Meadows Privy: The hole truth and nothing butt the truth
By Lee Howard, Kent Query, and Stephanie Richard
If you follow PATC on social media, you may have seen a post about the Meadows privy fire in mid-December. A friend of the club and recent Meadows renter discovered the destruction, then posted a photo with the warning, “be advised that the privy is no longer there.” As you can imagine, the comments that followed were highly amusing, but this was no laughing matter. To make matters worse, the cabin maintainer wasn’t available to respond to the emergency and the cabin was booked solid through the end of the year.
Headquarters and newly-appointed Piedmont District Cabins Supervisors Lee Howard and Stephanie Richard immediately jumped into action. Within 36 hours Cabin and Lands Coordinator Ben Danforth, Supervisor of Facilities Anstr Davidson, Lee, and Stephanie pulled together a disaster recovery response team and a plan. Headquarters coordinated with the CSI: PATC unit and the Madison County Sheriff’s Office on an investigation. Suspiciously, four cigar butts were discovered near the cabin, but the cause of the fire remains a mystery. Only small, charred remnants and the metal roof remained, but the privy has since risen from the ashes.
Within five days a porta john was delivered to the property to accommodate renters until a new privy could be built. The “new amenity” prevented the cancellation of any rentals so that the cabin didn’t have to be removed from the reservation system. Meanwhile, the disaster recovery team consulted with PATC Crapper Crew veterans and long-time club operatives
John Hedrick and
Steve Bair, plus Cabins Operations Committee Chair Emeritus Mel Merritt, to decide on how to proceed. They arrived at a decision to move forward with the economic one-hole pit privy, the old standard at PATC primitive and semi-primitive cabins, though some have been upgraded to moldering privies in recent years.
The holidays and inclement weather presented many obstacles, blocking the path to a quick resolution. In addition, former Meadows Cabin Maintainer
Kim Mathews passed away on Christmas Day. He lived close by and maintained the cabin for 25 years; he will be missed within our community. Shenandoah Valley District Supervisor
Thomas Jorgensen fondly recounted that during the renovation of Meadows in 2001, the work crew “stayed at Kim’s house every night for the entire summer.” The club recognizes his years of service, and his memory will persist in our efforts to maintain the cabin for years to come.
When the inclement weather began to break in mid-March, the project gained momentum. Shelters Committee Chair
Henry Horn and Myron Avery Award recipient
Frank Turk helped to procure some prefabrication materials. A contractor was hired to build the pit liner, excavate the hole, and drop the liner in place. Hiring a professional minimized risks of personal injury to volunteers, and resulted in a more streamlined process for building, excavating, and installing the pit liner. Former president of the American Society of Outhouse Architects Bob Cary estimated, “the average hole requires excavating about 144 cubic feet of earth, or somewhere in excess of 700 shovels full.” My back aches just reading about it!
With preparations complete, a work team was scheduled at Meadows to finish the job over the last weekend in March. In the meantime, the vernal equinox ushered in better weather, a landscape of spring colors, soundscape of birdsong, and the first work trip for the new Meadows Cabin Maintainer Kara Judy. She and her dog Katia joined Lee, Stephanie, Trout Run School Co-maintainer Kent Query, Lambert Co-maintainer Forrest Yeager, and his dog Ranger for a productive weekend that saw the completion of the three and a half month long project. Along with the new privy, the cabin received a thorough cleaning and several interior upgrades, including new furniture and lamps.
Lee and Stephanie finished preparing the Stoner Cabin for rental last year after a successful renovation led by former Piedmont District Cabins Supervisor
Bruce Berberick, but this was their first end-to-end project. They are especially grateful to the aforementioned work team for their efforts, John for being the “boots on the ground” during the excavation, Mel for guidance, Steve for providing tools and moral support, and Merritt’s Mutton Top Cabin Maintainer
Rob Gilchrist for recruiting Kara.
The Meadows Cabin provides direct access to the Rapidan and Rose River trail systems. The property borders the Shenandoah National Park, not far from the White Oak Canyon and Old Rag (Berry Hollow) trailheads and close to a variety of popular hiking trails. For more information and to book, check out our website.