Orientation Leader Carter Adams '15 works with freshmen Evan Heeb, placing the post, and Aaron Becker work on posts at the Habitat for Humanity site..
Kyle Morgan was putting the finishing touches on a new shed roof.
Daniel Thompson was working with Morgan.
Jacob Stone was swining a pretty mean pick while classmates turned soil.
Dillon Cron was smoothing out dirt near the new home's entrance.
Albert Li was helping seal up the frame construction.
Trevor Johnson brought some experince with a circular saw
Pastor and Habitat board President Keith Strain was giving Dan McCormick some instruction on site.
Joyce Burnett's tutorial group were helping harvest and clean the community garden.
Professor Joyce Burnette's tutorial group worked at the Community Garden south of Crawfordsville.
Freshmen also assisted with several projects at the Vanity Theater in downtown Crawfordsville. Stephan Jones tapes the edges of trim in the actors' green room — which is not green .... yet! Vanity Theater photos by Brent Harris
Once all the tape was applied, Riley Pelton put the first stripes of green paint on the walls.
Keaton Douglas worked with Vanity Theater President Rolf Samuelsen to measure and cut wood for shelving in one the theater's many storage areas.
Freshman Thomas Isola climbed under the shelf to keep it level while fellow first-year Patrick Myers and Samuelsen hold both ends. Assistant Professor of Theater James Cherry started the work by securing the shelves to the main structure. Isola took over and had the honor of working with a torque drill for the first time, under the watchful eye of Dr. Cherry.
Benjamin Washer from Crawfordsville, Tu Nguyen from Vietnam, and James Halpin from Chesterton work to remove concrete blocks that were once a canoe launch from Sugar Creek.
Luke Davis from Valparaiso assists Crawfordsville Parks and Recreation along with other members of his tutorial.
Benjamin Washer and James Halpin wade through the creek to remove debris from a bridge that washed out earlier in the year.
Tu Nguyen and Luke Davis do some heavy lifting.
Roberto Uruchima from Chicago, Tu Nguyen from Vietnam, and Peter Tianhong Xu from China attempt to dig up part of the washed out bridge.
Chris Sparacino from Owensville stains a fence on the Trail.
Sam Adams from Carmel worked with his tutorial group to assist Crawfordsville Parks and Recreation.
Shamir Johnson from Gary and Alex Parrett from Indianapolis spent the morning on the Trail.
Wabash freshmen put a little muscle power to work Wednesday morning improving the Montgomery County community. The annual Freshman Orientation Day featured 245 young men serving local charities.
“We get a lot done because the students always bring a lot of energy and just sheer muscle power, but we’ve also learned over the years that Wabash guys are ready to work,” said Habitat for Humanity President and Frist Christian Church Pastor Keith Strain. “They like serving the community.”
But the 15-plus guys on site provide more than a day of muscle; Stain said many will return to help for the next four years.”
“We hope, being freshmen, that they’ll realize this is good work and take part in the work other Wabash students due for habitat,” he said. “Some (upperclassmen) come as often as they can. Some are here every week, some bring friends or bring their houses or fraternities with them. “We really depend on students form Wabash and Purdue to build these houses.”
Farther form the center of town, a group of freshmen in Economics Professor Joyce Burnette’s tutorial group were harvesting vegetables and weeding the community garden.
Levi Chitty said it was a fun and beneficial day. “As students on a college campus, you take a lot from the community so it’s cool to be able to come and help other people work on what they’re passionate about and help them help the community.”
The side benefit for the young men is even more bonding on the last day of orientation. “The guys are all cool in my group, I’ve gotten to know them well,” Chitty said. “Now, we’re all working together like a team and have really developed a relationship.”
After the morning work the mostly red-clad freshmen made quite a sight in downtown Crawfordsville. Before splitting up for lunch at several downtown restaurants, Mayor Todd Barton ‘00 welcomed the guys to Crawfordsville.
“This is a great little community,” the mayor said. “But you’ll only get out of Crawfordsville what you put into Crawfordsville. Thank all of you for your service this morning.”
“I spent much of my summer learning what is recyclable, what is not,” Ebert told the freshman, who followed his instructions and spent about an hour going through 35 bags of trash. Removing the recyclable material, they were able to reduce the number of bags going to the trash to two!