Drills, and hands to use them needed on C Hill this Saturday

Battery-powered drills and people to operate them are need on C Hill on Saturday as 2,275 screws are needed to secure the 91 panels that will make up the blue-and-white field of stars on Old Glory.

"If we could get volunteers this weekend to bring their battery-powered drills, I'd be great to put together the blue panels, then you'd really be able to see it take shape," said Mike Roach from the work site above the "C" on C Hill.

"We have 17 people here today, but we're tripping over each other because we only have three drills," Roach said.

Volunteers were working with Nevada Division of Forestry inmate crews and Miles Brothers Construction, Inc.

By the end of Thursday Roach expected to have two more rows for a total of six rows of red and white assembled. Seven more and a field of blue and white to go.

Completion of the Sept. 11, 2001, memorial will take about three more weeks, Roach said, but will go quicker if he can find more people with drills to help attach the panels that will make up the 65-by-120 foot American flag.

Built to withstand the 100 mph winds that destroyed the flag in December 2002, the 390, 4-by-5 foot sections of Alumilite are secured to 85 tons of concrete and steel with 25 screws each.

Alumilite is a corrugated fiberglass and aluminum compound created just for the flag.

You can help

To lend a hand, or a drill, call Roach at 720-3598 or just show up at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Greenhouse Garden Center, on South Curry Street, for a ride up the hill. For information visit the C Hill Foundation Web site at: www.c-hill.us. To make a financial donation call Chris MacKenzie at 687-0202.