Coming together for the kids of the community

MONROE TOWNSHIP — A group of competitors coming together to work side by side, volunteering their time and skills for the good of community. Project coordinator Adam Campbell said his mom told him this was how things used to be done.

Campbell, owner of Campbell Excavating in Millersburg, organized a collection of Holmes County contractors to invest their time and skills, putting down about 120 yards of concrete, laying the foundation pad for the house project of the Ashland County West Holmes Career Center Building Trades program on the campus of West Holmes High School.

"I mentioned what we were doing to my mother, and she said this was how they used to do things," Campbell said. "They would do fish fries and raise money, then all the firemen would get together and build a firehouse. It's the Holmes County way of doing things."

ACWHCC Building Trades teacher Dave McMillen explained how the project all came together.

"We needed a place to build our house, and Adam kind of stepped up," McMillen said. "He serves on the advisory board of the Building Trades program. Adam said, 'all right, we're going to do it.' He put this all together."

Campbell said he and the other contractors wanted to make it easier for McMillen to perform his job training potential employees for their businesses in the construction industry. At least four of the people working on the project were graduates of the West Holmes Building Trades program, and another is now a senior.

"It's getting harder and harder to find workers, and if they come out of high school with a rough idea how things are done, then there is less training time and more time getting into the job," he said. "If they know how to stud a wall, or lay out a wall or whatever, they're ahead of the game.

"We wanted to give the kids a clean area to work," Campbell added. "We wanted to do whatever we could to help keep this program going strong. Plus, it's fun getting everyone together."

Dave Wengerd of Wengerd Construction explained why he was more than willing to help out.

"What Dave (McMillen) has done with this program is amazing," Wengerd said. "And that's huge for us. I think I've hired six kids out of this program. It's a nice bridge opportunity for them."

Putting it all together

Campbell got the project approved by the school board and then began lining up the crews to get the job done. Every one he called said they would be glad to help. They set the date for Wednesday and everything came together as planned.

He contacted Joey Weaver at Belle Ridge Contracting out of Killbuck, Travis Weber from MCS Contractors in Killbuck and Dave Wengerd from Wengerd Construction in Millersburg; Jason Royse and Glenn Hall of Glenn Hall Concrete and Tom Horn and Cory Weaver from Thomas Concrete; as well as Loudonville Concrete Supply, Modern Home Supply in Loudonville and Holmes Ready Mix.

Ed Schlauch, Eric Miller, Alex Wengerd, Drew and Chase Campbell, Adam Mast, Zack Large and Hunter Bowling all helped out, along with Nick Morris, son of the late Chuck Morris, who recently was tragically killed in a construction accident.

"Chuck was planning on helping with this," Campbell said. "We were without an important of our community. We're really going to miss Chuck. He was always there to help."

He said Glenn Hall was instrumental in prepping and getting the area ready.

"With everybody here, this is one of the easiest pours I've ever done," Hall said.

Tekton Engineering did the design and blueprints and Feikert Concrete sold the concrete at a discounted price to help with the project.

Jeff Pycraft of Wolff Bros. Supply provided food for the crew upon completion of the job.

Coming together for the kids

"These guys are all competitors, but we all came together for this one project," Campbell said. "These guys are all very good at what they do, and I couldn't be happier that they pitched in and donated their time for the kids and the building trades program.

"Today is an awesome day. I could not be happier the way this turned out," he continued. "We all work three to four guys on a crew, and when it comes time put 120 yards down, we all worked together. I can't thank these guys enough for being out here, donating their time."

McMillen wholeheartedly agreed.

"Fellas, I thank you all, big time," he said. "This is all about the kids. I can't express enough thanks for all you've done. I'm very happy about this."

McMillen estimated the project would have cost about $70,000, but at least $50,000 of that was donated time and materials. ACWHCC paid about $20,000 for the materials used on the job.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Coming together for the kids of the community