September 2, 2018
Adj plu-per-fect. more than perfect; utterly perfect.
“If I had a dollar for every photograph taken of the church…” I can still see my father shaking his head in amazement at all the attention the little Oysterville Church began to receive in the early 1980s after it had been restored. Make no mistake about it though, he took his share of pictures too. And why not? The little building seems the iconic symbol of 19th century rural village life and most especially so with a bright coat of fresh paint.
This past week, the painters hired by the Oysterville Restoration Foundation arrived. They came early on Monday and I think there were three of them, but they worked more efficiently and faster than I could keep up with. First, they pressure-washed and painted the fence. On both sides in one day! Then they began scraping paint from the church, itself. They began in the front and on the north side – up-close and personal, board by board. Then pressure-washing using generator and manlift and carefully aimed water. Abandoned swallows nests: gone. Peeling paint: gone. Mossy, mildewy areas: clean! Mess: none!
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
The weather cooperated and the painting began before I’d had my second cup of coffee on Wednesday. A painter on the roof… no, two of them up there for a while – on ladders and scaffolding and the manlift again – painting the steeple white and then the red trim. A team spray-painted the walls using a hose and a ladder; the brush man was close behind painting the trim around the windows. So quick. So deft. A pleasure to watch.
They worked late on Saturday – until 7:30 or so when the light gave out. All the equipment was gone by Sunday morning – except for the portable generator which they tucked into the north end of the churchyard. All was in readiness for the final Music Vespers service yesterday. In less than a week! Truly a miracle of the first order. There may be finishing touches to take care of in the coming days but, once again, the little church is more than picture perfect!
Kudos to ORF board member and neighbor, Paul Staub, for shepherding all the tasks that resulted in the church’s new roof, new gutters, repaired front porch , new ramp, and the beautiful new paint. Next to come — new windows and restoration of the fencing and sign marking the site of the Johnson House next to the church. As ORF board president exclaimed – “Huzzah!”
That “Huzzah” shout out was from Dave Williams, ORF’s President.