LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — Students from Apollo Career Center once again stepped up to help an organization in need, lending their skills to a restoration project at the historic MacDonell House.
Allen County Museum board members expressed their gratitude to students from Apollo’s Construction Equipment Technology class for their hard work on the property, which required more repairs than museum volunteers could handle.
"We took about 30 tons of coal out of the MacDonell House," said Nate Rayle, a senior at Apollo. "At first, we started doing it by buckets, but we decided that wasn’t going to work the greatest, so we got a hydrovac truck from Degen Excavating. Then we pulled out some bushes and shrubs to help them out."
For Lydia McConkey, also a senior at Apollo, the project was especially meaningful.
"It feels like we have a purpose to the work we’re doing," McConkey said. "Oftentimes in school, you have work that doesn’t really pay back, but we are giving back to our community and helping areas that can’t get workers to do the jobs they need. We’ll come out and do that."
Herb Lauer, facilities committee chair at the Allen County Museum, praised the students’ efforts.
"Those students are absolutely amazing. The work they do, the teamwork they show, the camaraderie, and the effort is just unbeatable," Lauer said. "And they do clean work—it’s just perfect for what we need here. Of course, I can’t pay them, but I can buy them some pizza."
Lauer hopes this partnership between the Allen County Museum and Apollo Career Center will continue, allowing students to assist with more restoration projects in the future.
