DAY 1 – Sunday, June 9, 2024 – Travel Day

Fifteen youth and 8 adult leaders left Mantua Center Christian Church at 8am to head to Mayfield, KY to “Be the Light” (Matt. 4:15) to help rebuild from the devastating December 2021 tornado. See the path of the historic tornado here https://youtu.be/wsYu88vblwU?feature=shared.

We stopped at Schauppacher Park just north Cincinnati for a quick lunch before heading to our host church, FCC of Paducah. We arrived around 6pm CST where Ken Parker had a hamburger and hotdog dinner all ready for us.

We gathered after dinner for the big reveal of our teams, receiving water bottles with our wrapped team bandanas lovingly prepared by Larissa. We set up our sleeping areas, engaged in ice breaker activities, had a little devotional session, played some games and headed to bed.

DAY 2 – Monday, June 10, 2024 – 1st Workday

Team Smiles group had exceptional exterior grounds clean up effort. Our first location featured a near empty dumpster becoming almost full in just a few short hours. Tarp loads of scrap wood, wet drywall and fiber board chucked into the dumpster quickly made the building site look better. Then after lunch we moved a tree that had been cut up into manageable sections. The home owner was disabled and thus couldn’t lift the heavy logs. We filled the grassy area by the road just in time for the city to come by for pick up. All the youth worked impressively hard.

Banana Bunch had a slow start but finished strong. We started by taking gardening tools to the different teams. When we returned to the headquarters, we split up. 3 of us (Olivia, Victoria and Larisa) made home welcome baskets while the remainder of the team (Josh, Everett, Oscar and Chad) started working on the trailer. The trailer needed scraped, stained, and painted. Our biggest struggle was getting the lug nuts off the wheels. We (Oscar) broke the tire iron and had to reach out to Austin for a backup. With his Mazda iron, Charlie’s lead pipe, and great 80s music, Chad and Everett got the last one off. We’ll need to do 1 more coat of paint in the morning due to humidity. Looking forward to more on Day 2!

At the first resident’s house, Team Mushrooms were met the challenge of taking on some clean up work outside. In the backyard debris and piles of old wood, construction waste, and trash were the main objectives. The sight was equipped with a dumpster that was a little less than half full. The youth took turns using wheel barrels and an old dog carrier to load up debris, drywall and wood and throwing it into the dumpster while keeping and eye out for all the creepy critters that were living in the debris. After finishing the clean up we made our way to downtown Mayfield and stopped to pay a visit to the memorial and destruction. The next stop was a little house right outside of downtown that needed painted. We came across one of our other groups who were landscaping the back yard. For three hours we started from the back of the house and made our way to the front, painting the ceilings and walls with its first coat.

DAY 3 – Tuesday, June 11, 2024 – 2nd Workday

Team Smiles started Tuesday off at yet another worksite. Our group was broken up into two sub groups. Inside painting team led by Christian and I was outside working on wheelchair ramp. Construction was slow at first. Sight leaders Jim and Charlie helped with technical specifications. Wednesday showed great progress. Two platforms were placed and now we are ready to connect the first incline supports.

Team Bananas started the day with Olivia and Victoria helping out the Smileys while the rest of the team ran to give the trailer a 2nd coat of paint. We were joined by Beth and Betsy from the Chicago group. By 10, the whole team was together again to work on the 16th St home. We helped paint, weed and paint prep. After lunch, we were told we were needed for cleanup, loaded up and headed out. Got there and were told we weren’t needed. Headed back to 16th St to finish painting prep. Enjoyed a quiet ride back to the church after a long day!

Team Mushrooms – With the first day over and the second beginning all were tired. The morning was slow, but the work continued with the second home. We started to find our grove and really kicked the production up a notch as by the end of the day we finished painting the whole house that was started the day before. With so much white paint on us and the walls the group did an amazing job fighting fatigue and worked amazing together to accomplish our goal. All the ceilings, walls, and doors were done with precision and speed. We even took a grocery store break where everyone had $5 to spend on whatever, and still completed the task. EASY DAY

Day 4 – Wednesday, June 12, 2024 – 3rd Workday

Team Bananas once again joined forces with the Smileys to start painting the trim in this adorable home. Of course, there was additional paint prep, including taping off and additional caulking to the joy of the 3 Amigos-Josh, Everett and Oscar. For lunch at our 4-star shade tree restaurant, we were joined by the ‘Shrooms and a dog named Copper, who was 15 and very happy for all the love. His human said this will fill him up for months. At 15 years old, we were glad to have him there to visit. His human also told us he slept through the tornado, thinking it was just another storm. Waking up the next morning was a bit of a shock and he struggled finding his way home with the destruction. After the meet and greet, we headed back put for debris cleanup. We hit 3 houses and will be finishing up tomorrow.

Team Mushrooms started a whole new project after finishing the last. We were taken to a different part of town where we had a little more cleanup outside and much, much more painting. This project is a little bigger than the last which is okay because we decided to grab coffee before work this morning energizing the group. With the new project at hand we started with putting some primer on the walls and ceiling in some of the rooms but not all. By the time we finished with that and started painting with you guessed it more white, we had a whole team lunch since all three groups were so close which was great! Our group really came out swinging after lunch and worked really hard to complete as much as we could today. We accomplished so much and we are so proud of the work being done!

Team Smiles’ Wednesday morning was led off with a field trip to the back yard of the home site. A concrete company created a sub business installing residential shelters. See video below.

Day 5 – Thursday, June 13, 2024 – 4th Workday

Team Smiles continued to work on the ramp. Alissa was a beast putting in hundreds of deck screws.

Team Bananas was once again flexible. Spent the morning painting the 2nd floor of the 16th St house. Spent lunch with our entire group and then headed to the Grand House to haul brush that was created by the chainsaw group. Hot, tired and exhausted, we clear 3 large piles before heading out. We were down a member as Josh was in orientation for his Europe adventure. He was greatly missed but was there in spirit.

Team Mushrooms – The hottest day yet! We started the day back at the second house we started on the day before. More painting was in store for the group. The group started off strong and we accomplished a ton in the new house. Finishing a few rooms, and the hallway. We had lunch with the other groups agian today which was great, we also had the chance to pet copper! Copper is the dog In the neighborhood we met the previous day and he’s awesome! After lunch we continued to work hard, painting doors and trim for the most part, but as the day progressed the temperature continued to rise and by 1:30 we all started to slow down. More breaks and water was needed. Even with the conditions our group finished strong and had a heck of a day!

Day 6 – Friday, June 14, 2024 – 5th Workday

The Baynes Train left early on Friday with Larisa, Aspen, Everett, Leighton and Andrea as they had previous commitments on Saturday. While most of the car slept for the trip, we did have an adventure. The best part was the dance party in the woman’s restroom at the Hop Stop. Andrea pulled Larisa and Everett into the bathroom and hit the red button. The lights went out, the disco ball started turning, and Dancing Queen was playing. Definitely a memorable time! Lots of fun conversations and snacks as well. Made it home safely and heard our beds calling. Missed being with the group and was happy to hear they made it home safely on Sat.

Team Smiles only had a few hours to finish to a good stopping point for next weeks volunteers. We dug 4 post holds in the driveway, moved concrete bags and cut the final stringers to set up the next group. Charli was very happy with our progress. Good thing we left because it was beginning to feel super hot outside.

Team Mushrooms had a different experience ahead for our last day of the trip. First thing, we would only be working half a day, also 3 of our crew members needed to leave a day early it we still had the main room in the house to finishing painting also a few touch ups. After arriving the the work place we were able to get 2 crew members from one of our other groups! This became crucial in the group being able to finish up the house as best as we could. The 2 additions were wonderful and added a new dynamic to the group. After having lunch back at the church we packed up and headed to Louisville Kentucky where we would stay the night in a mega church. When we arrived in Louisville we had dinner at this wonderful Irish pub. After dinner the groups walked around Louisville for a while just admiring the city and then we went to the church which was absolutely massive! The trip was awesome and was a true blessing!

Each work group finished up at their worksite by noon. Hurry-up, eat lunch, shower, pack and leave for Louisville, KY was next. We stopped in downtown Louisville for a wonderful dinner at O’Sheas. After walking off dinner around the city, stopping at Forth Street Live to hear a little live music by Warren Zeiders, we arrived at the Beargrass Christian Church around 11pm and settled in for the night.

Day 7 – Saturday, June 16, 2024 – Heading Home

We packed up at the Beargrass Christian Church after a cereal and coffee breakfast, breezed through their weekly Farmer’s Market, and headed home. After a stop for lunch at the Chipotle in Sunbury (the Camp exit:), we arrived at MCCC around 3:30pm.