The Kirkside Park Barns, majestic but peeling, will soon be sitting pretty, thanks to the muscle, focus and skill of a hard-working Phoenix House crew. These guys (and gals) have been scraping, mixing, climbing and painting in the hot midday sun to bring a "gray of sunshine" to these proud old dames, just in time for summer fun.

Steve Walker of Beaverdam Builders has taught them the proper techniques for painting clapboard and Parks Director Peg Ellsworth has thrown in a little gardening and landscaping work to provide some shady relief. Unfortunately, no one has a remedy for this season's pesky black flies except swatting.

Phoenix House is a nationwide non-profit substance abuse rehabilitation program with residential and out-patient services throughout the country. These dedicated young workers hail from the Phoenix House program in South Kortright, which also supplied some of the first volunteers in last summer's flood rescue operations.