In April or May of 2000 we signed a lease with the Acton Christian Church for use of half of their garage for $1.00 per year. For the first time in 10 years, Barb and Ira’s home would be freed of furniture.

“The Barn,” as we called it, on Minot Avenue, was a large, white four-stall building with wide overhead doors, which could hold 8 cars or 4 good-sized trucks. The structure was sound, but it had a dirt floor, no heat and no electricity. After each heavy rain a muddy pond appeared in front of the two doors we were using. If one received the call of nature, it was a 150 foot hike to the woods providing no one was at the church. When people were at the church, it was 50 feet farther.

Eric Haartz had a stack of clean wooden pallets that his company no longer needed. His employees trucked over a load and laid a floor for us. It gave the interior a warm, natural wood appearance from floor to walls and cathedral ceiling. Moving furniture on them? It was a challenge.

– Ira and Barb