Raffle Bus Work - Week of Mar. 17 - Mar. 23, 2024

Who says this group doesn’t know how to have fun? John orchestrated pure chaos as we worked to finish the bus by the self-imposed deadline of April 1st. It’s not looking hopeful, but we are trying. Ed and Bill led the crusade in putting in the non-movable windows flawlessly. They were like well-oiled machines, directing us to push here and there, as Ed pulled the string, and the stationary windows fell into place. Our only hold up is not having a source for the seals for the two sliding (Jalousy-like) windows.  Without the seals, we can’t put the windows in. Dave C. is the guru to put in the wing windows and the rolling front windows. Unfortunately, we can’t progress unless we get a new wing window for the passenger side. The front bumper got mounted (Roy had banged it into shape), but the rear bumper bracket on the driver’s side was bent from a prior accident. Ed and Greg tried some persuasion (a bigger hammer), but it didn’t work. The bumper still appeared lop-sided (you know there’s trouble when someone is swinging a sledge hammer at a freshly painted bus). Jim J. says he thinks he has some bumper brackets that we can use. He will bring them from Prescott next week. By the way, can you believe he is driving from Prescott to NE Phoenix to have this fun? It’s great having him and his wealth of knowledge to help us. Clinton, our youngest helper (here for his 4^th bus-build), added sound-proofing material and removed window stickers that Joe Joe said had to go. As is our new tradition, any club or organization supporting ABC financially or morally that wants to add their sticker to our back window, they can. The remainder of the afternoon was spent working to get the pop top back onto the bus. This was a tricky proposition, especially with a newly painted bus. John had erected some scaffolding and, using Plan D (the first 3 plans didn’t work), we got the top into place. This was a major feat, and we could then see that all of John’s hard work to get the sides of the top straight paid off. The edges now sit perfectly in the rain gutters all around. Kudos to John for figuring out the needed fix and implementing it.  One may ask, what did Russell do?  He took pictures, lots of grief, followed orders, and ate seconds of Greta’s wonderful chili and of Sue M’s yummy chocolate cherry cake. Oh, the floors were laid earlier in the week by Ryan and Russell, and the upper bed was installed. Both look nice! I guess that sums it up. There’s still lots to do, and not much time to do it, especially if we can’t find the right seals and wing window.

Author:  Russell Greene