Passing the Baton

By Ron Wright

As some of you know, I was rehired at the end of January 2024 for the position of Building Steward which had been vacant since I left that position in February of 2022. I agreed to resume that position until the church had found and hired someone new. Emma let me know that she was actively looking for someone who would take up that position permanently.

I began the assessment of what to tackle, and which tasks to prioritize that had not been done in the previous two years that I was gone. Descaling the dishwasher was first on my list. Also, cleaning up random carpet stains and organizing Storage Room A were the first tasks.

By mid-February, Emma let me know that Patrick Satter was hired and the following week we met and began training. Patrick has extensive mechanical systems experience, having worked as a maintenance technician at Centro Plastics in North Liberty.

After we got acquainted, one of the first tasks we did was to check all 30 of the air filters for all 12 heat pumps and air-to-air heat exchangers, replacing those filters that needed it. These photos highlight some of the many duties that go into maintaining our building: 

In March, Patrick and I began contacting various window cleaning firms to submit estimates to us.  I’m sure that many of you have visually winced at the sight of the white filmy build-up on our windows, both inside and as well as outside.  It had been 6 and 1/2 years since they were completely cleaned so they were badly in need of it.

After several vendors visited and submitted their estimates, we chose Fish Window Cleaning of Cedar Rapids and they had cleaned all the windows inside and out by the first week of April.

We tackled cleaning both stoves and ovens, as well as the kitchen floor underneath them. As you can see in the photos, we completely removed the dual hot plate elements, thoroughly cleaned them, and cleaned the catch pan beneath the heating elements also.

Of utmost importance on the list of things to do was cleaning our kitchen’s grease trap, because it had not been done in more than 2 years. A grease trap is designed to capture fat and grease that would otherwise go down the kitchen drain and potentially clog up the drain pipe. There is a gray and black sludge that builds up in the grease trap. In the pictures, you will see how thick that the buildup of greasy sludge can be, about 1 to 2 inches thick. This grease trap has to be cleaned out at least once a year. Ask anyone who was in the building at the time we did this and they’ll tell you the smell is horrible!

We cleaned the exhaust hood filters, then the stainless steel wall behind the stoves was cleaned and wiped down with stainless steel polish.

Every year, the ice machine must be clean and sanitized. But Patrick and I went much farther than that!  First of all, we removed the poured marble top from the kitchen prep island and lifted out the ice machine from the pit. It had been 3 years since that pit had been cleaned.  We scrubbed out the accumulated dirt and sludge, then replaced the ice machine back into the pit. Next, we emptied the ice bin completely and disassembled the interior of the ice machine so that the parts could be cleaned and sanitized. In the pictures, you’ll see the buildup of calcium deposits that I’m scrubbing off the walls. 

By March 15th, Patrick was trained on nearly all the tasks and duties of Building Steward, so I resigned at that time.

It has been an interesting and exciting time to work as your Building Steward and I know that with Patrick Satter now in this position, you are in good hands.