Deneen Pottery
Favorite part of working at Deneen Pottery? Everything! Working alongside and inspiring our awesome staff and assisting our incredible customers. Getting to be around such a creative process and talented artists - the variety of 'opportunities' that fill my day keep me on my toes. Witnessing the transformation from proof to product.
If you want something done ask a busy person.
That is exactly why Habitat for Humanity can get a house built in a week – by assembling a bus load of busy people. On June 16th our Master Potter Jimmy J. will be riding on one of those busses, chartered by St. Johns Episcopal Church of Minneapolis, bound for Daphne, AL. Jimmy has been throwing extra pieces each day, and we have a substitute potter taking over his wheel for the 9 days he is away. It is hard to believe that instead of a weekly average of 1000 handmade pottery mugs – in the next 7 days Jimmy will have seen an entire house built in conjunction with the Baldwin County Habitat for Humanity.
“Monday morning we will start work on the walls and we will wrap up on Friday with a roof installed.” This will be Jimmy’s second Habitat trip to the Gulf area and he is, “thrilled to go as this trip is made possible with the assistance and blessing of my employer, Deneen Pottery.” Jimmy will be wearing his new Deneen Pottery shop apron (big pockets!) and shirt on site. We are so proud of Jimmy for taking on such a monumental and generous task! We will be updating the progress of the house going up and the decline of shirt and apron as Jimmy works through 90º F temperatures.
Here is an excerpt that Jimmy wrote to my last week:
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On my previous Alabama trip in 2000 I was introduced to Code-Plus Fortified Hurricane resistant home construction methods. I was familiar with practices common to Minnesota home building and found the differences to be eye opening. From sill to rafters, joints are strapped with galvanized steel fastened with hardened nails. The sheathing is nailed every few inches, on every single stud. The roof is reinforced to an amazing degree. This all leads to a modest single family home that can handle something on the order of 160 mph winds. The insurance costs of such a home are significantly lower than standard code homes and these rock-solid structures can shelter a small neighborhood in the event of a significant storm.
All these nails and fasteners require a LOT of hammers and hammerers. Volunteers help move these projects along. The prospective homeowners must also complete an ambitious number of hours on their own or other local projects to qualify for the affordable financing that Habitat provides. Itʼs an all around rewarding way to volunteer and I am happy and blessed to be supported on this trip by Deneeen Pottery.
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Olive is going to especially miss Jimmy as he always has a big pail of water next to his wheel that she loves to drink from.
Travel safe Jimmy, and have fun working hard – you continue to amaze us!
Stay tuned for more updates on this story!
Niles Deneen CEO, Marketing
Deneen Pottery
Deneen Pottery
Favorite part of working at Deneen Pottery? Everything! Working alongside and inspiring our awesome staff and assisting our incredible customers. Getting to be around such a creative process and talented artists - the variety of 'opportunities' that fill my day keep me on my toes. Witnessing the transformation from proof to product.
