It is a  beautiful spring day at Calvary Presbyterian church.  The flowers out front are in full bloom.

Once again, the previous week at Calvary was quite busy because of the relaxing of the rules by New York State.  Belfor continued  working in the sanctuary and in fact completed all of their cleaning work that required the scaffolding.  The painters will soon take the “platform” and completely paint all painted surfaces of the walls over the next couple of weeks.  The plans are that the scaffolding will be taken down at the end of June, this is a full month before it was scheduled.

Because the scaffolding will be removed earlier than we plan, the fire committee had to take some quick actions to be sure the other contractors that need to use it were contacted and able to complete their jobs.  To keep the scaffolding for an additional month would cost us $10,000 so we had to act fast!  We were able to sign the contract with CDR Electronics, our alarm company in time for them to order the necessary special equipment for the smoke and heat detection to be installed in the peak of the sanctuary. It  can take up to 3 weeks to obtain these items.  Charlie of CDR will be running the necessary wiring and plans on having the installation completed by the time the scaffolding is removed.  They have also been contracted to complete the update needed to the alarm system in fellowship hall, though the pressure is not on for that portion of the work.

We were also able to get Lamb Stained Glass Studios to come last week and complete the cleaning of the windows accessible from the scaffolding.  They also constructed their own scaffolding to clean the rose window and the window in the organ loft.  They were really responsive.  I contacted them on Friday and they were there Monday to start working.  They will clean the lower windows after the scaffolding is removed and the cleanup and painting is completed by Belfor.  Check out how dirty the cloth is in this picture – not sure all of that is smoke, but I am sure some of it is!

American Eagle Electric continues to work diligently on the lighting that needs to be completed from the scaffolding also.  They have a lot of work to do!

As you already know, the fire committee met with Geoff of Belfor the previous week to obtain the plans provided by the architect of the existing layout of fellowship hall.  During this past week  Jim F and John C worked hard to sketch out possible solutions to make our fellowship hall a more user-friendly place for not only us but the use of the community in the future.  The fire committee met again to discuss these plans.  On Friday we had a zoom meeting with the session and trustees on Friday to discuss all of the happenings at the buildings as well as the possible layouts for the hall.  The session approved the work and now the suggested plans will be given to Geoff for the architect to consider and draw up.

All of this work is exciting to see move forward and I can’t wait until this is all complete and we can step back into our new buildings!

Have a safe and wonderful week!

Hi everyone.  Because we have entered Phase 1 of the “return to normal” Belfor has been able to return to Calvary and resume the work they were prepared to start when the NYS PAUSE took effect.  I visited the church on Friday and the crew was hard at work on the dance floor, beginning the long process of cleaning every surface in the sanctuary.  (Hope they come to my house when they get done!)

While NYS PAUSE keeps Belfor Restoration from returning to work in the building, American Eagle has been working hard to make sense of the current rats nest that was our electrical service.  The pictures below were taken in the stair well that goes to the basement of the sanctuary.  The first pictures show the wires that were in the old set up that still used fuses.  The following pictures show the new circuit breaker boxes, the larger one is what was installed earlier this year when some of the system was upgraded.  The smaller box will be where the wires from the rats nest will be installed.  This is the first step in a number of electrical service upgrades that will be completed in the weeks to come.

Other work still continues as the fire committee works with the insurance company to get a fair and correct settlement on the claim for the organ restoration.  We have 2 estimates for the work that are significanlty more than the insurance company’s appraiser’s evaluation,  so the company has hired another organ expert to meet with us to provide more information.  Being the “tenacious christians” that we are, the fire committee will continue to work (i.e. fight) to get a settlement that is correct.  Once again, we want to thank Luke P for his expertise and ability to well express the true value of the instrument and the need to get it back to the condition it was before the fire.

As you know, I brought the handbells and chimes to my home on the day of the fire.  Belfor has returned the cases after treating them for the smoke damage and I have contacted Schulmerich Handbells to see about scheduling the clean up that is necessary for the bells.  They are closed for the quarantine but we will be sending them a deposit of half so we will be on their waiting list for when they return to work.  I will be contacting Malmakr this week to schedule cleaning up of the chimes.

Once again, not much to report this week.  The fire committee continue to gather estimates and proposals for the insurance company to keep the restoration process moving forward as much as possible.  Yesterday, the session, trustees and fire committee held a joint meeting via Zoom to discuss the progress and update the boards on the current status and progress.  We are hoping Belfor can return and start work again in 2 weeks, but meanwhile work on updating the electrical service in the sanctuary will start and move forward.  Some of this work is not going to be included in our insurance claim but makes sense to do while the scaffolding is installed, reducing significantly the cost of the work.

Ken M was kind enough to scan and provide programs from the Calvary celebrations of the 100th and the 150th Anniversaries of the “Dedication of Calvary Presbyterian Church “  I have not had a chance to print these out and read them but there is a lot of history in the documents.  We are in the process of uploading the documents to our google docs files and will post a link here when available (If you receive our friends update emails, check the email sent out on 5-1-20 for a temporary link for this download – otherwise bookmark this page and check back later)

Scroll to the bottom for pictures taken 4-14-20

Hope this email finds you all healthy and safe, and if not my prayers go out to you for a speedy recovery.

This week work at Calvary has been put on hold by NYS PAUSE.  Belfor has completed the entire gutting of fellowship hall from top to bottom.  They have scaffolding throughout the sanctuary but the hoped for exemption to allow them to continue working to clean the ceiling area has not materialized.  After visiting the building daily and seeing the full, active crew working so hard to move forward, when I went on Tuesday morning it was a lonely place.  I will be posting photos on the website and video on YouTube showing how complete the clean up has been and just how deserted it feels tomorrow and will send links when they are uploaded.

Though the Belfor work has been put on hold, work for the fire committee continues.  A number of us met with Charlie of American Eagle Electric on Tuesday morning and climbed back up to the dance floor.  There we had a very informative conversation about required quotes for necessary rewiring of the electrical work in that area, including upgrading our light fixtures to use LED bulbs, both the flood lights on the sides and the chandeliers.  John C, our super intelligent engineer, requested a quote on adding large fans to the ceiling that would break up the layers of temperatures that are present normally in our sanctuary.  We all know hot air rises so we have been paying to keep the upper reaches of our building hot while we have to wear sweaters and jackets In the pews.  These fans will break up this unequal heating and help keep the entire room equally warm.  The end result will be a much more comfortable sanctuary and a savings on our heating bills.  Seems like a win/win idea to me.

American Electric has continued working to permanently wire outdoor lighting to replace the temporary, generator run lighting that was installed after the fire as a security measure.  Up until now John C and Damian D have been going to the church every evening and morning to turn on and off the temporary lighting.  The new lighting will be on a timer and be automatic.  

The committee has also continued to research the organ restoration and work with Foley Baker and the insurance company to be sure we get a fair settlement.  The obvious goal here is to get our organ back up and working as it was before the fire.  If you want to know more about our wonderful instrument, I strongly suggest you talk to Luke P.  He is an expert on the Skinner Organ and has been invaluable in getting the correct information as we work on this portion of our claim.

We have also gotten 2 estimates on the value of the melted stained glass window (the Ward Window).  One of the companies that were contacted found a lot of unknown information which I want to share with you.  The window is not a Tiffany but was created Gorham Studios.  Click here for a  PDF file of the information provided by Julie Sloan, Consultant on Stained Glass.  It is an interesting read.

We are also working to get a copy of the inventory completed by the insurance company but that has not yet arrived.

So even though work within the building has come to a halt, working to keep our claim moving forward has not.  The fire committee continues to do our best to get the Calvary building back to where we can meet again, once we are allowed to meet.

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Now looking forward.  Sunday’s special music will be Ain’t Got Time To Die, sung by the Calvary Singers at the Habitat for Humanity Talent show in 2018 and videoed by Wendy S.  This will be available on our YouTube channel tomorrow after noon and remain there afterwards.  So as last week be sure to visit and listen before or after Pastor J’s service Sunday at 9am on our Facebook page.

And don’t forget to come to Worship Service at 9AM on the Facebook page.  Last week we had some technical difficulties but hoping all goes smoothly this week.

Wednesday Bible Study continues – 12:30 via zoom.  Contact Peter S  for more info.

In addition to adding a second Bible Study the Session and the Fire Committee are discussing how to provide opportunities for “virtual” coffee hour or other times of conversation to help keep us connected.  Watch for opportunities. In fact, Peter S sent the following message regarding Bible Study earlier today.  I am repeating it here in case you missed it.

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Calvary Friends:

If you are interested in joining a Bible Study of Calvary folks please respond to me, Peter Surgenor, or Rev. Lewis. We will work to find a time that will fit as many schedules as possible.  We use a Zoom.us meeting as a platform – it is possible to join by video call or simply using your phone alone.

The Wednesday Bible Study has been going on so long and has reached a level of intimacy that new members are not being added at this time.

We hope that you have been reading Sue Young’s weekly updates about the church building (how ironic that while the building is not available to us we are not available to use the building! ).   Work has stopped in response to the Governor’s Covid 19 safety order.  In this hiatus time the Fire Committee continues to work to think ahead and take advantage of options.  Watch for opportunities to voice your thoughts about next steps for Calvary Presbyterian Church.

Eastertide Greetings.  May God be with you.

Rev. Peter S

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Love and hugs to you all.  Hope to virtually see you Sunday at the service.

Sue