What I’ll Remember About San Antonio

Words: Kent Huntley

Several years ago, my family and I visited Horseshoe Bend. As we stood looking out over it, I heard another tourist say that being beside something so big made her feel like just a drop in a bucket. I’ve thought about that many times since. There are 50 states in this country, and most days I’m busy with what’s going on in my little part of it. What I do for masonry can feel like a drop in the bucket, too.

Then I come to Midyear and meet people from across the country who are doing their part. Put all those drops together, and they add up to something.

This is my first year as chairman of the MCAA, and it is going by faster than I expected. I had meetings to open and some speaking to do, and I enjoyed that, but the part I looked forward to most was seeing everyone and hearing what they had to say. It was good to catch up with Dick Dentinger, our immediate past chairman. I’ve missed traveling with him the way I did before. You catch up with an old friend, meet somebody new, and before long it’s time for the next meeting. There never seems to be enough time to visit with everybody.

The speed dating event is one of the places I see those drops adding up. Contractors move from booth to booth in short sessions with our Masonry Alliance Program (MAP) partners, and each exhibitor gets a few minutes to show us what they have. This year I learned more about the polymer mortars for stone veneer, which I hadn’t seen demonstrated before. It also reminds me how strong our MAP program is. We have some great companies represented, and the people at those booths take the time to talk with us. I may go in to learn about a product, but I often leave having started a relationship with the person behind it.

At our board meeting, we heard reports from CMHA, BIA, and the Canadian Masonry Association. All three talked about what they’re doing to promote masonry, and it was good to hear. I appreciate them taking the time to join us. It’s a good reminder of how many people are working for masonry beyond what I see every day at Huntley Brothers.

The roundtable discussions after the board meeting were lively, as they always are. When we got to AI, there were strong opinions on more than one side, and I’m glad people felt comfortable saying what they thought. We all come from different places and have different experiences, so we aren’t going to see every issue the same way. I enjoy hearing why someone looks at something differently than I do. Those discussions sent me home with plenty to think about and feeling good about the rest of the year.

Another highlight was welcoming Mr. John Spencer and Ryan Shaver into the Masonry Hall of Fame. I met Mr. Spencer for the first time in San Antonio. He’s a past chairman of the MCA of St. Louis, a recipient of the C. DeWitt Brown Leadman Award, and has spent many years doing top-notch work. After meeting him, it was easy to see why he was being inducted. His induction happened to fall on his birthday, so the whole crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to him. That made an already special evening even more memorable.

Ryan’s induction meant a great deal to me personally. He and I have been friends for over 30 years, and he has done as much as anybody I know to train the young people coming into this trade through apprenticeships. I had the honor of presenting him with the plaque commemorating his induction, and I was proud to be standing up there with him.

We had a wonderful evening outside celebrating both men. Raising our children taught me that the things we gave them weren’t usually what they talked about years later. They remember the trips we took and the time we spent together as a family. I think that is what makes Midyear so special to all of us. It is an experience. I’ll remember meeting Mr. Spencer, presenting Ryan with his plaque, and sharing the evening with my wife, Robin.

After the celebration, Robin and I changed into work clothes and helped break down the stage area. Jeff Buczkiewicz’s family, Blake, Logan and his wife Tami, Eduardo, Dan, Todd, Robert, Anelise, and her dad, Jim, were all pitching in. In about an hour, we had the whole stage loaded onto the truck. The next day, Anelise and Jim headed back to Chicago in that box truck with 19 or 20 hours of driving ahead of them, after everything they had already put into the week. I’m grateful to the whole MCAA staff for what they did in San Antonio, and I hope they all know how much I appreciate them.

Looking back, loading that truck reminds me of what the tourist said at Horseshoe Bend. Each of us did a little, and in about an hour the job was done. That’s how I see Midyear, too: people from all over doing their part for masonry. As for experiences, I’ll remember this one for some time to come.


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