Cleaning the Big Barn

Today marks a monumental day in the history of the Eastern 4-H Center. The "Big Barn will receive it's bi-annual cleaning. Now this special event doesn't necessarily take place as it's titles states. It occurs anytime when hazing would be more suitable...but since hazing has many negative connotations, and cleaning has many good connotations, we will call it cleaning. It is like a rite of passage...when I was a wee little Program Director, I would listen to the romantic tales from Lee as he described his fairy tale encounter with the landmark. He also would allow me the opportunity to rendezvous with the wooden behemoth.

My first cleaning was memorable. I remember pulling out all if the materials that had become misplaced, displaced, and replaced. Usually, when cleaning out any archaic building, you remove items...and while we did that, we also added more items. Lee engineered a system to hold things safely in the rafters...to watch the glimmer in his eyes, as his master plan came to fruition, was an honor. We also built shelves in the big barn...these shelves vary in strength, but do not deviate in terms of aesthetics - they are ugly...nope, you won't find them, or anything like them at an IKEA. But they serve a good purpose...they are strong enough to handle bricks, and the bottom shelves are reinforced to handle the crushing drop of the top shelves. And, like any good Leader, Lee was kind enough to make time for some old-fashioned delegation and observation...I learned a lot from him that day. I even got to see him try to catch a field rat.

So today, as a new program staff is ushered into our hallowed grounds, their rite of passage is merely hours away. While I have no master plan for storage and shelving, we will knock the cobwebs out, sweep the floors, recycle the cardboard, and grow to know each other better. Just like the day I spent with my leader, I hope my staff members will appreciate their time with me, and appreciate that they are participating in a time-honored tradition.