Last summer our ASP crew went to Campbell County, Tennessee. We stayed at the
Elk Valley Junior High School, with groups from Virginia and Deleware. The girls
of course stayed in air conditioned class rooms, and the guys stayed in the gym.
Now imagine if you will about 35 teenaged males living on the floor on half of a
basketball court in 90+ degree weather with 95% humidity. :)
Pleasent as you can well imagine. Day one involved moving in and meeting new
people. Our staff consisted of Kim, Christy, Chris, and Susan. Some ASPers we
met consited of Ariel, Nick, Jessica, and Jessie from Deleware. Other ASPers
were Eyrn, Jen, Kristin, Kimber, Caryn, Katie, Adam, and last but not least
Caryn from Virgina. 
One other I remember all I can remember is her nick name, Tar Butt. :)
While helping tar a roof she sat in the tar and it soaked through her
overalls all the way to her butt. Our councilors were Tom and Sue Hall, George
Dare, Sherry Miller (My Mom), Mark Larmon, and Leslie Carter. Sue and Tom we're
our senior councilors. Leslie and Mark were our rookie councilors. :)
And of course they got to lead my team.
My team members can be seen at the top of the
page, we dubbed our selves the Gumpy Construction Company. In the picture from
left to right Brianne Carter, Lewis Miller (Zen Master), Lauren Watson (Sweet
Cheeks), Abby Stewert (Abba Dabb), and Chad Larson. We were finishing an
addition on a house. 
Insulating, dry walling, wiring, putting on gutters, and digging a drainage
ditch. Abby turned out to be quite the ditch digger, she was deadly with a pick
axe. Brianne and Laurn showed their true colors by keeping the children of the
family entertained. Chad and I hung the gutters and laid the drain tile. Mark
and Leslie did most of the dry walling. One morning the supply truck was running
behind so Mark, Chad, and I carried several hundred pounds of sheet rock a mile
half way up a mountain so we could finish the dry walling.
Now for food. The food at ASP is actually
rather good. Breakfast is always good, and the coffee is hot. If nothing else
there is always cold cereal. 
Then after breakfast before we head out to the site part of your group joins the
rest of the morning sandwich crew, making PB&J, and ham or turkey
sandwiches for lunch. Then on the way to the site you stop at the local store
and pick up chips and drinks. 2 years ago at ASP I discovered one of my favorite
drinks, Josta! Best drink I've found down there. The dinners are different every
night and usually pretty good. One night we have a picnic with the other centers
in the area and usually have a grilled chicken dinner.
The best part of ASP is the people. The people you meet, the people you help,
and the people you work with. You will meet and get to know the family that you
are helping. Many of the family members although they do not have to will try
and do their best to help you with the work. The more you know about the family
that you're helping the more it all means to you, and the more it means to them.
The people you work with will become some of your closest friends even if you
can't normaly stand them, because of the fact that you are a team, and you must
work together. For five days you have to work closely with them, eat with them,
and put up with them for hours in hot humid weather. And the people you meet can
become friends for a long time. 
Even though you may only know these people for a week, a week at ASP can be one
of the most intense weeks you experiance all year. You will be in close quarters
with great people who all have a comon goal and belief. You can make friends
that may last a life time. A few great people whom I still communicate with are
Ariel, Nick, Adam, Caryn, Kristin, and Kimber. All great people.
I can't wait to go again this year. This year we will be week one or two of the summer, in Wyoming county West Virginia. Anybody else gonna be there? E-mail me and let me know.
