Working on the college maintenance crew (along with Lew Schmidt '58, John Krueger '60, Dan Vander Ploeg '59 and others) during the five summers bracketed by '54-'58, meant working on several construction projects. A major project one of those years was a new roof on Founder's Gym. I remember it well, one day especially. After spending that whole day sitting on the south side, pounding nails in the blazing sun, I discovered that there had been a two-inch gap between the end of my pant leg and the top of my sock. It was a tiny patch, but it was CHAR-BROILED. Ouch!

My broken finger happened another one of those summers, as we were painting the exterior trim and windows of Old Main. Our boss, George Roseman, was always very safety-conscious and would have been appalled at what I did in painting one of the south, first-floor windows. The ladder I had was much too long, but instead of going for another one, I set the base of the ladder out far enough to make it work. Of course, the ladder started to kick out at the bottom. As I was grabbing to hold on, the lower sash came down on my finger. For six weeks or so, I wore the metal straightening device, but the damaged nail bed still produces a strange fingernail.

Looking back, what wonderful summers those were. I have so many fond memories, especially of the Mission House Missionary Conference, one of Ralph Ley's signature projects.