Columbus Cottage #6 Demolition

Yesterday we held the demolition for the 6th Columbus Cottage!

I took 150 pictures.

People I was there less than an hour.

And I took 150 pictures. 

Scandalous!

Don't worry, I won't share all 150 of them with you. I didn't on facebook either. It's just that I wanted to capture every moment and then pull out those that illustrated the essence of the event. 

Mary Jenkins on the right as the ceremony is set to begin. This has been her home for over 3 decades and it is not easy to watch it coming down. 

Before

Cathy Williams (L) President and CEO of NeighborWorks Columbus with Mayor Teresa Tomlinson (R) of the Columbus Consolidated Government

This is Mayor Tomlinson's third time on the front end loader, I think it is. We always call it a bulldozer but I have been told I am wrong. I don't pretend to know what it actually is!

Teresa  (the Mayor) actually spent more time up there taking the house down. But we promise, no Mayors were harmed in the making of this demolition. Cowboy was there with her the whole time. And no, before you ask, I do not know what Cowboy's real name is. 

See, I told you she loved this stuff. Tried to get a close up of the grin on her face. 

Climbing off to let the next person (you can see her behind Teresa). Her name is Susan and I honest to God think she brought the remainder of the house down in less than five blows. 

See Rebi get artistic focusing on the flowers in the foreground and the house in the background. This was right before Susan got behind the controls!

One hit and the porch was completely gone!

Number two pushed it almost all the way over!

Number three took care of the rest

And Cowboy finished it up

This is going to a very special house-- a first of it's kind to Columbus. But there will be more on that as construction begins!

For now, we celebrate the life of Mary Cooper Jenkins as we tear down her home to begin rebuilding her a new, safe, energy efficient home. 

The media has been a super friend on this home. 

We made the newspaper. 

We made YouTube. 

And the local TV stations even covered it.

Of course, I think my pictures are the best!

Naturally!

The logo for Cottage 6 is, in my opinion, the best yet! The shirt is lavender to signify all cancers and blue was used to represent colon cancer. 

Lunching at Meritage

Nonie and I went to lunch at Meritage today.

We don't normally go out to lunch anymore since we went to four day work weeks and a half hour lunch. But the boss has been raving about the place all week so we had to try.

I ordered a half sandwich-- the Paola Uccello and spinach salad.

I discovered today I am not a great big fan of gorgonzola cheese. It's ok but I would have rather had feta.

 It was delicious. And the salad comes with dried berries and toasted almonds... but I prefer my spinach without those things so I had them leave them off. And I didn't use the vinaigrette either.

The Paola Uccello is grilled chicken, bacon, romaine lettuce with Caesar dressing  on a Ciabetta loaf. I, of course, took the bacon off!

It was yummy!

 

Columbus Cottage Number 5

 One of my favorite days. The day we hold a key ceremony and give the keys to a brand new house to an elderly person who had been living in substandard housing. I love my job and I love the company I have been fortunate enough to work with for almost 11 years. NeighborWorks Columbus truly believes in it's mission in providing access to fit and affordable housing.

 April 18 at 10, we held the most recent key ceremony. For recipient number 5. I love this picture. It shows the new house, the flag, our mascot HOMEE and Cynthia-- the chair of the Columbus Cottage committee.

 Mayor Teresa Tomlinson making a few announcements before the big event! I freely admit that I just adore our Mayor and take way too many pictures of her at these events.... but you won't really need me to tell you that.

Several of us hid in the kitchen so we could see Mr. Jones and the Mayor come through the door. Yes, it took us until house 5 to realize we would get better pictures from inside the house than taking pictures of the recipient going into the house. 

See, I told you I took lots of pictures of her. But everyone else was getting a tour and they were right there! Left to Right. Rev. Alfred Biggs of the Philadelphia Baptist Church in Lumpkin, Georgia; Mayor Teresa Tomlinson of Columbus, GA and City Councilor (and former Major League Baseball Player) Glen Davis

If you want more information or want to help with home Number 6, visit NeighborWorks Columbus's website or call 706 324 HOME (4663).