In the infield at the Talladega Superspeedway equipment horns blared in an incomprehensible rhythm like a New York City traffic jam. Boy Scouts climbed on backhoes, front-end loaders and bulldozers and stared straight up at a 60-ton crane.
Across the way, circular saws squealed and the children wielded hammers and nails to make birdhouses. Inside the NASCAR garages the scouts took turns working with laser surveying equipment, talking geology with Mike Kirkland of Vulcan Materials and learning about estimating and computers from John Mouton of Auburn University.
It was a perfect fit — 7,500 curious Boy Scouts, their leaders and families and a gang of excited contractors, equipment operators and carpenters all in one place for the Alabama Branch AGC Young Constructors Forum construction exposition. AGC members came from all over the state to show off the construction industry at the Boy Scouts Jamboree held every four years in the infield at Talladega. The exposition is one of many community service projects sponsored by the YCF, including a $100,000 addition to the Bethel AME Church in Ensley and a fund-raising drive to help restore the Vulcan statue.
“I should have worn my ear protection,” said Rick Passey of Southern Ready Mix. “I didn’t know it was going to be as loud as the block plant.”
Passey talked as a line of youngsters asked David Lloyd about the ready mix truck they were climbing on.
“They have lined up all day just to sit in the seat and let David show them how to raise and lower it,” he said. “It’s better than a ride at the fair.”
“There won’t be a good battery left out here,” said Roy Weaver of Rast Construction. He was laughing while watching the children climb on equipment, pretend to start and operate it and — of course blow the horns.
The apprentice carpentry crew at Brice Building Co. was late getting to the VIP tent for some barbecue. The crew had enough lumber to build about 300 birdhouses and once the scouts started arriving at the exhibit about 10 a.m., the work began in earnest. Brice employees were sawing, drilling and showing scouts how to handle a hammer and assemble the birdhouses. They got to stop for lunch about 4:30 p.m.
“I was impressed with the participation from the construction industry from equipment suppliers to people who were helping with construction displays,” said Ben Nevins, Brice chief operating officer. “Our guys had a birdhouse thing they did. It was a mad rush from start to finish, but they had a great time and I think the kids really enjoyed it.”
Said Nevins, “We were able to expose all those children to the construction industry and that was a great benefit. The opportunity to expose children of that age to the industry is a great tool for us. We hope some of them will want to make it a career.
“I’ll tell you one thing,” he said, smiling. “We’ll be more prepared and pre-cut more instead of cutting it right there.”
The Alabama Branch AGC gave away 50 baseball caps and 100 hardhats with AGC logos on them.
“And they were gone in minutes,” said Pam Fannin, AGC administrative assistant. “There were scouts running everywhere with AGC hardhats on. Parents were coming up an hour later after we were out and asking where their children could get hardhats.”
Chuck Schuelly, an instructor with the Alabama Branch AGC’s carpentry program, was on hand to help scouts use coping saws to make a puzzle that fit on their belts.
“I bet we made 250 of those things,” he said. “Those scouts absolutely loved to get their hands on the tools and make that puzzle. They were really into the creative side of construction.”
Jordan Burcham and his son Chris, at the encampment from Pack 39 in Russellville, made a birdhouse.
“I used to be a carpenter and a millwright,” Burcham said. “I think this is absolutely wonderful. This is important. A lot of these kids have never had a hammer in their hand. We’re just having a ball. This is super.”
Super indeed. The Boy Scouts asked the AGC to sponsor the exhibition at the next encampment in four years and then presented the association with the Chairman’s Award for its work with the children.
By the time the day was through, more than 11 AGC member companies had sawed, instructed, cooked 200 lbs. of barbecue, lifted scouts in a basket on a crane, delivered more than 40 pieces of equipment and in general put a great face on the construction industry.
“The Boy Scouts came to the AGC two years ago in the earliest planning stages of the jamboree,” said Henry T. Hagood Jr., AGC executive vice president. “We agreed to help immediately. How could we pass on the opportunity to introduce 10,000 scouts and their adult leaders to the construction industry?
“This was a great opportunity because the scouts represent the best qualities in the people we would like to have in the construction industry. We were able to bring the right people together in a rare environment. It couldn’t have happened at a better time. Scouts are great people and construction is a great industry and we needed to put them together,” Hagood continued.
“The Boy Scouts project was a perfect fit for us,” said Wes Talley of Bill Harbert Construction. “It was the ideal way for us to get these young people introduced to the possibilities of the construction industry.”
“And we cannot forget Buddy Bruser with BESCO,” said Fannin. “He was there for the better part of two days cooking barbecue and feeding everyone from volunteers to Boy Scout troop leaders to Lt. Gov. Steve Windom.”
Said AGC’s Roy Weaver, who worked on the project from the beginning, “I think it turned out to be a great project for the whole construction industry. Our members who chose to participate in it feel like they really benefited and helped the construction industry and the AGC as a whole.
“Projects like this will really benefit the construction industry. Those are quality people involved and they are the type that we could use in the construction industry,” Weaver said.
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