(Sherburne, NY – Aug. 2014) Save The Sherburne Inn Restoration Project (SSIRP) has been saying for two years that it takes a village to make good things happen. Sometimes it takes a couple of villages.
On Monday, July 28, a volunteer crew from GE Aviation/Unison Industries in Norwich rolled up sleeves and arrived at The Sherburne Inn ready to work.
The 13 college students, all summer interns at GE Aviation/Unison under the leadership of intern Benjamin Grotton, arrived at 9 a.m. for a full work day to organize, clean, haul, and lift. Garbage was removed, metal was sorted from wood, original windows and doors were relocated and stored, floors were swept, and all manner of other items were boxed and tucked away. Even an old mattress, some sneakers, and a curling iron were found and disposed of. At the end of the day, the fantastic interns turned a cluttered multi-room basement into clean, organized areas ready for reconstruction to begin. Work was also done in the dining room, in the kitchen, and in the exterior door well to the lower-level bar.
The students hail from around the country: our thanks to interns Ben Grotton (Topsham, Maine), Nicole Sauter (Hemlock, NY), Scott Nugent (Boston, MA), Dan Burns (Columbus, OH), Alex Resnick (Ithaca, NY), Victoria Ruplin (Port Jefferson, NY), Chris Jones (Albany, NY), Frank Meola (Utica, NY), Philip Searcy (Huntsville, AL), Shannon Donelan (Baltimore, MD), Andrew Glenahan (Ramsey, NJ), Marlee Vlassis (Syracuse, NY), and Jason Roman (Baldwin, NY).
GE-Unison is a strong advocate for the power of volunteerism, and its positive impact on the community, employees, and their families. Last year, GE Volunteers dedicated more than 162,000 hours in community service for organizations around the world and more than 1,200 volunteerism hours across the greater Norwich community.
Its global mission is to facilitate and support volunteering activities that improve life in the communities where employees live and work. These are carried out through a wide range of projects in the areas of community-building, education, the environment and health. GE works on things that matter, and its volunteer work would not be possible without the commitment of more than 300,000 global employees who come to work each day with a shared belief that things can be made better.
SSIRP is sincerely grateful for GE-Unison’s reaching out and offering volunteer help for the project.
“The volunteers were great: hard-working, dedicated to the job, polite, and no-nonsense,” SSIRP President Kathleen Yasas said. “We are very appreciative of GE-Unison’s contribution, and hope other area businesses will see the value in a restored and thriving Sherburne Inn, not only for the village of Sherburne but for individuals and corporations in surrounding communities.”
SSIRP would also like to extend thanks to the following individuals who worked at the Inn on Monday or who lent equipment: Jordan Ashcraft of Ashcraft Builders, Tim Morgan, Chris Kovak, Josh Yacono, and Bruce Webster. Thanks as well to Nina’s Italian Grill of Sherburne, which donated five pizzas for the interns’ lunch.
“We know many people are wondering what’s happening with the building,” Ms. Yasas said. “In a nutshell, it’s in the State’s hands. Once the contract for the 2013 economic development grant is executed, we can begin to move forward.” She added, “No one is more eager to see progress than we are, and Monday was a big step in the right direction. It was inspiring for all of us to see activity at the Inn from such community-spirited young people. We cannot thank GE-Unison and its summer interns enough.”
To contribute to Save the Sherburne Inn Restoration Project, send your check, made payable to SSIRP, to Save The Sherburne Inn, POB 1102, Sherburne, NY 13460, or visit our website at thesherburneinn.org and click “contribute.” SSIRP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.