Day one of NIU’s service week began just as Holy Cross’ did with rain and cool temperatures. Luckily we again had all indoor activities so that the day was able to go just as planned.

One group headed back out to Hanover to continue the work from last week.  The group today got the first coat of paint on all the newly drywalled rooms.  Tomorrow we are all set to finish it off.

Another group went to Head Start to work with the children. There seems to be a cold going through the Head Starts these days so attendance is low. All that means for the kids though is more one on one attention.

The last group stayed back at the food bank to help unload commodities and start to get the food bank ready for Friday’s distribution day.

The weather for tomorrow looks like more of the same, but the rest of the week is looking like spring, finally!

Since we haven’t posted in a few days we thought we would update since they have been eventful.

Holy Cross headed out on Friday after a full week of activities. It was a wonderful week and a lot of great work was done. It was truly a pleasure to meet the students and to be with them.

On Friday we, along with Kathy, headed out to Hanover to meet with the principal of the grade school that we will be living in this summer. We figured it would be a good opportunity to talk with her, let her know about the program and begin to make plans for the summer. We will update more on this later.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 60’s. One of our former YL PVs Erica, who now works and lives in Charleston, came down for a visit.  We thought we would take advantage of the sunshine so we took a hike at Twin Falls on the moonshiner’s trail.  We only got a little lost twice, but thanks to Erica’s orienteering expertise we never got truly lost.  After spending the day outside, we were lucky enough to enjoy vegetarian chili with Arnie and Kathy at their house. We finished up the day by meeting the group of 13 students from Northern Illinois University (NIU) out in Mullens.  They arrived around 10pm and quickly got settled into their new home for the week.

On Sunday we all met up at Holy Cross for Mass.  After Mass the students went on their annual community bonding expedition and we made a quick trip to Twin Falls to again enjoy the sunshine.  We met up in the evening for their orientation and commissioning service.

The past three days went by very quickly, but they were full of a lot of wonderful memories.

Since we haven’t posted in a few days we thought we would update since they have been eventful.

Holy Cross headed out on Friday after a full week of activities. It was a wonderful week and a lot of great work was done. It was truly a pleasure to meet the students and to be with them.

On Friday we, along with Kathy, headed out to Hanover to meet with the principal of the grade school that we will be living in this summer. We figured it would be a good opportunity to talk with her, let her know about the program and begin to make plans for the summer. We will update more on this later.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 60’s. One of our former YL PVs Erica, who now works and lives in Charleston, came down for a visit.  We thought we would take advantage of the sunshine so we took a hike at Twin Falls on the moonshiner’s trail.  We only got a little lost twice, but thanks to Erica’s orienteering expertise we never got truly lost.  After spending the day outside, we were lucky enough to enjoy vegetarian chili with Arnie and Kathy at their house. We finished up the day by meeting the group of 13 students from Northern Illinois University (NIU) out in Mullens.  They arrived around 10pm and quickly got settled into their new home for the week.

On Sunday we all met up at Holy Cross for Mass.  After Mass the students went on their annual community bonding expedition and we made a quick trip to Twin Falls to again enjoy the sunshine.  We met up in the evening for their orientation and commissioning service.

The past three days went by very quickly, but they were full of a lot of wonderful memories.

Since we haven’t posted in a few days we thought we would update since they have been eventful.

Holy Cross headed out on Friday after a full week of activities. It was a wonderful week and a lot of great work was done. It was truly a pleasure to meet the students and to be with them.

On Friday we, along with Kathy, headed out to Hanover to meet with the principal of the grade school that we will be living in this summer. We figured it would be a good opportunity to talk with her, let her know about the program and begin to make plans for the summer. We will update more on this later.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 60’s. One of our former YL PVs Erica, who now works and lives in Charleston, came down for a visit.  We thought we would take advantage of the sunshine so we took a hike at Twin Falls on the moonshiner’s trail.  We only got a little lost twice, but thanks to Erica’s orienteering expertise we never got truly lost.  After spending the day outside, we were lucky enough to enjoy vegetarian chili with Arnie and Kathy at their house. We finished up the day by meeting the group of 13 students from Northern Illinois University (NIU) out in Mullens.  They arrived around 10pm and quickly got settled into their new home for the week.

On Sunday we all met up at Holy Cross for Mass.  After Mass the students went on their annual community bonding expedition and we made a quick trip to Twin Falls to again enjoy the sunshine.  We met up in the evening for their orientation and commissioning service.

The past three days went by very quickly, but they were full of a lot of wonderful memories.

Today was our planned day with UGWA, with all the Holy Cross students working together to clean up the dam at Horse Creek Lake near Baileysville. Although it wasn’t rainy much when we started the drive to the lake, when we arrived it was pouring rain.  After sitting in the cars for awhile trying to wait out the rain, we noticed the Holy Cross vans slowly emptying as the students had decided to brave the rain and take a look at the lake.  After being outside for awhile, and already being soaking wet, the students asked if they could still do the planned litter pick up though the conditions were pretty awful.  So needless to say, we followed their lead and really made a wonderful impact and made the dam look beautiful.

Since the students will be leaving in the afternoon tomorrow, we had them all over for dinner and a closing reflection. After reflection, we were treated to a yummy carrot cake that the students brought with them and we were introduced to the game of mafia.  Lots of laughter and many stories later, the students headed back to Mullens for their last night in Wyoming County.

Today was our planned day with UGWA, with all the Holy Cross students working together to clean up the dam at Horse Creek Lake near Baileysville. Although it wasn’t rainy much when we started the drive to the lake, when we arrived it was pouring rain.  After sitting in the cars for awhile trying to wait out the rain, we noticed the Holy Cross vans slowly emptying as the students had decided to brave the rain and take a look at the lake.  After being outside for awhile, and already being soaking wet, the students asked if they could still do the planned litter pick up though the conditions were pretty awful.  So needless to say, we followed their lead and really made a wonderful impact and made the dam look beautiful.

Since the students will be leaving in the afternoon tomorrow, we had them all over for dinner and a closing reflection. After reflection, we were treated to a yummy carrot cake that the students brought with them and we were introduced to the game of mafia.  Lots of laughter and many stories later, the students headed back to Mullens for their last night in Wyoming County.

Today was our planned day with UGWA, with all the Holy Cross students working together to clean up the dam at Horse Creek Lake near Baileysville. Although it wasn’t rainy much when we started the drive to the lake, when we arrived it was pouring rain.  After sitting in the cars for awhile trying to wait out the rain, we noticed the Holy Cross vans slowly emptying as the students had decided to brave the rain and take a look at the lake.  After being outside for awhile, and already being soaking wet, the students asked if they could still do the planned litter pick up though the conditions were pretty awful.  So needless to say, we followed their lead and really made a wonderful impact and made the dam look beautiful.

Since the students will be leaving in the afternoon tomorrow, we had them all over for dinner and a closing reflection. After reflection, we were treated to a yummy carrot cake that the students brought with them and we were introduced to the game of mafia.  Lots of laughter and many stories later, the students headed back to Mullens for their last night in Wyoming County.

The rains came down pretty much all day, but thankfully all of our sites planned were indoor sites.  A crew headed back out to Hanover to sand off the mud that had been applied the previous two days and were able to get a coat of primer on so it is all ready to paint next week when Northern Illinios University arrives.

A second group headed up to Head Start to spend the day with the kids in Maben.  And the third and final group spent the day at the Food Bank unpacking and organizing all the boxes that were unloaded yesterday in preparation of distribution day.  We also made a trip to pick up a hospital bed that was being donated and ran it down to St. Vincent DePaul  for distribution.

In the evening, the students had another guest speaker as Val from UGWA came and talked about her organization as well as environmental problems in the area in preparation for HC’s work the next day.

The evening concluded as we all headed up to St. John the Evangelists Church in Mullens for an Ash Wednesday Mass.

The rains came down pretty much all day, but thankfully all of our sites planned were indoor sites.  A crew headed back out to Hanover to sand off the mud that had been applied the previous two days and were able to get a coat of primer on so it is all ready to paint next week when Northern Illinios University arrives.

A second group headed up to Head Start to spend the day with the kids in Maben.  And the third and final group spent the day at the Food Bank unpacking and organizing all the boxes that were unloaded yesterday in preparation of distribution day.  We also made a trip to pick up a hospital bed that was being donated and ran it down to St. Vincent DePaul  for distribution.

In the evening, the students had another guest speaker as Val from UGWA came and talked about her organization as well as environmental problems in the area in preparation for HC’s work the next day.

The evening concluded as we all headed up to St. John the Evangelists Church in Mullens for an Ash Wednesday Mass.

The rains came down pretty much all day, but thankfully all of our sites planned were indoor sites.  A crew headed back out to Hanover to sand off the mud that had been applied the previous two days and were able to get a coat of primer on so it is all ready to paint next week when Northern Illinios University arrives.

A second group headed up to Head Start to spend the day with the kids in Maben.  And the third and final group spent the day at the Food Bank unpacking and organizing all the boxes that were unloaded yesterday in preparation of distribution day.  We also made a trip to pick up a hospital bed that was being donated and ran it down to St. Vincent DePaul  for distribution.

In the evening, the students had another guest speaker as Val from UGWA came and talked about her organization as well as environmental problems in the area in preparation for HC’s work the next day.

The evening concluded as we all headed up to St. John the Evangelists Church in Mullens for an Ash Wednesday Mass.