Helen's 80th Birthday Celebration, May 24, 2026

On Saturday, May 23, Patty and I flew from Phoenix to Boston on United, with a stop in Denver.  We hired a limo service to bring us to our hotel in Marlboro, MA.  Megan flew earlier that morning on a nonstop Alaska Air flight and got a rental car, then drove to a different (but close by) hotel in Marlboro.  On Saturday evening, Ben flew from Portland on a United red eye flight to Washington, and then on to Boston, and got a rental car to drive to Marlboro on Sunday morning.  We all met up with about 30 people at Eviva Trattoria, a restaurant within easy walking distance from our hotel.  We could talk with the people seated near us, and it was fun luncheon.  Everyone then headed back to Helen and Phil's suite for the celebration of Helen's birthday.  After spending about an hour at the celebration, Ben headed back to the airport and flew back to Portland Sunday afternoon and evening.  Megan, Patty and I drove to Rindge, NH, and checked out the home which had been built to replace the Marks family summer cottage.  Patty and I had sold it in 2010 and we were interested in how it looked.  We then drove to the Rindge cemetery and checked out the Coot Bay group of graves that were all together.  We especially checked out Patty's parents' graves, including remembering her brother.

 

We returned to the hotel and stopped by the suite where Helen and Phil were staying.  They had just finished the celebration, but they visited with us for a bit before bedtime.  Monday morning, all of the people staying in the hotel gathered for breakfast and one last visit.

 

Then Monday afternoon, Patty and Megan flew to Portland, and I flew back to Phoenix.  A busy but fun filled weekend of memories.

Fuller Center Build in Cluj, Romania, Last Day, May 16, 2026

On Saturday, we explored Salina Turda, the Turda salt mines.  Just as Salzburg, Austria, became wealthy because of their salt mines, Turda also became wealthy.  Of course, the salt mines closed in the 1800s - but Salina Turda has been turned into an underground tourist attraction - it goes some 35 stories under ground.

Because so many tourists visit, the signs giving historical info are in several languages

The main tourist area is down about 22 stories - all of our group descended the first nine stories, then most of us took the elevator down the next 13 stories to the main tourist area which includes a store, a cafe, miniature gold, a ferris wheel and much more.

Then we took the next elevator down the final 13 stories to where there is an island in the middle of a lake.  You can rent boats and ride in the lake.  We just explored the island.

We then returned to Cluj for a fun filled lunch before people started heading home.  Rich tried on some of the artifacts at the restaurant.

 

We went back to our hotel and people started leaving.  Because of the closure of Lufthansa Cityline (their budget subsidiary), there were not as many flights from Cluj.  I ended up flying to Munich on Sunday afternoon and staying overnight at the hotel at the airport, then flying home on Monday.  And so ends another adventure with Fuller Center for Housing - we get to help others move into decent housing but also get to see other cultures.

Fuller Center Build in Cluj, Romania, Days 4 and 5, May 14 and 15, 2026

On Thursday morning, Charley and I raked and leveled the ground around another ditch that had been filled in, and then spread gravel over the clay soil - the gravel will help it settle and be safe to walk and drive over this area next to building where the team meets, eats lunch and has storage space (the building behind me in the first photo).

After lunch Thursday, we worked on concrete pads.  They made these on site as it was less expensive than buying them.  Frames are laid out on heavy plastic tarps, concrete is poured into the frames and then let to set.  After the concrete hardens, you remove the frames, trim off any rough edges and then stack them for use in the walkways they install in front of each townhome.

When we returned to the hotel, my delayed suitcase finally arrived.  On May 8, I had flown from Phoenix to San Francisco to Munich to Cluj, arriving on May 9.  My suitcase went from Phoenix to Chicago, where it sat for several days before it went on Lufthansa to Munich then Zurich and finally Cluj. The good news is that I had two extra sets of underwear and an extra shirt with my toiletries in my backpack.  Fortunately, the weather was warm enough and dry enough that I was fine with what I had with me.  The local staff and the volunteers were worried that I was not warm enough because I only had shorts and short sleeve shirts plus one long sleeved sweatshirt - but I was fine as you can see from the photos above.

 

Thursday evening was dinner at another restaurant, we certainly ate well this week.

Volunteers, both local and international like me, wore yellow hard hats.  Staff wore white hard hats.  Friday morning, I worked with Andrea's parents, the two on the left and we were supervised by Vio, the construction supervisor for Fuller Center.  In the next photo, you can see the new frames ready for making more of the concrete pads that Charley and I had worked with on Thursday.

In the multipurpose main building, equipment was stored, meetings were held, lunches were served and eaten, and we also took are regular coffee breaks and rest periods.  Our names were put on our hardhats with tape.

The task that Andrea's parents and I worked on was cutting up a large pile of scrap wood into small enough pieces for residents to use as kindling in their heating system.

After cleaning up from work, the last hour on Friday we had a chance to tour the two townhomes next door to the ones we worked on - this allowed us to see what our work would eventually lead to.  

 

And then it was back to the hotel and out to yet another restaurant for dinner.