See Page Three

In this Issue:

A Message from the President Page 2A Tradition Continues Page 2 Sponsor’s Page Page 3A Message from the WDTC Page 4 Joyner’s MCAA Report Page 5Thanks Directory Advertisers! Page 5Tim Kidd Enters Hall-of Fame Page 5Masonry Education Day 2019 Page 6Dates to Note Page 62019 NCMCA Golf Tournament Page 7Member News Page 866th State Fair Competition Page 9Recording Industry History Page 10Welcome New Members Page 10

September 2019 Vol. 45 No. 3

The Newsletter of The North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association

www.ncmca.com

This Issue Sponsored by

See “Gold” continued on Page #9

White & Helms Win Gold

National Champions 2019 Pictured left to right, Daniel Furr, Stalite; Tim O’Toole, Mason Contractors Association of America; Jesus Ruiz of Arizona, third place, Post Secondary; Khalif Collins, Sr. of Georgia, second place, Post Secondary; Ashton White, first place post-secondary; Grant Helms, first place secondary; Jose Jaquez-Valles of Delaware, second place, Secondary; Dylan Cates of Oklahoma, third place, Secondary; and NCMCA’s Ryan Shaver, contest co-chairman.

Photograph by Al Herndon

North Carolina upped its total National Masonry Gold Medal count in June at the 55th Annual Skills -USA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Louisville.

Ashton White made history becoming the first woman to repeat as National Gold Medal Cham-pion at the 2019 SkillsUSA Masonry Competition. She won the post-secondary title in 2018 and won again in 2019.

North Carolina had a sweep of the Louisville masonry competitions with Grant Helms winning the Gold Medal in the high school division.

Ashton and Grant are instructed by Rodney Har-rington at West Rowan High School. They earned the opportunity to represent North Carolina in Louisville by winning their respective masonry division titles at the April 2019 North Carolina SkillsUSA State Conference in Greensboro.

Post-secondary runners up: Jesus Ruiz of Ari-zona, third place, and Khalif Collins, Sr. of Georgia, second place.

Secondary runners up: Jose Jaquez-Valles of Dela-ware, second place, and Dylan Cates of Oklahoma,

third place.Ashton White spent the summer working for Gates

Construction Company and will be studying Con-struction Management this fall at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She lives in Cleveland, NC and is the daughter of Sheila White and the sister of Clay. Her hobbies include gym, weight lifting and dancing. Her state and national competition success has been featured in interviews and articles in local and national publications. Ashton says, “There’s a lot of things that make me happy about masonry. I love getting to go out and explore, and meeting new people everywhere I go. There are different tech-niques that people use, it’s always changing, there is always a better way. I love that it is so hands on.”

Grant Helms, is a senior at West Rowan High School and has also enjoyed previous success in masonry competitions including winning the 65th Annual NC State Fair Apprentice Masonry Skills Con-test in October 2018 and finishing second in the first year division at the Mason Contractors Association of America 2019 International Skills Competition

Page 2 NC Masonry News September 2019

Kent Huntley, CME, PresidentHuntley Brothers Company, Monroe, NC

Danks Burton, CME, President-Elect Pinnacle Masonry, Cary, NC

James “Bo” Black, CME, Sec/TreasurerCarolina Masonry Unlimited, Willow Spring, NC

Robert H. Gates, CME, ChairmanGates Construction Company, Mooresville, NC

Doug Burton, CME, Eastern Vice Pres.Whitman Masonry, Raleigh, NC

Brandon Hartsell, CMP, Central V Pres.Gates Construction Company, Mooresville NC

Don Caldwell, Western Vice Pres.C & R Masonry, Candler, NC

John Cramer AAI, Insurance ConsultantTriSure Corporation, Raleigh, NC

Pete Schantz RHU, Insurance ConsultantMountcastle Insurance, Winston-Salem, NC

Lynn Nash, Executive Vice PresidentHickory, NC

Ryan Shaver, NCMCA WDTCMount Pleasant, NC

The Quarterly Newsletter of The North Carolina

Masonry Contractors Association

109 11th Avenue NWPost Office Box 3463

Hickory, NC 28603-3463Telephone (828) 324-1564

Fax (828) 324-2179Information@ncmca.com

Andy-the-Cat Productions

Hope you all had a great summer!I wanted to share a story of an experience I

had years ago that left an impression on me. In 2001, I was flying to Greensboro from Charlotte. This particular morning, it was low IFR, meaning the clouds and fog were obscuring my vision. Air Traffic Control (ATC) was very busy trying to keep everyone in the proper sequence. On this morn-ing, as I remember, the ceiling was 300’ above the ground, so I was having to be routed to an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach into Greensboro.

I had a passenger who normally didn’t ride with me. We were talking and I wasn’t paying as close attention to ATC as I should have been. ATC attempted to contact me with my next turn, to line up with the ILS and after I didn’t answer, I received a sharp rebuke from ATC. Now, everyone on the radio frequency heard ATC tell me “N2125X I am speaking one time and one time only today, you must pay close attention.” I didn’t need to be told a second time to listen up.

I have often thought about this encounter over the last 18 years and it makes me think how im-portant it is to pay attention. Most of us have jobs that require us to pay attention to detail. If we don’t, it could cost someone thousands of dollars to correct a problem that could have been prevented.

We see how much of a difference it makes, when our young apprentices pay attention to detail when

Message From the President

September 2019

competing in a contest or on a jobsite. Not having attention to detail can cause negative consequences in our work lives and our personal lives.

That morning, if after the rebuke from ATC and if I hadn’t paid closer attention, I would have been shuttled to the back of the line or worse yet, maybe have had an accident. So, don’t do what I did that morning 18 years ago. Pay attention to detail.

Winston Churchill once said “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”

Have a safe end of summer! Kent Huntley, CME President 2018-2020

Sunset Point Visit In June, Statesville Brick Company continued their tradition of host-ing the Western Carolina Chapter at their conference center on Lake Norman for steaks and fellowship. The event pre-dates NCMCA and has been held for more than fifty-five years. Members of the Metrolina Chapter also participated. NCMCA President Kent Huntley (inset, right) was on hand and recognized Leland Eckard (inset, left) for his many years as “Senior Committee Member” of what is now called the Samuel A. McGee Memorial Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest. Leland has successfully made it his mission to solicit funding for the contest year after year and gets a significant share of the credit for the competition’s great success. Leland has served on the committee for about twenty-five years. Pictured top left to right, Western Carolina Chapter President Larry Kirby, NCMCA President Kent Huntley, Scott Rankin, Statesville Brick, Metrolina Chapter President Brandon Hartsell, and Sonny Rankin, Statesville Brick Company.

Using a Trowel President Kent helped the instructors with their fund raising project. Story page 4.

September 2019 NC Masonry News Page 3

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Page 4 NC Masonry News September 2019

By Ryan Shaver With the summer coming to a close, we have a

lot of exciting things happening as school goes back in session! This summer has been a productive and busy time for all.

The students that have worked this summer for you are now back at their schools telling their buddies war stories from the job and talk-ing about how tough they are now!

This summer, Lynn and I had a chance to visit some of the students on the job sites and we were truly impressed by them! One sounding resemblance that each student had was “It’s hot but the paycheck makes up for that!” It is my hope that these students have a positive experience on the job and that when they graduate; we have built a relationship that will send them back to us full time.

Our Pre-Apprentice program has worked ex-tremely well and the numbers of students that we have working in the program has more than doubled from last summer. All this would not be possible without your willingness to give these students a shot and for that I’m very grateful.

We visited one job site where I got to see three generations of family working together laying brick. We visited another job site where the young man working has hopes of becoming a foreman and his

Summer Winding Down!

Ryan Shaver

Masonry Instructors’ Fundraiser In August, the North Carolina Masonry Instructors Association gathered for a fund raising event brick-veneering NCMCA’s Ryan Shaver’s new home near Mount Pleasant. Masonry instructors and friends came from all over the state to raise money for instructors association’s projects including the prize fund for the annual NC SkillUSA Masonry competition. Among the masons participat-ing in the fund-raiser was Grant Helms of West Rowan High School, the National SkillsUSA High School Masonry Champion for 2019 and NCMCA President Kent Huntley. Jerry Tally provided a barbecue chicken dinner for the crew. Ryan’s new home is “all masonry” with block framing and brick veneer.

Preparing for RussiaAt press time, North Carolina’s Kelby Thornton (above) is in Kazan, Russia to represent the United States in masonry at the 45th WorldSkills Competi-tion. Kelby has been steadily preparing for the contest with his coach, USA WorldSkills Team masonry expert Todd Hartsell of Central Cabarrus High School in Concord, who is accompanying Kelby to Russia. Kelby constructed the pictured project at an early July WorldSkills training camp held in Herning, Denmark. Six countries participated in the training competition held at the Herningsholm Training Facility. Kelby also practiced and demonstrated his skills at the June National SkillsUSA Masonry Com-petition in Louisville and at the April North Carolina Skills USA Annual State Conference in Greensboro. As a student at Central Cabarrus High School, Kelby was a two-time National SkillsUSA Masonry Champion having won the Masonry Gold Medal as a junior and as a senior in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Watch the ncmca.com news page for updates.

foreman on the job has hopes of him taking his place when he retires. Another young man was working at a masonry contractor’s shop learning under a lead mechanic to repair forklifts, mixers, and other equipment. We visited a school remodel where one young lady was laying block and the superintendent on the job stated that the block work was the best he had seen in years.

If you don’t believe in young people, please call and schedule a time that you can ride with me on these visits. It will put a whole new perspective on how you thought you perceived the young generation.

I could tell you plenty of great sto-ries but if you have not worked a young student this sum-mer, the time to start preparing for the summer of 2020 is NOW! Let’s partner together while the school year is just starting to build your relationship with your local schools and make the stories that I have mentioned be about your company.

We have a lot of opportunities for everyone to get involved this fall with the 66th annual State Fair

Apprentice contest and the Fourth Annual Masonry Education Day.

Please plan to get involved with your local schools and start reaching those students that will help your company grow. If you have any questions pertain-ing training, please feel free to contact me! I look forward to hearing from you and I look forward to seeing our industry continue to grow! Thanks for all you do!!

Ryan Shaver is NCMCA Workforce Development & Training Coordinator. Reach him at ryan.shaver@ncmca.com or (704) 791-5240

CertificationA new series of NCMCA Masonry Contractor Certi-

fication Program classes are tentatively planned to begin this fall. Once underway, the eleven-module series will proceed with one class a month with the exception of April and July. Please notify NCMCA if you or employees of your firm plan to participate.

September 2019 NC Masonry News Page 5

Gary JoynerInstructors Summer Conference As part of the Annual North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Annual Trade & Industrial Education Summer Conference, masonry instructors spent a day gaining continu-ing education in July from representatives from the masonry industry, the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER,) and from NC SkillsUSA. In the photograph, instructors experienced an opportunity for hands-on demonstrations of semi-automated block laying equipment. The instructors were hosted at McGee Brothers Company’s Greensboro location, co-hosted by NCMCA and Adams/Oldcastle. Some 35 instructors participated in the event coordinated by NCMCA’s Ryan Shaver. During the session the North Carolina Masonry Instructors Association elected new officers for the upcoming two-year term. Rodney Harrington, West Rowan High School was re-elected for another term as president; Matt Almond, North Stanly High School will be vice president; Rufus Terry, J. F. Webb High School will be second vice president; Dean Bagnoni, John F. Kennedy High School will serve as treasurer; and Cody Alward, Mt. Pleasant High School will be the new secretary. Among the attendees, pictured left to right, Central Cabarrus High School Instructor Todd Hartsell; Mt. Pleasant High School Instructor Cody Alward; and Cody’s brother Josh Alward, the new masonry instructor at Cox Mill High School.

Tim Kidd Recognized At the July National Masonry Instructors Association meeting in Myrtle Beach, three new members were inducted into the association’s Hall-of-Fame including one from North Carolina. Inducted, left to right, were Tim Kidd, retired masonry instructor, Union County Career Center and West Stanly High School; Dana Martini, Superior Clay Corporation; and Eugene Johnson, retired from Lake Marion High School in South Carolina. Tim Kidd retired from West Stanly in 2013 after instructing masonry for twenty-three years. His programs produced two SkillsUSA National Masonry Champions; Brandon Tarlton in 1997 and Marcus Hefner in 2007. His program at West Stanly earned what is now called the Doug Drye Award for Overall Best Performance at the annual North Carolina SkillsUSA masonry competitions. NCMCA’s Ryan Shaver was a presenter at the meeting along with Southeast Concrete Masonry Association President James Cain and others.

Photograph by Curtis Hoover

By Gary JoynerThe Mason Contractors Association of America

Mid Year meeting is around the corner, specifically, September 8-12, 2019 at Mt. Washington Resort in New Hamp-shire. As always North Carolina will be well represented: Brodie, Pinnacle, Koontz, Joyner, Gates, Huntley, Tucker-Kirby, Caro-lina Masonry Unlim-ited, and NCMCA staff.

The MCAA Masonry Foundation has received eight grant applications. It will be announced at the mid year meeting who will be receiving grants. Oh yeah, North Carolina is still pretty much smoking the rest of the U.S. in Foundation pledges. Your financial support for the masonry industry is coming alive in September.

If you are interested, https://www.masoncontrac-tors.org has the agenda for the meeting. Many of us prefer this meeting to the Vegas get together.

Gary Joyner is MCAA Region B Vice President and a two-time President of NCMCA. Reach him at (252) 752-1578 garyjoyner@joynermasonry.com

MCAA Report

New Directory DistributedThe 2019-2020 edition of the annual NCMCA

membership is presently being distributed to members and friends.

Congratulations and thanks to Whitman Ma-sonry for providing the cover photo. (Deadline for photo submissions for the 2020-2021 directory is April 1, 2020.)

The directory is made possible by advertisers. We extend our appreciation to these firms:

ACT Construction EquipmentAdams/OldcastleAIA North CarolinaAmerimixArgosBrodie Contractorscfi FoamChandler ConcreteCustom Brick & SupplyDeluxe PrintingFay Block MaterialsFederated Mutual InsuranceGates ConstructionGiant CementHydro Rents CarolinaJohnson Concrete Products.Joyner MasonryKoontz MasonryLafargeHolcimLehighHanson

Lynn Ladder & ScaffoldManning MasonryMetrolina ChapterMountcastle InsuranceNew South Construction SupplyNCFIPalmetto BrickPinnacle MasonryPopes Masonry GroupRBD AssociatesRoanoke Cement CompanySoutheastern ContractingSPEC MIXTriangle BrickTriSure InsuranceTucker-Kirby CompanyWhite Cap Construction Supply

Page 6 NC Masonry News September 2019

The new NCMCA Safety Services Committee presented their first workshop in July at McGee Brothers Company in Greensboro. The committee partnered with Malta Dynamics to present a sixteen-hour fall protection competent person class led by Malta Dynamics’ Ken Hebert. Committee Chair Sean Loftis says, “Mr. Hebert was a wonderful instructor and the course was very informative. We had seven masonry companies in at-tendance with a total of thirteen people participating.” The committee is discussing a scaffolding competent person workshop for the spring. Details to follow.

Photo by Stacy Sizemore

2019 NCMCAGolf TournamentGold Sponsors

as of press time

Johnson Concrete Products and Stalite’s Ben Ketchie Park in Gold Hill is the site for a big day of masonry events this fall.

On Thursday November 14th, the fourth annual Masonry Edu-cation Day for high schools across the region will feature the SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 Carolina Qualifier, one of twenty-four re-gional qualifiers to be held around the country.

Some 400 students from about 25 schools will be bussed in to Gold Hill for masonry tutorials, lunch and the opportunity to watch teams of brick masons and tenders battle for a competition spot in the February 2020 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 World Championship competition held in Las Vegas. There, they will compete for over $125,000 in cash and prizes including a new 2019 Ford F-250 XLT 4×4 truck.

Last year at the Carolina qualifier, Grayson Mc-Gee and his tender Trevin Munn of McGee Brothers Company won the qualifier with their adjusted brick

Fourth Annual Masonry Education Daycount was 632 laid in the allotted one hour period. Grayson and Trevin also won recognition as “Best

Craftsmen” for building “the most sellable wall.”

The 2019 event will once again feature a “Fastest Trowel” compe-tition for a team of two students from the high schools partici-pating in Masonry Education Day. New for 2019, the winning student team will travel to the

Las Vegas World of Masonry in February to compete against the winning high school teams from the other SPEC MIX regional qualifiers.

Who is the Carolinas’ best brick mason? For competition information, contact Steve Bell (704) 294-5231 - sbell@quikrete.com

Volunteers and masonry professionals needed for Masonry Education Day activities with the students. This is a great opportunity to meet young people and encourage them to masonry careers. For informa-tion, contact Ryan Shaver (704) 791-5240 - ryan.shaver@ncmca.com

Ketchie Park – Gold Hill1/17-1/19/20 - NCMCA Raleigh Chapter An-

nual Murdell Golf Tournament 2/3-2/7/20 - MCAA Convention/World of

Concrete – Las Vegas4/16-4/19/20 - NCMCA Annual Convention,

Hyatt Regency – Greenville, SC4/22-4/24/20 - NC Skills USA (Masonry

Contest) Coliseum – Greensboro5/16/20 - Annual Sam McGee Memorial Ap-

prentice Contest, Ben Ketchie Park – Gold Hill4/20-4/22/21 - NC Skills USA (Masonry Con-

test) tentative, Coliseum – Greensboro

Additional details and registration forms are always available on the “Calendar” page of NCMCA.com.

Dates to Note9/4/19 - NCMCA Board of Directors Meeting,

West Wendover - Greensboro9/9-9/11/19 - MCAA Mid-Year Meeting, Omni

Mount Washington Resort – New Hampshire9/26/19 - Annual NCMCA Golf Tournament,

Mill Creek Golf & Country Club - Mebane, NC10/21/19 - NC State Fair Masonry Apprentice

Contest, Fair Grounds - Raleigh11/6/19 - Metrolina Chapter Golf Tourna-

ment, Mooresville Golf Course – Mooresville11/14/19 - SPEC MIX BL-500 Regional quali-

fier, Ben Ketchie Park – Gold Hill11/14/19 - Masonry Education Day, Ben

Add your company name to the list! See the tournament

registration form for golfsponsorship opportunities.

September 2019 NC Masonry News Page 7

Join us for great fellowship and golf as you support NCMCA. Four-person* modified“Captain’s Choice”: $120.00 per player for green fee, cart, practice balls, boxed lunch, refreshments, awards, a shot at the

Gregory Poole Equipment Skid-Steer Hole-in-One prize, and barbecue dinner afterwards by Argos USA.

NAME: HANDICAP: E-MAIL ADDRESS:

Team Member “A” ____________________________________________________________

Team Member “B” ____________________________________________________________ Team Member “C” ____________________________________________________________ Team Member “D” ____________________________________________________________

Be a sponsor and promote your company as you support NCMCA! Gold - $850 includes four players, special recognition sign (New! “Gold” sponsorship complimentary for any company entering three or more teams)Silver - $750 includes four players, special recognition signBronze - $650 includes four players special recognition signHole Sponsor - $120 for tee sign

For Sponsors - Name for Sign: _____________________________________________________ Prize donations are welcome. Contact David McQueen (919) 815-4813 or Dwayne Bryant (336) 213-2100

Number of Golfers ____________ @ $120 each $___________

Tee Sponsorships ____________ @ $120 each $___________

Special Sponsor (circle one) @ $850 - $750 - $650 $___________

Team Mulligans advance payment @ $50 per foursome $___________

Total : $ ___________ Mail to: NCMCA Golf Tournament Post Office Box 3463 Hickory, NC 28603-3463 Information@ncmca.com (828) 324-1564

Thursday September 26, 2019 - 12:00 PM Shotgun Tee-OffMill Creek Golf & Country Club - Mebane, NC

1700 St. Andrews Drive, Mebane, NC 27302

Proceeds support NCMCA Projects First hundred registered golfers will receive NCMCA shoe bags!

Soft spikes and collared shirts required. No blue jeans. Be at course no later than 11:15 AM. Complementary boxed lunches available beginning at 11:00. “Shotgun” start at Noon

Application Completed by:

Name: _______________________________

Phone: _______________________________

Email: ________________________________

Make Checks Payable to “NCMCA” Call or e-mail for VISA or MasterCard payments

* Important: Only four-person teams are eligible for the tournament cham-pionship. Registrations submitted with fewer than four players are welcomed but should be submitted early to secure placement on a complete team. (Good faith effort will be made, however no guarantee of four-person placement is implied.) It is suggested that late registrations be submitted only with four players. Cancelation deadline:

Contributions and registration fees paid to the North Carolina Masonry Contrac-tors Association are not tax deductible as charitable contributions. However, they may be tax deductible as ordinary and necessary business expense.

Twenty-Ninth Annual NCMCA Golf Tournament

Page 8 NC Masonry News September 2019

Member NewsMasonry Champion Lane Mullis married Shelby

Flowe in June. Lane won the McGee Memorial as a McGee Brothers Company apprentice in 2015 in addition to other apprentice competition success.

In June, NCMCA’s Nash and Shaver traveled to Stoneville to visit with Jimmy Harrell who for years served the industry as a journeyman mason and contractor, as a material supplier, as a leader of what is now the Southeast Concrete Masonry As-sociation, as chairman of the NC State College of Design Foundation Guild, the masonry representa-tive for what is now SkillsUSA, and as an instructor for masonry workshops of all types, including the NCMCA Masonry Contractor Certification Program classes. Jimmy presented NCMCA with his official “VICA” red jacket including many years’ worth of VICA/SkillsUSA conference pins for the industry his-toric archives. Jimmy was chairman of the national masonry competition is 1993 when Ryan Shaver won the national masonry title as a student of Doug Drye at Mount Pleasant High School. (Picture with the jacket on back page.) Jimmy and Fay celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary on June 6th.

Dalton Shaver, son of NCMCA’s Ryan and Brandy Shaver, graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in June and began his masonry career with Gates Construction Company after a well-earned trip to the beach. Dalton’s older brother Noah was in Je-rusalem for a month as part of the “travel abroad” requirement of his UNCC Levine Scholarship at UNC-Charlotte. Noah worked on an archeological dig.

Matt Mara moved from District Sales Manager for General Shale in Raleigh to the Arriscraft Southeast-ern Regional Sales Manager. Arriscraft is a division of General Shale. Tim Hayes is the new District Sales Manager for General Shale in Raleigh.

New South Construction Supply has been named as one of the Best Places to Work in South Carolina. The annual program was created by SC Biz News in partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and Best Companies Group. Companies from across the state entered the two-part survey process to determine the Best Places to Work in South Carolina. The 75 ranked companies will be recognized at a reception and dinner in August. The rankings were published in the August issue of SCBIZ magazine. Jim Sobeck, CEO of New South Construction Supply says, “We are extremely proud to be named to this list of industry leaders again. We know that great customer service begins with happy and motivated associates so it’s gratifying to see our team members ranked us so high in the survey…”

Paul Murdock, Nick Ferrucci, and Matt Gates were the top-three winners at the Metrolina Chapter’s bowling event in June.

Professor J. Patrick Rand at NC State and Pro-fessor D. Jason Miller at Appalachian State work with NCMCA every year for the Sigmon Memorial

Scholarship Design Competitions at their respective universities. NCMCA has learned they have both been recognized with the 2019 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. It is the highest teaching award at the universities; there is only one of these recognitions awarded in each institution making up the UNC System. (Must be the masonry connection…)

Warren Cochran died July 4th. He was retired f rom Tr i -County Block/Metromont/RMC/CEMEX but con-tinued to have a hand in the concrete and masonry business. Warren Edmond Co-chran Sr. was 82 and lived in Marion.

Tr i a d C h a p t e r Treasurer Jay Wilson retired from Scott Stone August 1st after thirty-one years. He began as a Scott Stone truck driver and moved into sales in 1996. He has served as chapter treasurer for about nineteen years. Jay says, “It has been my pleasure to serve the masonry industry, and will miss all of my friends in the industry.” Jay’s replacement at Scott Stone, LB Faulkner, will also be assuming Jay’s duties as chapter treasurer.

Tommy Caldwell passed away August 3rd after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Tommy was well known for his work at Carolinas AGC and later with his own firm consulting on construction work-force development. He was 79 and lived in Cornelius.

At the National Concrete Masonry Association’s August meeting in Seattle, Charles Newsome, re-cently retired from Johnson Concrete/Stalite after fifty years, was inducted into the NCMA Hall-of-Fame. From the NCMA website, “The National Concrete Masonry Association Hall of Fame was established in 2018 in celebration of NCMA’s 100th Anniversary.

Warren Cochran

Those enshrined are recognized as individuals that have demonstrated exemplary leadership and service to the association throughout a distinguished career. Inductees into the Hall of Fame are also considered Honorary Members of the association for their life-time.” Mr. Newsome is a past chairman of NCMA and relentlessly pushed to get the national CMU-Checkoff program legislation approved. His introduction for the induction ceremony was made by Johnson Concrete/Stalite’s Starling Johnson.

Peyton Holland is leaving his post as executive director of NC SkillsUSA to take the position of Executive Director of The National Technical Honor Society based in Flat Rock, NC. Peyton held the job at NC SkillsUSA for about ten years but has been active in state and national SkillsUSA ever since he was a masonry student at Northwood High School in Chatham County. Created in 1984, The National Technical Honor Society honors the achievements of top Career and Technical Education students, provides scholarships to encourage the pursuit of higher education, and cultivates excellence in today’s skilled workforce. Paul Heidepriem, NC SkillsUSA current associate director will assume the role as interim director while the board seeks Mr. Holland’s replacement.

In August, Jan Pelaez Garcia of McGee Broth-ers Company was recognized with a lunch and an award presentation from Mortar Net Solutions at the McGee Brothers Company office in Greensboro as a noteworthy student masonry apprentice. Greg Skyta of Mortar Net Solutions says, “(We) worked with masonry instructors across the country, as well as the National Masonry Instructors Association, to select students who would benefit the most from a scholarship. The scholarships were presented to the students’ instructors by Mortar Net Solutions’ Steven Fechino. In addition to the scholarships, the recipi-ents each received tool bags to help them as they work through their education and apprenticeships. “

Lexington Golf Tournament The Chandler Concrete Team of Neal Ragsdale, Steve Waltman, Casey Roberts, and Mark Furr are the champions of the 2019 Annual Central Piedmont Chapter Danny Koonts Memorial Golf Tournament played in June at the Lexington Golf Club. Pictured left to right, NCMCA Past President Ashlee K. Moore, her sister Darin K. Hall, and Central Piedmont Chapter President Sabrina K. Beck.

September 2019 NC Masonry News Page 9

“Gold” continued from Page Onein Las Vegas. He is the son of Scott and Jodi Helms, the brother of Holly, and the grandson of Alan and Frances Helms, and Gary and Julia Hartsell. Grant makes five generations of family brick masons. Grant says he enjoys laying brick and hunting.

NCMCA Workforce Development & Training Coordinator Ryan Shaver serves as co-chair for the SkillsUSA National Masonry Competition, which he won in 1993 as a student at Mount Pleasant High School. His co-chair is Masonry Contractors Associa-tion of America (MCAA) President Jeff Buczkiewicz. Several NCMCA members joined Ryan at the Louis-ville event including NCMCA President Kent Huntley and his brother Greg.

Ryan says,“SkillsUSA allows students to get involved in extra curricular activities like football, baseball and basketball. Except they actually get to showcase the skills they learned at the schools and compete and move on and start their careers. That’s exactly what I did. I played bricklaying in high school, I still play bricklaying today.”

SkillsUSA serves more than 360,000 students and instructors annually. Their mission is to empower its members to become world-class workers, leaders and responsible American citizens.

With the 2019 wins, North Carolina’s national medal count stands at 38 Gold, 15 Silver, and two Bronze.

NC SkillsUSA Masonry National Gold Medals1969, Memphis, TN - Waverley Brinkley, J.R

Hawkins High, Warrenton, Instructor, W.E. Exum1972, Roanoke, VA - Frank Walter, Beaver Creek

High, West Jefferson, Instructor, Bobby Absher1975, Washington, DC - Rocky Canupp, Central

Cabarrus High, Concord, Instructor, Louis Suther1980 - Atlanta, GA - Harold Trogden, South John-

ston High, Four Oaks, Instructor, Phillip Hagwood1986, Phoenix, AZ - Timmy Medlin, Clayton High,

Clayton, Instructor, Jesse Grissom1987, Wichita, KS - Chandler McGee, Central

Cabarrus High, Concord, Instructor, Louis Suther1990, Tulsa, OK - Shann Womble, Mount Pleasant

High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Doug Drye1992, Louisville, KY - Frank Paul, Mount Pleasant

High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Doug Drye1993, Louisville, KY - Ryan Shaver, Mount Pleas-

ant High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Doug Drye1994, Kansas City, MO - Jason Hamby, South

Caldwell High, Hudson, Instructor, Jesse Fox1995, Kansas City, MO - Jason Hamby, South

Caldwell High, Hudson, Instructor, Jesse Fox1997, Kansas City, MO - Brandon Tarlton, Union

County Career Center, Monroe, Instructor, Tim Kidd1998, Kansas City, MO - Chad Smith, Mt. Pleasant

High Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Doug Drye 1999, Kansas City, MO - Bryan Crouse, South

Caldwell High, Hudson, Instructor, Jesse Fox 2000, Kansas City, MO - Ben Petrea, Mount Pleas-

ant High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Doug Drye

2000, Kansas City, MO - Joseph Issak, Caldwell CC (Post Secondary) Hudson, Instructor, Jesse Fox

2001, Kansas City, MO - Garrett Hood, Central Cabarrus High, Concord, Instructor, Todd Hartsell

2003, Kansas City, MO - Cody Alward, Mount Pleasant High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Doug Drye

2004, Kansas City, MO - Cody Alward, Mount Pleas-ant High (Post-Secondary,) Mt. Pleasant, Instructor Doug Drye

2005, Kansas City, MO - Dallas Caudle, Central Cabarrus High, Concord, Instructor, Todd Hartsell

2005, Kansas City, MO - Josh Morrison, Central Cabarrus High (Post-Secondary,) Concord, Instruc-tor Todd Hartsell

2006, Kansas City, MO - Josh Kimrey, Mt. Pleasant High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor Doug Drye

2007, Kansas City, MO - Marcus Hefner, West Stanly High, Oakboro, Instructor, Tim Kidd

2009, Kansas City, MO - Jared Gandy, Mt. Pleasant High, Mt. Pleasant, Instructor, Ryan Shaver

2011, Kansas City, MO - Dylan Ennis, Central Cabarrus High (Post-Secondary,) Concord, Instruc-tor, Todd Hartsell

2012, Kansas City, MO - Jordan Hartsell, Central Cabarrus High (Post-Secondary,) Concord, Instruc-tor, Todd Hartsell

2013, Kansas City, MO -Brent Austin, Central Cabarrus High (Post-Secondary,) Concord, Instruc-tor, Todd Hartsell

2013, Kansas City, MO -Andrew Mullis, South Rowan High School, China Grove. Instructor, Ron-nie Milller

2014, Kansas City, MO –Daniel Furr, Mount Pleas-ant High School, (Post-Secondary,) Mount Pleasant, Instructor, Ryan Shaver

2015, Louisville, KY – Luke Dutton, West Rowan High School, Mount Ulla, Instructor, Rodney Har-rington

2015, Louisville, KY - Alex Ossoski, Central Cabar-rus High School, Concord (Post-Secondary) Instruc-tor, Todd Hartsell

2016, Louisville, KY – Kelby Thornton, Central Cabarrus High School, Concord. Instructor, Todd Hartsell

2016, Louisville, KY - Cody Harrison, Mount Pleas-ant High School, Mount Pleasant, (Post-Secondary) Instructor, Ryan Shaver

2017, Louisville, KY – Kelby Thornton, Central Cabarrus High School, Concord. Instructor, Todd Hartsell

2018, Louisville, KY – Mason Saunders, Mount Pleasant High School, Mount Pleasant. Instructor Cody Alward

2018, Louisville, KY – Ashton White, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Salisbury. (Post-Secondary.) Instructor, Rodney Harrington.

2019, Louisville, KY – Ashton White, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Salisbury. (Post-Secondary.) Instructor, Rodney Harrington.

2019, Louisville, KY – Grant Helms, West Rowan

High School, Mt. Ulla. Instructor, Rodney Har-rington.

(This article includes content originally pub-lished by SPEC MIX/Quikrete.)

66th Annual State Fair Contest

Calvin Brodie is again chairing the Annual State Fair Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest. He will partner with Doug Burton who will once again serve as Contest Head Judge and Master of Ceremonies.

This year marks the Sixty-Sixth Anniversary of the contest at the State Fair Grounds in Raleigh, now sponsored by North Carolina Community Colleges and ApprenticeshipNC.

The date is Monday, October 21, 2019 at the State Fair Grounds in Raleigh.

Contestant entry information is available at this link: https://www.apprenticeshipnc.com/events/apprenticeship-state-fair-contests

Contest participation is limited to the first thirty qualified apprentices to register. Apprentices must be sponsored by a firm registered with Apprentice-shipNC.

Helms Masonry presently holds the championship title with last October’s win by Grant Helms.

Donations to the prize fund are solicited. As is customary, each local NCMCA chapter is requested to make a $250 donation. Donations from masonry contracting firms and material suppliers are also appreciated. In 2018, NCMCA members, chapters and friends provided more than $6,000 in cash, tools and materials for the contest.

Make checks payable to “NCMCA” note “Fair Contest” on the memo line and mail to the NCMCA state office - PO Box 3463, Hickory, NC 28603-3463.

For information call ApprenticeshipNC (919) 807-7175 or contact Ryan Shaver at NCMCA: (704) 791-5240 Call Ryan to learn about opportunities to volunteer and judge the competition.

Coming Metrolina Chapter EventsThe NCMCA Metrolina Chapter again hosts din-

ner for students and apprentices that have achieved success in masonry competitions over the last year. Charlotte area winners from various North Caro-lina and National SkillsUSA competitions, the Sam McGee Memorial Apprentice Contest, the NC State Fair Apprentice contest and other competitions, along with their families, will join the chapter for a recognition dinner Tuesday evening October 29th. Details to follow.

The chapter’s annual golf tournament is Wednes-day November 4th at the Mooresville Golf Club in. Registration form available at ncmca.com

For additional information about Metrolina Chapter events, contact chapter president Brandon Hartsell: (704) 310-1674 - brandon.hartsell@gatesconstco.com

N

Page 10 NC Masonry News September 2019

This Issue Sponsored by

Convention in April Planning is underway for the 2020 NCMCA Annual Business Meeting and Convention set for Thursday April 16 to Sunday April 19, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. Highlights of the event will include the Annual Convention Golf Tournament and the election and installation of NCMCA officers for the 2020-2022 term. Tentatively lined up for presentations are Past National Concrete Masonry Association Chairman and new member of the NCMA Hall-of-Fame Charles New-some, recently retire from Johnson Concrete/Stalite after fifty years; and Peyton Hollard, well known former Executive Director of North Carolina SkillsUSA, now with the National Technical Honor Society. Watch for email details in early 2020 about how you and can participate as an attendee and as a convention sponsor.

NCMCA Convention

April 16-19, 2020

The Shoulders We Stand Upon In July, NCMCA gathered several of our more “senior” industry leaders for a session to record their thoughts and recollections about the evolution of the industry and their stories about the larger-than-life personalities masonry has produced here in the Carolinas. Par-ticipants included, left to right, NCMCA’s Ryan Shaver; Charles Newsome (82,) past-president of both the Southeast Concrete Masonry Association (CCMA) and the National Concrete Masonry Association, recently retired from Johnson Concrete Products/Carolina Stalite after fifty years with the firm; Jimmy Harrell (80,) journeyman mason, respected material supplier, masonry consultant and a past president of the Southeast Concrete Masonry Association, who hosted the meeting at his home in Stoneville; NCMCA President Kent Huntley; and NC State University School of Architecture Professor Patrick Rand, who worked with both Harrell and Newsome when they all served together on the board of the NC State Design Guild. Curtis Laughlin (89,) retired from Carolina Quality Block and a member of the National Concrete Masonry Association’s Hall-of-Fame joined in the session via speakerphone. An edited version of the recording session is avail-able as part of the NCMCA archive collection. In the spring, Mr. Harrell presented NCMCA with his red VICA/SkillsUSA jacket that holds all his state and national competition campaign pins from his years as Chairman of the National Masonry Contest, including 1993, the year Ryan Shaver won the national competition. Pictured receiving the jacket (above right) are NCMCA’s Ryan Shaver, and Lynn Nash left and right with Jimmy Harrell in the middle.

See more pictures from NCMCA events and

activities linked at the NCMCA.com News page

Welcome New Members

Wemco ContractingCasey Mitchell (R2)

Dobson, NCwww.wemcocontracting.com

Recruited by Central Piedmont Chapter

Robbie Davis MasonryRobert Davis (R1)

Candler, NCRecruited by Don Caldwell

BrandSafwayErik Liliensteins (A1)

Charlotte, NCwww.brandsafway.com

Recruited by Brandon Hartsell