ATHOL — Last winter’s severe weather wrecked the roof, this winter’s weird weather has the work to replace it ahead of schedule, and a little interfaith help from the neighboring synagogue took some of the sting out of the Athol Salvation Army’s recent trouble.
Michael and Jennifer Buzzard arrived in July as newly commissioned lieutenants in the Christian charitable organization to find the gym’s supporting beams in a bad way.
Last year’s “snowpocalypse” left one of the roughly two-foot-thick laminated plank beams severely bowed and cracked, and another was just beginning to fracture.
The Athol Corps of the Salvation Army serves the North Quabbin region, and the gym houses kids’ programs and the Tuesday community meal, which provides up to 70 people with dinner and groceries.
The roof leaked, but an engineer told them they were safe from collapse as long as there was no heavy snow. This being New England, they opted not to wait, and got to work.
“We were in the process of getting everything set to fix the beam and replace the entire roof because of other damage, and then New Year’s Day we came in to our chapel,” Lt. Michael Buzzard said, leading the way into a chapel in disarray. “Essentially, this entire left side of the chapel was pouring water. Just pouring, we lost count after 30 leaks,” he said. Carpet and wooden pews were destroyed, piling expense on expense.
They had to move their church services into the damaged gym. A mild winter spared the roof until about a month ago, when forecasts prompted them to bring in a contractor to brace the worst-damaged of the beams with a steel plate. That, unfortunately, worsened the leaks.
“So we were left without a chapel and we were left without a gym, with a congregation the size of 75, 80 people. We can get 100 if everyone shows up. So we had to cancel one week of church,” Buzzard said. Youth programs were put on hold, and the Tuesday meals had to be packaged to go. The season of Lent was just beginning as well, the Christian religious season leading up to Easter, and the organization needed a temporary shelter for their church services.
Michael and Jennifer Buzzard and their three- and five-year-old children live in the building.
Jennifer Buzzard is a fifth-generation member in the Salvation Army, and Michael has been involved for 25 years. “I was a project kid that went to the programs and got food and all that stuff, and the (Salvation) Army changed my life. Or God used the army to change my life, I should say,” he said.
The couple arrived ready to work, but the building wasn’t where they wanted to spend their energies.
“That also makes it more disheartening because we know what we’re capable of as an army, especially in a town like this where there’s not much,” he said.
Then, somewhat unexpectedly, they found the shelter they needed right down the street.
“Temple Israel stepped up, the Jewish synagogue here on Maple, and allowed us to use their upper room to hold church services for the past month,” Buzzard said, “which was kind of great because they’re a Jewish synagogue and we’re a Christian church.”
Rabbi Robert Sternberg was very welcoming, he said.
“It’s a good bridge between the two churches and the two faiths, I mean, we all came from the same beliefs, and we actually started there on the first Sunday of Lent,” Jennifer Buzzard said. “So we were talking about creation in the Garden (of Eden) in the Jewish temple, so we thought that was really cool.”
After that, things started going right. With the weather looking up, they’re two months ahead of schedule in their repairs. Church services are to resume in the gym this weekend, and if all goes well the 1970 building will be fully functional again in April. Of course, insurance didn’t cover everything, and the repairs are chewing into the organization’s small capital fund. Once things settle down they will consider a capital campaign, Michael Buzzard said.
You can reach Chris Curtis at:
ccurtis@recorder.com