All Things Bright and BAC

Journal: November - December 2003

The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., site of the International Apprentice Contest.

Washington D.C. was the setting for a celebration of all things BAC, including the long-awaited Finals of the BAC/IMI International Apprentice Contest, a national museum exhibition, a masonry festival for family and kids, and a tribute to BAC President and IMI Labor Co-Chair John J. Flynn and IMI Management Co-Chair Eugene George. The rich program even prompted Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams to proclaim October 18th as “BAC/IMI Masonry Appreciation Day.”

IMI President Joan Calambokidis, far right, presided at a dinner honoring “Two Great Builders,” IMI Co-Chairs Eugene George and John J. Flynn, center. Proceeds from the dinner will be used for BAC’s National Training Center.

The centerpiece was the BAC/IMI International Apprentice Contest, held October 18, with 29 top BAC apprentices competing in brick, stone, tile, marble, plaster, and cement finishing. The event culminated in an emotion-packed Awards Dinner that evening, with each winner taking home prizes, including new Ford F-150 pick-up trucks for the first place winner in each craft category.

Other BAC crafts – terrazzo, mosaic, and restoration – were featured in demonstrations conducted alongside the concurrent Masonry Mania Family Festival, which included hands-on activities and educational exhibits about BAC and the masonry crafts, and the “Masonry Variations” exhibit.

Nicholas Cano of Local 52 IL helps a future craftworker at the PCC demonstration area.

All of these events were held at the National Building Museum, America’s premier cultural institution dedicated to architecture, design, engineering, and construction, and a masonry masterpiece. It was packed with members of the BAC Executive Council, IMI Board of Trustees, BAC and IMI staff, and the general public, including lots of amazed craftworkers-in-the-making.

On October 17, friends and colleagues gathered to honor the innovators behind such remarkable accomplishments, IMI Co-Chairs John J. Flynn and Eugene George, and to advance the development of the National Training Center and Masonry Camp in Fort Ritchie, Maryland.