Jesse Bontreger (’13) helps rebuild the docks at Camp Mack.
As an annual Bethany event, the high school gathers in groups during the 4th quarter to take the day doing community service around Goshen. On Wednesday, May 8th, 12 groups got together to go to different sites.
Here are some of the Sightline Staff’s takes on the day:
Calvin Swartzendruber took 12 of us to Goshen College for our service day assignments. We met up with the grounds crew at 8:30 and they split us off into different groups. The three Seniors cleaned and dusted the Music Center, one group weeded and mulched the grounds, and another group cleaned the College Mennonite sanctuary. The grounds staff were happy to have visitors, and everyone enjoyed getting a chance to spend a day in the sunshine.
– Joe
My service day was spent at Camp Mack with Brent Reinhardt. A small group of us helped set up piers in the lake. Isaac Schertz (‘13) and Abe Thorne (‘14) were actually in the water with waders, while Josh Leatherman (‘13), Adam Krahn (‘14) and I served as the ground crew, carrying platforms and posts out to the water.
– Jesse
At Pathways Retreat with Amy Thut, several things got accomplished for the day. Some people moved logs and put down mulch. A few others, including myself, weeded and went about the pathways to make sure they looked nice, ensuring that the next person to come down for a meditative time will find peace. The Thompsons were very hospitable, making us cookies and juice and being sure to answer all of our questions. During lunch we talked, laughed, and enjoyed a nice (and very short) nap in the sun. Perfect combination of fun and work.
– Ashley
For my service, I stayed at Bethany to help groundskeepers Dwight Kauffman and Mano Mounsithiraj. Our group’s work consisted mainly of separating piles of stones, sticks and dirt from each other. The sun was unrelenting and we felt very little wind so by the end the guys had removed their shirts. It was overall a good day, minus the sunburns.
– Josh
The group that went to La Casa started the day with a bit of time to rest. We had to wait until the supervisors arrived. It was a good fifteen or twenty minutes before they showed up, but once they did, we went straight to work. Our task for the day was to break apart a cement porch. First, we had to tear away the bushes attached to the porch, which proved to be easier said than done. The bushes held fast, but with teamwork, we managed to destroy them. Afterwards, we fired up the jack hammer and got to work demolishing the cement. Aaron Maust (’14), Natalie Thorne (’13), Manuela Harder (’15), and I tried it out, as well as Nathan Swartzendruber, our staff leader. By the end of the day, we hadn’t finished the job, but we made a lot of progress. If you come to La Casa’s Help-A-House this Saturday, you might be able to finish what we started.
– Rachel
For Service Day I was in the Camp Mack group with Brent Reinhardt. We split up into three different work groups to do different things around the campground. A group of guys went to put in a pier, some other guys moved benches, and Amber Heydon (‘13), Jane Wang (‘16), Carole Evans (‘15), and I cleaned cabins for campers coming this summer. The food was good!
– Katie