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Episode 2
- Of Paint and Posters
- Six people and a dog were too much for any of the neighborhood family to host, but luckily, Agnes found a nearby pet-friendly motel that had three adjoining rooms available. Bedtime was early, as everyone was weary from all the cooking, serving and cleaning up from the several hundred guests that enjoyed the free Thanksgiving dinner. And there were two more days of painting and readying of the soon-to-be health center. They decided to meet for a hearty breakfast before walking to the old department store that was about to undergo a dramatic transformation.
- Nearly two dozen adult volunteers had registered to help, and there were about the same number of children who would participate in games and create posters to decorate the walls of the health center. The volunteer coordinator handed Agnes a schedule of events, telling her that a pot luck supper was planned for the volunteers that evening. A silent auction of various crafts and items that the neighborhood people and businesses donated would help raise additional funds. There would be a bake sale on Saturday for more fundraising, and a candlelight dinner was planned for Saturday evening to thank the volunteers. Worship services would be held at the new facility Sunday morning, with several of the local churches participating in the dedication.
- "What a marvelous project!" Inge exclaimed. "Thank you for inviting me to be a part of it."
- Volunteers who arrived early got to pick where they were to work, mostly painting. The project manager would assign tasks to later arrivals, according to what needed to be done. Mort, Mike, Agnes and Inge signed in and the children's supervisor took down Mal's and Mel's names. Of course, Mal insisted that his name badge show "Bioloney."
- "I love to paint," Inge said. "In Trondheim, where I am from, there are many colorful houses. On the outside as well as the inside. Red, yellow, blue. Bright colors. Even pink and purple. Our trains are very colorful on the outside too."
- Mel stated that she liked painting and wanted to join the adults in painting the walls. "You'll have a chance to draw pretty posters to decorate the walls, Mel. That's much more creative than just moving a paintbrush up and down," Inge told her.
- Mel felt better about that and joined the other children in a large room that would eventually be used for group meetings and educational programs. There were portable basketball hoops, jump ropes, hula hoops, balls of all sizes and other articles for active play. For quieter pursuits, there were colorful poster boards and paper, crayons and watercolors, books, pencils and notebooks. Outdoors, there was even an obstacle course set up for the dogs that several families brought, which included Rufus. The three adults in charge of supervising the children planned alternating energetic and quiet activities while their parents were occupied with the "interior decorating," as the project manager called it.
- The morning sped by quickly. At lunch, the noise level in the children's room raised considerably as the families came together for sandwiches and shared with each other what they did that morning.
- After lunch the children started creating posters. They were given themes for showing simple steps to improved health, such as eating right and maintaining a healthy weight, getting enough exercise and sleep, not smoking, avoiding germs, managing stress. This was not a contest. Everyone's poster would be displayed on the health center's walls:
- A colorful court jester, with bent, burned out cigarette butts dangling from his pointy hat:
- "It's no joke. Just don't smoke."
- Children with fruit-and-vegetable halos:
- "3-5 servings, every day!"
- A bicycle and a car inside a circle, with a diagonal red line through the car:
- "Bike or hike whenever you can"
- A bar of soap, a water faucet and a pair of hand prints:
- "Germs HATE soap and water. I HATE germs. How about you?"
- The children signed their posters and the adults printed labels with each child's name, age and date it was drawn.
- An Offer That Couldn't Be Refused
- Mike walked over to the project manager before continuing his painting after lunch.
- "I'd like to compliment you and the volunteer coordinator on your great organizational skills. This is a fantastic community service you're doing."
- "Thank you," the project manager said as he beckoned for the volunteer coordinator to join the conversation.
- Mike continued, "You've done a great job in getting this started...in laying the foundation, so to speak. I also know how expensive it is to maintain a facility once it's up and running, even with a lot of volunteer help. Last night, I phoned some people I know to brainstorm some ideas to help support the center's ongoing services and wanted to let you know what we came up with."
- Mike then explained what he had in mind. Both the project manager and the volunteer coordinator were taken by surprise. The impact on the center's ability to serve the community would be significant. "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Maloney," they said.
- "Not at all," said Mike. "Please call me Mike. None of this 'Mr.' stuff. Don't forget, this needs to be kept secret until the dedication on Sunday and even then, you are not to mention my name. I want to be completely anonymous."
- "If that's what you want, Mike, we'll abide by your wishes," the manager said.
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 - LINKS: BOOK 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS
iNTRODUCTION TO BOOK 2
INTRODUCTION TO THE BIOFABLES SERIES
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