It was an epic effort by all, a day I'm sure that won't be forgotten for many years, a day where every single participant gave their all. Every time I looked around people were hard at work and of course having a little fun as well. After 3 odd years of living in Calgary Suresh is still wondering why people think Calgary weather is so much better than Edmonton? Luckily he had Sunny, Marianna, Brenda and Kate to help with warm spirits and show him how to use a drill. Just jokes, I think we can safely say that we are all on the verge of joining the professional drillers union.
Perhaps we were all just as lucky that John and Heidi came prepared, surely helping to thaw every one's bacon at one time or another. They had a second home built by the time the day got underway; complete with event tent, trailer, chairs, heater, and probably even the kitchen sink if we looked hard enough. Attila and Eleno found another way to keep warm, building beds at a frenetic pace, continuously testing their own record time of 15 minutes per bed.
Paul and Lisa were trying the same method to keep warm, but were unfortunately paired with a third party that was more interested in soaking up the atmosphere (that's my attempt at an excuse for slowing them down, sorry guys). While Rory (a volunteer coming all the way from Bankview) was questioning his commitment to check out what a community garden was all about, he still had a great time and "learned a lot". He too was slowed by my preoccupation with the ‘atmosphere’.
Perhaps no one had a better way of keeping warm than Elizabeth; I didn't take an official poll, but at a mere 5 million layers of clothing I think she holds the record. It really makes me wonder what she does when its winter? Jeannine had to be especially brave as she tackled the most difficult job, the money collector; come on out freeze your butt off and then give us money? Marlene exemplified the no quit attitude shared by the group, even though she showed a little later than most you had to practically wrestle the drill from her hand to get her to take a break.
Wendy, our community association president, had her whip cracking...just kidding, she took some great pictures and was swarmed when she and Elizabeth appeared with goodies in tow (or maybe that was just me); provided by our very generous sponsor's Sobeys and Tim Horton's. Yay for sandwiches, fruit, coffee, and tea.
Some found other ways of dealing with the weather. Genny and Kristin were having a competition to see how quickly their toes could turn blue; which Brenda and Rigel must have thought looked like fun because they decided to try with their fingers. TJ was helping John keep warm by requesting a few extra precision cuts. Sounds to me like perfection offers a few bonus perks. Cheryl was only able to help with the setup and cleanup (hmmm...how did she wiggle her way out of this one). However she was able to snag us another event tent from Moxie's to help us keep warm and dry (well at least try) so I guess we can let this one slide.
And of course there is our fearless leader Joanne, calm, cool (perhaps more cold that day), and collected. I like her ear muffs, they must help keep the copious amounts of details in her head. Maybe thats my problem, I gotta get some ear muffs. She has taken a rag tag bunch (I can at least speak for myself) and helped us accomplish something wonderful. No one could have done it better. Our heartfelt thanks, our community is lucky to have her.
I think Michael and his daughter Leona echoed how we all felt at the end of the day when he remarked (and I'm paraphrasing because I have the memory of a sparrow) at how surprising it was for a community effort to accomplish so much, in so little time, with most people being complete strangers.
In all it was a great day and an amazing experience. We built and placed 24 beds in 3 hours. I think it looks fabulous already and we've only just begun. Now we can look forward to a break in the weather when we can start sewing some seeds and enjoying the outside, not just the people we’re sharing it with.
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