Robin, Jason, Peter, Dave, Dave and Dawn with some of planters in St Al's yard

What started out as a cold, drizzly morning turned into a magical day for those of us that have been planning so hard these past months. We made the first big step today by bringing our planters closer to their new home.  With the help of 2 huge U-Haul trucks and the tremendous strength of these 5 strong men pictured above, our first step was a huge success.

I’m overwhelmed at what we accomplished today and I’m incredibly grateful to  Robin, Jason, Pete, Dave and Dave for helping us make this project happen. Knowing that guys like this live and work in my neighborhood make me so proud I live in East Ballard!

A little roll before the big lift into the truck

For anyone out there who’s looking to do a project like this in the future, here are some lessons learned:

1. Know the real weight of your planters. We thought 45-50lbs max. The guys swear they ranged anywhere from 80-120 lbs each. Yikes!
2. Planters that sit through a Seattle winter will not be clean and dry on pickup day. I think we spent most of our time dumping water and digging out dirt before getting them into the truck. Yuck!
   
3. The beds of U-Haul trucks are not even. Thank you Pete for bringing pallets!
4. Have someone on your  crew with a winery in the ‘hood who can hose down the trucks when you’re done. Thanks Jason!
5. Promise beer as an incentive. I promised you all a beer, but it was too early in the morning to take me up on it. Keep me honest and make me pay up!

Interested in being part of the fun? Our next work party will be:

Saturday April 10th, 10am-1pm
Gravel Raking and Smoothing
We need seven volunteers to help rake and smooth out the gravel that will be delivered in the median ends earlier in the week.  We’ll provide some hard rakes and push brooms and work gloves.  That said, should you have any of those items, we’d be grateful to you for donating their use for the day.  Ballard Market will be providing treats as well.  We’ll be meeting at the entrance of Blowing Sands Glass, 5805 14th Ave. NW. Email eastballard@gmail.com to RSVP.