The Light Fantastic

It's been a year...since the last Polka Fest. Hard to believe, but here it is, the end of September, and the red and white lights are up again!

Can't dance without lights! 

And the usual suspects are up to the usual hijinks.

Three Stooges? 

I think one of the best parts of this whole church project has been getting to know many of the people of the Tip of the Thumb.

Their blood is red and their skin is white, well, maybe translucent, (they are descended from Poles) but their hearts are true blue! The guy on the left wired the church like it was a WW 2 submarine. Let me show you!

Wires in the bathroom...

Wires in the office... 

Pretty, pretty wires everywhere!

If you want to light a church, you have to use some wire!  Mr. Shramski is a pro. He and his partner Dale spent many an hour in their "spare time" laying hundreds, nay thousands of feet of wire and conduit in the church, after drilling hole after hole right through the studs. The work is hard and expertise is needed, but luckily this community has great people like them to do this kind of work. 

We will be very happy to see the last of the temp lights. They have served us well, but it's time to have some permanent lighting. 

All things Bright, but not Beautiful!

As the wire goes in, the walls must be prepped for the spray foam. Coming soon: insulation! Stay tuned as the church gets an inner hug from a plastic blanket!

a plasket wha?

(BTW, the polka fest was FUN!)

The Prills break a leg!

Dancing in our seats!

Workin' It.

Huff puff scrape scrape...

The season of summer slid right into fall, and still we are scraping and painting. I personally find scraping to be fairly therapeutic. I guess the boys think I need this therapy because they let me do it! With no interference.

Huff Puff blah blah blah...

Now since I am the author of this recorded history, I will not come out and say that I did most of the work this particular day. People might think that I'm biased. Instead, I will let the pictures speak for me.

How's it goin', boys? Just came in for a cool drink...

Back at it- me and the empty ladder.

But to be honest, we couldn't have gotten to the "next level" without the help of the scaffold; planned, gotten and set up by the menfolk. Without it, we couldn't have done this:

More than halfway! Yay!

And then there was the break in the action of the Annual Amazing Kinde Polka Fest.

Every year for seven years the families of Kevin Wiley (owner of the Kinde Pasta House)  Paul Fisher (owner of Grindstone's Rybak's Ice Cream opening spring of 2013) and Gerald Prill have enlisted the help of lots of local sponsors to put on the Thumb's most amazing Polka Festival.

After 7 years, Prill and Fisher are still going strong. Ignore the crazy eyes. 

It's grueling, but worth it.

We'll be Polish for the night.

Everyone's Polish tonight!

I helped hang the red lights. They stayed up the whole time!~ whew~

This awesome band played at Paul Fisher's daughter's wedding this summer, and they were back even more energetic, if that's possible. Three daughters on the fiddle, Dad and young son on the accordian, and other family members rounding out the group. So much fun!

Who stole the Kishka?

I didn't steal the Kishka, cause I'm not even sure what it is, but I did steal a kiss from my Polish hubby!

Mmm wahhh!

Whether we're working on the church

steady there...

or Polka-ing our butts off,

dang my arm is getting tired...

We're a great team, and surrounded by a community of hard working, hard playing folks. What more could you ask for?

The 2012 Kinde Polka Fest