Florida Masonry Apprentice and Educational Foundation: 9th Annual Masonry Showcase

On March 1, 2013, the Florida MasonryApprentice and Educational Foundation (FMAEF) held its 9^th Annual Masonry Showcase at the Department of Management Services Warehouse in Starke, Fla. Eight schools sent masonry students to compete in in this annual event: Suwannee/Hamilton Technical Center from Live Oak; Camden County High School from Saint Mary’s, Ga.; West Nassau High School from Callahan; Traviss Technical Center from Lakeland; Menendez High School from St. Augustine; Saint Cloud High School from Saint Cloud; Ridgeview High School from Orange Park; and Bradford/Union Technical Center.

This Masonry Showcase was started nine years ago by the FMAEF and the four masonry instructors at Suwannee, Bradford, Menendez and Ridgeview to highlight the skills of the masonry students in north Florida. The rules were simple: Each school was to bring three of their best masonry students and two tenders, and they would compete using the FMAEF/Southern Manpower Rules for Masonry Competition.

In 2006 the Showcase adopted the Skills USA rules for competition (the FMAEF & Southern Manpower rules met Skills Competition standards) and the top three winners from each school were eligible to compete in the Florida Skills State Masonry Contest. (The winner of the Florida Skills competition would go to Kansas City and represent Florida in the Skills USA National Masonry Contest.)

The Showcase has allowed 313 masonry students to show off their masonry skills and compete. Since 2006 the Masonry Showcase has sent 138 masons to Florida Skills and had has the seven winners of the Florida Skills masonry contests go on to Kansas City to represent Florida (these seven winners have all finished in the top 10 in the country).

The 2013 Masonry Showcase was held on March 1, 2013, and Suwannee Tech was the winner (Suwannee was sponsored by Vulcan/Florida Rock) with a score of 4,091.7 out of possible 5,000 points.

Second Place winner was West Nassau High school with a score of 3,949.3 points out of a possible 5,000 points. Only 142.4 points separated the first and second place teams. Candem County High School finished third with 3,805 points, only 144.3 points from second place. Menendez finished fourth; Traviss Tech finished fifth; Saint Cloud finished sixth; Ridgeview finished seventh; Bradford had one student who competed.

The following companies supported this year’s competition: Vulcan/Florida Rock, Cemex, Prestige, Painter Masonry, Oldcastle, Harwood Brick, Cash Building Material, Lowe’s, ParkSite, Saint John’s Housing Partnership, Multiquip, Quikrete, NCCER and Marshalltown Tools.

This year’s Showcase produced 16 masons from Florida schools who will go on to Pensacola for the Florida Skills Masonry Contest, and three masons from Georgia who will go on to compete in Georgia Skills in Atlanta.

SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional Events

It’s official: The 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional Season is underway. With 16 regional competitions scheduled for North America, a record-high amount, two contests already have been completed, and their respective champions have secured a spot to compete in the 2012 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National event in Las Vegas during the World of Concrete/World of Masonry in January.

Ohio SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional in Cleveland

On a weekend filled with great entertainment in Cleveland, including the NFL Hall of Fame induction, a PGA Tour event featuring Tiger Woods’ return to professional golf and even the world famous Twins Day Festival at Twinsburg, the Ohio Regional of the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 certainly did not play second fiddle when it came to lightning fast action.

For six straight years, highly skilled masons from around the state come together to prove who is the top mason in Ohio at the state’s SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 regional competition. Arguably the most competitive of the 16 local regional competition to be held in 2011, the Ohio contest’s 10 competitors featured the last two National Toughest Tender Champions in Raymond Burton (2010) and Aaron Cooke (2009), as well as 2008 second-place finisher Jeff Burton and DIY Dominator’s Masonry Challenge Winner Justin Jakubisin.

Once the action began, it was all business and, when the dust cleared, Jakubisin used his home-field advantage and personal cheering section to take home the crown laying 696 brick, narrowly beating out second-place Jeff Burton from the Cincinnati.

Jakubisin will head to Las Vegas to compete at the World Championship SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500, representing the state of Ohio and ready to prove he has the Skill, Speed and Stamina to be the World’s Best Bricklayer.

SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional in Seattle

On an unusually sunny Friday, the Western States Masonry Trades hosted the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 at the International Masonry Institute in Seattle. The day was filled with masonry industry professionals from the area, along with vendors and suppliers showing off their latest products. STO Wall Systems and Evergreen Building Materials combined to demonstrate liquid water barriers over CMU with stone veneer installed over it.

Johnson Level was on hand to show off its extensive line of leveling systems. Horizon Ford hauled in a new flatbed work truck to woo the audience.

Ben Griffin of Keystone Masonry in Yelm, Wash., along with his tender Dennis Chessie swept the top honors at the 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Seattle Regional. He lay 424 bricks in one hour on a 26-foot-long, double-wythe wall with enough precision that he didn’t have any quality penalties, earning him the craftsmanship award amongst a group of 10 highly skilled western Washington masons. His speed and craftsmanship bought him cash and prizes along with a trip to Las Vegas to compete in the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National Competition at the World of Concrete/World of Masonry in January. There, he will compete against 20 other masons from the United States, Canada, Germany and Australia for the chance to be crowned the World’s Best Bricklayer and drive away in a 2012 Ford F250 XLT 4x4 Truck.

Second place was awarded to Bricklayer Mark Earwood and his tender, Kenny Fairweather of Fairweather Masonry. Garret Shafer and his tender, Alex Robledo of R&D Masonry, finished with third-place honors.

2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional Schedule

SPEC MIX has released the 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional Schedule. The schedule includes regional host contact information for all masonry competitors interested in applying to the competition. Established to showcase the skill and craftsmanship of professional masons, the general description of the bricklaying competition is as follows: Each team consists of a mason and a mason tender, and a defined work area. The 2012 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National will be held at the Masonry Construction’s Challenge arena during the 2012 World of Concrete/World of Masonry trade show and is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 25, 2012. For more information, visit www.specmixbricklayer500.com.

500 Regional – Iowa

Sept. 30, 2011, 11 a.m.; Kirkwood Community College – 6301 Kirkwood Boulevard – Cedar Rapids, IA

500 Regional – Arizona

Oct. 8, 2011, 11 a.m.; Phoenix Brick - 1814 South 7th Ave., Phoenix, AZ

500 Regional – North & South Carolina

Oct. 8, 2011, 11 a.m.; QUIKRETE North Carolina – Highway 74 West – Peachland, NC

500 Regional – Tulsa, Oklahoma

Oct. 13, 2011, 11 a.m.; Tulsa Technology Center – 3420 South Memorial Drive – Tulsa, OK

500 Regional – Florida

Oct. 21, 2011, 11 a.m.; QUIKRETE Lakeland – 4230 Maine Avenue– Lakeland, FL

500 Regional — Northern California

Oct. 22, 2011, 11 a.m.; QUIKRETE Sacramento – 7705 Wilbur Way - Sacramento, CA

500 Regional – Kitchener, Ontario

Nov. 1, 2011, 5 p.m.; Conestoga College – 108 University Avenue East – Waterloo, Ontario

500 Regional – Calgary, Alberta

Nov. 4, 2011, 11 a.m.; Southern Alberta Institute of Technology - 1301 16th Ave. NW - Calgary, AB

500 Regional – Alabama

Nov. 4, 2011, 11 a.m.; Wilcutt Block & Supply Co., Inc. – Kicker Rd. - Tuscaloosa, AL