Volunteers built house in Portland

Twenty-five years ago this week, local volunteers were working on a Habitat for Humanity home on Franklin St. in Portland.

The July 22, 1995, edition of The Commercial Review featured a story about members of Westchester United Methodist Church donating their time to help build the house. Other area churches were scheduled to help out the following week.

It was about 2 p.m. that a truck pulled up with the last of the particle board to be installed.

“That was the one they were looking forward to all day,” said Fred Bailey, a member of the crew.

The Westchester group constructed the sub-floor after first putting down sand to level the area, then installing wooden floor joists.

“We’re an assortment of teachers, preachers, electricians … there’s several farmers and housewives, a nurse, officer workers,” said Shirley Miller, another member of the crew.

David Smitley, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Portland and chair of the project’s steering committee, expected about 400 volunteers to work on the project in total.

George and Clara Reitenour of Portland donated the lot for the house, which would be turned over to Alan and Debbie Towell of Portland on a 20-year, no-interest loan.

There was a wide range of jobs, from cutting materials with circular saws to picking up nails and other scraps. While the adult volunteers worked on the house, children help deliver refreshments.

“They loved hammering the floorboards,” said Terry Fennig of rural Portland.

“It’s nice to give back,” she added. “It’s just fun to see a project come together so quickly.”