By Thea Jarvis

The painted frame building is solid, unpretentious. Within, the pungent smell of freshly-sawed wood permeates the workroom.

A power saw and router sit proudly atop raw pine workbenches. Against a back wall, several primitive birdhouses await an interested buyer. The gentle light of early fall floods the high windows and the door is left ajar, welcoming the fresh morning air of north Georgia.

At The Place in Cumming, the “Wood Shop” is the realization of a years-long dream, providing outlet and occupation for men whom time, good health and fortune have passed quietly by.

“We do the best we can,” said Myron Strayhorn, general handyman at the Rural Social Services’ three-building complex. Myron, unemployed because of poor health and disability, helps the men who come to the shop learn basic woodworking skills.

“We can work from any pattern--coat racks, bird feeders, gun racks,” he continued. All the items help the men earn money through consignment sales.

Myron was among the volunteer workers, who, since April, helped put the Wood Shop together, joining other local men who completed the interior finishing.

“We had money from an anonymous donor to cover the cost of materials,” said Sister June Racicot, one of the four Adrian Dominicans who have put heart and soul into making The Place a viable rural entity.

“Eight men from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Forsyth County put up the building and community volunteers finished the interior. The inside was only completed last week.”

Friends of The Place will have a unique opportunity to visit the new structure on Sunday, Sept. 27 from 1-5 p.m. An open house and center blessing will allow the people at The Place to proudly display this very special building shaped by their own hands.

Visitors will also see the new community room that is housed in the Wood Shop, adjacent to the workshop area. The room is comfortably furnished with donated furniture and includes a pantry of boxed and canned foods that can be distributed to those whose supplies have run low during the month.

The community room, like the workshop, is already getting its fair share of use.

“A while back,” recalled Sister June, “two of our women were talking about needing a support group. Their idea has now blossomed into a discussion group of 12 women who meet every Friday morning for one hour” in the new room.

Participants share concerns, problem-solve and generally “give each other so much courage,” Sister June observed, noting that it was something that flowed out of the community itself, and was therefore more effective than a project initiated from outside.

Because of the nature of The Place, the blessing of the Rural Social Services Center will be carried out by the people themselves. The different elements that together have made The Place grow and flourish--the used clothing store, the craft shop, the wood shop and the food pantry--will be represented by those who give their time to these activities during the week.

“Each group will choose their own scripture reading and prayer. We will move from place to place, allowing each group to ask the Lord’s blessing on their work,” Sister June explained. “These people are the ministers--they minister to one another. So they’ll do the blessing.”

If you’re looking for a refreshing way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon, visit the simple, faith-filled community at The Place. The center’s open house and blessing will graciously offer homemade baked goods and ham and biscuits in addition to old-time bluegrass and gospel music.

Most of all, however, The Place will offer to its guests a visible testimony to the vital life of the church in north Georgia where, as Myron Strayhorn put it, “the Lord looks after me.”