A community table is meant for sharing – to sit together, share a meal and have a conversation.
Thom Pastor, manager of Food Services at St. Charles Madras and Prineville, saw a need for something that would give the same feeling of community to our Madras hospital cafeteria. He began researching the idea of a community table and put the word out to find a local woodworker who could bring it to life. Enter Ben Anderson, Jacob Struck and the students in the Career, Technical and Engineering (CTE) program at Madras High School.
Anderson and Struck (both MHS alumni) are the metals and construction instructors, respectively, in the CTE program. They began working with the students on the initial design of the table, and Anderson visited the local scrap yard to find the materials. He was excited to reclaim some wood boards from an old train car and metal wheels from a rusted utility cart.
Given their regular class load, the students were only able to work on the project one or two days a week, but in a little more than a year, they created a work of art.
The finished table and benches are structurally sound and ADA compliant. The metal pieces that represent the St. Charles logo and Madras High School mascot were cut by the students themselves. They even applied a thick lacquer over the top that will stand up to the cleaning agents used in the hospital.
We’re honored to display their craftsmanship in our hospital. We hope to share it with our community for generations.
