Ha, ha. You Californians.
Yeah we had to dig ourselves out of trailer 7 too. I was also on maintenance with Shawn Kelly when not doing garbage. Someone was not home and left their door ajar one of the trailers all night. It was wide open to the blizzard. We had to shovel snow out of the whole inside of the trailer. It took hours.
My kids have never seen snow. If only they knew what we knew. They might never want to see it again.
I remember that Winter. Woke up in Trailer 4 and there was about an inch of snow inside near the baseboard. Opened the front door and there was a 5 foot wall of snow. Went to breakfast and there were 3 Californians (we didn't know any better) -- myself, Michele, and Rene G.
Mike and Steve, that interim year was incredible in so many ways. For me it was both good and bad. Bad when I had to do the grarbage in the sub zero weather we had that year because the guy from in town quit. I had to do it every day for a couple months by myself. Good when the Way Builders partied at a huge pig pic and rested from our 10 hour workdays.
Mike you worked for Uncle Harry. ...wow. I did not think of that. I did not get to know him very much at all but he was a jovial guy who really believed in his convictions.
Steve yeah, I forgot about that plane flying over that day so low right over the graveside ceremony. I never saw a man (Dr. W., his brother) cry so hard in painful grief in all my life even to this day. He must have really, really loved his brother.
I was overwhelemed....not with grief....but with the enormity of it all and the the sense of change somehow coming in our future.
The first ROA being held at HQ with thousands descending on that place in August. We were ill prepared at the time.
We were going into our final year and then graduate...and do what?
The ministry was growing rapidly.....the founders were getting older, dyng or retiring and replacements were being prepared to take over. (Don and Howard were installed that year.)
The press was continuing to call us a cult. Mainstream Christianity already said we were in their books and reports. This was well before the Internet age.
We had Rome City and Indiana Campus as as training facilities with more to come.
To make matters worse we also had the "I survived the Blizzards of '78", some of of the worst weather in recent history. I wish I had pictures of the trailers and cars and houses that were completely covered in snow. After we graduated the following year I moved to Florida and have not been back. 31 years ago. Ha, ha.
Just before Uncle Harry died he gave Dr. a note to transfer me from the HQ furniture dept. to Rome City furniture dept. I missed all the work getting ready for ROA 78 but had a really neat experience at Indiana. He was a great man to work for - on any given day in the furniture dept. we might be helping with bean harvest, straightening up the third floor loft in the big barn, helping someone move, etc. I enjoyed every (ok almost every) minute of it.
It was indeed our interim year. I still remember the ceremony, and when the airplane came zooming in then seemed to shoot straight up -- lots of chills up and down my spine. And no, I wouldn't trade that interim year for anything.
However, those of us in the auto shop, well, maybe just me and Tompary, thought you guys in WB were a 'cult'. Always having meetings it seemed!
Steve I bet I know what year that was taken. I bet it was when we were on staff at HQ in the 7th Corps on our interim year woking hard to prepare for the first ROA to be held on Way International Grounds in 1978. What a year that was! No way to describe it unless a person was there, which you and I were. So much happened including Uncle Harry's death.
As I recall, one of his last requests or maybe it was his brothers request, was that his grave would be dug by hand by Way Builders. I was one of the ones who dug. It was extremely hard work. It's not like on tv at all. I seem to recall we ended up using a back hoe (Rodney McBain) for the last part because it was just too hard and was taking too long.
This brings back so many memoreis, some good and some bad. But I would trade the experience for anything.
Comments
Yeah we had to dig ourselves out of trailer 7 too. I was also on maintenance with Shawn Kelly when not doing garbage. Someone was not home and left their door ajar one of the trailers all night. It was wide open to the blizzard. We had to shovel snow out of the whole inside of the trailer. It took hours.
My kids have never seen snow. If only they knew what we knew. They might never want to see it again.
Mike you worked for Uncle Harry. ...wow. I did not think of that. I did not get to know him very much at all but he was a jovial guy who really believed in his convictions.
Steve yeah, I forgot about that plane flying over that day so low right over the graveside ceremony. I never saw a man (Dr. W., his brother) cry so hard in painful grief in all my life even to this day. He must have really, really loved his brother.
I was overwhelemed....not with grief....but with the enormity of it all and the the sense of change somehow coming in our future.
The first ROA being held at HQ with thousands descending on that place in August. We were ill prepared at the time.
We were going into our final year and then graduate...and do what?
The ministry was growing rapidly.....the founders were getting older, dyng or retiring and replacements were being prepared to take over. (Don and Howard were installed that year.)
The press was continuing to call us a cult. Mainstream Christianity already said we were in their books and reports. This was well before the Internet age.
We had Rome City and Indiana Campus as as training facilities with more to come.
To make matters worse we also had the "I survived the Blizzards of '78", some of of the worst weather in recent history. I wish I had pictures of the trailers and cars and houses that were completely covered in snow. After we graduated the following year I moved to Florida and have not been back. 31 years ago. Ha, ha.
However, those of us in the auto shop, well, maybe just me and Tompary, thought you guys in WB were a 'cult'. Always having meetings it seemed!
As I recall, one of his last requests or maybe it was his brothers request, was that his grave would be dug by hand by Way Builders. I was one of the ones who dug. It was extremely hard work. It's not like on tv at all. I seem to recall we ended up using a back hoe (Rodney McBain) for the last part because it was just too hard and was taking too long.
This brings back so many memoreis, some good and some bad. But I would trade the experience for anything.
Thanks for this one.