Kaboom

I was up very early on Saturday morning. 515am to be exact. Reason for the early rise was that I had to be at an elementary school in Saucier, MS (pronounced So Sure, go figure. I wanted to pronounce it the french way but was quickly told that it is So Sure.) We were doing a one day build of a playground at the elementary school and I was talked into be a Build Captain.

Kaboom Inc. is an organization that believes every child deserves a place to play and their mission is to build playgrounds across the country. Each playground is completed in one day with simultaneous builds and arts and crafts taking place at the playground. The school, the community and volunteer organizations are heavily involved. Fannie Mae is a sponsor and sent some of their folks down from Washington DC, SF and other points around the country to participate in this and other builds that were taking place in the Mississippi area this week.

A lot of prep work and coordination goes into making the one day build a success. That day was Thursday of this week. Lots of lifting of heavy lumber, of pieces of the puzzle that was the play structure, of nuts and bolts, of mulch, mulch and more frakking mulch.

The structure that I was a Build Captain on was the Planter Benches and Shade Structure. Lots of wood. Lots of drilling. Lots of screwing. Lots of hammering. Lots of dumping of potting soil. Lots of sanding. After some bumps in the road the structure was final put together in record time. The person in the picture with me is Todd the co-captain. He was responsible for the shade structure. Unfortunately, when we married the two pieces together his piece was way off and had to be taken down and reassembled correctly from scratch. (The bump in the road.) Thank God I commandeered a carpenter from another project. The end result was pretty good even if I do say so myself. See picture below.

There were many projects going on. I was so focused on my project that I forgot to get shots of all the others.

The build started at 845am and was done by 130pm. Not a bad day. I'm tired as crap and sore like crazy but it's a good tired and soreness.

Oh, one thing about Kaboom builds is that they are a huge amount of fun.  In addition to wearing the purple vest signifying that you are a build captain we also wear funny hats and leis and glasses and noses etc.  Music is pumping loudly. Food is served.  Water and gatorade provided for hydration.  A really fun vibe.  If you hear about a Kaboom build in your area volunteer.  You will not be disappointed. 

You can check their website at Kaboom.org to see if there is anything going on in your area.  

This structure ROCKS!!!