Paul Oldham, MCAA Chairman
Spring is upon us, hopefully, that is also the case where you work and live. In our area, we had the second-largest snowfalls in February ever recorded. It became a nightly activity to shovel the driveway. For those who live in the everyday cold-snowy world, I have to hand it to you. I spend many hours thinking, why do I live where I do.
Back in February, we held our Annual Meeting in a different location with the World of Concrete/Masonry’s postponement. It was a great break from the weather I referenced above, but more importantly, the business at hand was excellent. Held on Captiva Island, FL, in what I have referenced before as “Old World Florida.” It was a laid-back and slower way of life than what we typically are used to in our construction world. Todd and the rest of the MCAA staff put together a great day of golfing for us; it only rained for two holes and then became very warm, so that we will call a win.
I believe we raised $5,000 for our PEC fund with the outing. Thank you to all our sponsors and participants for making this a great event. At the same time, the new Foreman Development Course was taking place. Thank you to our Education Committee for making this reboot a reality. I only heard positive comments about the course, and I look forward to taking the course myself after my final year on the Executive Board. We finished up the first day with a beautiful opening dinner on the beach with some delicious barbecue and a great view.
We conducted our business meetings with a good Foundation Board meeting and update followed by the Annual Meeting on that Monday. Committees gave their reports, and the work and progress made despite the challenges of 2020 were fantastic. I would like to thank all our volunteers on these committees and the MCAA staff for their leadership to achieve the set-out goals.
We followed our meetings up with our always-popular Contractor Round Table discussions. We had a little bit of a shy group this year, but once we got going, the discussion opened up. I want to thank Paul Cantarella Jr. for leading this session. We are already working on ideas for the Midyear version of round tables to help the discussion start running from the beginning. We are always looking at how we can improve.
Masonry Strong was kicked into high gear during the Annual Meeting, with its debut of a live taping. Along with their families, the MCAA staff stepped up on this new adventure and put on a great show. Participants got to experience a different way to share their products, and with this being broadcast multiple times across social media, they have gotten great exposure and hopefully great feedback. We hope to see this event grow over the coming years.
The World of Concrete/Masonry is scheduled for June 8-10, with Wednesday, June 9th, 2021 being Masonry Madness Day. Our friends at Spec Mix/Quikrete will be again hosting the Bricklayer 500, and the MCAA is looking for participants for the Fastest Trowel and Skills Challenge contests. It’s a hard time of year to get away, but I’m sure we all can find time to support the event; maybe it’s a shorter amount of time than usual, and it will be shorts weather in Las Vegas.
The 2021 Midyear meeting location is still yet to be determined. With the pandemic still affecting many aspects of our lives, it has been harder to schedule a location. The Midyear Meeting will happen, and we are currently vetting through many locations. By the time this article is published, we will have secured a site.