Projects and Barn Renovations

Projects:

Our new sign is beautiful and a very professional look for our site that also goes well with the new Zearing and Dakins Lake signs. The project was a collaborative effort between the Obrechts who funded and helped on the project, local artist Ben Britton creating a fantastic metal replica of our logo, and craftsman Tom Littleton building the wall and putting it all together.

Over the 20+ years that TLC has been around, we have been hit by a tornado and a derecho among other natural disasters. During these storms, we lost over 30 of our oldest trees, but thankfully we were not having day camps at the time of these disasters, and the barn is still standing. We always had a plan for bad weather, but since the tornado and before the derecho, we have incorporated a storm shelter location on the property to ensure that during any and all future natural disasters we have a close storm shelter to keep our campers and ourselves safe.

We also wanted to start having managers on the site at all times. So, Bill and Sharron Slinger offered to pay to have an apartment built on site that they could live in and be the caretakers of TLC. Then, when it came time for them to leave, they would just donate the building to TLC for future use. We finally got our storm shelter dug, secured, and topped with a very interesting “lid”. Wanting the apartment to go along with the barn theme, and needing a roof to our new basement, the Slingers decided to purchase an old grain bin that they have renovated into their home.

Threshold Learning Center’s goals for 2022:

Continue renovations on the barn - namely, putting up donation boards on the walls in the upper level. See more about our Buy-A Board Campaign under Make A Donation.
Build a lean-to in the front portion of the barn to add storage and a wind block and more insulation for the cold Iowa winter months.
Add rock and grade the parking area. We will need around 4 truck loads of rock. (A donation has been made for the rock but some flood management needs to be done before the rock is laid down).
Re-paint the barn, put up Quilt Patches, and repair damages from the derecho to the barn exterior.