Do you like painting? Gardening? General spruce-up-the-place events? Other home repair projects? Trustees have recently been very busy in all these areas, and would like to include you next time. But we need to know about your interests or expertise. The Small Meeting Room, library, and church office, as well as the first and second floor hallways and stairs, were recently repainted. The library in particular needed repair of water damage before this could be started. The Meeting Room and upstairs hallway also received new carpeting, and the office window shades, floor, and radiators still need attention. But it’s been a long time since other areas were similarly treated, like the entire 3rd floor and stairway, the 2nd floor offices and rooms, and the Assembly room. And don’t forget our sanctuary, chapel, and Welles Room. Some areas required more extensive repairs, and these have been (or will be) contracted. And the kitchen is slated for modernization, thanks to a recent donation from the Otty family. But there is much preparatory or finishing work that we can do ourselves, including refurbishing the pastor’s office with painting and updated draperies. Have you noticed the new LED lighting throughout most of the building? This will help our energy efficiency considerably. Much of this was contracted as it involved changing light fixtures. But the 3rd floor and Sanctuary have not been converted yet. Once the dimming system for the sanctuary is updated, we’ll need help changing all the bulbs in the chandeliers, which will require moving pews to make way for our rolling scaffolding. Even if you are not electrically gifted, we will need just plain muscle. Several years ago, we started a new garden in the alleyway, which is doing very well now. But it does need periodic maintenance to stay that way: weeding, mulching, trimming, replacement or addition of plants and flowers, etc. Next to our parking lot, one of our trees had to be removed recently, and others were trimmed. There’s also a garden there, and now a space for a new garden yet to be designed. The gardens along State St also need periodic attention. If you would like to help with any of this, please volunteer. If you like nooks and crannies, take another tour of the church. Many areas, like the basement and numerous closets throughout the church, were used for storing items of little value or obsolete usage for 10, 20, 30 years or longer. Many of these areas have been cleaned up and restored to usefulness, with items of value going to better locations. Historical records were preserved, of course. But as renovations get under way, funded by our Capital Campaign, there will be further cleanup needed. If you would like to help with any of these or other projects, or if you have an opinion about what the end result should be, please volunteer. You can contact me at my email address: fholroyd07@gmail.com Forrest Holroyd and family have been Westminster members since 2004. He currently serves as Treasurer and is a member of the Board of Trustees. Some of his interests have been replacing the 80-year old pew cushions in the Sanctuary; installing hearing loop sound systems for the hearing impaired in the Sanctuary and Assembly Room; and arranging for free refurbished computers both to members needing them and to our African mission teams. With other church members, he also started the alleyway garden, and led general repair, renovation, and painting throughout the building, including upgrading much of our lighting to LEDs.
Church Work Projects – Help Wanted
