Thursday, 10/24/2013
Volunteer Village
J. Strom Thurmond Lake
Modoc, SC
It’s already been four weeks since we returned back to J. Strom Thurmond Lake to once again volunteer with the Corps of Engineers. Time really flies when you’re having fun! In addition to volunteering, we’ve been busy with potlucks, game nights, and other fun activities.
We had a couple of days to get settled in after our arrival on Tuesday, 9/24. Then first thing Thursday morning, 9/26, all of the volunteers had a monthly meeting with our volunteer coordinator. After the meeting, Terri and I went to the Visitor Center to help move a bunch of supplies to a supply room at a nearby location. Friday, 9/27, we divided up a bunch of items in preparation for National Public Lands Day…
which was Saturday, 9/28. Many of the workamping volunteers were assigned tasks at various locations with local volunteer groups around the lake. Terri was in charge of a group of local people at Petersburg Campground whose task was to spread mulch and beautify the gatehouse area.
My group of about 14, mostly local geocachers, painted/stained picnic tables, also at Petersburg Campground.
With the large size of Petersburg Campground, there was a lot of ground to cover, but because of their geocaching background, they had no problem walking from site to site. Both Terri and I had very good, helpful groups to work with.
After a few hours of work, most everyone that helped out in the morning attended a hotdog lunch. There were a lot of people that attended!
Everyone seemed to have a good time, and a lot was accomplished during the day.
On Monday, 9/30, a “new” couple arrived at the Volunteer Village…
This is their first workamping gig. After having had a few weeks to get settled in, they seem to be getting very comfortable with things and are enjoying themselves. We’re looking forward to having some great adventures with them the next few months.
So far Terri and I have been keeping busy with various tasks. Just like our last time here, we’re counting the fees collected at campgrounds, boat ramps, and day use areas. Other tasks we’ve done over the last four weeks include retrieving cash registers, radios, and other equipment from the gatehouses that are closed for the season, performing safety inspections of grills for rust holes and picnic tables for loose/rotten/split boards, receipt to report reconciliations, fee can collections, and a weekly check on the supply and condition of life jackets that are provided for use at swimming beaches.
In addition to all our volunteer work, we’ve attended a couple of potluck dinners and several game nights here at the village. We also went with our volunteer friends Rich and Jacquie to see the movie “Gravity” in IMAX 3D. Rich, Jacquie, and Terri were all slightly disappointed, but I enjoyed it and thought it was great. I think the movie has been over-hyped which may have led to some of their disappointment.
We’ve had several visitors to our humming bird feeder. The expected…
and the unexpected!
arrived at Petersburg Campground for a two-week stay. Paul, Marti, Terri, and I stopped in to greet them and visit for a short while after they had arrived and gotten settled in. We’ve had some great times during the last two weeks. We all went out for lunch at
Michelle’s Pizza in McCormick on Tuesday, 10/10.
After lunch we explored downtown McCormick, SC.
Paul, George, and I “spoke no, saw no, heard no” evil while we waited for our wives outside the local art museum.
Paul and Marti had all of us over for an excellent meal one evening followed by a nice campfire.
Terri and I had everyone over for a cookout and a campfire another night.
And we were all honored to be able to celebrate George and Laurie’s anniversary with them on Tuesday, 10/22.
We went to
TBONZ in Evans, GA, and the food was delicious!
We all obviously had a great time!
Our first four weeks have been great. Terri and I are looking forward to the rest of our stay here and the fun times ahead.
