Moving Pews
Pews On Parade
So, last summer a friend of mine called me b/c his grandfather had a church full of pews that he wanted to donate to our church or to the NoDa School of Arts, and did I have a use for them. It seemed like too good of a deal to pass up at the time, but in hindsight I'm not really sure why I was so eager to jump on that train. I went out there with this sweet old man to take a look at the pews. They were in an abandoned old church that was probably built in the 80's. They had forelcosed on their property, and the new owners were going to tear it down and redevelop the land.
I reluctantly accepted the pews. My main concern was transporting 28 church pews that were extremely heavy and 13 feet long. I roped in a couple of friends of mine to help move them, and that was the beginning of the chaos. The truck I rented that first trek down to get some pews had a bit of an accident. I ran the side mirror into a telephone pole and managed to bend back the frame of the door and break the window. (The truck that one of my board members let me borrow from him business for free.) I didn't let that stop me though. I just used the driver side door and continued down the road with glass strewn on the floor of the truck and a pit in my stomach.
We make it down to the church in the middle of July. There were spider webs all through the church, more than a hint of mildew, not to mention that a church that has stood empty for years is a little bit creepy.
So I was hoping that Jeremy and Lee could throw those suckers into the truck, make a few trips to the storage, and then call it a day. I was sadly mistaken. The pews are so heavy and awkward that it took much longer. My back is shot and these two guys are struggling to lift one. Arranging 13 foot church pews in a 14 foot truck was also challenging. The person in the back of the truck had to crawl over stacked pews while maneuvering more 300 lb. pews into the truck. I felt pretty bad.
We called in reinforcements to help unload the truck, but no one was in the mood for a second load. That would have to be done another day. At this point I'm wondering if the expense of renting moving trucks, paying for a moving truck to be fixed, storage, etc. was going to be worth it. Of course, at this point its too late.
So, in the midst of a hectic summer camp, I arrange for another jaunt down to Weddington for the remaining pews. I didn't tag along. When the guys returned they were sweaty, exhausted, and doubting my ability to do something useful with these pews.
I'll have to write more later.
Amanda
Three storage units later the pews are officially ours.
So, last summer a friend of mine called me b/c his grandfather had a church full of pews that he wanted to donate to our church or to the NoDa School of Arts, and did I have a use for them. It seemed like too good of a deal to pass up at the time, but in hindsight I'm not really sure why I was so eager to jump on that train. I went out there with this sweet old man to take a look at the pews. They were in an abandoned old church that was probably built in the 80's. They had forelcosed on their property, and the new owners were going to tear it down and redevelop the land.
I reluctantly accepted the pews. My main concern was transporting 28 church pews that were extremely heavy and 13 feet long. I roped in a couple of friends of mine to help move them, and that was the beginning of the chaos. The truck I rented that first trek down to get some pews had a bit of an accident. I ran the side mirror into a telephone pole and managed to bend back the frame of the door and break the window. (The truck that one of my board members let me borrow from him business for free.) I didn't let that stop me though. I just used the driver side door and continued down the road with glass strewn on the floor of the truck and a pit in my stomach.
We make it down to the church in the middle of July. There were spider webs all through the church, more than a hint of mildew, not to mention that a church that has stood empty for years is a little bit creepy.
So I was hoping that Jeremy and Lee could throw those suckers into the truck, make a few trips to the storage, and then call it a day. I was sadly mistaken. The pews are so heavy and awkward that it took much longer. My back is shot and these two guys are struggling to lift one. Arranging 13 foot church pews in a 14 foot truck was also challenging. The person in the back of the truck had to crawl over stacked pews while maneuvering more 300 lb. pews into the truck. I felt pretty bad.
We called in reinforcements to help unload the truck, but no one was in the mood for a second load. That would have to be done another day. At this point I'm wondering if the expense of renting moving trucks, paying for a moving truck to be fixed, storage, etc. was going to be worth it. Of course, at this point its too late.
So, in the midst of a hectic summer camp, I arrange for another jaunt down to Weddington for the remaining pews. I didn't tag along. When the guys returned they were sweaty, exhausted, and doubting my ability to do something useful with these pews.
I'll have to write more later.
Amanda
Three storage units later the pews are officially ours.
posted by Amanda at 12:52 PM
1 Comments:
No personal post? We feel so cheated. :-)
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