God’s House Gets A Thorough Cleaning
God’s House Gets A Thorough Cleaning
by Barbara Hiura
Well? Did you notice the waft of fresh, clean scent of pine and God’s Breath when you entered the Sanctuary on Aug. 24? Did your shoes squeak on the Fellowship Hall floor, which was buffed to a mirror-shine? Could you see out of the newly cleaned windows? Yes, you took it all in and you were immediately refreshed and uplifted!!! God’s house sparked.
It was church clean-up day the previous day and your Wesley Family along with Scouts, and a few CYS parents rolled up their shirt sleeves, donned gloves and scrubbed our church clean.
The shine glistened in our Fellowship Hall floor, the kitchen almost sparkled as the old linoleum was scrubbed, the counters wiped down and the yucky stove was degreased and finally actual space can now be found in our refrigerators as the village cleaned out all of the out-dated and stinky food. Every place in church was touched by the many hands of our gathered workers all led by the ever-present DeeDee Azuma who annually directs and guides various section leaders with a well prescribed “TO DO” list for each area of our church. Yes, top to bottom and side to side, nothing is missed, offices, chapel, narthex, sanctuary, and all the classroom buildings. Signs were up and various cleaning solutions, from Murphy’s oil to cleansers to Windex were detailed in the instructions located throughout the church.
DeeDee comes and works days before setting up this annual clean-up day with all the cleaning products, pans, mops, gloves and rags to welcome all who appear to work. It’s no easy task. Just imagine moving out all the tables and chairs in the Fellowship Hall, and taking out all the tables and chairs out of the classrooms before the cleaning work can be begin. There’s even a specialized crew who work on cleaning the outside sanctuary windows because they have to remove the wooden slats to get to them. Nothing is missed.
We are thankful to not only DeeDee, but also all who prepared lunch for all the workers. They grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, prepared all the fixings, and had sides of potato salad, chips, cookies for dessert and a variety of beverages. By noon, while the FSH floor was drying, the work crew rested their weary arms and legs and filled their empty stomachs with such a tasty repast.
After, the final tasks were complete…cleaned tables and chairs put back, and spot checking to make sure noting was left to do. And if you haven’t already…check out the bathrooms. Nice, huh? And choir…your loft is now clean too as your new year begins for you.
Many thanks go out to all the workers down in the trenches - church members, lots of scouts and their parents, and volunteers from CYS (Community Youth Service). The coordinators of all the areas were composed of Board of Trustees (BOT) members Cynthia Fukuda, Tomoko Tanaka, Rob Hikido, and Dave Brown. We acknowledge our faithful stalwarts who do the same job every year Warren Shimonishi, Wayne Kuwada, Keith Nakashima, Mimune and Mieko Tsukamoto, and of course, our grill master Mark Iwagaki. A special thanks goes out to Ted Wong who was our Master Wok-Cleaner and to him and his wife Sue who brought eight dozen delicious brownies for dessert. DeeDee, the clean-up day director in her humble way, noted “All I did is put out all the supplies and tools, and they (BOT Leads) do all the work, but I couldn’t have even done my part these last two years without the hardest working wing man, BOT member Brian Hamilton.”
by Barbara Hiura
Well? Did you notice the waft of fresh, clean scent of pine and God’s Breath when you entered the Sanctuary on Aug. 24? Did your shoes squeak on the Fellowship Hall floor, which was buffed to a mirror-shine? Could you see out of the newly cleaned windows? Yes, you took it all in and you were immediately refreshed and uplifted!!! God’s house sparked.
It was church clean-up day the previous day and your Wesley Family along with Scouts, and a few CYS parents rolled up their shirt sleeves, donned gloves and scrubbed our church clean.
The shine glistened in our Fellowship Hall floor, the kitchen almost sparkled as the old linoleum was scrubbed, the counters wiped down and the yucky stove was degreased and finally actual space can now be found in our refrigerators as the village cleaned out all of the out-dated and stinky food. Every place in church was touched by the many hands of our gathered workers all led by the ever-present DeeDee Azuma who annually directs and guides various section leaders with a well prescribed “TO DO” list for each area of our church. Yes, top to bottom and side to side, nothing is missed, offices, chapel, narthex, sanctuary, and all the classroom buildings. Signs were up and various cleaning solutions, from Murphy’s oil to cleansers to Windex were detailed in the instructions located throughout the church.
DeeDee comes and works days before setting up this annual clean-up day with all the cleaning products, pans, mops, gloves and rags to welcome all who appear to work. It’s no easy task. Just imagine moving out all the tables and chairs in the Fellowship Hall, and taking out all the tables and chairs out of the classrooms before the cleaning work can be begin. There’s even a specialized crew who work on cleaning the outside sanctuary windows because they have to remove the wooden slats to get to them. Nothing is missed.
We are thankful to not only DeeDee, but also all who prepared lunch for all the workers. They grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, prepared all the fixings, and had sides of potato salad, chips, cookies for dessert and a variety of beverages. By noon, while the FSH floor was drying, the work crew rested their weary arms and legs and filled their empty stomachs with such a tasty repast.
After, the final tasks were complete…cleaned tables and chairs put back, and spot checking to make sure noting was left to do. And if you haven’t already…check out the bathrooms. Nice, huh? And choir…your loft is now clean too as your new year begins for you.
Many thanks go out to all the workers down in the trenches - church members, lots of scouts and their parents, and volunteers from CYS (Community Youth Service). The coordinators of all the areas were composed of Board of Trustees (BOT) members Cynthia Fukuda, Tomoko Tanaka, Rob Hikido, and Dave Brown. We acknowledge our faithful stalwarts who do the same job every year Warren Shimonishi, Wayne Kuwada, Keith Nakashima, Mimune and Mieko Tsukamoto, and of course, our grill master Mark Iwagaki. A special thanks goes out to Ted Wong who was our Master Wok-Cleaner and to him and his wife Sue who brought eight dozen delicious brownies for dessert. DeeDee, the clean-up day director in her humble way, noted “All I did is put out all the supplies and tools, and they (BOT Leads) do all the work, but I couldn’t have even done my part these last two years without the hardest working wing man, BOT member Brian Hamilton.”
Keith Nakashima and Warren Shimonishi let the younger guy, Todd Ninokata do the high ladder work.
Carmen Cook (above) and Michiko Collins (below) make sure all the nooks and crannies are clean.
Clean up crews even scrub the step stools from the restrooms.
The Nichigo Fellowship makes sure the chapel gets a thorough cleaning with from left, Mayumi Miyakawa, Akiko Buchannan and Kazuko Hughes
Mimune Tsukamoto and Shizuko Adachi lend a hand.
The newest members of Scout 201 applied floor finish in the Fellowship Hall, were Kenzie, Kazumi, Addison, and Kacie.
Working on that greasy stove were Ed Gibo and Rob Hikido.
Tomoko Tanaka (left) helps clean wndows.
There was many hands helping to clean the sanctuary including Jean Yamaguchi's daughter, Jill, and Kristin To.
Oh my... a sea of chairs cleaned by a Grant School staff person, Lilian Flores, and the school's former principal, Paulette Zades.
Alan a CYS parent cleaned our cross with the right stuff.
Yummy! Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. John Ng helps trap the grease, with Hector Acuna, Brenda Gee, and Ted Wong cooking.
Hooray! The church is clean! "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!," exclaimed DeeDee Azuma.
Church Clean up Day brings people together with Mark Iwagaki, Hector Acuna and Zena Fong.
Wayne Kuwada is busy cleaning the FSH floor. A big job!
Kitchen detail with Rob Hikido, Terrri Koike, Cynthia Fukuda, DeeDee Azuma, checking in on the work, and Dave Brown (BOT chair).
Our hard-working photographer and media specialist, Hikaru Bakoshi, shows her mastery of the hand-held vacuum cleaner in the church office.
Posted in Newsletter 2024-09-26