Photo and written report

1998 MHA Annual Meeting

June 4 - 11

at Wildacres Retreat,
Little Switzerland, N.C.

Summary

The 1998 Annual Meeting was a big success. All who attended loved the uniqueness of the setting in the Smokey Mountains, the excellent facilities, and 3 gourmet meals per day.

Highlights of this year's accomplishments were:

• administered the first ever North American certification exam for heater masons (10 people)
• North America's first two Certified Heater Mason certificates were handed out
• the exam was evaluated
• the ASTM Guide was revised
• a new masonry heater definition was developed, to be compatible with MHA, ASTM, Colorado, and the new International Building Code
• an MHA mission statement was developed
• a game plan for Colorado was developed
• a great field trip with Peter Austin was arranged to view the amazing tile vault work of the Guastavino Company
• a pilot program for sweeps to tune up basic masonry skills will be developed
• a healthy airing of differences of opinion and views took place
• it was decided to return to Wildacres next year
• our new administrator, Bev Marois, met everyone and is excited about working for MHA. I believe that she will become one of MHA's biggest assets.
• a game plan was developed for liasing with HPA
• the brand new Heater Mason's Reference Manual was presented and accepted

Photo Report
by Norbert Senf

I drove down on the Blueridge Parkway - it takes longer, but the scenery is spectacular. Bearfence Mountain summit at mile 56.4 provides a 360 degree view. It is a 0.8 mile roundtrip hike from the parking lot, including some exciting rock scrambles. Scroll right for the full 360 degree view.

Dawn in the Smokey Mountains, near mile 300. The entrance to Wildacres is between mile 336 and 337.

Meetings started at 9:30 a.m. in the library, which was ours for the week. John Gulland leads a session on the new Minnesota energy code - coming soon to a town near you.

Jay Hensley from SNEWS magazine was there for the week, and was busy taking notes and interviewing masons for an upcoming special issue that will cover the MHA meeting and discussions in detail. Subscribe now!

Dann Carnes and Doug Fry display their prizes - combination metric/inch tape measures, which were the reward for the top 2 scores in the MHA certification exam.

Did I mention the 3 gourmet meals per day? How does homemade Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast sound?

MHA President Pat Manley takes his hands-on certification. It consists of a 2 foot length of brick chimney, built to a 1/8" tolerance. An alternative is to work 40 hours under a certified heater mason. Since there were no certified heater masons prior to this meeting, everyone had to take the hands-on test.

Dann Carnes takes his hands-on test.

John Fisher (foreground) and Gary Hart take their tests while Bev Marois snaps a picture.

Tom Trout takes his hands on.

Norbert Senf takes his hands-on. J. "Judge" Pat Manley looks on.

Steve Bushway doing his hands-on test.

Pat Manley checks the work.

Frank Sotero and Dann Carnes do a teardown to prepare for the next test. Clay/sand mud was used (Goldart clay).

Gene Hedin mixing mud. Still going strong at age 73.

Jerry Frisch demonstrates the layout for a true herringbone pattern.

John Fisher tries his hand at cutting stone.

Pat Manley brought a demonstration soapstone bakeoven. Jerry Frisch, Ben Sotero, and Frank Sotero listen attentively.

Shooting the breeze over a beer.

John Fisher, Rod Zander and Pat Manley enjoy a quiet moment.

Pat Manley shows John Gulland his gold prospecting gear.

Wildacres director Mike House, MHA administrator Bev Marois, and SNEWS publisher Jay Hensley.

Guest lecturer, historian Peter Austin gives a presentation on the work of the Guastavino Company. It was a special technique for building lightweight masonry vaults from 1" tiles. The company did amazing work, including the dome of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, which was built without forms. Afterwards, we went on a field trip to the Basilica of Saint Lawrence in Asheville, N.C. to view some spectacular examples of Guastavino's work.

We were granted access to parts of the basilica not normally accessible to the public. This is an out of the way staircase, unplastered
and showing the 1 X 4 X 12 tile construction. The tile vaults under the steps were as thin as 2 1/2 inches in some places.

Another view of the same staircase. The vaults had a variable radius in both directions. Unfortunately, my digital camera ran out of memory at this point.

John Gulland and his partner Wendy brought their mountain bikes. I joined them on a couple of early morning jaunts. There is a beautiful loop from Wildacres to Little Switzerland that takes about 40 minutes and includes some VERY exciting downhill paved sections.

Doug Fry arrived from Michigan on his 1976 Harley Davidson Sportster.

The highlight of my trip was taking Doug's Harley for a spin on the Blueridge Parkway. Definitely a macho machine.

The Great Smokey Mountains.