Top Apprentices Pick Up Pickups

WASHINGTON – Jeffrey Bloomfield and Tim Cushey received the esteem of their peers – and a little something else – from their peers for good stone skills in October.
The two apprentices in the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) won distinction as tops in their fields, and they got to drive the honors home – literally – by winning new Ford F-150 trucks.
In the BAC/International Masonry Institute international apprentice contest, Bloomfield – representing Local 4 in California – won for his work with marble. Cushey, from Local 9 in Pennsylvania, took the award for stone work.
Christian Kreitlow, from Local 3 in Nevada, took second place in marble, while Scott Teagarden of Pennsylvania’s Local 9 captured the award for stone. Third-place finishers in marble are Jason Lowe of Local 7 of New York and New Jersey, and Jot Utt of Local 13 in Nevada; in stone, third place went to Dennis Holloway of Local 1 in New York, Julio Martinez of Local 13 in New Jersey, and Tom Schmitz of Local 5 in Ohio.
The winners competed in local and regional contests and international semifinals. It also marked a rare chance for the honors; the last BAC apprentice contest occurred in 1963.