Students and apprentices who won various masonry competitions over the past twelve months, along with their parents, employers, and “significant others,” were hosted for a “low-country-boil” early in November at The Farmstead wedding venue in Mount Pleasant by the NCMCA Metrolina Chapter. Pictured, left to right, Metrolina Chapter President and NCMCA Central Region Vice President Brandon Hartsell along with the top finishers from the May 2022 Samuel A. McGee Memorial Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest; Cam Hill, fifth place; Christian Klutz, Contest Champion; Cade Huntley, second place; Mason Saunders, fourth place; and Kent Huntley, whose firm, Huntley Brother Company, was recognized for having the contest’s winning apprentice. Winners from state and national contests were also recognized.  Photo Jodi Helms  

In October, twelve teams competed in the 2022 NCMCA Sigmon Memorial Scholarship Masonry Design Competition at NC State University. Teams designed a hypothetical in-fill building section as a graded assignment for Professor Dana Gulling’s “Architectural Construction Systems” class. Pictured, winning team members Callie Leloudis and Emma DeMagistris standing, and Wayne Evans and Christian Gonzalez. NCMCA Eastern Regional Vice President Doug Burton and Executive Vice President Ryan Shaver served as competition judges. The winning project earned a semester’s in-state tuition divided among the team members. Runner-up teams received a selection of quality masonry tools. 2022 marks the 22nd year for the competition at NCSU and the 11th at Appalachian State University. The scholarship is primarily funded by the annual NCMCA fall golf tournament and is named in memory of brothers David and Dwayne Sigmon and Dwayne’s son Randy. Photo by Doug Burton

In October, seven teams competed in the 2022 NCMCA Sigmon Memorial Scholarship Masonry Design contest at Appalachian State University. Teams designed hypothetical infill office façades as a graded assignment for Professor Qingqing Sun’s program in the Department of Sustainable Technology & the Built Environment at ASU. Pictured, left to right, NCMCA Executive Vice President Ryan Shaver, who served as a judge for the competition, and the winning team of seniors Chaney Lowe, Fin Fifield, and James Zody, and NCMCA Past President Kent Huntley, another contest judge. Architect and ASU Adjunct Professor David Conklin also served as a competition judge. The winning project, titled “NCMCA Art Building/Technical Masonry” earned a semester’s in-state tuition divided among the team members. Runner-up teams received a selection of quality masonry tools. 2022 marks the eleventh year for the competition at ASU and the twenty-first year at North Carolina State University. The scholarship is primarily funded by the annual NCMCA fall golf tournament and is named in memory of brothers David and Dwayne Sigmon and Dwayne’s son Randy.

Colter McGee, an apprentice with McGee Brothers Company in Monroe, is the Champion of the 68th Annual North Carolina State Fair Masonry Apprentice Skills Contest for 2022. Pictured left to right, Kathryn Castelloes, Director, ApprenticshipNC; David Smith, Senior Deputy Commissioner, NC Department of Agriculture; new champion Colter McGee; and contest chairman, Calvin Brodie. The rest of the top five respectively were Cade Huntley of Huntley Brothers Company, Anderson Pruett of Helms Masonry, Alec Huntley of Huntley Brothers Company, and Chance Reynolds of McGee Brothers Company. Thirty-five apprentices from nine NCMCA member firms competed. Photo by Jodi Helms.

With an adjusted count of 742 brick laid in one hour, the team of tender Ben Bost (left) and mason Wriston McGee of McGee Brothers Company won the October Carolina Qualifier for the upcoming 2023 Las Vegas SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 World Championship. Wriston will be making a return trip to Las Vegas having also qualified in 2021. The regional qualifier was part of the Sixth Annual Masonry Education Day at Stalite’s Ben Ketchie Park in Gold Hill. Some five hundred students from across North Carolina participated in hands-on exhibits and competitions, met potential employers, and enjoyed a hotdog lunch provided by Johnson Concrete Products. In the qualifier, the team of Keith Helms with tender Scott Helms won “Top Craftsman” recognition. Second place went to the team of Grant Helms with tender Anderson Pruett followed by Cody Alward with tender Hazen Alward in third place. With an adjusted count of 293, the East Rowan High School team of Mason Ridenhour with tender Braxton Smith won the Jr. SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 followed by mason Israel Burgarin and tender Leslie Maldonado of Columbus Career & College Academy in second place and the West Rowan High School team of mason O’Connor Leonard and tender Dillion Smith in third place. Photo by Judy Johnson

Committee Chairman David McQueen, pictured left, announced that the Kirby Construction Services team is the winner of the 2022 NCMCA Annual Fall Golf Tournament in September at the Mill Creek Golf & Country Club in Mebane. Pictured left to right, Chairman McQueen, team member Joe Norman, committee member Chris Mitchell, team captain Larry Kirby, committee member Dwayne Bryant, and team members Larry Chapman and Brian Nelson. Finishing in second place, the Adams/Oldcastle team of Eddie Jordon, Rob Haas, Brian Smith, and Carlos Leon. Third Place went to the Whitman Masonry team of Doug Burton, Bill Reed, Jimmy Wall, and Ken Armistead. “Closest to the Pin” recognitions went to Wade Hume, Heber Aldridge, and Steve Wheeler. Randy Clayton won the “Longest Drive” contest. Chairman McQueen expressed appreciation to all the sponsors including Argos USA for the barbecue chicken dinner and EZG Manufacturing for arranging the EZG Mudhog Mixer hole-in-one prize (that once again went unclaimed.) Proceeds from the tournament fund the NCMCA Sigmon Memorial Design Scholarships at NC State and Appalachian State universities.  Photo by Jodi Helms. 

As of September, Ryan Shaver (left) is the new Association Manager and Executive Vice President of NCMCA and Jodi Helms joins the staff of NCMCA as Office Manager. The NCMCA office will be moving from Hickory to Mount Pleasant, North Carolina over the next several months. Lynn Nash, who has managed the Association since 1997, will assist with the transition until his full retirement in May 2023. Shaver joined the NCMCA staff in the spring of 2018 as Workforce Development & Training Coordinator. Jodi Helms is an educator and taught kindergarten for ten years. She is the wife of Scott Helms of member firm Helms Masonry.

NCMCA two-time Past President Gary Joyner (left) recently received national recognition for his contributions and ongoing involvement in the nation’s masonry industry. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Joyner Masonry Works, Inc. in Greenville, North Carolina, Gary was inducted into the National Masonry Hall-of-Fame at the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA) closing banquet during the August 2022 MCAA Annual Mid-Year Meeting held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  He launched Joyner Masonry Works, Inc. in 1978 primarily performing residential masonry. Since then, the firm has grown to become one of the larger masonry contracting firms in the state and has performed work on prominent projects across eastern North Carolina including work at NC State University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Gary’s son Chris is now the President of the firm.  In 1981 Gary became involved with the North Carolina Masonry Contractors Association. Gary says, “Becoming involved in NCMCA was the single most important experience and the turning point in my career. The knowledge gained from the association with other masonry contractors from around the state was immeasurable.” In 1987 Gary was elected President of NCMCA for the first time. In 2012 Gary was the first person to be elected to a second term as NCMCA President.  The Masonry Hall of Fame was created by the Mason Contractors Association of America “to recognize and award individuals who have dedicated their lives to the masonry industry.” Gary Joyner joins forty other individuals previously inducted into the Hall-of-Fame, including four from North Carolina: Glenn W. Sipe (2012,) Sam McGee (2014,) Bob Merrill (2019,) and instructor Doug Drye (2020.)  Along with Gary Joyner, Past MCAA President Richard “Mike” Johnston of Johnston Construction Company in Tacoma, Washington was also inducted into the Hall-of-Fame for 2022.  Fellow Masonry Hall-of-Fame member Robert “Buddie” Barnes, (right) Chairman of the Board of Dee Brown, Inc. of Texas, nominated Joyner for the Hall-of-Fame and introduced Gary at the Hall-of-Fame banquet.      CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO INTERVIEW