QUILCENE — As a group, members of the Boeing Bluebills put in more than 2,000 hours of work remodeling the Quilcene Community Center during the past year.
Volunteers from the community also came twice a week to help transform the building, helping the Bluebills erect a portico over the entrance and along the front and south side of the building, installing a deck accessed by four sets of French doors on the north side and replace the old paneling with cedar shakes inside and out.
The community supported the project with donations of lumber and materials.
Individuals
But according to Bob Rosen, the center’s manager, the success of the project was entirely because of individual effort.
On Friday, he threw a party with food, balloons, a documentary and trophies honoring the people who made the project happen.
“Thirteen months of two days a week is not a team activity,” Rosen said.
“It is an individual activity. On a spring morning, you could have been playing golf or fishing. The project got done because of the individuals in this room.
“So I want each of you to come up and receive a trophy inscribed, ‘I remodeled the Quilcene Center by myself.'”
The trophies were an example of the humor that Rosen threw into the proceedings Friday at the remodeled center.
After a buffet lunch, Rosen, a former movie producer, debuted a documentary he made of the work, “Saga of the Quilcene Remodel.”
Subtitled “13 months in 13 minutes,” the documentary, narrated by Rosen, started with a shot of a pyramid, “the Bluebills’ first project” and progressed through other landmarks to show the volunteers working on various stages of the Quilcene project.
Achievements
Rosen also presented awards for outstanding achievement in individual categories.
Myron Vogt, Bluebills’ project coordinator, received the trophy for “most pastries consumed.”
Quilcene residents Bob Bergeron and Jerry Tingelstad, named volunteers of the year last spring for their commitment, tied for “co-tantrum champions.”
Chuck Sherred’s trophy was inscribed “Master of the Jackhammer,” and Ken Winter, also known as “Cement Ken,” received a trophy for surviving an incident involving a hammer, a ladder and the top of his head.
Architect Ed Klein received a special award for his contribution.
“We wouldn’t be here without his vision,” Rosen said.
Tim Hockett, director of Olympic Community Action Programs, presented Rosen with a Linda Haskell Community Service Award, calling the project the best example of community action in action he had ever seen.
He also read a letter he wrote to the president of Boeing, commending the Bluebills for turning the boxy building into a veritable Dreamliner of a community center.
The celebration was attended by Jefferson County commissioners David Sullivan and John Austin, who donated to the project through the “Buy a Brick” fundraiser.
Austin purchased two bricks for the front entryway, one in memory of his father, Atwood Austin, and one for his 18-month-old twin granddaughters, Abigail and Charlotte.
“This is a wonderful demonstration of how this community can come together to get things done,” Austin said of the project.
“Bob Rosen is a treasure for the community, and the Boeing Bluebills have stepped in to create something that helps the whole community.”
With completion of the exterior and the main room, the focus is now on raising funds for the next phase of the project, remodeling the kitchen.
An outdoor amphitheater for concerts and plays is also planned.
Bricks in the entry walk are still available for sale to support the renovation, Rosen said.
Summing up the volunteers’ contribution, Rosen said seeing the project progress from dream to reality was an amazing experience.
“The Bluebills have been unbelievable, and the Quilcene volunteers — from the time we started milling the lumber locally, everyone’s stepped up,” Rosen said.
“Every time I thought I had got myself in a hole, a mason or a painter came in and said, ‘I want to give back to the community.'”
For more information, go to www.quilcenecommunity.blogspot.com.
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Port Townsend reporter Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
