New Palace at Fairwood and Final Resting Place
Fairwood has a new palace and its name is. . .drum roll. . ."The Men's Dorm!" Yep! The men's dorm has undergone a transformation such as has not taken place since the days when the black, wrought-iron bunk bed cots arrived to take up residence there!
Clyde is attending Lancaster Bible College this year and when we were there helping him settle in, I cast my eyes with what might be called "strong interest" upon the classy looking, uniform, quality furniture in his dorm room! And once again I embarked upon the train of thought, "If only we might have something like that in the men's dorm. . ." When I got home I began researching on-line, only to find that just one such bed appeared to cost in the neighborhood of $200+ Okay, thought I, I know they didn't pay that much for all their furniture at LBC. Where did they get it anyway and what was their quantity discount?
I decided to go right to the "top" so I called the college and asked where they purchased their furniture and what it might take to get a quantity discount. The lady said she'd have to ck with her boss and get back to me. Two days later she did and her answer was our answer to prayer. First of all, the furniture came from This End Up (which I already had figured was probably the case), but she then asked if we had any objection to used furniture. If so, we could have all we wanted. . .free!
To make a long story a little shorter, Neil went down to PA with 4 young fellows, rented a 24' truck, loaded it to the gills and returned with the "free" booty. The cost of the trip down and back in our van, food for 5 guys for a day and a half, the truck rental and gas for the trip home, then became the cost for a pile of furniture like you wouldn't believe. Bed frames, mattresses, desks, large 6 drawer dressers, small 3 drawer dressers and nightstands all poured out of that truck as a crew of men unloaded the booty. Sharon and I did traffic control in the men's dorm as we directed, "a desk still needed in this room, one night stand in that, a big dresser here, a small one there," etc. etc. until all the holes we wanted filled were filled. (The day or so before we'd determined what to dump and Tim had carried it all out to make a heap at the end of the men's dorm so there would be room for the "new" stuff when it came.)
Both upstairs and downstairs were recipients of the furniture bounty and now, now. . .the men's dorm actually looks nice for the first time in a very long time. There are still a couple of rooms upstairs which do not reflect the "new" look, but each to his own. . .
And now, The Rest of the Story as I let you know the Final Resting Place of the discarded furniture!!!
First of all, we opened the heap up for grabs to all Fairwood residents, including the Reed family. A few items disappeared but not that many!
This past week, the pile still sat and the Feast was fast approaching. What to do?? Some among our staff were ready to transport the "lot" to the famous "burn pile" on the other side of the ball field, smash it and await the world's largest bonfire sometime after snowfall. Others on our staff thought that it was a shame to destroy "good" furniture that might have value to someone in desperate straits. I could go either way, but I knew that the problem of finding the people in the "desperate straits" and then getting the furniture to them quickly so as to clear the area of the discarded junk might be too difficult, so my vote would have been to "trash it!"
But. . .my dh took time to place a phone call--to a local woman's shelter which was absolutely delighted and desperate to get bureaus and furniture. They took 7 bureaus, a large office desk, two stands and a footstool. (Sorry, guys, that gold naugahyde footstool is now at the woman's shelter in __ if you want to go reclaim it.) There was still furniture left so my dh high tailed it down to Salvation Army to see if cousin Shawn wanted it there. Poor condition or no, Shawn said that people who are desperate would be happy to have that furniture and he took the rest of it! Praise the Lord! The furniture reached its final resting place (as far as we're concerned!) and the junk pile is gone. Check it out when you come!!
Clyde is attending Lancaster Bible College this year and when we were there helping him settle in, I cast my eyes with what might be called "strong interest" upon the classy looking, uniform, quality furniture in his dorm room! And once again I embarked upon the train of thought, "If only we might have something like that in the men's dorm. . ." When I got home I began researching on-line, only to find that just one such bed appeared to cost in the neighborhood of $200+ Okay, thought I, I know they didn't pay that much for all their furniture at LBC. Where did they get it anyway and what was their quantity discount?
I decided to go right to the "top" so I called the college and asked where they purchased their furniture and what it might take to get a quantity discount. The lady said she'd have to ck with her boss and get back to me. Two days later she did and her answer was our answer to prayer. First of all, the furniture came from This End Up (which I already had figured was probably the case), but she then asked if we had any objection to used furniture. If so, we could have all we wanted. . .free!
To make a long story a little shorter, Neil went down to PA with 4 young fellows, rented a 24' truck, loaded it to the gills and returned with the "free" booty. The cost of the trip down and back in our van, food for 5 guys for a day and a half, the truck rental and gas for the trip home, then became the cost for a pile of furniture like you wouldn't believe. Bed frames, mattresses, desks, large 6 drawer dressers, small 3 drawer dressers and nightstands all poured out of that truck as a crew of men unloaded the booty. Sharon and I did traffic control in the men's dorm as we directed, "a desk still needed in this room, one night stand in that, a big dresser here, a small one there," etc. etc. until all the holes we wanted filled were filled. (The day or so before we'd determined what to dump and Tim had carried it all out to make a heap at the end of the men's dorm so there would be room for the "new" stuff when it came.)
Both upstairs and downstairs were recipients of the furniture bounty and now, now. . .the men's dorm actually looks nice for the first time in a very long time. There are still a couple of rooms upstairs which do not reflect the "new" look, but each to his own. . .
And now, The Rest of the Story as I let you know the Final Resting Place of the discarded furniture!!!
First of all, we opened the heap up for grabs to all Fairwood residents, including the Reed family. A few items disappeared but not that many!
This past week, the pile still sat and the Feast was fast approaching. What to do?? Some among our staff were ready to transport the "lot" to the famous "burn pile" on the other side of the ball field, smash it and await the world's largest bonfire sometime after snowfall. Others on our staff thought that it was a shame to destroy "good" furniture that might have value to someone in desperate straits. I could go either way, but I knew that the problem of finding the people in the "desperate straits" and then getting the furniture to them quickly so as to clear the area of the discarded junk might be too difficult, so my vote would have been to "trash it!"
But. . .my dh took time to place a phone call--to a local woman's shelter which was absolutely delighted and desperate to get bureaus and furniture. They took 7 bureaus, a large office desk, two stands and a footstool. (Sorry, guys, that gold naugahyde footstool is now at the woman's shelter in __ if you want to go reclaim it.) There was still furniture left so my dh high tailed it down to Salvation Army to see if cousin Shawn wanted it there. Poor condition or no, Shawn said that people who are desperate would be happy to have that furniture and he took the rest of it! Praise the Lord! The furniture reached its final resting place (as far as we're concerned!) and the junk pile is gone. Check it out when you come!!
posted by hesper48 @ 10:02 AM
2 Comments:
At 11:25 AM,
KJ said…
Hip hip hurray and PRAISE THE LORD! What I want to know, is can there be an "open house" during the feast so the rest of us grateful girls can check it out? :)
At 3:09 PM,
Mrs. RF said…
Chuckle. Before I read KJ's comment I was thinking "I want to see it!, we need an open house!" Anyway, sure rejoicing over that wonderful provision, and also that the Junk Pile got removed.
Post a Comment
<< Home