On a Thursday afternoon in early July I settled down in my den to do a task that required a concentrated period of uninterrupted time for completion.  Then the phone rang.  When I answered it was a call from Sarah, our automated phone messenger, with word that Granville had lost its water pressure due to a break in a main water line and they were working to repair it.  I made a mental note of that and returned to the task at hand.

It was only a few minutes when I got a second call from Sarah with the same message and then just a few more minutes before I received a third call.  Once more I tried to return to my task only to have the phone ring again  This time it was someone from the Granville Water Department to tell me what I had already heard from Sarah three times.  Persevering in my task I found my place only to be interrupted by the Granville Fire Chief, who often helps with sending out automatic warning messages to the Granville community.  By now I knew what he was going to say before he said it.  I was now convinced that no one in Granville had a drop of water to drink, wash with, or flush!!!

What I did know for certain was that I was lucky to be living at Kendal at Granville because in all past emergencies the staff had risen to the challenge be it four-day power outages, unending snow, or interrupted water pressure during our phase two construction project.   This day proved to be no exception. As they have before our Kendal Staff demonstrated that the are resourceful, thoughtful, and capable of dealinh with whatever comes their way.

A glance at the clock told me that the dinner hour had arrived.  I set aside my unfinished task to prepare to go to dinner.  Arriving at the dining room it quickly became evident that our staff members had been as busy as those proverbial bees.  Near the entrance I discovered large coolers filled with ice, bottled water, and soda for drinking. Bottled water was also available to take home for taking medications.

That night’s menu included spaghetti and corn on the cob.  They were prepared using bottled water.  The staff had located plastic ware for our use since they would not be able to wash dishes.

 

We heard that over in the health center they had taken advantage of the nearness of the swimming pool by carrying pails of water to flush the commodes there.  I couldn’t help thinking as I heard this about that little line so often tagged on to job descriptions that reads something like this: “And other related duties.”  Little do we know when we read that line just what it might come to mean in an emergency.

 The Granville water line was repaired later that Thursday evening but the emergency was only partially over as they announced the repair they also imposed a “boil alert” for all consumable water.  This remained in effect from Thursday  through Saturday morning.  During this time our staff performed as always calm, helpful, and reassuring that we were safe and secure as always here at Kendal at Granville.  They had indeed, “done it again.”  And very well.