Volunteers help family complete home project

Last summer, Rick Dickerson started an addition to the north Moorhead home he and his wife, Laura, had lived in for nearly 14 years.

The project started with a 15-foot by 40-foot addition to the west side of the house. As a heavy equipment operator for Aggregate Industries, Rick didn't work winters, so with help from his 14-year-old daughter, Katherine, he spent the cold months digging a hole for the basement, building rafters, pouring cement.

"This was his fun project," Laura said.

But the work stopped. Three years ago, Rick was treated for melanoma of the eye. On April 8, the family found out the cancer had returned to his liver.

Rick died April 27.

He was worried about the project, Laura said, but knew that her brother, Russ Lamberson of Bemidji, Minn., would step up to finish it.

But many others have come to finish Rick's work.

For the last three weekends, the little yellow house in Oakport Township is a flurry of construction, with crews of 20-plus people working on the exterior and interior.

"I wake up every (weekend) morning to people outside my house, moving lumber and sorting siding," Laura said. "They stay all day long. I send them home exhausted."

Neighbors, friends from church, and friends of friends -- many professional carpenters, contractors or electricians -- spend their whole weekends sawing, hammering, or cooking to feed the crew. Local businesses have donated supplies and equipment.

"This is really a tribute to this man," said neighbor Margaret Haglund. "He was a kind and wonderful man. A great neighbor, he and Laura.

"As neighbors, we just want to do everything we can do to keep her in her house and in our community," Haglund added.

"I think he'd be thrilled," Laura said. "I know he never would have thought all these people would show up."

And these people have taken the project to a new level.

The original plan was to add on to the existing garage, but it was torn down the first weekend.

"They send me to get nails and the garage is gone," Laura said.

The frame of new, larger garage was built the second weekend, and the roof added Saturday. Shingles were still on the to-do list for this weekend.

Several of the volunteers have come from the Dickersons' church, First Congregational United Church of Christ in Moorhead.

A fund for the family is set up at the church, and donations still are being accepted.

"Those who can work show up to work and those who have the money write the checks," the Rev. Shawnthea Monroe-Mueller said.

Monroe-Mueller said that while she is astonished at the number of people helping out, she's not surprised by their acts of kindness.

"This is an amazing moment of people gathering around and doing what they're supposed to do if they're people of faith, or people of good friendship," she said.

Soccer moms and dads from 11-year-old Matthew's team are helping out as well. Malcolm Thompson, soccer coach and a remodeler, coordinates the interior work.

"When you have a tragedy like that, everyone has their own way of grieving," he said. "People, I don't think, see it as charity. People think of it as grieving."

Greg Anderson, a soccer parent and friend of the family, said he's living and teaching a good lesson.

"We're all teaching our kids what life's about," Anderson said.

"Everybody wants to give something and they go home with a real satisfaction that they've done something for someone who needs help," he said

The project will take another four to six weeks to finish.

"We might take a weekend off," Anderson said.

"I hope so, please," Laura told him.

The family wants to sincerely thank everyone who's helped out, whether it was with a hammer or hot dish.

"We can't possibly remember everyone's names," Lamberson said.

"I could," Laura said. "I think I could."

Readers can reach Forum reporter Sherri Richards at (701) 241-5525