Masonry Magazine April 1973 Page. 14
"Is this for real?" asks Miss Jean Foshee of the Union Trust Co. in Washington, D.C., as Lee O'Brien, 1st vice president of the bank, hands her a $20,000 check engraved on a foot-long brick as a contribution to the International Masonry Institute by mason contractors and BM & PIU members in the Province of Ontario. The check was indeed "real" to the relief of Dan DeMonte, W. Neil Fraser, and Neal English.
No Way for This Check to Bounce!
The five MCAA officials, who serve as trustees for the International Masonry Institute (IMI), have seen many checks come into IMI for masonry promotion, but none like the one presented recently by a delegation from the Province of Ontario. It was inscribed on a foot-long brick weighing around 10 pounds and worth about $2,000 a pound.
The $20,000 check represented an accumulation of IMI funds from the Ontario Masonry Industry Promotion Trust Fund. It was delivered to IMI by W. Neil Fraser, executive director of the Canadian Masonry Contractor's Association; Dan DeMonte, president of the Ontario Provincial Conference of the BM&PIU; Peter Martini, trustee for Ontario Promotion, and Tom Drew, trustee of the Ontario Promotion Committee, and Executive Committee Board member. IMI support in Ontario was developed some months ago through the first province-wide collective bargaining agreement there, and the IMI funds accumulated as a local promotion trust agreement was finalized.
Fraser and DeMonte accompanied IMI executive director Neal English to Washington, D.C.'s Union Trust Co. to deposit the IMI funds. "Is this for real?" asked teller Miss Jean Foshee. "You can't be serious," she said. "This must be some kind of joke." When it was pointed out that it was an official check drawn upon the Guaranty Trust Company of Canada and that the gentlemen who issued it in Toronto were standing there, she said she'd have to get approval of the head teller. At that point, it was suggested that she check with Mr. Lee O'Brien, 1st vice president of Union Trust, who handles IMI funds at the bank. "It's a perfectly good check," said an amused Mr. O'Brien to the relief of the Canadians. "It will take a few days to process due to the special handling, and the amount will be altered by the exchange rate, but we'll be glad to process it," he said.
The funds will be used by IMI to encourage U.S. and Canadian architects, engineers, owners, and other building professionals to use masonry, and thus increase work opportunities for mason contractors and masonry craftsmen.
ABOUT OUR COVER
Here is another view of the St. Lawrence Seminary chapel and friary which won the Gold Cup award for "Excellence in Masonry" for the Park Ridge (III.) architectural firm of Charles Edward Stade & Associates. Sponsor of the 2nd annual award was the Mason Contractors Association of Greater Chicago.
Architect Stade indicated that the "structure is a direct expression of its function-worship, fellowship and housing areas. It is impossible to categorize this type structure. Time alone will do this."
Asked why he chose masonry for this impressive project, Architect Stade said: "Brick was used because of its honesty of expression-structural, rich texture, low maintenance-all architectural plusses. The huge chapel is designed to conform to modern liturgical practice and to provide an environment of participation for seminarians."
In the chancel area, massive laminated oak beams and brick walls provide a warm atmosphere that blends with the quiet respect of seminary life. Predominant features of the sanctuary are a 12-foot handcarved main altar of Appalachian white oak and a 35-foot lead sculptured reredos on a curved wall above the altar of repose.
The attached friary is a three-story structure with full basement. It contains 42 private rooms for faculty members and staff. The main floor features a lounge-dining room plus a small library. Large windows facing the north provide a panoramic view of the neighboring village and surrounding countryside. (Photos by Hedrich-Blessing, Chicago.)