Dateline: 19 November 2016
Bob and his wife, Jodi.
My high school classmate Bob (class of ‘76) and I weren’t close back then. However, we come from a small graduating class (under 100), and I’ve always held a special place in my heart for my classmates.
Bob still resides in Moravia, NY, the rural town where we attended school. It’s just six miles from my Upland location. I think of it as my hometown, even though the widow of Major General Thomas H. Green once called Moravia “a quaint little anglo-saxon village.”
Life has thrown some health challenges Bob’s way. A few years post-high school, he underwent open heart surgery if my memory serves me right. Later on, he suffered broken legs from a fall while applying aluminum roof coating to the Grange Hall. These days, Bob navigates life slowly with a cane (he’s not a fan of walkers) and copes with a significant amount of pain.
To grasp the essence of Bob’s shed story, it’s helpful to know a few things about our town…
There’s this unofficial Facebook group called the Moravia Dump. This closed group, boasting over 4,000 members, was actually Bob’s brainchild, and he gets help managing it from a couple of our fellow Moravia Class of ‘76 graduates.
The Dump is an exceptional community resource. Lost dog? Loose cow? Post it on the Dump, and it’s typically found quickly. It’s a hub for all sorts of questions, and answers are almost always provided. Community events, local news, benefits, GoFundMe campaigns, even obituaries—everything locally relevant is shared on the Dump by its members.
Moreover, if someone needs a helping hand, the Dump is the place to turn. I vividly recall a woman posting about her car troubles downtown—dead battery, needing a jump. In practically no time, a man responded, offering to help. This kind of responsiveness is a common occurrence on the Dump.
A few weeks back, Bob shared a slightly concerning message on the Dump. It hinted at him battling depression. Many people, myself among them, reached out with words of support.
A couple of days later, Bob followed up with a post about buying a used shed from the trailer park. He intended to move it to his backyard to spare his wife the task of hauling things to the basement for winter storage. The problem? The shed was practically disintegrating as he attempted to work on it. Physically unable to tackle the shed situation alone, he was understandably disheartened. He put out a call for help, asking if anyone could assist in getting the shed ready for relocation.
The message caught my eye soon after he posted it, and within 60 seconds, I had volunteered to lend a hand. Another woman named Beth quickly followed suit. The Dump lit up with a lengthy discussion about the shed.
To make a long story short…
Moving the shed proved impossible due to its height and shoddy construction. The consensus was to dismantle it instead. A local, Steve, stepped up with a crew, his young daughter, and a trailer to help take the shed apart and transport it to Bob’s place.
In addition to Steve’s team, Beth, Ben (another Moravia class of ‘76 friend), and I pitched in to disassemble the shed.
If I’m not mistaken, Bob’s request for assistance was posted on a Saturday. By Monday evening, we had taken the shed apart and moved it to his house. When Steve and his crew arrived, I passed my camera to Beth, who snapped these photos…
Beth, Ben, Steve, and I made plans to convene at Bob’s the following Saturday to dismantle the old shed and salvage any usable materials to construct a “new” one.
I shared an update on the Moravia Dump Facebook group, including the pictures above, and invited anyone interested in helping with the project to join us at Bob’s on Saturday. The little shed endeavor was generating quite a buzz and a lot of local support on the Dump.
Stay tuned for my next post with pictures from our shed-building day at Bob’s.