All In A Day's Work

Our annual work day was this past Sunday, and it was a smashing success. A special thanks to everyone who came to Soapstone to help us out (from as far away as Hood River and Ilwaco!).

Ann Dudley

Anna Johnson

Becky Hart

Brian Padian

Cynthia Dettman

Ellen Notbohm

Eric Sweetman

Forest LaPointe

Jackleen de la Harpe

Jurgen Hess

Kathleen Fisher

Kathleen Worley

Marcia McKean

Margaret Malone

Penelope Scambly Schott

Sara Kelsheimer

Sara Guest

Sidney Chase

Sue Cody

Susan Hess

Ruth Gundle

Judith Barrington

Brittney Corrigan-McElroy

With an enthusiastic crew, we were able to accomplish an incredible amount of work in preparation for the start of our residencies this fall. We stacked wood in the woodshed and filled the wood starter ricks; cleared out behind the woodshed; scraped, sanded, and painted the wrought iron gate; weed-whacked the meadow and driveway; weeded in the native plant area, the terrace and stone paths, and around the cabin; removed the rotten wood from the large stumps in the meadow; used wood chips to level the trails in places and spread compost around the native plants; reclaimed river rock for around the house; chose stones from the creek to engrave for the Avenida de las Angeles and unearthed the current stones from the forest floor; washed the windows; fixed the gasket on the woodstove and the leather chair from the discussion room; moved items out of the main cabin in preparation for the construction that has begun; rehung Antlered Yorick where he overlooks the creek on the outside of the building; and continued to build up the berm with wheelbarrows full of the weeds that were pulled.

We had a gorgeous, sunny day and enjoyed each other’s company in our labors and for a communal lunch and potluck dinner. It was wonderful to go from group to group, listening to conversations of Soapstone, writing, and daily lives as everyone shared in the work and the dogs frolicked happily in the meadow.

If you’d like to be notified of future work days and aren’t on our email list, contact brittney@soapstone.org to be added. We hope you’ll join us next time!

BRITTNEY CORRIGAN-MCELROY