Fordham University Global Outreach: 10% of All Jokes are True

From January 10-16 we had a group from Fordham University's Global Outreach (GO!) program come down to the Farm. It was a little weird being back after almost a month away, but this group proved to be really well suited to reintroducing us to the Farm. They had a lot of energy for both fun and service and it really made for a great week.

The most defining characteristic of the group was the extremely strong community they had. This isn't necessarily unique when it comes to groups on the Farm. I am very often surprised at how close the groups grow during their time here. What was unique about this particular community was the fact that it was already strong before they arrived. This is due in large part to the nature of the GO! program at Fordham. They have been meeting at least once a week since October. In addition to their weekly group meetings, they have been staging fundraising bake sales and had to meet with another person from the group one-on-one at least once every week. Thus, by the time they came to the Farm they had already formed a strong bond with every one of their group members. A second factor played into how close the team was before the week. Joe and Christine, the two leaders of the group, went through a pretty extensive interview process to select the team members. It was very apparent during the week that they had really made a concerted effort to select people that were all different personalities and brought something different to the group. The drawn out process may seem like overkill to some people but it makes sense when you dissect the logic behind it. First, gauging the personalities of the would be team members is crucial to running a successful team. Second, the amount of time devoted by the team leading up to the week was a refleciton of the attitude that GO! takes when approaching things like this. I heard from many of the students that GO! insisted on using the label "project" when refrerring to the week, eschewing titles like "trip". Project implies a long term, lasting experience while trip connotes something that begins and ends with the week. To really promote that idea of permanence it's really actually necessary to have that applicaiton process and all those meetings beforehand. I thought it was a really unique way to look at coming down to the Farm and one that benefitted them as they spent their week here.

One of the advantages of having an already strong community was that they were really able to open up during reflection. They really explored a lot of different ideas and personal insights that would have been difficult to share had they not known each other so well. The knowledge that everyone in the room genuinely cared about each other and was there to support one another allowed each person to really put themselves out there. Thus the reflections were always really insightful and sincere. By all means I'm not saying that reflections by other groups are fake or cursory. However, it's hard for goups to really open up and get over that initial hesitancy if they're still trying to get used to each other. This group didn't have to go through that period of reticence. In fact, it took me a little by surprise at first. However, their willingness to be open was refreshing and helped me to in turn reflect openly about the week. It was evident in everything they did during the week that they really had a strong bond and support structure. They participated in the service at Mosby more than any other group we've had and even had the courage to ask to be prayed over. All this is possible because they knew they could count on their team members for support.

The group worked really hard while they were here. We spent one of the days at the Food Pantry packing the boxes for handout. We used a slightly different strategy for packing boxes this time around. Normally, when I've packed boxes before, we just set up 30 empty boxes on tables and assign each person a few items that they then place into each box. It's a process that is kind of cool to see because of the progression. Normally in the beginning, there's a lot of chaos as people are running into each other and dropping stuff and we have to repackage stuff because the boxes are unwieldy. But as it goes on people figure it out and it becomes a more organized chaos.

This time around though, George had set up a conveyor belt so instead we just slid each box down and put the items in one at a time. It was good for me because it pushed me out of my own comfort zone. I found myself getting frustrated as boxes began to pile up and my back began to hurt from lifting all of them. Old George also came by, as he usually does, to help out. Because it was a commodities week, the boxes were pretty heavy so there really wasn't much Old George could do in terms of helping. I could feel my impatience growing as he struggled to lift boxes and (as I saw it) slowed down the line. As this happened, though, I really derived some strength from the rest of the team. Jim, who was working right alongside of me, never once complained and did the work with such purpose that it was truly inspiring. At the other end I saw Christine working with such a smile on her face. She kept talking to Old George in a way that I could tell she was truly interested in what he had to say and wasn't just humoring him. Naturally, at reflection that night we talked about instances we had to use patience. It was thrown out that patience is often necessary in order to live in community. While that is certainly true, as I reflected I realized that community is where I derive my patience. It's especially true here at the Farm. Schedules are constantly changing and plans are always being modified. This would be difficult if it wasn't for the community that Colleen, Jamie and myself have here. We all lean on each other and when something changes we all just shrug and say "Welcome to the Farm". It's easy to endure when you have a support system behind you.

The group was also really full of energy for the whole week. There were more than a few spirited rounds of ninja played on the Farm that week. They also played a marathon session of Scattegories that had plenty of energy behind it... as well as a Collosseum-esque thumbs up/ thumbs down approval system.

Commodus is apparently a tough Scattegories judge

Normally we have to do some cajolling to get groups to dance at the Thurmans' but this group needed no such urging. This was in addition to all the signing and dancing that took place in the cars as it was. They had the chance to play some Charades at Comprehend, which both the clients and kids got a kick out of doing. Though somehow a "space race" and "mother" were the clues that were supposed to lead us to Terminator? The students also broke out the Puzz 3D during the week. There was also a lot of fun had assigning everyone roles from various TV shows and movies. All in all their sense of fun was contagious and made for a great week full of plenty of laughs.

Project Merry Christmas Part 2: It Feels Like Christmas

It was finally crunch time as we went through the final preparations for Project Merry Christmas and then finally Project itself on December 15th. It was a whirlwind of a week as people continued to come in and out of the Farm. It was pretty nonstop, filled with cookies, caroling and craziness. All in all it was a great time that left us completely exhausted but fulfilled.

The first group that came in was a young adult group from Cincinnati. Included in this group was my good buddy from school, Matt and his roomate (also from ND), Leah. It was really cool to see people I knew on the Farm. It was funny thinking about the odds that Matt and I would end up a few hours away from each other and that he would join a faith group that would make a trip to the place where I work. Crazy. We got to work right away with some of us cleaning up the clothes pantry (I feel like I've probably blogged more about that darn place more than anywhere else) while others went to go ring the bell for Salvation Army. Later that night we had more people from Cincinnati come down and a few from nearby Moorehead also arrived. The kitchen soon turned into a cookie making factory as we made an assembly line to bake and decorate cookies for pantry day. It lasted about 3 hours, during which we made over 200 cookies! There were all shapes, sizes and colors. By the end of it, we literally had no more room in the fridges as they were all filled with trays upon trays of cookies. The continuous cookie making clearly had an effect on Leah as she temporarily lost her mind and attempted to slather everyone with frosting.

So..many...cookies...

We went to mass the next morning and made some final firewood deliveries. As the people from Cincinnati were pulling out of the driveway, a group from Loyola University of Chicago (LUC) pulled in to the Farm. They've been coming to the Farm to help out with PMC for a few years now so they were pretty excited to be back at it. They showed up with a whole U Haul full of toys and food, which was awesome. We had to unload the toys and sort them into the different age groups in God's Time Room. We also sent some people out to shop for supplies that we were lacking. By the time we finished, you could barely walk through the room. It was really great to see all the generosity in physical form. After we had sorted the toys, we started to pack them into boxes and label them. Soon everything was completely packed and ready to be loaded into the UHaul.

On Monday a group of students and I went to the Christian Community Center to deliver the food that LUC had brought in the UHaul. There was something like 1000 pounds of food, which if you think it sounds like a lot... well it is. Some of it was sorted but a lot of it was not. So we had the job of unloading and then sorting all the cans into the different categories that Jan uses. It was kind of similar to a day at the food pantry in that it was pretty hectic in the beginning but by the end we were all clicking as a team and working together. It was pretty cool to see the controlled chaos as various cans whipped through the air and into their designated spots. I was surpised by how quickly the work went. We got the whole truck unpacked and sorted in a matter of hours! I guess that just highlights the power of working as a group.

That night we had to prepare the Vanceburg Lion's Club for Project the next morning. We set up a series of "rooms" within the building. They were really just groups of tables that had toys from the same age group. We had a room for infants, 3-5 yr olds, 6-8 yr olds, 9-12 year olds, teens, and adults. We had to wait for the weekly bingo game to finish before we could set up so it was close to midnight before we finally got done. I was put in charge of setting up the table with all the teddy bears. And when I say all the teddy bears, I mean the mountain of teddy bears that we received. I have never seen a collection of so many fluffy characters since the heyday of the Care Bears. Apparently some lady donated her entire collection so that we had bags upon bags of these things. There were Pooh bears, panda bears, polar bears, Paddington bears, black bears, white bears, small bears, tall bears, and even an appearance by Teddy Ruxpin (which reminded me of my all time favorite radio meltdown ever). I spent painstaking minutes arranging the various Ursidates (Linneaus FTW) so that they looked all pretty and had some semblance of order. After finsihing set up, we trooped back to the Farm to rest up before the madness began...

The day of project began bright and early (as witnessed by Jamie's willingness to simply sleep in the kitchen overnight to shorten her trip in the morning). We had to get there about an hour early to do some final setup so we were all a little groggy. We made a quick run to Dolla Dolla General to pick up Santa Hats and an extension cord to plug into the coffee machine so Jamie wouldn't straight up shank someone. When we got to the Lion's Club, there was already a line of people waiting to get inside. We each got assigned to a different room and prepared for the rush. I, of course, was asked to man the teddy bear table. The minsiters from the local churches were checking people in at the front. Once they determined how many people were in their family, each person was assigned one of us as a shopper. It was pretty non stop for about 3 hours and there was a lot of restocking on my part. While it was great to finally see the results of our efforts over the last few weeks, it was also quite a crazy atmosphere and really was over prettty quickly. It was weird because we spent so much time getting ready for Project but it flew by and it was over. But was good to see a lot of the people that we work with in the community come in and get some gifts. Watching the kids take each person around with so much attention and care was really wonderful to watch. They were so sincere in their desire to see that everyone got what they wanted for Christmas.

Team PMC 2009: Please note Bossman being extremely professional in the background

After we finished up with Project and got a little lunch, we headed to the Nursing Home to do some caroling. It was fun to do the caroling with so many people since it drowned out our voices to the point where we sounded somewhat decent. After doing that, we headed to Wal Mart to ring the Salvation Army bell. Now, there are many strategies one can use when ringing the bell. There is the the normal, friendly ringer, the passive aggressive, blantantly aggresive and many variations thereof. Our particular tactic was to sing as loud as possible so people couldn't possibly ignore us. This is especially easy when singing the 12 Days of Christmas (5 GOLDEN RINGS!!!!!). We spent a few solid hours ringing and singing and raising money. We apparently made an impact because the Wal Mart greeters asked us to sing for them inside for them and declared we were the best crew of bell ringers they have seen (full disclosure: they've only been greeters for 2 years now). We even had a woman feel so sorry for us (it was pretty darn cold) that she bought us all hot chocolate. It was capped off by Jake taking off on one of those Rascal- type scooters with a bell and bucket to hit up the people in the parking lot.

The final task before Christmas break was to do the Pantry handout on the 18th. We spent time with the students from LUC making over 350 (!!) food boxes in preparation. With so many people helping us we had two sets of tables going and were abe to get a lot done in a little time. It was again a little controlled chaos but everything ended up getting done. The Pantry handout itself went smoothly and we had plenty of cookies for everyone.

We had one final adventure before we finally went home for the Holidays. After the handout, Joe informed us that we were going to get pretty cold and snow that night after the rain we had gotten and so the hill by the Farm was liable to ice over. Thus we went from the Pantry to the Farm to throw all our stuff into suitcases and rush to Bossman's. So our first few months together at the Farm came to an appropriate end as we flew around the staffhouse in a panic and crashed at Bossman's for the night.

I hope everyone had a a great Christmas and a good Holdiay season. Thanks to everyone that has come down to the Farm and helped out. Lewis County is a special community and you have all done a lot for it. I know I have learned a lot from the people down here and I hope you did as well. It's been four months that have gone by really quickly but have been really enjoyable. I have really had a lot of fun on the Farm and it's due in large part to the volunteers so thank you.

Project Merry Christmas Part 1: The Best Way to Spread Chrtistmas Cheer...

The rest of December was marked by the preparation for and the execution of Project Merry Christmas. PMC is organized by the ministerial association and hands out food vouchers and toys to those who need it. The school age kids are covered by the local schools while we end up covering the rest including the home schooled kids and those people that fall through the cracks. The Farm pools the various donations, sorts them according to age groups, and then sets them up at the Lions Club so that people can "shop" for what they want. There was a lot to be done before all this went down.

We had an "off week" scheduled between Wright State and PMC but as my subtly placed quotes indicate, we were pretty busy. We spent a lot of the time at the clothing pantry (what else is new?) to try and get some of that ridiculous pile under control. It was a pretty bitterly cold on one of the days we worked there but we soldiered through it...naturally to find out later that there is in fact heat in the building. Typical. On one of the other days that we worked at the clothing pantry, I got the opportunity to work construction. It was good because it gave me an opportunity to work with the guys one last time before Christmas break. It was a lot of fun even though it was pretty cold and snowing throughout the day.

Speaking of cold, we had an interesting experience regarding the Farm's heating system. Our staff house is normally heated via heat pump. It essentially takes the heat from the air outside and pumps it into the house. It works fantastically as long as there is heat in the air to pump inside. However, once there are a few cold days in a row and all the residual heat is eliminated from the surrounding air, it turns into a dastardly air conditioning unit. When we did finally get a cold front that settled in, we did actually take the proper steps to head off the problem and we turned off the pump. Apparently, something happened with the pump because when I woke up the next morning it was 47 FREAKING DEGREES IN OUR HOUSE. I could literally feel myself getting sick. We scrambled to correct the situation. And by correct the situation, I mean we piled a myriad of heavy objects on the various vents throughout our house. We went to Church extra early Sunday morning just so that we could warm up. Eventually we talked to Dave, the Emperor of People's Self Help Housing, and were able to shut off the dreaded pump. If there was a story that typefied our time as Farm Managers, this would definitely be in the nomination envelope.

We should have known there would be a problem when this guy installed the heat pump

The off week was also when the Farm was officially turned into a Christmas Factory. We began what turned into a never ending cookie making whirlwind as we prepared gifts for those we delivered food boxes to, the people we worked with, and (most hilariously) Bossman. That last one came about as a result of pure boredom and a flash of creativity. We went back to the childhood tradition of leaving your shoes out on the evening of St. Nicholas and decided to make a middle-of-the-night expedition to Bossman's to drop off our present. It was complete with our incognito, black US Census Hats. As with most things involving us, we made quite a scene to the point that we were stopped by one of his neighbors that happened to work for the sheriff's office. Guess it looked a little shady to have people sneaking around at midnight and dropping off random boxes on people's doorsteps. Oops.

We also had the first of our many, many Christmas carolings. On Wednesday night the local churches got together and held The Ecumenical Church Walk. It started at the courthouse in town and then went to three local churches where we heard presentations on the history of each building. We did our part by caroling for the procession as they entered each building. It was made more challenging (though possibly more enjoyable for those witnessing our caroling) by the gale-like winds, which at times drowned out our voices. It was capped off with a cookies and treats reception that was downright delicious.

Thursday night we went to a concert benefitting the food pantry. It was a great night of music and entertainment. We even got introduced on stage as Glenmary Farm Managers, which was exciting. We helped out with collecting donations, which we found out later totaled a couple thousand dollars! After that, Friday was spent resting up and getting ready for the impending Project Week.

Wright State University: What a Gyps

From November 30-December 5 we had a group of 14 come down from Wright State Campus Ministry in Dayton, OH. It was a real mix of students ranging from freshmen to grad students and they were accompanied by a priest, which was something new. After the break for Thanksgiving, it could have been really difficult to readjust to life on the Farm. To be fair, it was a little weird being back here the first few days before the group came. But this group had such a focus on service that it was actually really easy to get back into the swing of things.

With it being a Pantry handout week, we had a lot of work to do. There was the obligatory packing of the food boxes and all the work that needed to be done at the pantry. George received a new shipment of clothes so the pile which we had worked so hard to reduce was again piled to the ceiling. Ah well... another task for future groups eh? We had plenty of work just trying to get the place ready for the handout day on that Friday. The kids did a great job with all the work. They were totally ready and willing to take on the new challenges that were thrown at them.

I had the opportunity to go back to Licking Valley Senior Center for the first time since I came down in March as a volunteer. Jamie, Colleen and I have gone there to help pack the commodities but I haven't been there for the regularly scheduled program since becoming a Farm Manager. It was great to just be able to hang out with all the people there. We did some word searches, played some bingo and had some delicious Turkey. We entertained the people there for about 30 minutes with some Christmas carols. Surprisingly, Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer was a crowd pleaser (by request, of course).

We also had plenty of fun with the group. The Thurmans were a blast, as usual. They have such a visible bond and a sense of fun that it's so hard not to enjoy yourself there. This time they were giving Jeff crap for gaining a whopping 11 pounds after Thanksgiving. He steadfastly maintained that his new belly was a badge of honor since it took so much effort to get to that point. I don't immediately hate every country song that comes on the radio now, and I think that's primarily due to the Thurmans. The atmosphere there is just so perfect for enjoying music that it doesn't matter what they sing, I always appreciate it. There have been a few instances where I go looking for songs after I've heard them at the Thurmans' and I find that the original is terrible. Case in point is That Summer. I love it every time the Thurmans play it but I was repulsed by the Garth Brooks version when I finally heard it... weird. They've also turned me onto some songs I end up loving in their original form. Toes by the Zac Brown Band is one of those ones. If you would have told me 4 months ago that this would be a song I surfed the airwaves for, I would have called you crazy. But I guess the Farm has brought me out of my comfort zone. It's a good feeling. It's part of the growth process I guess and shows that the Farm has affected me at least in this small way.

There was plenty of fun had during the week outside of the normal program. There was a night we spent around the fire singing Taylor Swift’s entire song catalog and playing Make a Song, where much hilarity ensued. They also taught us the infinitely fun game of Scum and we had a marathon, two tier session on the last night. It was a hectic evening with a lot of fun and a multitude of hilarious chief Scum pictures (RAKE IT, SCUM!). Naturally, it was capped off with a few games of ninja.

Congrats on your brother getting into ND. Umm.... call me?

There were a few things that were made evident to me this week. The first was the sense of community found here. It's something I have noticed throughout my weeks here but sometimes it's more prominent than others. This was one of those weeks when I really noticed it. At Licking Valley I could sense it talking to everyone and watching all the seniors interact with one another and swap stories about their grandchildren. There was a genuine interest for the welfare of others that existed in that place. Going to Mosby for service on Wednesday showed the community that forms around Christ here. The Buckners make up the majority of Mosby's congregation and it's like a mini family reunion everytime they go to service. But it's always remarkable to me how they make such an effort to welcome us when we go. They really do make us feel like part of the family. The Construction guys over at People's were also an example of the community to be found here. It's been a while since I've worked with John and Rog's crew and I could sense they were sincere when they said they had missed working with me. They were excited to see me again and the feeling was mutual. In the short 3 months that I've been here, they've really welcomed me and made me feel like a part of the crew. Everywhere I go in Lewis County, I see examples of the strong community that exists here. It's a wonderful feeling. But it's also taught me some things.

The strength of the community here derives from 2 main sources: family and faith. At Notre Dame, it was a similar situation. The University does such an excellent job at fostering community and its cited so often that community is really a buzzword when discussing Notre Dame. The love that students have for the school is no accident and comes from the same sources as the community here: family and faith. There, it was so easy to tap into both sources. The dorm life, football games, and classrooms established the Notre Dame family while having chapels in every dorm and the many faith based programs and places around campus made up the faith portion. It was the perfect storm for a patently lazy person such as myself. All I literally had to do was wander downstairs every week to go to mass. But I found that a funny thing happened when I went home. Now that it wasn't so easy, I would miss Church. Being here has reminded me that you can find a strong community in places other than Notre Dame. It may take effort, but the effort that you exert brings back rewards far exceeding it.

The second thing I noticed this week was the power of doing small things. While at Licking Valley one woman commented on how I seemed to memorize everyone's name after meeting them. It was such a small gesture on my part but it really made an impact on this woman. When we were at Mosby, Rick came around (like he always does) to shake everyone's hand before the service. Again, it's a small gesture but it does so much. It sets the tone for the service and creates such a welcoming atmosphere. Those dual lessons of community and doing the small things are ones I hope to bring back with me long after my year here is up.

The kids really got a lot out of the week. Different groups latch onto different aspects of the Farm and this one definitely found its identity in the spirituality component of the Farm. They took the opportunity for quiet reflection to really get in touch (or back in touch) with God. It was a good reminder to me of the value of sitting quietly and reflecting. Fred closed out the week with a really excellent homily. It was based on the gospel about the two houses- one built on rock and the other built on sand. Fred referenced the fact that the chapel had to be rebuilt multiple times but that it was possible because the chapel had a strong foundation a la the house built on rock. The foundation, Fred explained, that the chapel is built on is Jesus. He made the point that the Farm is what Christianity is all about. It's about loving those you meet and living simply not because it's hip but because Jesus set the example for the rest of us. I thought it was a homily that captured the essence of the Farm really well. It was also good to celebrate mass in the chapel, since we haven't had the opportunity to do so since I've been here. It was a great reminder of what we do here and a nice ending to the week.

Dub Dub's Ziploc Omlette Awesomeness

So this post is actually a long time coming. I haven't had the necessary hardware to post the pictures that accompany it so it's been a little bit of a wait. But here it is in all it's glory.

So if you're like me, you love omlettes. If you're also like me, you are continually foiled by the process of making said omlette. (If you're even more like me, you're starting to think this intro sounds like a bad infomercial). Most of mine turn into goopy pseudo scrambled eggs. It's not a pretty sight. Anyway, a while back Wild Woman told me a recipe for what she called the ziploc omlette. She claimed it made the perfectly shaped omlette. Naturally, given my previous omlette making fiascos, I was intrigued. So I decided to make one for myself and document it for all of you out there.

Step 1: Component Assembly and Bagging

Basically all you need are 2 eggs (3 eggs are also perfectly fine) and whatever ingredients you want. I enjoy cheese, bacon, tomato, more cheese, onion, even more cheese, and bell pepper in my omlette. All you do is scramble the eggs and pour them into a ziploc baggie, along with any components you want. I've found that the quart size freezer bags make the perfect size. Make sure your take the air out of the bag so you end up with the image above. HINT: While you're assembling your omlette's ingredients, bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil. This will be crucial in...

Step 2: Boiling Your Bag

This is actually as simple as it sounds. Once you have your bag assembled, stick it in the pot of boiling water. Just let it sit in the boiling water for about 13 minutes. You can turn the bag over a few times if you'd like. But really that's it. After it's been cooked, you just open the bag and slide it right out onto a plate. Boosh.

Step 3: Enjoy Your Freaking Omlette

I have to admit I was a little skeptical of the whole thing but as you can see, it really does turn out the perfectly shaped omlette with a lot less mess. And once I bit into it I immediately said, "This is delicious!". You can dress it however you'd like (that's salsa on top of mine there).

Now, if you paid attention, you probably noticed it took 13 minutes to cook and you rightly asked why anyone would want to wait that long for their omlette. Fair point. Don't use it if you're in a rush. However, because of the ziploc bag, you can just make your bag the night before and stick it in the fridge. Then you can just put the bag in the water while you take a shower and you'll have a beautifully prepared omlette upon your drying off. In conclusion, Ziploc + Omlette = CRAZY DELICIOUS.

Bishop Hendricken: Garrrr!

From November 14-20 we had a group of all guys from Bishop Hendriken High School in Warwick, Rhode Island. We had heard from a former Farm Manager that this group was pretty wacky but since different groups from the same school can be different we were interested to see how it went. Turns out our information was reliable and these kids were decidedly wacky. It was a super fun week that had a bunch of laughs.

The week started off with a night hike up to Armstrong cemetery to do some stargazing. It was a great night site because it was so close that it afforded us a lot of flexibility. Thinking back on it, it epitomized what the Farm is about. It's not often that we take the time to just sit back and look at stars. First off, most of us live in areas where the lights from the city make it almost impossible to see the stars. Second, we lead such busy lives that they rarely afford us the opportunity to sit back and actually look at the stars. So this simple activity was a great way to introduce the kids to the simplicity of the Farm. The kids showed their goofiness right away by spending much of the time figuring out a way to make a Hannah Montana constellation.

Something that really struck me about this group was the sincerity they brought to service. It's one thing to say you're going to serve, it's another to really go out of your way to make that effort to really serve everyone you can. These guys did that surprisingly well. They were always looking for jobs to do and were never satisfied when they finished whatever task they were initially given. This was evident right on the first work day. I was with two groups that day in Tollesboro at both the food and clothing pantry. The clothing group spent the day sorting clothes, as usual, while the food side put out much of the food for box making and also made some of the Thanksgiving boxes. Toward the end of the day, I ran over to the clothing side to tell them to start tidying up after which I raced back to the food side. I was shocked when shortly after I left them, the boys showed up on the food side, looking to help in any way they could. They could have just finished their job at the clothing pantry and could have easily (and justifiably) rested up until the others were finished. But they weren't satisfied just finishing their own job. They wanted to serve in any way they could and went the extra mile.

This week was also a week for finishing tasks. On that first day, the actually kids finished sorting the entire back pile of bags. It was really a culmination of a lot of hard work from previous groups. It felt really great to see that completed because it was a pet project of the Farm Managers. We never thought we would see the day when that huge pile was ever fully sorted. In addition, I got to work on the last day at the Thomas Colvin construction site at Fuller Branch. It was interesting to work on the last day at a site. It's not often that we get to see the tail end of a job. It was nice knowing that the very next day a family was going to move into the home we were working on.

There was a feeling of familiarity running through the week. For Jamie and Colleen, hearing the New England accents and slang was like having a little bit of home brought to them. It was similar to when the Notre Dame kids came in a few weeks ago and I felt so good hearing and talking about familiar sights. The two of them were so enthused by hanging out with people that knew the same places they did and I can see why. For me, the familiarity was rooted in a reason other than geography. Bishop Hendriken is an all boys school. While I never attended an all boys school, I did live in an all boys dorm for the last 4 years. Watching and listening to all the ridiculousness of the week really reminded me of living in Alumni Hall. There was such a sense of community and fun that permeated the week that reminded me of the camaraderie of living with

all guys. There's a sense of goofiness and energy when you get a bunch of guys together in one place. These guys definitely showed that very well. There were plenty of games of knockout and frisbee. We played G-H-O-S-T on almost all car rides and it was rare that anyone ever escape getting crap for something they did. Nicknames abounded and the sayings of the day were always interesting. It was also the first time I've ever seen pirate duels on the Farm. I came out of the staffhouse one day to find that the boys had grabbed any and all available sticks and had staged a pirate duel on the picnic tables. This was of course on Steve the Pirate Tuesday (There was a guy named Steve in the group). It was really nice being able to experience that sort of community again.

The group also brought a really cool element to reflection. The group always did their own reflection after we ended each night. On the last night, the chaperones included the Farm Managers in their reflection. They used a prayer structure known as an Emmaus Walk. It's based around the disciples meeting and, at first, not recognizing Jesus on the road to Emmaus. It was a really great way to look back on the progression of the week for the kids. They were able to see how they were changed by the week in a way that focused on their personal discovery of Jesus. It was a surprisingly in depth reflection for a group of high schoolers but they were more than up to the task. Their answers showed that they had really put a concerted effort into thinking about how Jesus had been present that week. It was an excellent end to a great week.

St. Martha's: Wait... Are You Calling Me Fat?

So this past weekend we welcomed a group from St. Matha's youth group in Cuyahoga Falls, OH to the Farm. It was unorthodox in terms of scheduling because it was only for the weekend but it didn't mean it was any less busy. I knew it was going to be a fun weekend when I noticed one of the kids wearing a pair of Hoban shorts. When I asked him if he went to the same Archbishop Hoban we were familiar with, it turned out there were a handful of them on the trip. It was good to see Hoban kids back on the Farm. It was also great to welcome some new places to the Farm as well.




Planning for the group was actually a pain. Since they were here only for the weekend, we couldn't bring them to any of our old standby sites like construction or Comprehend. So we were scrambling a bit to try and find things for the group to do. This was coumpounded by the fact that Jamie joined her family this weekend in Maine for the second largest Lobstering tournament on the East Coast. So while she was captaining her trawler (as I'm told Lobster boats are properly called), Colleen and I were left with the group. It was also frustrating because we wanted the kids to get a well rounded expereience at the Farm, which was difficult to do since they only had one day. The Farm has some wonderful qualities about it but it often takes a little time for them to really sink in. Like anything new, the first day is more about the kids adjusting to the simplicity, God's Time, not having cell phones etc. Once they get past that, they can appreciate what the charisms of this place do for them. Colleen put it best when she said that it really had to be a conscious effort on our part to drive home these points instread of letting the Farm work its magic.




Despite all these obstacles set in our way, the kids really had a fantastic weekend of sevice. I spent Saturday at the Clothing Pantry. It was a mess after the pantry handout week so we had a lot of work cut out for us. But the kids were really willing to do the work and did it with great enthusiasm. I think the entire time we were there was spent singing. It started with Party in the USA (let's be honest, there isn't a better place to start), moved from there to Disney songs and then gradually gave way to a Grease medley. The kids kept making comments indicating they thought I would get annoyed with all their goofyness. But it was such a great reminder of what I and my fellow Farm Managers are trying to do here.



Every community of Farm managers runs things differently. It depends on philosophies and personalities of the Farm Managers. There's really no right or wrong way to do things here. For Colleen, Jamie, and I there's a definite philosophy of service with a smile. We joke that we make a scene everywhere we go here in Lewis County. Everyone seems to be secretly laughing at us as we bumble around. We regularly crack up at somewhat inappropriate times (say during Fr. Larry's sermons) and generally have a great time. We just want to show the kids that service doesn't have to be chorelike and can be done while having fun. Service and fun are certainly not mutually exclusive when it comes to us. It's why we're always joking around, it's why the background to the computer here is usually something ridiculous like Werewolf Bar Mitzvah or lolcats, and it's why we have a quote wall. We embrace the fact that we're young and inexperienced but I think we have our hearts in the right place, which makes all the difference. Seeing Maggie, Taylor and Kiki sing the entire time at the pantry really reminded me of what I'm doing here in Lewis County.



As chance would have it, George came over to the clothing pantry and mentioned that he needed some help in the food pantry. So off we went to the food side. We stacked boxes in anticipation for the next time we would pack them and then had a blast making ziploc bags of sausage patties. I was really gald we got to do that because it showed the kids the food pantry when they would not have gone there otherwise.



That night, seeing as it was Halloween (alas, not Fortiesween) Colleen and I decided to take the kids to a local haunted hotel right in downtown Vanceburg. We had seen the signs for it and Colleen saw the jail guys setting it up earlier in the week but we didn't know anything else. I was hoping it wouldn't be hokey and cheesy. I know that it must have been difficult to give up their Halloween to do service, so I wanted the kids to have a good time. Luckily the hotel proved to be a big hit. It was a really elaborate operation with multiple rooms and a lot of different things. They had a kitchen of horrors, a meeting with the Devil and the obligatory chainsaw man that jumped out at you at the end. And it was legitimately scary. I was laughing the whole time at the kids who were screaming their heads off. We went in two groups, with me in the front and Colleen in the second. When Colleen came out with the second group she ran over to me and showed me her hands, which were covered in nervous sweat. So score one for Vanceburg.



So it was a good weekend overall with a lot of hilarity. Now we have an off week so I'm going to try and rest up and store some energy for the groups to come...