Trustee News
Have you ever wondered what the Board of Trustees does? In the simplest terms, we manage and maintain all church property. Whether it’s fixing a broken window, looking for ways to save on utility bills, hiring contractors, weeding a planting bed, or painting a classroom, we do what’s needed to keep our property in good condition. At times, that can seem like a daunting task, given the age of our buildings and the amount of wear and tear they ex-perience. Thankfully, we have a dedicated Board that unselfishly shares its time and talents with our congregation to accomplish this important work. And, just as importantly, we have a generous congregation that supports our work with gifts of time, talent, and finances.
Last year, the Trustees identified over one hundred maintenance and repair tasks that needed to be done in the church, preschool, and parsonage and we were able to complete more than half of them. Here are some of the biggest ones:
Replaced all 96 fluorescent ceiling light fixtures in the preschool with energy-efficient LED units, saving the congregation almost $2,000 annually in electricity bills
New energy-efficient AC units in offices and other areas
Replaced worn out carpeting and window shades in the choir loft and conference room
Extensive electrical work in the parsonage
Built a deer-resistant enclosure for the parsonage vegetable garden
Reconfigured, weeded, and re-mulched the preschool playground
New Wi-Fi pods throughout the church, office areas, and preschool
Reorganized several storage areas for Sunday School and VBS
New cushioned chairs for the undercroft
Repainted the conference room, a preschool classroom, and other areas
Removed several large dead, or dying, trees and trimmed or treated others
Replaced corroded steel exit doors at the rear of the preschool and in the boiler room
Replaced the steep grass hill on the north side of the undercroft with decorative rock
Hired a new, more reliable snow-removal contractor
Mowed grass every week, collected leaves in the fall, and maintained all planting beds
Daily custodial services for the church and preschool
Mike Debowski,
Head Trustee
The next time you see one of our Trustees -- Paul Hayes, Jim Oelschlager, Ben Meyer, Deborah Sterba, and Linda Kroeger -- let them know you appreciate what they do to keep our church, school, and parsonage in good shape. And the Trustees would like to thank everyone at Zion for your continuing support. We would love to have you join us next year! As the saying goes, “many hands make light work”, and we can always use some extra hands. God bless!
– Mike Debowski, Head Trustee
