Saturday morning there was a strange sight to be seen in Cotter Union. Roughly seventy Colby students were congregating, shaking off their sleepy stupor, ready for a morning of volunteer work-- all before ten am. It was Johnson Day-- a day of on-campus community service projects.

Ricky Schwartz climbed atop a table to thank everyone for coming and rally the troops. And then everyone split up into various teams led by members of Colby Carpentry, Painting, PPD, and janitorial staff.

And off everyone went, scattering around campus, ready to get to work.

My group spent the morning painting the bleachers surrounding the ice rink. Our group leader Russ told us that Colby Painting Crew repaints the bleachers every year, and we couldn't believe they were so scuffed up after just one year.

Dan Chiniara sitting perched on the top of a ladder, touching up paint in a dorm.

At one o'clock, as the projects came to a close, Colby students and crew leaders headed to Dana for lunch.

As my group enjoyed lunch together, we asked our leaders Russ and Keith what it's like to work at Colby. One group member asked if they ever get called to campus in the middle of the night. The answer: oh yes. Whenever windows get broken and damage control is deemed necessary, the crews of Colby head to campus to tidy the mess-- making sure that we wake up to a clean and safe Colby community.

Seldom do Colby students get a chance to interact with our staff, and while I can only speak for my group, we found it both a fun and enlightening experience.