Boilers being Installed

New Boilers have Arrived

Here they are.

The New Boilers - inside view

Old Boiler Demolition

New Project - Boiler

Our church's original boiler is going to be replaced in just a few weeks. These pictures show the condition of the boiler, valves, and pipes. It's not a pretty sight. Several years ago we went from rusty well water going through a softener (using salt) to Akron city water. The rust is a legacy of that bad water.

Win With Wilkie

Last summer I started scanning old and not so old family pictures. I never knew my Uncle Edward, as he died in 1941, 17 years before I was born. He was deaf, and died at age 27 in a TB sanitarium, so I was told. My father only told me little bits and pieces of his family history, doubtless because I didn't much ask about it. Dad died in 1990, and all his siblings are gone, too. So any family history will have to be learned through detective work.

I was struck by this photo of Uncle Ed. Nobody in my family owned a decent camera back in the day, and I suspect this picture was taken with a cheap Brownie. It looks like it is probably the last photo ever taken of him as he's in what looks like a hospital robe. That would be consistent with being in a sanitarium. I wondered about the "W" on the robe and his 'thumb's up' pose. Was that "W" the initial of the Sanitarium, by chance? Maybe I could locate a sanitarium in Brooklyn, NY with a "W" in it's name if I did an internet search.

With the mystery of the "W" in my mind, I decided to scan the picture at very high resolution. Once I got the picture on the computer, and I could enlarge it, it looked to me like Uncle Ed was wearing political buttons in the shape of a "W". That could only mean one thing. This picture was taken before the 1940 Presidential Election in November, and Uncle Ed was supporting Wendell Wilkie, not a third term for FDR.

The things one discovers when going through old photo albums.

My Legacy Remains

My wife and daughters took a little vacation in Indiana at the request of daughter Jennifer. She wanted to see the hometown of the actor James Dean. On the way home, Brooke and I decided we'd like to drive through our former home in Decatur. Amazingly, our name is still on the mailbox, reminding everyone who drives past who once occupied the Immanuel Lutheran Church teacherage. This fall marks 20 years since we moved away from Decatur for me to begin my pastoral ministry, so it was nice to make a quick drive through.

Proper Lutheran Vacation Accomodations

On a brief vacation trip in Indiana, we stayed in a dorm at the Seminary. We just spent the night, but before turning in, we took a little walk around the campus. Brought back a lot of wonderful memories. I never had to live in the dorms, but now I can say I at least stayed in one.

The Lutheran Study Bible

New Project - Basement Waterproofing

These pictures serve as a record of our recent waterproofing project from June 2-5, 2008. All American Basement Waterproofing of Wadsworth, Ohio did the work, and I was impressed by their diligence. They stayed on the job until finished.

This basement serves as our preschool, and is in the original 1953 building. Good drainage was not designed into the plan, so we have had frequent flooding problems over the years. Not good in a carpeted preschool area. These pictures show how the job was done.

The jackhammers drilled about a foot around the outside walls, source of the leaking. Hand digging would be done to provide space to lay a gravel bed and perforated PVC pipe.






Next, holes were drilled at the base of the digging. This will permit the water that normally builds up outside to come into this new drainage area and into the perforated pipe.
















These two pictures above show the plastic sheeting that covered the drainage holes and the course of the pipe which will take the water into a sump in the stairwell.


The picture to the left shows the sump in the stairwell next to the preschool room. Water from all the pipes drain into this plastic tub. The pump is placed into the tub to send the water up a few feet into the outside rain gutter system.

In the event that a heavy storm knocks out electrical power, the pump has a battery backup as you can see to the left.











Finally, the water is pumped up and outside. The thinner pipes come from the sump, and are joined to the larger rainwater downspout system.