed the students to sign their names to the inside of the steps, before installing new top boards.
While most of the team was building fences on Monday and Tuesday, a small group headed to a 2nd job site in Sumas, where they spread out a yard of top soil to fill in some “ankle-breaking” holes in an elderly couple’s yard. They were eager to work, and we were eager to find meaningful projects to keep all of these teens busy for four days.
On Wednesday, one of the team leaders from Connecticut asked if they could purchase mulch for the flower beds at Job Site #1, to which we quickly responded, “Of course!” Thursday morning, Mark filled up his dump trailer and delivered it to the job site before the team’s arrival. Then, while some of the team was completing the fence project, others were weeding the flower beds, spreading mulch, and dead-heading the roses.
The Saugatuck Team had a connection with a local church, and five teens from Bellingham joined the work projects for the week. They were a great addition to the team, and it was fun to see the youth group teens welcome the local teens and bring them right into the group. Friendships grew quickly, and by the end of the week, the Saugatuck leaders invited the Bellingham teens to join them next summer for their next service trip, wherever that may be.
In addition to building fences, demolishing a porch, and raking top soil and mulch, the Saugatuck Team also fit a lot of fun into their week. Their top two adventures were a late-night Bioluminescent Kayak Tour and a trip up to Mount Baker. Their mountain day happened to coincide with the opening of the road to Artist Point, which was a fun coincidence. As they were about to load up their 4 large SUVs and head to the mountain, Laurel grabbed a roll of heavy-duty garbage bags and said, “Here! Let the teens go sledding!” The leaders weren’t quite sure about this unique offer … but in the end, they all discovered that “Yes!” you can sled on garbage sacks. They went home with videos to prove it.
An amazing week was had by all.
