For the last few days, we’ve had a straightforward schedule. We move snow in the morning before we start sanding spars. Sometime around lunch we move snow again, then troop back inside and sand more spars. And at the end of the workday, if the weather gods have been generous, we shovel off the plaza one last time before calling it quits.
Today’s work party definitely involved shoveling snow and plenty of sanding, but since it’s a Saturday, we had a whole crowd of volunteers to help, along with a few former trainees and our newest apprentice, Liz. The museum was busy, too: about thirty new volunteers stopped by for the first day of winter sail training.
So spar alley and the rig shop were buzzing with activity all day—except during lunch break, when we fulfilled the most time-honored tradition of winter maintenance by rushing the parking lot en masse and caravanning to the nearest gas station for sandwiches. Luckily, we made it through the storm without getting stranded in the icy wastes of the Bayfront, so we made it back in time for muster and only the sandwiches got eaten.
Note: our annual Volunteer Appreciation party is tonight at 5:30, so if you’re a volunteer, please stop by the museum to be appreciated! And if you’re interested in winter sail training, email Chris at volunteer@flagshipniagara.org and come to the next class, which is this coming Saturday, January 14th, at 8:30am.