Working at ReUse Industries this Spring Quarter has been an interesting experience since the day it began. That first meeting with our group set the precedence for everything that was going to happen in the upcoming weeks. Anya Porter became our group’s noble leader, and we all volunteered for the various jobs we felt we were best suited for. Karen Weiman, the sole member with a car, became the driver and scholar in charge of keeping materials and conducting her own research. Brian Stork, with a hectic schedule, agreed to create a brilliantly researched and professional pamphlet for ReUse Industries out of his own free time, in addition to taking pictures. Nate Russell decided to conduct research and take pictures, and ended up chivalrously doing the bulk of the hazardous carpentry. Andrea Stroup volunteered for the typing, impressive photography, and creating a wonderful World Wide Web page for the group. Anya, on top of leadership responsibilities, patiently recorded all meetings and decisions in the Minutes.

Our first trip out to ReUse Industries was on April 22, 1998. We toured Raccoon Creek and the park’s land, met Duane (our contact), came up with several proposals for restoration and improvement, and signed the contract. Some of the projects we came up with were: repainting the old "No Hunting" signs, rebuilding a cement dam, constructing birdhouses, mowing walking trails, cleaning up the roadside trash, monitoring the existing squirrel houses and tree, making a pamphlet for ReUse, creating a web page, planting more wildflowers, and identifying the species living in the park area. We were full of optimism and expectations when we arrived, and accomplished a good deal of what we set out to do; however, our experience was not without its difficulties.

Nothing was set in stone as we began our experience together, but we slowly learned to adjust and compensate for almost every obstacle. Whether we had difficulty finding times to meet or reschedule (going around everyone’s schedule was one of the hardest routines), finding times our contact at ReUse was available, or just figuring out what to do, we eventually arrived at a reasonable solution. If weather, prior commitments, car trouble, or tests kept us from going one day, we would find another day to make up for the lost time. If one or two people could not go, we could always find replacement work and research. When we felt uncertain of what to do next, we sat down and discussed our options or went off in search of Duane. One way or another, we resolved every problem we encountered.

The culmination of our work resulted in painted and laminated new signs, new birdhouses built from the available salvaged wood, our own personal web page, a pamphlet dedicated to ReUse Industries, a cleaner perimeter, and a better understanding of the way ReUse Industries operates. We definitely learned to appreciate the work that goes into any sort of hands-on construction. I don’t believe any of us will underestimate the work associated with the research and construction of a simple birdhouse again. So, we learned to work with the materials that were available to us, researched to find out what we hadn’t known, dealt with questions and problems as they came up, and somehow emerged, sanity intact, as a group.