No matter how much you prepare or how far ahead you plan, sometimes things don’t go the way you think they will. That was true for people from Vineyard Christian Fellowship (VCF) last week.
For months, Dave Schwieterman and his team at VCF had put together a week of service centering around fixing up Oakland Square Park in Bellefontaine, along with some additional work at Indian Lake where needed.
Their two main projects at the park—installing new playground equipment and backfilling concrete—were thwarted thanks to the equipment being on back order and the weather not cooperating for concrete work.
So, Schwieterman said, “We had to change course.”
Fortunately, they knew things weren’t going the way they intended a couple weeks in advance and were able to coordinate with the parks department about what else they could do. And there was plenty.
In the first two days they completed six projects for the Bellefontaine and Indian Lake communities, from ripping out old playground equipment and installing a new swing set at Oakland Square Park to mulching the playgrounds at Southview, Ratleff and Myrtle, to paining a boat ramp fence and multipurpose building at Indian Lake State Park.
They also did landscaping at the post office on Post Island for the area historical society and cleaned two Habitat for Humanity houses. On Wednesday, the team assembled 20 new picnic tables for Bellefontaine parks, then they headed back at Indian Lake, cleaning more equipment around Fox Island and the state park.
In other words, they were busy.
Though the work crew dynamics changed over the course of the week, according to Schwieterman, they had 23 different people showing up when and where they could.
Originally, the project was intended to include students from the Harwood Youth Initiative of Logan County. Unfortunately, only one was able to participate for a few hours on Monday, Aug. 4. The rest of the week showed VCF people of varying ages putting in the labor.
Schwieterman intends to continue these service work weeks, making them a yearly opportunity for VCF to help the community.
“Our plan is long-term,” he said. “The intention is to build trust. If something comes up, we hope people will call Vineyard first. We want to help our community out and keep giving back. I’d like to see it get bigger going forward.”
