Steamboat Pilot & Today

Many hands make light work.

Dozens of volunteers rolled up their sleeves Wednesday morning to spruce up their community and help out their neighbors.

They sanded benches, washed windows, planted flowers and painted walls.

The Day of Caring provides men, women and children an annual opportunity to show they care in a big way.

"I just wanted to help," Susan Bourn said. She and her husband, Skeeter, spent the morning scrubbing windows.

Senior citizen Lorene Workman's exterior windows demanded some serious elbow grease, and the couple was happy to oblige.

Routt County United Way compiled a list of projects; volunteers went where they were needed.

Bourn rented the house next to Workman 15 years ago. She jumped at the chance to help out an old friend.

The to-do list was long this year, but volunteers completed every project, United Way Director Millie Beall said.

Some teams finished early while other groups worked up to the noon wire to finish painting a living room ceiling, she said.

Grace Holt, Donna Leader and Crystal Satterwhite of The Industrial Company sat in a sea of yellow, blue, red, orange and brown outside Young Tracks Child Care Center on Wednesday morning.

They took bleach and water to dozens of pint-size, plastic chairs and toys. The trio and their coworkers swept the parking lot, picked up trash and cleaned windows and screens.

The three women agreed their tasks were not a chore but an opportunity to make someone else's day a little brighter.

Projects that called for more help brought together volunteers from different organizations.

Sherry Yates joined a dozen other teenagers and adults in sanding, staining and painting playground equipment, picnic tables and benches at the Discovery Center.

"It's a great way to meet people," said Yates, who recently moved back to Steamboat Springs after a 10-year absence.

A dozen volunteers armed with rags turned the Tread of Pioneers Museum upside down. They dusted, vacuumed and hung clean curtains.

"Everyone got put to work," Museum Executive Director Marty Woodbury said.

Without their help, a cleaner, shinier Tread of Pioneers would not have been possible, she said.

Woodbury's worker bees were among more than 125 people who turned out Wednesday to complete projects in Steamboat, Hayden and Oak Creek.

As many as 300 people will have participated in the event when other groups finish additional projects today and Friday, Beall said.

-- To reach Danie Harrelson call 871-4203

or e-mail dharrelson@steamboatpilot.com