The Tent Goes Up In Alabama!

I know that many folks look forward to watching the tent go up. I often get inquiries from people asking particular questions about setting up a tent and it helps to point them to posts like this.

Early Thursday morning I was outside scoping out the best place to position the tent. The city here requires the tent to sit behind the front of the building so that limited our options somewhat. Once I had determined the best position, Kelly Jo and I marked the positions of the stakes, poles and center pole with orange paint.

I spent the rest of the day trying to sort through the equipment that we would need for our first set up of the year. Then Kelly Jo, Sis. Simpson and I began to put stakes and straps into their places while we waited for the church folks to arrive.

We tried driving one stake into the gravel parking lot but it was soon obvious that was not going to work well.

It was time to bring out the big Bosch Rotary Hammer drill with the 36"x1" bit.

We have only had to use this drill on 4 or 5 set ups since I purchased it in 2014 but it has proved it is worth the money I paid. I drilled all 20 holes and then chased the 1" hole with the 1" steel stakes. Driving the stakes without the drilled hole here would have been rough, rough!

Because the tent is set up over gravel, we put down the tarps to protect it while on the ground.

The the two halves of the tent go down and are seamed together.

While the tent is being threaded together the side poles and straps are attached.

Next we raise the side poles and have people steady them while a few strong guys go underneath to raise the center pole.

That is when things begin to take shape.

Because we were setting up in the evening, I hung the lights and set up the chairs before we did the final tighten on the tent. No sense working in total darkness!

Tightening the tent is where the circus elephant really comes in handy!

Then it was time to go on top and fasten the flap over the seam line. Volunteers were in short supply so I showed them how to do one side.

This was our set up crew minus a few that had to leave earlier.

Here is the tent ready to have church!

Thanks for watching the tent go up today. In case you ever want to help set up the tent, it will be going up several more times this year in various locales. Come join us!

Davy