A BUSY DAY AT SIMPSON AVENUE

Thursday was another beautiful, sunny day in Ocean City, as we continued work at the Simpson Avenue house.   Ron and Frank spent most of the day laying new subfloor in two rooms – Ron measuring and sawing and Frank screwing down the panels.   Rev. Marshall and Pat began installing drywall in another room.

 

 

 

 

 

The history of the house presented unique challenges for us.  We learned that the house had been built over a number of years, with numerous renovations and additions, using a hodgepodge of construction techniques.   Fitting the subfloor and drywall was interesting, to say the least.    In the afternoon the plumbers showed up to get the water running into the house.   We were somewhat miffed to find them removing one of the floor panels we had laid the previous day.

 

We learned from our host site coordinator that A Future With Hope only began renovation of the house last May.   The owner was so reluctant to move out to allow the renovation that a minister had to convince her to move.

The owner’s next-door neighbor, who had lived there for fifty years, told us that her home had some water damage, but less than our house.   When Sandy approached, she evacuated to Delaware.  The Baptist church she attended at the end of the block had extensive damage on the first floor; the refrigerator floating in the flood water.   Behind our house an existing house is being raised, we estimate about twelve feet off the ground.   Around the corner, another house, including its attached garage, is being raised to a similar height.    Many other surrounding homes, current and new, have already been raised.

 

Seven members of Somers Point UMC came to the parsonage to serve us dinner (hamburger, hot dogs, beans, watermelon, etc.), where we had fun talking about the Detroit Lions (one young man proudly wearing his Lions T-shirt), and learning about challenges they, their friends and neighbors were confronted with during Sandy.  Their conversations gave us a better appreciation of the scope of the damage here and the depth of the frustrations experienced during the renovation process.  Afterwards, they gave us a tour of their church.

 

 

It’s off to bed now for a well-deserved sleep.