Working on the Presidential Seal

Post and first photo after the jump by the Hawthorne Hawkman, above photos contributed by a fellow Habitat volunteer.  Second photo after the jump by Irving Inquisition.

With all the tremendous progress made in Hawthorne last week thanks to Habitat for Humanity and President Carter, I wanted to spend at least a few hours volunteering.  It took until Friday morning before I finally cleared enough time to stop by and fill in wherever I was needed.  By that time I had put in enough hours at work that I was feeling a bit under the weather.  But if Jimmy Carter, at 86 years old, can spend a day or two in the hospital and then come out and pound a few nails, this former farmboy ought to be able to tough it out.

I asked where I was needed, and they put me on caulking duty at the house where the President worked.  So in a way, you could say I helped with the Presidential seal.  My childhood times scampering around on the top of a hay wagon came in handy too, as I approached the heights of the scaffolding rather casually.  I did have to duck out early enough to practice a speech written by former HNC Board Chair (and now Officer Candidate) Peter Teachout.

And earlier in the week, I received...

...this.

One of the great things from Habitat week was that many of our partners at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and at the city understood what a crucial role grassroots journalism such as blogs has played in revitalizing NoMi.  So we were intentional about getting these contributors their press credentials before the week even started.  The Hawthorne Voices blog, North by Northside, North News, Johnny Northside, Irving Inquisition, 612 Authentic, and NoMi photographer extraordinaire Pat Carney were among those we made sure had their press passes reserved up front.  Thanks to these people and many others for what is often a volunteer journalism effort.

Along those lines, I have also been running into situations where it would have been easier to wander around taking photos and notes if I had myself a business card.  And on the day when I was wearing my now famous green power tie, the Hawkman business cards arrived.

Now, if you're thinking that this card makes all other business cards seem inferior by comparison, don't feel bad.  That's the intended effect.

Back to Habitat for a moment:  One of the projects I'll be working on this week is a compilation of as much of the media attention as I can track down from Habitat week.  That will be a Hawthorne Voices blog post.  But if readers know of various links where these events were covered (or if you have your own youtube clips to share), feel free to post them here as well.

Thanks to everyone - especially the wonderful neighbors of Hawthorne - who made this week a resounding success!