Brian Hoagburg doing layout - straight edge!
450 different campers attend for one or two and even multiple weeks
of fun in the great outdoors. Camp Allen provides a ratio of 1:2 with 1:1
available allowing those campers who may not be able to attend other camps due to
age, ability, accessibility or behavioral needs to come to a camp!
What
the Concord Carpenter crew like best about Camp Allen is that they are
a typical camp with typical camping activities that include swimming,
boating, walking in the woods, exploring the wetlands, arts and crafts, music
and dance, and everything in between.
The BAM team worked on a water feature
Fountain pool and new bridge
Tool Training and Camp
Allen, NH Update by Nick Julian [BAM Team Member]
Week 1 : Orientation and week 2: Camp Allen, NH
Greetings
everyone! It's your ACC-Build America Correspondent Nick Julian and as I write
this, I am on the road on our way to our first camp stay at Camp Allen in
Bedford, New Hampshire! Before that however, here's a recap on the jam-packed
first week of the Build America (BAM) trip!
Build
America officially June 26th with arguably the most informative, incredibly
awesome orientation presented by AConcordCarpenter.com, Stanley, DeWALT, and
Milwaukee our incredible sponsors all dedicated to the mission of Push America
and to our Build America event. We are so fortunate to have their support and
their incredible hand and power tools.
Working as a team to design the fountain heads [white pipes]
Rob,
Todd from Tool Box Buzz, Phil, Ethan, Josh, and Billy, were all incredibly
patient and dedicated to tool safety above all things. The entire team left the
orientation with a greater respect for the tools that we have, and I think our
unofficial slogan is going to be "10 in, 10 out"! [referring to our
fingers]
The
ACC Team had a huge range of training projects from installing joists on a
ledger board for a deck to showing us how to efficiently make balusters for our
deck railing. In addition they showed us how to correctly install
possible projects that we might face on this trip. More importantly however,
they showed us how to keep going if something goes wrong, or how to stop our
progress before we did something improperly.
Throughout
the training, Rob made some great comments about what our mission was and why
we were doing what we were doing. Among them, the most poignant quote was
"When good men do nothing, nothing good gets done." He implored us to
be those "good men", to look out for the safety of our brothers, to
work as a team and to bring awareness to the issues facing people with
disabilities.
The
dedication and energy of the ACC Team energized us, and as we make our way to
our first camp, we are all excited, confident, and ready to do the important
work of advocating for people with disabilities by creating structures that
gives the campers we will meet an unrivaled summer camp experience.
If you
are still interested in donating to, or learning more about our Build America
team, visit www.pushamerica.org.
Sam Sorkin [BAM Team] liking the Milwaukee Fuel Drill - Camp Allen
Camp Allen: Bedford, NH
At Camp Allen the BAM team worked on numerous
projects: a sensory garden, clearing a nature trail,
sanding and painting the outdoor stage, and painting two of the cabins.
We all slept in tents giving us all that "outdoor camping
experience". The first day of work was intense. We split up into groups:
painting, garden, and trail. I was on the garden team, and while the first day
had a great deal of planning, we helped lay the boulders and rocks for the
water feature that runs throughout the whole garden, a waterfall. It was all
like one giant puzzle, but it was awesome to be able to take a glimpse into the
work of someone who installs these detailed projects that require a great deal
of foresight.
Installing Decking - love seeing the 16d nail spacing and Stanley Tool hammer claw as a lever!
Day 2 was the big day for the garden crew, as we began to build a bridge that would span the small waterfall for the campers and any visitors
to the garden to cross to continue along the path to walk near the end of the
waterfall where there was a small pool for fish or for plant life. It was a day
where much of the training of the ACC team came back to the forefront, as we
were installing rim joists, joists, and leveling posts. Another project we took
on in the garden was finishing the tool shed which looked like a caboose of a
train and was aptly named, "The Caboose". On the caboose, we installed
balusters and a full railing, using the quick tips of making jigs, and making
stops for our miter saw as we had a great deal of these balusters to cut and
install.
Day 3 the nature trail reached completion becoming the first big
project that was completed. The garden and painting teams were still hard at
work and completing unfinished projects. Days 4 and 5 brought with them new
challenges, as thunderstorms made their way to Camp Allen and shortened our
work time significantly. Our last day at Camp Allen was largely spent on the
garden installing some posts for garden entrances and in wrapping up an
overhang that was installed near the pathway of the garden.
Above all, however, every day after we arrived we ate, played,
danced and became friends with the campers, camp
counselors, and staff. We had an amazing time and I would also say that the
highlight of the trip was Awards night where all of the campers received an
award, which was a poem written by their counselors. Build America gave them a $5,000 grant for their camp. After this, we danced
and sang the night away. It was the most fun any one of us have had in a long
time.
This past week has been incredible and if all of the rest of this
journey is as awesome as this week, this year's Build America event will be the
best in its 12 year history.
Our next camp stop will be in Hackettstown, New Jersey and I hope
to recap while we're on the road in the City of Brotherly Love: Philadelphia,
PA!
Why Did These Guys Join the 2014 Build America Team?
Rett Abner and his sister Penelope
For me, I am doing this trip because my sister
Penelope. When I was 14 she was born and my life completely changed.
She was born with down syndrome and our family was
told hundreds of times how it was going to be an uphill battle, how she wasn't
going to be able to do certain things, ect. But we didn't let that stop us. We
let her do what she wants to do and don't restrict her just because the world
sees her as a little girl with a disability. She dances, she plays soccer, she
has full conversations with us. She is no different then any other little girl
and that's because we (not just as an immediate family but as a community)
decided not to let her disability define her.
So my motivation for this trip is to give these
campers that same experience. Building accessibility structures so that they can have
the full camp experience. Allowing them to live life to the fullest regardless
of what it is that society tries to define them by.
OΔΗ,
Rett Abner
Matt Varnell [2014 BAM Team] and Nicki
This is Nicki. She and I met at the last friendship visit for
Journey of Hope [South.] We were in Virginia, 2 days away from DC at one of the local Arcs.
They were sponsoring dinner and a dance party, and you can only imagine how
much fun the dance parties always are.
My team and I were in the middle of the Cha-Cha Slide when I saw
Nicki sitting in the corner alone. I slid my way over and asked for her to
take my hand and dance with me. Wanting no part of that, she moved her chair
further into the corner. I wasn't going to push her into doing something she
didn't want to do, but I couldn't just dance around and let her sit there
alone, so I joined her. I pulled up a chair and we just sat together. Every few
minutes when the song changed I'd say "This is my song! Come on Nicki,
dance with me!" and finally she did. She took my hand and led me to the
middle of the dance floor and we danced the night away
The next morning we were packing up to leave. I was already in
my van and about to hit the road because my van was always the first out. The
sponsor stopped me just as I was backing out and we had a great conversation
about Push America and Friendship Visits. He told me that as long as he has
known Nicki, she's never participated in a dance party.
When I first got to training for Journey of Hope, I was told
about a "JOH Moment"; a time when you realize that the fundraising,
the hot days, the uncomfortable floors, even missing 4th of July in your home
town is all worth it. It's even a privilege, because you get to be there to see
a girl finally love to dance at the dance parties.
It's an addictive feeling. So addictive it makes you sign up for
another summer event like Build America!
