Walls

FTLComm - Tisdale - Wednesday, July 11, 2001

We have been keeping you posted as the Tisdale Golden Age Centre takes shape. This is a true community project that is a major development in this town. The site preparation the foundation, the pads, the basement all are phases of the construction project but the erection of the actual structure is now underway. Yesterday the construction contractor began cutting the dimensional lumber up and

today the walls are being assembled. The contractor was held up for a while with a project out of town, then lost one of the team to an accident. While moving a scaffold into place a ladder collapsed and the man's back was injured. He is now in hospital in Saskatoon. As I stood and pondered the process of making a wall I was impressed with the precision of the work. As a youth I had worked on a number of projects but was always the guy they had to "hold this" while others assembled things, I was the

guy to "Go get. . ." while other did the measuring. There was good reason for this as my attitude toward measurement lacked the precision needed for things to work out. The carpenters measure and mark, tack then straighten, tap into square and nail in place so that a wall like this one is as near as perfect as possible. I came along today just in time for coffee and both volunteers and carpenters shared a few minutes together. It immediately reminded me of work crews I had been on, bailing, thrashing and working on the track. The highlight of the day for me was never quitting time but coffee break when the stories were told, the politics discussed and good humour make the hours of work fly by. With the cup cakes gone and the coffee finished it was time to get back to work as one volunteer was dispatched to the lumber yard for one-by-fours and staples while the treasure had to hustle off to the bank and deposit a donation. Money continues to be donated to this outstanding project and if you would like to help out contact Ensign and we will direct you to the fund raisers.