The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 15

to 1 I. ff' II II i i 1 tfiM i T-r i I fcr illl ARTIST AND BUILDER PAUL BISSELL ABOUNDING IN MEMORIES House conveys artist's Interest in nature Lightning cleared way for his studio The House That Paul And Built And Built (1 it i it. 1M Seminole rlanbo Tuesday, Sept. 26, 1S72 Uflt -A THEIR SCREENED PORCH FOR A WHILE LONGER Property sold; residency rights retained 5 years By JANICE ABRAMS Staff Writer Back in 1947, Paul and Louise Bissell struck out into the wilderness of Lake Mary to build their abode away from civilization. Paul's health, financial status and his love of building prompted them to move into a two-room shack in 120 acres of little pine trees and lush undergrowth.

PAUL BOUGHT the land after World War 11 while awaiting a medical discharge from the Army. He had glaucoma in both eyes and a doctor told him that if he wanted to keep his eyesight, he would have to do a minimum amount of painting -and" absolutely no reading. Paul put all his energy into building his house. IT WAS HARD work for one man and his assorted helpers. As a result of all the lifting and work, Paul now has a spinal condition.

The 83-year-old artist is exercising to ease the pain and slowly straighten out his back. Due to his physical condition, he has sold his 120 acres to a developer. However, he has retained the right to use his house and surrounding two acres for five more years. "BECAUSE OF my age, I couldn't trust to be here very long," Paul says. "Five years is enough time.

By then, my wife or I may be alone and have to move closer to help." The Bissells began their Lake Mary venture with weekend, visits to their wilderness. They had first to build on a hill overlooking the lake, but, judging by the rate of vegetation growth, Paul figured they wouldn't be able to see the lake in a couple of years, so he decided on lower ground a two-room shack stood. "WE MORE or less camped out here for two years," Paul says. "We had no electricity or utilities. I never thought we'd actually stay and build, but we liked it so we did." Construction began with leveling the two-room building.

Using a long, slim pine tree as a lever, Louise jumped on one end to raise the foundation while Paul slid concrete blocks underneath. THE HOUSE grew gradually. Paul added a living room with a fireplace, a small kitchen, a bathroom, a huge screened porch, a studio, a Chinese oven outside and a guest house. Behind the house he reconstructed a $25 Army barracks into a tooi shed and a carport which houses a 1942 jeep, responsible for hauling materials to the building site; a Cadillac; and an old rusty tractor used to disk orange groves around the house. THE STUDIO, complete with an easel, paintings, art tools and cobwebs, began with a bolt of lightning.

A huge pine tree had prevented northern expansion of the house The school was designed for recognized artists. Paul hadn't had any art training and was accepted at the school on the strength of a recommendation from an American general and the promise to drop the class if he couldn't keep up with the other artists. HE SPENT two years studying there and proved himself an able artist, pursuing his artistic career in New York. Paul's philosophy is to enjoy each day as it comes and help people whenever he can. He says he loves his home and enjoys his privacy.

"I'm not a loner," he says. just like the freedom I have out! here. I can do exactly what I. want." the coldness of the concrete porch floor, he added etchings of Florida animal and plant life, ranging from big black bears to tiny field mice. The floor is made of 20 four-foot-square panels.

The living room floor created some problems. Paul and a helper cut skinned logs into 400 two-inch thick pieces. Each piece took two hours to cut and bevel. He then poured the concrete and laid the i rcular pieces in the slab, leveled it, AFTER SPENDING many hours trying to level the wood and concrete floor and letting it dry, he discovered wet ground caused the wooden pieces to bump up. To keep the floor level, he sands down the wooden humps with an electric sander.

ANOTHER problem Paul encountered was installing the-plumbing. He had had experience' supervising construction of buildings. He also has a degree in engineering, but he knew nothing about plumbing. However, using common sense and helpful hints from plumbers, he managed to complete two bathrooms. His only regret in building the house is that he built it so low, it is almost impossible to scoot under it to install or fix plumbing fixtures.

BESIDES AN engineering degree, Paul has a degree in art. His artistic career began at the close of World War when he enrolled in the Belview Art School in Paris, France. according to Paul's design." lightning struck it down and Paul was free to add to his studio with a 20-foot window to provide "nice northern light" to work by. THE HOUSE reached its present form seven years ago. It is compact, yet spacious.

It is comfortable and conveys the spirit of an artist interested in nature. The construction is rough, but sturdy. The mortar peeping between the bricks, the smoothly skinned pine tree rafters, the high ceilings and the original concrete floors create a rough, sturdy and natural environment. ACCORDING TO Paul, the porch and living room floors are prime examples of getting in deeper than he planned. To ease A Chance For Migrants To Step Into A New Job 1 Field! and his staff provide the guidance.

If a student needs a high school diploma, he is referred to the college's adult high school. After receiving his diploma, he is guided into a training program. The type of vocational training is limited only to courses at the college. Students are enrolling for classes which include electrical assembly, carpentry, nurses' aide and secretarial programs. "IT'S THE greatest program in the world," Thomas said.

"It gets away from the welfare philosophy of paying people to stay poor. It gives people a chance to find their worth." "The beauty of the program is that a person can do as much as he wants with It," he says. "He can settle for job training, or choose to return to school for the education necessary for further advancement." THOMAS SAYS a major ob- a 1 is transportation. The county has no transportation system. "Many migrants don't have the means to reach the free training programs.

Trained men and women can't get the jobs they want because they don't have transportation to the jobs. "I bet you that every man in Sanford who is in good shape and. wants to work could find a job within 15 miles of his home if he had transportation. This is a growing area, and the jobs are there. All that is lacking are skills and transportation." MORE THAN hall the migrants in the program have high school diplomas.

Eleven have been placed in jobs. Of 52 migrants in the program 47 are women. Thomas says men are more reluctant to leave the fields, they are usually paid more than women. "We are not trying to take all the migrants from the field," Thomas says. "We are just offering them a choice, to leave if they want.

A lot don't want to and if that's their bag, then it's fine with us." PRIMARY objective of the program is to provide migrant workers with trainable, mobile skills and to place them in jobs. Thomas LONNIE THOMAS The migrant-farm worker is a unique individual, says i Thomas, former migrant worker and current director of the Seminole County adult migrant program at Seminole Junior College. The migrant is unique because, he is separated from society, and must depend on his own resources to survive, says Thomas. I BELIEVE every migrant worker has the feeling he can make it in this world," Thomas says. "If he can't find a job, he simply has to go somewhere else.

He can't be lazy and be a migrant worker." The month-old federally funded migrant education program offers migrants an opportunity to channel their determination to "make it" in other occupations besides farming. Thomas and his staff of two women counselors spend their time interviewing, counseling, placing migrants in Jobs, then checking them for possible job advancement. MIGRANTS ARE recruited from all parts of Seminole County with the majority coming from Sanford. To qualify for the program, the migrant must be in charge of a household, his income must be within the poverty guide lines and he must be career-oriented. A final requirement is often the most difficult the recruit must find his own transportation to the college.

A Young Mother Looking To The Future and her husband separated, Bobbie was interviewed for the migrant education program at the college. She was able to qualify for the free training program because she was the head of a family, her income fell within poverty guide lines, she showed a desire to work and she had a friend with a car to transport her to school. The migrant education program pays her a stipend of $41 a week. Considering her living expenses $65 a month rent, $25 a month for her son's kindergarten, inurance payments, house and food bills she barely scrapes by. Her hopes lie in her future.

And she is optimistic. With her nurses training, Bobbie plans to return to Alabama, to work and earn enough money to buy a home and car (she is also enrolled in the driver'! education program at the college.) She also plans to makesure her son gets the education and training he needs. There is only one thing keeping Bobbie Jackson in Sanford from her family and friends in Alabama. It's very important to her the adult migrant education program at Seminole Junior College. Bobbie, 20-year-old mother of a two-year-old son, is sure she'll make it through the nurses aide program at the college.

"I BELIEVE I'm going to make it," she says confidently, flashing a big, warm smile. "I know 1 am because I have a willing mind. This is a great opportunity and I'm not going to pass it up." After completing the six-week program, she plans to take a test for entrance In the college's licensed practical nursing program which takes one year to complete. With this training behind her, she plans to work a while, then apply for the registered nurses program. Bobbie comes from a poor family In Alabama.

At age 17, in an effort to better herself, she married a young man who promised her lots of job opportunities in Florida, as well as an adult high school where she could complete her education. Moving to Sanford, the couple took jobs as migrant farm workers. By her 18th birthday, Bobbie was caring for a baby boy as well as hoeing cabbage and celery fields in Zellwood and Apopka. "It was very hot in those muck fields," she says, recalling the 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

working days. "We had to keep up with a mule train. We'd cut the celery or cabbage and toss it in the wagon. Sometimes the wagon would go faster and we'd have to work harder. "WE GOT a 30-mlnute lunch break.

It was so hot. Sometimes there wouldn't be any ice for us during our break." Bobbie says she" wanted to go to school, but late working hours gave her little time for school. After she.