SOLON & BEYOND: Good to see 4-H Club still active

by Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

The following is about the first meeting of the Solon 4-H Club meeting since March:

Saturday, October 10, the club met at the Solon Fire Station. In attendance were Cooper and Kaitlin De Lardis, Lindsey and Charlotte Hamilton, Desmond and Jillian Robinson, Sarah Craig, Isabella Atwood and Autumn Ladd.

The craft project was: Making and decorating pumpkins from sweater sleeves. Members were also given craft items to be used at home to create an additional project.

The club received a $300 donation from the Solon Alumni over the summer. They are excited to start their meetings again after such a long break. At this time they plan to meet monthly unless school is shut down.

The club will utilize To-Go Bags with art projects if they are unable to meet or meet virtually.

The club elected officers: Cooper Dellarma, president; Lindsay Hamilton, Vice President; Desmond Robinson, secretary; Jillian Robinson, assistant secretary; Devyon DeLeonardis, treasurer; Isabella Atwood, assistant treasurer; Sarah Craig, Reporter; Kaitlin Dellarma, Flag 1; Katelyn Deleonardis, Flag 2.

The next meeting will be Saturday, November 14, at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Station.

And now for page two about how to dismantle a barn, by Jeff McAllister: (Hope everyone enjoyed the first page last week!)

In a barn with rafters and partitions the boards run from ridge poll to eaves. With this type of roof your rafters are spaced 810 feet to 12 feet apart with partitions running horizontal between rafters. Partitions are usually spruce or fur, small trees equal to 4 inches x 4 inches to 5 inches x 5″ inches, and hewed flat on one side for roof boards. With this type of roof another peg is needed. The rafters are pegged to the girders. You then have to cut into the ends of rafter to expose the pinion. This lets the rafter free for the pull. Also removes the peg. Once the roof is flat I unhook a section and pull it off to dismantle it on the ground. After roof has been done I go back to the end dropping section. I de-pin all beams before I drop a section. Otherwise, your pegs are backwards. You can’t drive them out next to the ground.

My controlled pull goes like this. As the first rafter pulls of the plate the chain now goes to the next rafter. As that one pops off plate now the other side of roof is also free. Gravity takes over. I gun my pull, all roof rafters collapse, the back side pushes, all roof rafters collapse, the back side pushes, the pull side six feet out over the plate. It’s not a big barn anymore.

Jeff writes: I refer to myself as a lumber salvage engineer. I have to devize a plan not only to save useable lumber but more importantly to do it SAFELY! Remember 80 percent of a barn of any size is higher than a man’s head. No barn beam is worth a man’s head! This brings into mind a few safety rules I use on any building. #1 Any wasted, damaged, split wood should always be laid down flat so as not fall on it. #2 Don’t pry off any lumber above your head. I use a chain controlled pull down not in the pinch point. #3 Barns with damage due to neglect are dangerous. Things to look out for are #1: is the roof safe to be under? #2 is the barn spreading? #3 is the floor safe to walk on?

I’m running out of space, so please don’t try to tear any barns down until after next week…. I’ll try to get the rest of the information in!

And now, Percy’s memoir, it’s a short one: Friendship is love with understanding.