Double school move nearly finished

Anyone who has ever moved from one address to another can understand why Sisters School District facilities manager Bob Martin had concerns about getting everything transported from the former middle and high schools to the new locations this summer.

But despite logistical difficulties and interruptions, the job is largely complete.

At a gathering during lunch on Friday, July 18, Martin praised his moving crew that includes six adults and 12 students.

"I'm extremely proud of the crew and how hard everyone worked," said Martin. "We thought it would take at least six weeks and we've finished in four and a half."

Superintendent Lynn Baker echoed Martin's sentiments as he addressed the movers.

"Being new here and seeing everything that needs to get done to get the school year started, I appreciate you getting this big job accomplished," he said.

The task was monumental in that there were so many things to be moved, according to Mim Burke, who acted as one of the adult supervisors.

"It was tough keeping the teachers happy," she said.

"They have a lot things that are very important to them and they want to make sure that everything's taken care of."

Martin said that school district employees did a great job of getting everything boxed up and labeled before the end of the school year, which made the movers' job much easier.

The crew moved everything from a baby grand piano to basketballs and found some quirky items along the way, including an unused, antique toilet seat.

The move allowed for a certain amount of purging to take place.

"We filled up a number of huge dumpsters with things that were used up," said one worker.

Burke noted that communication was the key to making the move happen.

"We had to communicate well with each other and the many people who were in and out of the building this summer," she said.

Those people included the subcontractors doing carpet laying and remodeling, as well as the hundreds of people who were in the new middle school for classes during the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

The students agreed that it was hard physical work. Often they had to move things more than once because the rooms weren't ready.

"We would move it, load it into the U-Haul, stage it, then move it into where it belonged," said student worker Jimmy Hargraves.

He especially remembered the stout, fireproof filing cabinets.

"Those things were incredibly heavy," he said.

Martin acknowledged that the job can't be totally finished until later this summer when all the flooring and remodeling are actually completed.

"But we're 98 percent there," he said.

School personnel will have a couple of days before their regular in-service days in September to unpack and organize their belongings.