Wine can help build community. I'm convinced of that. Another thing that will build a community is shared hard work. Last Thursday I joined the boys from Cellar Ridge Custom Homes to put a new roof over the top of the cob oven a the McMinnville Public Market. I really believe that this oven is going to be a huge community centering magnet out on the very eastern edge of our downtown core. This oven was built by the guy who wrote the book on the subject--literally. Kiko Denzer has written a book called "How to Build Your Own Earth Oven" and he came to McMinnville to build this one.Carson Benner and John Mead are the ones who had the vision to build it, and generously provided the funds and materials. They are on sight today to help. It takes us a long time to get started. The roofing material is, to say the least, unorthodox. It is an incredibly tough black plastic material that is covered in pin prick spikes that will hound me the rest of the day. It's not roofing material at all, but is being "re-purposed" as a roof which is very much in keeping with the ethos of Cellar Ridge. This was donated from the landfill. It is the material that they use to as a base liner.
The roof is a clam shell shaped design. John has it all laid out in his black journal with graph grid paper. The unique design combined with the beautiful blue and billowy cloud sky is giving me some great pics today. The unique design is also giving us fits. Every single piece is unique and has to be custom cut to order. John has measured them all, and put them in a numerical order which makes sense only to him!
The roof is a clam shell shaped design. John has it all laid out in his black journal with graph grid paper. The unique design combined with the beautiful blue and billowy cloud sky is giving me some great pics today. The unique design is also giving us fits. Every single piece is unique and has to be custom cut to order. John has measured them all, and put them in a numerical order which makes sense only to him!Before we can start we have to figure out how to attach the material to the roof. John experimented with one panel before we arrived. He's secured it with sheet metal screws which come with their own rubber washers. The screws protrude well above the roof and that is going to be a problem. We decide on roofing nails, and Cellar Ridge's young assistant, Zack is dispensed to Lowe's to pick them up. I expect to see him head off in a Cellar Ridge work truck, but no, Zach hops on his trusty red bike complete with heavy duty back pack. Yes, this is a green building project!
Laurie Furch, owner of Red Fox Bakery has arrived. She is wearing a skirt, hardly the outfit for a difficult construction project. She says she'll be back in a minute, and sure enough she returns properly dressed in very short order. She grabs a hammer and heads up a ladder to the the middle work of attaching the roof.
grove--moving about ten times faster than when we started. I end up cutting out the last six panels and when I'm finished, I am beat. I'm just not use to hard, physical work. In no time we are finishing up. Now all we have to do is figure out the very top of the roof. John wants it to be taller that the roof below so that there will be a vent for the smoke to get out. Carson positions the scissors lift as close to the roof as he can, extends out the platform and works with Zach to build up the studs. When that is done Carson is all on his own as Zack can't get through the peak any longer to help him out. After several attempts he gets the last piece in place. It looks just like a the Chinese hat seashells I use to collect at the beach when I was a kid, and I think that's the idea. The design is meant to mimic natural forms which have aesthetic beauty and great strength.
Before we can attach the roof we have to cut out the panels--no easy job. Originally we try just using a utility knife. It works, but it is very difficult work and it is hard to keep your line on the slippery surface. Kelly McDonnald (the guy who owns all of this property) has the idea to use electronic sheet metal cutting shears. They work great! That's Kelly to the left manning the shears. We are given three measurements for each roofing section. I find a piece of old plywood holding down some plastic on a counter top and start a grid to record them all, so we can check them off as they are cut.
It is not until later that I realize that the plywood is actually Red Fox's sandwich board sign! Laurie is very forgiving about it. I feel bad, because I know how much those dang things cost.
Throughout the day, Zach is going to position himself at the top of the roof. I see him hanging at all sorts of impossible angels as the day progresses--angles that only a young man could accomplish. You can see him in the photo at the left along with the spikes that make this material so fun to work with! Once the piece is secured to the roof, we place lath over the top of each seam to make sure that it stays in place. My friend, Elwyn Behnke, shows up to take a look at the project. Elwyn is a gifted carpenter, and he can't resist the draw of a fun project, so he heads home, changes his clothes and is back and working in about ten minutes. The first few
pieces we put in place were extremely tight, which made them hard to secure to the frame. We decide to add half an inch to the width of each one and the process picks up speed. Elwyn takes over the cutting and things speed up again. You can see the numbers on the material to the right. It is important to keep them in the right order as they are transported to the roof. We decide to break for lunch. Carson suggests the Mexican food trailer right next to Golden Valley Brew Pub. We walk over and the food is wonderful. We each order a burrito and they are huge and delicious. Kelly very graciously picks up the tab.
I have to leave right after lunch to attend a taping for the International Pinot Noir Celebration documentary that we are working on to celebrate IPNC's 25th year. I'm keep a blog of that as well which you can view at ipnc25.com. Our guest thought we were coming up to his vineyard, and we expected him at the Linfield campus, so we have to reschedule. By the time I get back to the roof, things have really started to move quickly. They have found a system and are in the
grove--moving about ten times faster than when we started. I end up cutting out the last six panels and when I'm finished, I am beat. I'm just not use to hard, physical work. In no time we are finishing up. Now all we have to do is figure out the very top of the roof. John wants it to be taller that the roof below so that there will be a vent for the smoke to get out. Carson positions the scissors lift as close to the roof as he can, extends out the platform and works with Zach to build up the studs. When that is done Carson is all on his own as Zack can't get through the peak any longer to help him out. After several attempts he gets the last piece in place. It looks just like a the Chinese hat seashells I use to collect at the beach when I was a kid, and I think that's the idea. The design is meant to mimic natural forms which have aesthetic beauty and great strength.We'll be using the oven this Sunday night from 5:00 to 7:00 for the Occasional Quartet's CD release party. Come on over and enjoy some awesome pizza created by Jason Furch, cooked in an oven donated to the community by Cellar Ridge sitting on property provided free of cost by Kelly McDonnald and enjoy some beer provided by Peter Kircher of Golden Valley Brewery. This is a very generous place, and I think that the community is going to embrace it in a powerful way. I'm so happy to see the renascence of downtown begin to spread out beyond the boarders of 3rd Street. See for yourself on Sunday--see what a beautiful place of community this is.