Donnice Brandon
The year 2020 will be the one that everyone will remember forever. The COVID-19 virus had all of us hunkered down at home for months on end, limiting interaction with our family members and even our neighbors. Pumice Lane is a newer street on the far west side of Robson Ranch. Some refer to our area as “The Quarry.” Just over two years old, Pumice Lane has 21 homes completed thus far. Unlike most of the well-established streets here in the Ranch, who all have beautiful themed decorations on their streets, Pumice Lane did not.
With more-than-wanted time on our hands, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to get the Pumice Lane neighbors onboard for a fun project—one in which everyone could still social-distance but would remember in a much better light than COVID-19. Seriously, what better way to get to know and bond with all of your neighbors could there be? So, with Donnice Brandon taking on the role of organizer, “Project Reindeer Round-up” quickly got underway for Christmas 2020.
After an extensive search for a decoration that checked all of our boxes; one that would be available for years to come, we selected a pair of white reindeer. But these were not going to be just any reindeer that were ordered from Amazon and magically appeared at your door the next day, these reindeer would be handmade, by us, cut from ¾” plywood. Knowing that not every person had the necessary tools, eight neighbors graciously volunteered their time and talents to cut out the 38 reindeer! Those eight “Reindeer Wranglers” were Bill Hermance, Roy Franks, Mark Busboom, Rick Stimek, Jeff Whitcomb, Karen and Brett Ellsworth, and John Brandon. What a great sound it was to hear our own saws running several hours a day and smelling that fresh sawdust! Each homeowner handled their own sanding and painting, and some worked as teams to handle theirs. Many hours were spent in our garages and driveways sawing, sanding, and painting. Even though it was quite a bit of work, you could not deny the comradery that was being created. At one gathering, all the bows for the reindeer were made by Karen Ellsworth, Donnice Brandon, Sara Hermance, Micki Scalzo, Mary Stimek, and Pam Franks. The entire project was the very definition of teamwork. After all the blood, sweat, tears and yes, maybe even a couple of adult words and adult beverages, the reindeer were complete. They all gathered on a vacant lot on the street and were proudly debuted for the drone herd photo arranged by Bonnie Westfall with Steve Depoe, a Robson Ranch realtor. (Thank you, Steve!)
I can honestly say, after this project, everyone on Pumice Lane knows each other much better now and even some new “besties” have bloomed. Isn’t this one of the very reasons we all moved to Robson Ranch in the first place? Yes, and we are truly glad we did.