The "Bleacher Project"

    

     The Bleacher Project all started as sort of an accident...

     We were looking for some mahogany for a woodworking project and found some listed for sale in a classified ad on the internet.  It at first turned out to be "just a large stack" of old used high school bleachers that had holes in them, had years of varnish, even some carvings etc.  We were curious about where they came from originally and started to ask some questions.  As it turned out, they were all removed from the Ephrata Senior High School gymnasium just this year. We bought a couple of pieces to see if, after planing them down, cleaning them up, and resurfacing them, they would be usable.  After all, that's the school we graduated from--it would be pretty cool to be using them for the project.  They "cleaned" up beautifully!  We stood the boards up in a corner of our shop to use when we could get to them...

  But, It was then that the conversations started--actually, the memories started coming back...  One by one, as people saw those boards, they each had a memory!

     "Oh, I remember those bleachers--I remember sitting on them many of times--hah, that's where I was sitting when I first met the woman who is now my wife!"

     "Yeah, remember the rallies...."

     "Did you go to the game back in...."

     We found it amazing how every one of the people who saw them, had to touch them.  They all had funny, serious, and in some cases, very emotional stories relating to the "old bleachers".  The same bleachers that seated thousands of people from 1961 until 2010.  Several people asked if they could have the "cut-offs" when we were done using them--just as a memory. 

     Of course, from then till now,  that's exactly what they have become...We thought it would be a shame just to cut them up...and so, like we so often do, we started thinking:  "how better can we use the bleachers to share the memories?"

     We ended up with what you see today.  The "Plaque” and the "Clock".  

     At first, we simply engraved the "Mountaineer" on them with a simple description...but then, several people wanted to know if we could add their name--and so, we did!  We added their name to a brass nameplate and the year they graduated.  The first group of people, who we made them available too, was the reunion class of 1965.  What a great gift!  

   And so, with all of that being said, the "Bleacher Project" began.  We will keep making them until, of course, we run out of the material.  But, even when they're gone, the memories will continue. 

We feel good about that! 

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