2008 was GS's 10th year doing Christmas in April. We had our usual team plus a few new people. Twenty-two in all participated. The Anacostia river clean-up was the same day and may have cut down our group size, however, Brian did both -- he did Xmas in April in the morning and helped on the river banks in the p.m.
The house we worked on is owned by a widow who has a grandchild living with her. We had worked with Theresa -- our house captain -- twice before. Her brother Tommy and 2 other professional craftsmen also provided their services. We did lots of our favorite activity -- painting! Always painting! Frances, Elizabeth, Dunstina, Naya, Nancy and Janice clened and painted the kitchen a bright yellow and washed and put all the kitchen dishes away. Christiana, Dunstin, Godswill, Chibueze and Marcie painted the living rom ahd hallway white. What a big differenca a fresh coat of paint makes!
Kelly and Steve fixed the basement ceiling. Brian cleaned out the gutters and painted. Matt an Will put up a stairway railing on the steep basement steps and fixed windows. Pat changed the range hood and hung 3 doors. Everyone pitched out trash and did yard work. Glee, Leilani, and kelly planted azaleas and flowers after weeding the flower beds. They filled two pots with flowers for the front porch. Nancy touched up the door frames and railing with white paint. Saundra made the lunch run to get our donated meal. And Carlyle even walked the family's dog. Everyone helped everyone else with various projects.
The homeowner's family came by to mow the lawn and helped with other parts of the clean up. Lillian, the homeowner, was very happy with the the results. She gave us many useful things for our Missions sales.
---Janice Taggart
