Veterans Day Celebrations in the Midst of Turmoil – J.R. Gaylor

J.R. Gaylor

With turmoil foreign and domestic, we pause today to celebrate the living veterans for their service, their patriotism, their love of country and willingness to sacrifice in defense of our country. As important as it is to defend ourselves against foreign threats as our veterans have nobly served, there are some very insidious threats we are facing with America against itself.

Specifically, I am referring to the acceptability—by far too many—of the lawlessness we see happening, as well as the twisted logic behind the lawlessness.

We are seeing the direct contrast of the “broken window” theory versus “progressive criminal justice” model.

The theory of the “Broken Window” holds that addressing minor crimes like vandalism, public intoxication, and minor theft creates an atmosphere of order and lawfulness versus “progressive criminal justice” which promotes reforms such as ending cash bail, not prosecuting misdemeanors, and early release of offenders.

The justification behind this “progressive” thought is ‘because someone told a lie, it doesn’t make them a liar’. Or ‘because someone took a bribe, it doesn’t make them corrupt’. In other words, ‘if a crime is committed and no one is responsible, was there actually a crime at all’?

Famously said, “a great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”

Next July 4th, we will celebrate 250 years of the great American experiment of Independence under a Constitutional Republic from which we aspire to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense.

Let us aspire to recapture that vision.

J.R. Gaylor President/CEO; ABC IN/KY

We’re all about Safety at ECC this Month

We received our ABC STEP Silver Safety certificate from Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) this week. Last week we had two employees complete their OSHA 10 Hour safety training as well as their Red Cross First Aid Training. Hopefully one of them will be around when I stress out and have a heart attack here! Ha!

We do our best to be responsible and safe at Easterday Construction Co., Inc. We distribute weekly tool box talk safety meetings and share safety training lunches with information provided by our insurance provider, Gibson Insurance. Last month we had some questions about safety on a job site and they provided a review of our procedures. They congratulated us on the safety measures we had in place and said we were doing everything right. Kudos to the field crew for meeting and exceeding standards!

Blast from the Past: St. Mary of the Lake

There was just a Dedication day for St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church on August 28th. This year is the 70th anniversary of laying the corner stone for the Church. I don’t know if Easterday Construction was involved with the construction of the Church then, but we have completed several projects there of which I’m aware.

At one point in the recent past, we removed all the pews and replaced the floors in the sanctuary. We also remodeled and updated the bathrooms in the basement just off the community room. (Have you ever been threatened by a grumpy Priest with a gun?) But the biggest remodel we did was the creation of a new entrance and Day Chapel at the front of the Sanctuary with a glass wall partition between the two.

You can read a fairly detailed description of the project here. We won and ABC Award of Excellence for this project when it was completed in 2007.

Day Chapel Glass Wall Under Construction
Tilework & new counters after restroom renovation

ABC Since 1983

ABC - Associated Builders & Contractors of IndianaEasterday Construction Co., Inc. joining Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana on this date in 1983. Then company President Larry Berger signed ECC up as a member because we had similar goals and principals to those exposed by ABC. The organization has gone through some changes over the years, most notably the combining of ABC Indiana with ABC Kentucky, but for the most part the underlying core principals have remained the same and have remained aligned with those of Easterday Construction Co., Inc.

Over the past 25 years I have served on the regional council steering committee and have represented the regional council on the State Board of Directors and I am currently still serving on the State Board. At times I am disheartened that organizations such as these are necessary since a large part of ABC’s mission is to combat government overreach, special interest group agenda’s and just generally keeping its membership aware of the constantly changing regulations. But it is for those same reasons that Easterday Construction Co., Inc. has remained a member and we are thankful that the organization is there for us.