Make A Difference Day

On Saturday morning the University of Idaho Center for Volunteerism and Social Action sponsored the Make A Difference Day.  Saturday nine UI student volunteers descended upon the McConnell Mansion to help LCHS on some special projects.

The hard working UI student volunteers at the McConnell Mansion.

These students and I worked hard on two projects, one of which would not have been possible without the help of Ryan from Guardian Comprehensive Home Services.  This project was the outside clean-up of the McConnell Mansion.  As you might have noticed it is getting colder outside and the leaves are turning from green to yellow, then onto our lawns.  Ryan from Guardian stepped up and was at the McConnell Mansion early Saturday morning to do some pruning around the grounds before the student volunteers arrived.  Once the volunteers arrived they were set to work raking leaves and prunings, then flipping them into the Guardian truck for removal.

Raking in front of the McConnell Mansion.

Guardian's yard debris removal truck.

UI students flipping the yard debris into the Guardian yard debris removal truck.

A big thank you goes out to Guardian as well as the UI students for helping the McConnell Mansion look its best this fall season!

But wait, there's more!  Here at LCHS we like to host events, however sometimes people need a little extra help finding our event locations.  Years ago wooden folding sandwich boards were donated to LCHS so that we can help people find our events.  These sandwich boards have been well loved over the years and were in need of some re-finishing.  A second group of students worked to pull all of the staples out of the boards, sand the boards and give them a fresh coat of paint.  These students were so efficient that they even helped to rake leaves after they had finished working on the signage!

Sanding and pulling staples from the signs.

Look for these newly painted signs next time you're looking for an LCHS event!

This was a great morning for LCHS as we got more done before noon than I had hoped for.  Thank you to Guardian and to the University of Idaho Center for Volunteerism and Social Action for helping make this event a success.

 - Zach Wnek
Museum Curator
Latah County Historical Society