A new game.

Greetings dear blog audience! I am Seth Pierce, the other media rep. of Eagle 5, I will be taking over the blog during our 3rd round as April will not be with us. April and two of our other girls from Eagle 5, Aimee and Tracey, will all be spending their 3rd round working for Summer of Service in New Orleans; where they will be leading groups of young teens to give them an AmeriCorps-esque experience.
Speaking of members temporarily detached from the team; Joel Harmon and Anthony Hopkins are currently in Iowa help ing FEMA and Red Cross with the flooding there. Joel should be joining the team in New York come 3rd round, however Anthony may be staying longer since he was deployed about a week after Joel. We wish them all good luck and great health and know that they will do a wonderful job helping all who need it. Eagle 5 is proud of our members reaching out, and stepping up to help in any way they can.
Now as the Mid-Year Training comes to a close and people pack once again, and say goodbyes; at 5:00pm/EST we will all officially be on summer break until midnight of July the 6th.
We hope all is well with you, our beloved blog followers, and wish you a beautiful summer season.
Peace and love.

BREAKING NEWS...

Sad local news: Sunday morning Sarah walked down to the beach a couple blocks from our apartment to go for a swim. When she got there, the area was closed off with crime-scene tape. This article explained why.

Good team news: It's that time again! You know, when we find out what our next project is... although Amiee, April, and Tracey will all be leading it up for Summer of Service in New Orleans, the rest of Eagle Five will be living it up in NEW YORK CITY, working with the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park. For this project, the 7-strong team will be planting trees alongside inner-city youth in NYC's 4th largest park located in The Bronx. With transition, mid-year training, and summer break, it will be about a month before 3rd round starts...

but we are all very excited!

Right now news: The team is enjoying their last few work-days with Highlands County Habitat before we have to leave bright and early this Saturday morning. We will be stopping in Fayetteville, North Carolina to sleep but will be back to our campus sweet campus in Perry Point, Maryland by Sunday afternoon.

Blog news: Since I will be away from the team third round, Eric and Seth are taking over to keep ya'll updated on Eagle Five's inevitably incredible New York adventures. I will do my best to keep you posted on our progress in New Orleans as well, but i can't make any promises (we will be kept very busy!)

Until next time...

Love, Peace, and Bicycle (and/or Elbow and/or Chicken) Grease,

April

a busy week for our smiles

Week 6: togas, tweens, tubing, and sweet tea:

Good food plus good company equaled good times for Eagle Five this 

past week with the help of Georgians, the Blackmans, and Iron men...

Starting the week off right with a themed team dinner 

(yes, we're wearing sheets and WE LOOK GOOD.)

The team with our new Georgian friends, and Jim one of our insightful site supervisors (left), in front of the 6x8ft utility sheds we helped the middle school missions club build on Thursday. The group, on a missions trip from Eastman, Georgia, worked on-site with us Monday through Wednesday helping paint, side, lay sod, and break up debris; then on Thursday we helped them hammer away to construct 3 sheds for Habitat homes.

Celebrate the arts by volunteering for the arts: In front of the Highlands Art League sign with appreciative Executive Director Alice Stroppel and friend. Friday we insulated a house for Habitat (in 100% humidity, mind you) then spent the rest of the afternoon helping renovate one of the                     Art League's donated buildings. With the help of community volunteers and Art League board members, we painted, cleaned, removed bathroom stalls, and constructed a stone path. Nearby at the Highlands Little Theater, Seth and Joel helped move props.

"Don't wait, Anticipate": Saturday we drove to Winter Haven to work the Polk County Hurricane Expo. We passed out flyers for the Red Cross, spread mad awareness of AmeriCorps, got some photographer love (thanks LB!), and even met Smokey the Bear. After a long day at the Orange Dome, we spent the evening at a movie theater seeing Iron Man (which was almost as entertaining as watching two guys taunt an alligator in the parking lot).

Everything else:

Saturday: Five Eagle Fivers joined Team Wolf 7 in Cocoa Beach, Florida (near Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center) to watch the Discovery space shuttle launch at exactly 5:02 p.m. 

Monday: Laid metal roofing on another house, while church group painted inside.

Tuesday: Laid sod at site of house removal (cool article here...featuring our Habitat, but not us) and finished roof. After-work pool party #1 at Ray's (thanks!); April getting a tooth pulled (ow!); and Florida storm season showing off (boom!).

Wednesday: Started vinyl siding to the tune of 12-year old girls singing pop songs.

Thursday: Built sheds in Avon Park, said goodbye to our Georgian friends, and wished we had larger stomachs to hold all the good food we were provided. After-work pool party #2 at Habitat supporters/board members, the Blackmans: thank you Mr. and Mrs. Blackman for having us over, and daughter Molly for taking us tubing on Lake Charlotte!