School on a Bus (a.k.a. Radical Sabbatical)

We met Ray McGlew and his son Joe just before we left Emergency Communities down in Buras, Louisiana.  One of the great things about volunteer organizations is meeting so many great people.  The McGlew’s live in Pennsylvania and so we were able to get together for dinner at an Amish family restraurant.  It was a great time reflecting on our experiences down in Louisiana. 

Later that week, Ray took us on a tour of a local 18th century iron furnace.  We got the inside scoop on a piece of history before the bigger coal-fired steel mills became prevelant.  The Hopewell furnace ran on charcoal and used water power to run the bellows to keep the fire hot.    It was important to have iron ore, wood for charcoal, and water power all close by for a mill to be successful.