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SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Regional returns to Seattle

Words: Jeff Farmakes/Public/News/20110910153000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Ben Griffin of Keystone Masonry and his tender Dennis Chessie swept the top honors." />
Ben Griffin of Keystone Masonry and his tender Dennis Chessie swept the top honors.
On an unusually sunny Friday, the Western States Masonry Trades hosted the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 at the International Masonry Institute in Seattle, WA. 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. Food and beverages were provided and the August sunshine in Seattle made for a great Friday afternoon.

At approximately 4pm, Ben Griffin of Keystone Masonry, Yelm, Washington, along with his tender Dennis Chessie swept the top honors at the 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 Seattle Regional. He laid 424 brick in one-hour on a 26’ long double wythe wall with enough precision that he didn’t have any quality penalties, earning him the craftsmanship award amongst a group of ten 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 U.S., 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 3rd place honors.

A special thanks to Eastside Masonry, Mutual Materials, Lafarge, Lehigh Cement and all the sponsors who come together to make this event happen, we couldn’t do it without you!

For more information on the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 program go to www.specmixbricklayer500.com.
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