Horses and a troop of teenagers have local union roofers and laborers to thank for saving a Gresham hay barn.
Volunteers from Roofers Local 49 and Laborers Local 737 spent Sept. 13 and 15 re-roofing the decrepit structure, clearing debris, and using an excavator to wage a counter-attack on blackberry vines that threatened to engulf one side of the structure. The work was the first Portland-area volunteer project undertaken by the Work Boots on the Ground program of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, a non-profit conservation group for union members who hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors.
The barn is located on power line property owned by PGE in Gresham. It’s used by Mounted Explorer Post 686 to store feed for horses and as temporary shelter.
Explorers is a youth group for high-school-aged boys and girls. It’s a division of the group now known as Scouting America (formerly Boy Scouts of America). Each Explorer post has a focus.
For Post 686, the focus is horses. Founded and supported by the now-near-defunct Optimist Club of Gresham, Post 686 cares for and rides donated horses. The post has been going since the 1950s, but the barn’s dilapidated roof was starting to threaten its existence.
“Hay has to be kept dry,” said Courtney Short, lead adviser for the post. “Even a small amount of moldy hay can kill a horse, because they will get colic and die. They have very sensitive digestive systems.”
Short been active with the troop for decades, since she joined at age 14. Her husband Scott Branstetter, a concrete cutter and member of the Laborers Local 737’s volunteer organizing committee, knew well what shape the barn was in. When he brought it up to the committee, chair Dana Mcauley and other members said it would be a good project for the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance.
Local 49 business manager Travis Hopkins thought so too. Hopkins heads up local efforts for the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance, including a highly successful annual fundraising dinner that this year netted $39,064. A portion of those funds made the barn project possible, paying for water-proof thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) roofing material.
Safe, thorough, and fast, about a dozen union volunteers got the work done in two shifts.
“I don’t know how we would have accomplished this on our own,” Short told the Labor Press.
She and other volunteers from the explorer post organized a barbecue to feed the volunteers.
“Courtney was saying ‘I don’t know how we can thank you guys enough,’” Hopkins said. “But you know, she provides something to the community. If we can put a roof on in exchange for what she does, you know, it’s earned.”
Since it began in 2010, the Work Boots on the Ground program of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance has helped nearly 400 projects in 30 states.
JOIN, AND RIDE Mounted Explorer Post 686 is looking to recruit new members. It’s an incredible opportunity for teens interested in horses. For dues of $10 a month — and a weekly commitment to groom and care for the horses — they learn to ride and get regular time in the saddle. Find out more at facebook.com/MountedExplorers686 or by contacting [email protected].
