February 2009 update

Since the last update there have been a few significant events.

The first is that I finished off the base-boards in the renovated basement. As you may imagine the basement floor is not exactly 100 % level - no surprise!!! So, as a result the base-boards do not always touch the floor. In some cases it was fairly easy to nail one end of the board and then push down on the other end to get it as near to the floor as possible. Thanks to my good friend, Keith, I had the use of a mitre box. This certainly made for a much nicer looking overlap when joining sections together.

If I say so myself: ''It looks great!'' I am quite proud of my handiwork.

We are enjoying the comforts of the basement with the surround sound which is very effective when we are watching a movie - whether on TV or a DVD.

During the first week of February I spent 4 days in Victoriaville. This was a spiritual retreat for the leaders of The Salvation Army in the Province of Quebec. Our special guests this year were Majors David and Beth. They had previously been in Montreal and it was a great pleasure to spend time with them and under their ministry. The theme was ''Names of God'' and 4 names were considered in the devotional times­. As a member of the divisional leadership team I, along with my wife, was responsible for meeting them at the train station and driving them from and then to Montreal. The time in the car was well spent as we had the opportunity to chat about ministry opportunities and challenges.

The third and final event just happened on Tuesday, February 17. At about 2:00 P.M. I was called into the bosses (DC's) office to listen in on a phone call from the Youth Secretary. He had just been advised of a fire at the camp at Lac L'Achigan. My face fell when he mentioned the Dining Room was on fire and perhaps even destroyed.

It would seem there were snowmobile tracks leading up to the Dining Room and that the door by the Canteen had been forced in. The fire which had started somewhere in the kitchen area was noticed by the caretaker from his house, just up the hill. He could see the smoke was more than a neighbor with a fire in a fireplace. So the fire department was called and then Montreal was notified. For those of you unfamiliar the camp is about 80 km north-east of Montreal. The camp closes for the winter and was closed by the beginning of October 2008. Louis, the caretaker, makes regular rounds in the off season to monitor the build up of snow on the cabin roofs. When necessary he removes the snow so that there is no damage to the cabins - roofs falling in and/or walls bulging out.

It took about 20 minutes for the fire department to arrive from Prevost and St. Jerome. They were able to save the main part of the building, the actual Dining Room. The kitchen area, back storage room, canteen, walk-in freezer and walk-in cold room as well as any items stored in the attic were destroyed. The dinner bell which was on the back wall obviously fell to the ground as the wall gave way. The electricity and the propane gas had both been turned off for the winter - fortunately. At this point in time it is still too early to really know what caused the fire. We are waiting for the report by the investigator(s). Many of you will have spent some time at L'Achigan either as a camper or on staff, some as both.

more later.

Here is the bell all snow covered still attached to its frame!