RMMI News and Events

Words: Ann WolterThe Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute (RMMI) is wrapping up its spring season of workforce development. In the past four months, RMMI staff members have presented bricklaying demonstrations at more than 20 elementary, middle and high schools in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas. Several thousand students have taken part in hands-on opportunities to learn about bricklaying, as well as presentations on education, work ethics and entrepreneurship.

RMMI Technical Director Diane Travis has started her annual Colorado Mountain Tour, providing seminar luncheons for architects, engineers and masons on Colorado's Western Slope. This year's topic is "Sustainable Design and Masonry," and Travis will discuss meeting LEED green building certification requirements using masonry. During May, she presented the seminar in Durango, Grand Junction, Aspen, Steamboat and Vail, Colo. Later this summer, she will take her seminar tour to Wyoming and Montana architects.

Spring also brought about the annual RMMI Golf Classic. Held on May 31 at Vista Ridge Golf Course, approximately 144 golfers competed for bragging rights, while also helping to raise funds for RMMI's apprentice training program.

Future events include: the Clay Shoot at Kiowa Creek on July 13; the annual Summer Retreat at the Lodge at Vail, Aug. 9-11; and the "Run Around the Block" 5K race on Sept. 16. Sponsorship opportunities, ranging from $250 to $2,000, are available for all of the events.

For more information, contact admin@rmmi.org, or visit www.rmmi.org.
GEN NXT: Mason Paolini
May 2026

This month, the MCAA got to talk with Mason Paolini, a mason who has a clear passion and talent for the trade he has such high praise for. Read about Mason’s story and why he sees a future in this industry. Mason Paolini’s career began with a simple desi

Marvelous Masonry: Tianjin Zhongshuge Library
May 2026

It is not unusual today for masonry to be treated as a surface decision rather than a structural one. Too often, brick enters a project late in the process, trimmed back by budgets or reduced to a veneer once the “real” building work is finished. The Tian

Fechino Files: Concrete Pavers around a Pool
May 2026

Many folks over the years have placed concrete pavers around their pool as a nice form of decorative pool deck. Early in the 2000’s, I took a class held by the Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute, then known as the ICPI. At the time I attended the class

Chairman's Message: Staying the Course
May 2026

Spring is one of my favorite times of year. There’s energy in the air. Jobs are picking up. Crews are hitting their rhythm. Schedules are filling up. You can feel momentum building again. And every year around this time, I find myself thinking about con