Arms Around Arkadelphia - reprised

From June 4-8, 2018, Arms Around Arkadelphia ("AAA") resumed work. If you follow this blog, then you'll remember the last blog post was about AAA's two-day projects from May 18-19, 2018. For the week-long reprisal, I was assigned to help rebuild the shower at Sammy and Flora Blackmon's home with Mr. Byron Jones, Dr. Jimmy Hankins, and Ms. Freddie Whiting. Mr. Jones' grandson, Cole, also pitched in for a couple of days.

Monday, June 4, 2018

We arrived on the job site around 8:30 am and got started shortly after that. Here is what it looked like then:

Then the fun began:

The slideshow below documents what we accomplished on day number one.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Mr. Jones was a master plumber, and did a great job directing Dr. Hankins, Freddie, and me.

Day #2 brought light at the end of the tunnel, as seen below.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Day #3 brought hanging sheet rock, and using liquid nails to install the paneling, as seen below.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Day #4 had two projects take place at the same time and place. At the 2018 ATLA Convention, I was nominated to be the New Lawyer Network's first Community Service Committee chair. Our first service project as a group was demolishing this shed for the Blackmons, while the shower project was ongoing:

Mr. Blackmon told us his father built the shed in the '50s. Before we could begin demolition, the contents of the shed were removed:

Then the fun began:

We also found some cool stuff in the shed:

This old lawn mower was found underneath the floor of the shed.

This World War 2 era canteen also came out of the shed.

The Daily Siftings Herald was there to document our demolition activities:

Other projects the ATLA crew worked on included power washing at a local non-profit, and helping paint the ceiling of another homeowner.

Pictured from left to right are Jay Neal and Richard Bright.

The ATLA crew included from left to right, Jessica Mallett of the Law Offices of Peter Miller in Little Rock; Amanda Boulden with the ATLA office located in Little Rock; Caleb Baumgardner of the Baumgardner Law Firm in El Dorado; Brian Trubitt and Jay Neal of Taylor King & Associates in Arkadelphia; Nader Afsordeh of the Law Offices of Peter Miller in Little Rock; me; Joseph Gates of the Paul Byrd Law Firm in Little Rock; and Chase Mangiapane of the Law Offices of Peter Miller in Little Rock. Not pictured:  Richard Bright of Taylor King & Associates in Arkadelphia.

While we were demolishing the shed, Mr. Jones, Dr. Hankins, and Freddie carried on with the shower project:

Friday, June 8, 2018

The shower project shaped up nicely on the last day:

Monday, June 11, 2018

We didn't quite get finished on Friday, so the final pieces were put in place the following Monday.

It was a great week. We all learned a lot working with Mr. Jones, and I enjoyed spending time with my former dentist, Dr. Hankins. Freddie began the week as a cheerleader, and ended it ready to build a house. The ATLA crew also enjoyed getting out of their offices to come help others in the Arkadelphia community.

AAA completed 15 other projects, and also provided trash removal and landscaping. Each day lunch and dinner were provided at the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall, which were all fantastic. Music and a short devotional were provided at each dinner. While a lot of participants in AAA were First Baptist Church members, there were also a significant amount of people who were not. People from all over the community (and beyond) came together for the purpose of helping Arkadelphians. It was a unifying experience that I hope to contribute toward in the coming years. If you're interested in participating in the AAA projects next year, contact David McAllister at d_mcallister@suddenlink.net.