Building News And Georgetown News - FTWOODS Construction, Texas.

Building Relationships

A few weeks ago, a friend e-mailed this story to me. In an effort to express my feelings

for the year that has gone by so quickly and to adjust myself for the Christmas season, I felt this story needed to be shared. It gives me a feeling of how blessed we really are in the season of giving.

TAKING CARE OF OUR OWN

It was a cold, miserable, rainy day when Terry Caldwell, clad in a thin jacket, boarded a

streetcar to the city in search of employment. Recently divorced, out of work and broke,

Terry desperately needed work to cover the rent, pay bills, and take care of her young

daughter, Peggy, and herself.

Relieved to be out of the cold and wet (she had no umbrella), Terry found a seat on the

streetcar. As she sat down, she noticed a beautiful silk umbrella with a silver handle inlaid

with gold leaning against her seat. Never having seen one like it, she picked the umbrella up to examine it and spotted a name engraved on the handle.

After thinking about it, Terry decided that instead of turning in the umbrella, she would try to find the owner and return it in person. As she left the street car, she gratefully opened the umbrella for protection from the rain.

After leafing through a crumpled phone book, she spotted the name of the umbrella’s owner. The voice on the other end of the line sounded excited when she heard that her beautiful umbrella had been found. “My parents gave me the umbrella for my birthday a few years ago, and they’re both gone now,” she said, adding, “I’m a teacher and my umbrella was stolen from my locker at school almost a year ago, and I’d be so grateful to have it returned”. As Terry hung up the phone, she decided that instead of looking for work, she would deliver the umbrella to its owner. When she did, the teacher tried to reward her with cash but Terry would not accept it, even though she needed it desperately. However, she did leave her address at the teacher’s request.

During the next wretched six months, Terry could only find temporary employment which paid little. Her last job ended the day before Christmas, her rent was due, and she had only $15 to her name for food, for her daughter, and herself.

Snow fell gently as she walked home from work on Christmas Eve. Carols sounded

merrily above the traffic and pretty lights decorated the windows of stores and homes. However, there would be no Christmas cheer for Terry or Peggy. She collected the mail from her box—only bills and two white envelopes. She cried as she climbed the three flights of stairs to her apartment, but then put on a smiling face to meet her daughter. Peggy greeted her mother with joyous hugs and insisted they decorate their tiny Christmas tree.

Terry managed as best she could, but she knew that before January they would be homeless, foodless and she would be jobless—unless a miracle happened. As she served hamburgers for Christmas Eve dinner, she thought of the prayers she had earnestly lifted to God for many weeks—prayers for a permanent job and for her other needs to be met—with no answer. Misery overwhelmed her and her heart felt colder than ice. She felt abandoned, forgotten, and as lonely as death. For the first time she even doubted the existence of God.

Then the doorbell rang. It was a delivery man with arms full of parcels. “This must be a mistake,” Terry said, but when she checked, she saw that the packages were all addressed to her. She plopped down on the floor beside Peggy and they excitedly opened them. There, they found a doll, gloves, candy, and a beautiful leather purse. Incredible, she thought, who could they be from? She looked at the return address and saw the teacher’s name.

Terry and Peggy enjoyed their dinner that evening, and repeatedly Terry prayed, “Thank you, God; thank you, God!”. For the moment she forgot she still had no job, no money for the rent, and only $15 in her purse. Laughing happily, they placed the gifts under the tree.

After putting Peggy to bed, Terry opened the two white envelopes and found to her amazement, a check for $30, a Christmas bonus from a previous job. That will pay the rent, she thought. The other letter offered her a permanent position with the government—to begin two days after Christmas!

With faith restored and home renewed, a very happy Terry looked out her window before going to bed. The storm had passed. Twinkling stars filled the night sky. Church bells rang out, “Christ, the Lord is born!” I am not alone at all, Terry thought, and realized that she never had been.

And this, of course, is the message of Christmas. In the midst of a world filled with sorrow, sadness, loss, grief, sickness, loneliness, terrorism and war, we are again reminded that even though a viscous battle is raging between good and evil, we have a God who hasn’t forgotten us—he cares deeply and sympathizes with our weaknesses and infirmities. With faith restored and home renewed a very happy Terry looked out her window before going to bed. Church bells rang out “Christ, the Lord is born”.

No matter where you are, who you are, whatever you have done or failed to do, Christmas is a graphic reminder that God loves you…personally, individually and unconditionally, and that he has a plan and purpose for your life.

It is my hope that the Spirit of Christmas and its real meaning will bless each and every one of our customers, subcontractors, suppliers and volunteers that we have had the opportunity to participate with in 2003, in all the causes and charities and needs of our communities. May God bless you and your families in the days to come.

FTW

A Face-Lift for Carver Library

By Lynda Bishop, Carver Librarian

Carver is a wonderful old school! At one point in its history, the present day library was the cafetorium. Its circulation desk was installed in a small corner of the library. Carver is fortunate to have many library volunteers and in the small space that we had, there just was not enough room to process materials and to provide adequate services for Carver students.

In the spring of 2002, with the help of many volunteers, the renovation process began. The old stage was removed and new carpet and new doors were installed with the help of Book Fair Funds, PTA support, and GISD funds. The old circulation desk furniture was moved to the area where the stage had been.

In the fall of 2003, we began looking at how we could remodel the circulation desk area. Melissa Boyd, a library volunteer and her husband, Bryant Boyd, an architect with Austin Avenue Design Studio, created and donated the design for the new circulation desk area. It was then that Iain Sproull with FTWOODS Construction was called and in a matter of days, Mike Mason had helped us attain bids for the work to be done and we easily were able to get approval from GISD. Doug Shannon, with Larry's Cabinets, built the new cabinets. Randy Stewart, with Lone Star Electric, was the electrician, and Dave Coburn with Coburn Painting and Decorating and Iain Sproull donated time and materials to complete the job. The new circulation desk was ready for the start of the 2003-04 school year.

The renovations have made a huge difference in the library at Carver. The new circulation desk is closer to the door which streamlines checkout procedures. We now have the space to properly process materials in a timely fashion. Because we have more workable space, we can accommodate more volunteers, which frees me to be more available to help students individually. Another checkout computer has been added which enables students to check out books quicker, cutting down "standing-in-line" time. Our goal for the remodeling project was to create a space that allows us to more efficiently provide library services for our students and parents.

There is no way this project could have been completed without help from FTWOODS Construction. The Carver Staff thanks you!

A Winning Team to Support The Caring Place

The Caring Place’s Board of Directors recently named FTWOODS Construction as the builder of their new facility. Teaming with Elsasser Architectural, FTWOODS Construction has determined they can build the facility for less than previously projected. FTWOODS Construction is delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the Caring Place. Todd Woods stated, “We are blessed to be able to continue to give back to our community. The Caring Place means so much too so many people. It’s part of what makes Williamson County one of the most caring communities in the entire state of Texas”.

The Caring Place is the community service center serving northern Williamson County. Established in 1986, it has a food pantry and two resale shops which generate approximately eighty percent of its income. This money is used to provide financial assistance to qualified clients for rent, utilities, prescriptions, dental emergencies and other basic needs. The center served 30,000 neighbors last year - a 25% increase over the previous year.

“A larger facility is required to serve the exploding demand in our community. With more space, we can generate more income and provide financial assistance to the people in our area who need our help,” said Jay McNemar President of the Board. The Caring Place has already established many levels of giving for its capital campaign making it truly a neighborhood project. For contribution information please contact Roy Holliday at 869-4735.

Middle School Students Learn in the Field

On November 20th, fifteen students from Mrs. Lawson’s Computer Application Class at Taylor Middle School visited Site Superintendent Matt Holley to learn about architecture, engineering and construction. Equipped with hard hats and cameras, the students toured what will soon be the Williamson County Events Center. They learned about building a facility from the ground up. The students were amazed at how much work must be done before the actual building construction begins. Great questions were asked and the tour was enjoyed by all.