New Trees
New Maple at ECC
The Culver Tree Commission purchased new trees and they were installed over Memorial Day Weekend. Their funds are limited so the number of trees planted this year was fewer than in the past years.
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. has lost several trees along our street scape and the Tree Commission has slated one of our trees, a Wild Cherry, for removal. We’re not the prettiest face on the street, but I do think our large Oak trees along the street add character. When I was growing up there was a huge tree in the center of our loop drive, but it has been gone for more than 20 years, recently replaced by a volunteer Tulip Poplar.
For those of you that don’t know, the Culver Tree Commission accepts donations for the purchase of trees. I spoke to Tree Commissioner Dick Brantingham several times over the past few years about starting some replacement trees along our street scape. This year we received two Maple trees and a Honey Locust.
Tulip Poplar in circle drive at ECC
We made a tax deductible donation of $100 per tree to the Marshall County Community Foundation in the name of the Culver Tree Commission. I would consider that a bargain. On top of getting a nice tree planted, the Culver Fire Department takes care of watering the new trees in the first year. (If you’re interested in taking advantage of this and helping the Culver Tree Commission next year, contact Dick Brantingham or Mike Stallings. You can also contact the Town Hall to let them know you’re interested in helping.)
When I first moved back to Culver, I lived on Ohio Street in the house currently occupied by the Wesley United Methodist Church Thrift Shop. One of the nice things about that location was the beautiful tree-lined street. We have several such streets in Culver. Thanks to the efforts of the Culver Tree Commission, we will have more in the future.
Cabana Ceiling Framing
One of the more difficult parts of this project (previously discussed here and here) was achieving the crossing barrel ceilings. We had hoped that the truss manufacturer could provide the framework for this, but in the end, we only received square blocked out areas. Coming up with a way to frame this and then actually doing it was a challenge. This is the result, looking up at the area where the two barrels cross with the fireplace in the background.
We are in the process of completing electrical rough-in now. Some of the ENT (Electrial Non-metalic Tubing) being used is visible in the picture. Once that is complete, we will be installing vinyl soffit material to form the ceiling itself. Vinyl soffit was chosen due to its flexibility in conforming to the barrel framing and its linear form that will accent the length of the barrels.
CEF Girls Cabin Progress 6-6-11
The cabin is nearly complete. We are in the process of installing screens and window hardware. Shelving and electrical will follow shortly. It’s almost sad, but tomorrow all the beautiful cedar you see in the picture above will be stained to match the existing cabins. This will only be done on the exterior. The interior will be allowed to age naturally.
Both interior and exterior structural members are held together using custom plates bolted at the joints. This is similar to the materials used originally. Siding and other wood members were assembled using non-staining galvanized nails. The roof deck is visible from the bott0m here. The deck is made from tongue and groove 2 x 6 cedar.
The cabin should be complete next week. None too soon as Woodcraft Camp will be starting shortly. We want to be out of there before 200+ elementary school girls take over this part of the camp!
2011 Forty under 40
Images taken from the Tribune Business Weekly, May 30, 2011
Grace Baptist Church Anniversary
Grace Baptist Church in Plymouth will be celebrating their 50 year anniversary this summer. They have a dedication marker in the corner of their front entrance commemorating the 1961 establishment of the Church. There has been some debate regarding whether there is a time capsule behind this stone. Some of the Church Elders believing that there is a time capsule there and would like to open it as part of the anniversary celebration.
Because of the various projects we’ve completed for the Church, Pastor Elliott asked if we knew if there was a time capsule there or if there was a way of finding out without damaging the marker. I looked at the marker and the wall and was a little skeptical. The marker is carved limestone. From all indications the wall is block with the limestone exterior as a veneer. The thickness doesn’t really lend itself to allow for a cavity since the total wall thickness is not much more than 12″. That would allow for 8″ block with 4″ limestone veneer. If the marker stone is 2″ thick, there might be a 2″ cavity behind it. If they had also switched to 4″ block in this area, they could have possibly created a 6″ cavity.
I discussed removing the marker with Pastor Elliott. Even if the marker is only 2″ thick, it would be difficult to cut the mortar surrounding it. We would not be able to cut all the way to the corners to the full depth with a circular blade without damaging the surrounding stone. If we stopped short of cutting full depth at the corners to protect the surrounding stone, we would be forced to chip out the remaining mortar taking the chance of damaging the marker. This on the chance that there is a time capsule…
Matt Peregrine
I made an alternate suggestion that we drill a hole in the block behind the marker and use a camera to check for a cavity. Matt Peregrine of Peregrine Heating and Cooling has a camera and volunteered to donate part of his Saturday to help. Matt’s son Steven just completed 5th grade at Grace Baptist School and came along to check out the exploration. We met this past Saturday, May 28th, to see what we could find.
We used a hammer drill and drilled three holes in the wall. The first hole was drilled directly behind the marker. This hole found no cavity. Not even a block core void. We went as far as we dared for fear of damaging the marker and were in approximately 8″ when we stopped. The second hole was drilled above the marker with the idea that we could look down into any cavity. We had difficulty bending the camera to see down in the gap between the block and stone, so we used that same hole as a starting point and drilled at a 45 degree angle down towards the marker. In second and third holes we were able to see the gap between the stones, but found no void. While this didn’t conclusively eliminate the possibility, we felt we had pressed our luck far enough and the Church Elders needed to hear what we found and decide if more destruction was warranted. I spoke to Pastor Elliott this week and he is going to report our findings to the Church Board. At this time they plan no more exploration.
I want to thank Matt Peregrine for generously donating his time. He told me he felt like Geraldo Rivera when he was looking for Al Capone’s vault since the whole thing had an anticlimactic ending. Apologies to Steven. I guess he didn’t get to be the first to see the time capsule, but he did get to see his father giving generously of his time and equipment. Hopefully that will inspire him in the future.
