You never know where Culver will pop up. The picture to the right, taken at Culver Academies, appeared in the Mar/Apr 2016 edition of Indiana Preservation Magazine from Indiana Landmarks. The magazine is always a good read and comes free with your membership. Click on over and sign up!
Culver Achieved Stellar Designation!
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Funerals, Flags and Football
Last week was a rough week. Two funerals for a parent of two different good friends. Those obligations just added to what was an already stressful week. Fortunately neither were unexpected. Both of of the passing parents were in their 90’s. It’s never good, though.
The second funeral was for a Navy veteran and he received military honors at his funeral. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this done. Both my grandfather’s and my mother-in-law’s 3rd husband’s funerals included military honors. It is always a moving and touching display.
The respect for the Flag that the seamen displayed was particularly noteworthy considering the current controversy. I wonder how many of the football players using the National Anthem and Flag presentations as a time to protest have seen this? Would it affect their choices?
I don’t dispute that they have the right to protest. That’s one of the things our Flag represents. Veterans often would be there first to affirm that, though often with a look of despair as they also recognize the disrespect. The Flag represents so much more to so many people. To many, the Flag is sacred. Would the players have better served their cause by choosing another form of protest? it would appear so… My favorite unsourced quote about Free Speech is, “While it is true that you have the right to free speech, you do not have the right to be heard.” To the NFL’s chagrin, some fans are now former fans because of the protests. They’ve chosen not to listen. Probably not what was intended.
I wasn’t an NFL fan before the protests started, but this has brought them onto my radar… and not in a favorable light. Without commentary on their goals, I wish they would have chosen another form of protest. Another comment I heard recently resonates. “If we don’t teach our youth respect for our Country, will they feel bound to protect it if necessary?” There was a news story about a Pee-wee football team that chose to kneel during the national anthem because that’s what their “heros” are doing. We reap what we sow… and sometimes we regret it.
Image borrowed from a Daily Mail article on Beau Biden’s funeral.
Careers in Construction
I just finished an article in the September/October issue of Building Indiana by Brad Benhart, Associate Professor of Practice at Purdue University’s School of Construction Management. A quote in the article resonated with me as it’s been something I’ve been talking to my friends in education about for years. “The message needs to change to all kids should learn skills for a career. College is not for everyone, and our society needs education and training to match the needs of the workers required.”
I’ve been pleased in recent years to see a change in thinking in the schools in our area. Many of them are providing technical school equivalency training in high school. Non-college careers are receiving more discussion. Things are improving, but we still have strides to make to end the bias towards college programs. We also need to instill the idea of life-long-learning as a positive thing and requirement for survival in today’s society. When I receive an application from a student who has been through a high school building trades class, they do receive preferential treatment because they have shown an interest and hopefully shown some aptitude for the trades. Unfortunately, this does not qualify them as a Journeyman Carpenter as some of them seem to think. Easterday Construction will help them achieve that goal through apprenticeship training if they are serious about it, but it requires a commitment to additional education on their part.
I don’t think this qualifies as a rant… I’ll reiterate that I have seen progress in recent years. But as per the quote, kids need to learn skills for a career. And if it’s your career, you should be interested in learning all you can to be the best at it you can be. This means education… and Life Long Continuing Education… Never miss the chance to learn and improve.
St. Mary of the Lake – Blessing of the Pets
It’s always nice to see a past project appear in the news. The picture at the right, borrowed from The Pilot News, Thursday, October 5th, 2017 shows the North Addition to the St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Culver, which was completed in 2007.
We have completed several projects for St Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Culver over the years. We appreciate being one of their go-to contractors and are proud of the work we have completed in partnership with them. We have completed minor and major renovations at the Church, some of which are listed on our website, working with three different priests and building committees.
The North Addition project created a handicap accessible entrance to a newly created Day Chapel behind the alter. We were extremely pleased with how the brick matched and the floating arches came together for this project. We’re also please to see it being used a the backdrop for photo ops like this. 10 years later, it has become an established fixture for the Church. The picture to the left, borrowed from the St. Mary of the Lake website shows the steel, wood and glass dividing wall that we installed between the Day Chapel and the Sanctuary.
Below is a color picture of the entrance as it was being completed in 2007.