It has taken us a few days to recover (hence the delay in writing this), but we had a wonderful time in Kansas over the weekend for the annual Midwest PV Evaluation and Reunion Weekend.

Although it had just been in the 80’s a few days before, we were met with a more wintry feel as we arrived for the weekend. Friday night, volunteers arrived throughout the evening and enjoyed a relaxing time of catching up, play ping pong, pool and board games.  And oh yeah, in true PV fashion, lots of food!

By Saturday morning all 22 PVs had arrived.  We spent the morning reviewing the past summer, talking about changes that could be made and then updating everyone on the events of the program. After a yummy lunch (thanks Lucy!) we piled into the cars and headed out to Weston, MO. Weston is a town that has a cute downtown area with a lot of shops and a lot of history.

Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the shed to make final preparations for the hoe down. The biggest challenge for the night would be to keep everyone somewhat warm for the night. The lows were suppose to go down into the mid-20’s and with the shed being a rather large metal structure it was a bit chilly at first.  But after Dan and Phil fired up the rather large wood stove, the chill was taken out of the air.

The hoe down itself was a lot of fun.  When all was said and done, there were over 90 people in attendance, an amazing array of food was brought to share, lots of square dancing was done, an all around great time was had by all.  Between selling cookbooks and Lucy raffling off an afghan, over $250 was made for the PVs.  The event also gave a nice introduction to the local Live with Passion effort, Plant with Passion. (see the spotlight on the LWP blog.)

Words cannot express our gratitude to Dan and Lucy and the whole Schletzbaum family for their hospitality, kindness and unwavering support of the PVs.

It has taken us a few days to recover (hence the delay in writing this), but we had a wonderful time in Kansas over the weekend for the annual Midwest PV Evaluation and Reunion Weekend.

Although it had just been in the 80’s a few days before, we were met with a more wintry feel as we arrived for the weekend. Friday night, volunteers arrived throughout the evening and enjoyed a relaxing time of catching up, play ping pong, pool and board games.  And oh yeah, in true PV fashion, lots of food!

By Saturday morning all 22 PVs had arrived.  We spent the morning reviewing the past summer, talking about changes that could be made and then updating everyone on the events of the program. After a yummy lunch (thanks Lucy!) we piled into the cars and headed out to Weston, MO. Weston is a town that has a cute downtown area with a lot of shops and a lot of history.

Before we knew it, it was time to head over to the shed to make final preparations for the hoe down. The biggest challenge for the night would be to keep everyone somewhat warm for the night. The lows were suppose to go down into the mid-20’s and with the shed being a rather large metal structure it was a bit chilly at first.  But after Dan and Phil fired up the rather large wood stove, the chill was taken out of the air.

The hoe down itself was a lot of fun.  When all was said and done, there were over 90 people in attendance, an amazing array of food was brought to share, lots of square dancing was done, an all around great time was had by all.  Between selling cookbooks and Lucy raffling off an afghan, over $250 was made for the PVs.  The event also gave a nice introduction to the local Live with Passion effort, Plant with Passion. (see the spotlight on the LWP blog.)

Words cannot express our gratitude to Dan and Lucy and the whole Schletzbaum family for their hospitality, kindness and unwavering support of the PVs.

Another wonderful week with NIU has draw to close with a busy day of activities. Today was distribution day at the Itmann Food Bank so many volunteers stayed back to help. Whether pushing carts to the cars, creating boxes to give away, helping clients pick out clothes or checking people in, there was plenty to do.

Another group went back up to Hanover to finish up the weather sealant around the house.  We can’t wait for all those that worked up there this past summer to see all the work that has been done since your departure.

The third and final group went to Head Start. We wanted to say a special thank you to the students for their enthusiasm for Head Start this spring.  Students from both Holy Cross and from NIU really took to Head Start and really enjoy their experience.  We hope the teachers and the kids enjoyed as much as they did.

The afternoon was absolutely beautiful with plenty of sunshine and highs in the mid-seventies.  It definitely felt like spring has sprung (see picture below.) It really is amazing that we have gone from 30 degrees and snowing to 75 and sunny in a matter of a week. The students took advantage of the nice weather and went for a hike in Mullens.  After their hike they headed to the PV house in Pineville for dinner and a closing reflection.

It was another wonderful week with NIU. It still continues to amaze us the quality of students that come down and spend their spring break with us.  THANK YOU!!!

We will be away from the blog for a couple of days of R&R, but check back as we head to Kansas next, for the annual PV Midwest Reunion….

Another wonderful week with NIU has draw to close with a busy day of activities. Today was distribution day at the Itmann Food Bank so many volunteers stayed back to help. Whether pushing carts to the cars, creating boxes to give away, helping clients pick out clothes or checking people in, there was plenty to do.

Another group went back up to Hanover to finish up the weather sealant around the house.  We can’t wait for all those that worked up there this past summer to see all the work that has been done since your departure.

The third and final group went to Head Start. We wanted to say a special thank you to the students for their enthusiasm for Head Start this spring.  Students from both Holy Cross and from NIU really took to Head Start and really enjoy their experience.  We hope the teachers and the kids enjoyed as much as they did.

The afternoon was absolutely beautiful with plenty of sunshine and highs in the mid-seventies.  It definitely felt like spring has sprung (see picture below.) It really is amazing that we have gone from 30 degrees and snowing to 75 and sunny in a matter of a week. The students took advantage of the nice weather and went for a hike in Mullens.  After their hike they headed to the PV house in Pineville for dinner and a closing reflection.

It was another wonderful week with NIU. It still continues to amaze us the quality of students that come down and spend their spring break with us.  THANK YOU!!!

We will be away from the blog for a couple of days of R&R, but check back as we head to Kansas next, for the annual PV Midwest Reunion….

Today the whole group of NIU students spent the day with UGWA picking up trash along the the Guyandotte River between Mullens and Pineville. It was almost like a treasure hunt with the items they found discarded.  Rugs, sinks, stoves, table saws, not to mention the more typical trash of soda bottles, food wrappers, etc. The stretch of river that they worked on looks a whole lot better than before.

After they finished with the clean up, the group decided to explore the county a bit and headed to Oceana to walk around a bit and then stopped in Pineville and climbed up Castle Rock before heading back to the food bank.

Today the whole group of NIU students spent the day with UGWA picking up trash along the the Guyandotte River between Mullens and Pineville. It was almost like a treasure hunt with the items they found discarded.  Rugs, sinks, stoves, table saws, not to mention the more typical trash of soda bottles, food wrappers, etc. The stretch of river that they worked on looks a whole lot better than before.

After they finished with the clean up, the group decided to explore the county a bit and headed to Oceana to walk around a bit and then stopped in Pineville and climbed up Castle Rock before heading back to the food bank.