|
|
||
|
MERCURY TOPS 100 Volunteers load up on water in the above-average temps Date published: 7/7/2010
BY SARA MITCHELL
As break master, rising ninth-grader Bridget Phillips holds the most powerful job. She decides when her work group gets to sit in the shade of the lone tree in the Spotsylvania County yard and drink the precious water and Gatorade. Phillips and 40 other local students are taking part in Fred Camp, a Christian-based nonprofit that has volunteered renovation and construction services to area residents for one week each summer for the past 12 years. This week's 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shifts are even tougher given the triple-digit temperatures. The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the area through tonight. The average temperature for this time in July is a high of 89 degrees, but yesterday's high reached 101.6 at the National Weather Service station at the Fredericksburg Wastewater Treatment Plant. With the high temps and humidity, the Fred Camp groups will struggle to stay on schedule to finish their projects this Friday. "The heat makes it so you're moving through molasses," said Megan Montgomery, 23, a University of Mary Washington student and leader of Phillips' group. The group is building a ramp onto a house for "The ground is so hard," said Gil Seaux, the group's handyman and chairman of the Spotsylvania School Board. "That's the challenge--getting 18 inches down." Even with their arsenal of Popsicles, water and Gatorade, the 10 groups have gone through a lot more liquid this year than in past years. "It's a lot more draining, physically," said Stephanie Liebau, a rising freshman at Virginia Tech. In her five years working with Fred Camp, she called this week easily the hottest. Liebau's group, which is installing a new wall and painting the exterior of a small house in Caroline County, has more shade than the other group. "It's heavenly," Liebau said of the large tree in the front yard where there's a cooler and a supply of Girl Scout cookies. PARKS ARE QUIET
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 7/7/2010
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
|
|
||||||||||
