June 2019 Elevator Constructor

Brothers and Sisters:

As this issue reaches your home, the active Brothers and Sisters of Local 17 will be celebrating with the retired Brothers and Sisters of Local 17 at the annual Retiree’s Dinner held at Harry’s Steak House on Brecksville Road in Independence.

Every year I see many of the same faces. A few still look as good as the day they retired.
Many of them stooping a little lower, moving a little slower, stretching to hear and keep up with the conversation. It’s always good to see them, whether they drove themselves, hitched a ride with a buddy or were driven to the occasion by family.

After drinking a bunch of beer and telling a bunch of elevator lies, we sit down to eat. One of the first orders of business is to acknowledge the retirees at the gathering and read the names of those who passed away in the previous year. This is always a sad time. Many of the men I knew only as faces at the dinner, golf outing, Christmas party or stories told over coffee. Now it seems I’m moving into the phase of my life where I know them as faces from the machine room.

A couple of years ago I opined in a column that when looking around at a safety meeting for the “Old Timers” I realized that at some point my peers and I had become them. I don’t know exactly when that happened but, I know when I realized it. It was our turn to guide those around us like those who came before guided us.

As I look around the dinner every year, the hair gets a little grayer, the waistlines a little bigger and the stories a little taller but the laughter and camaraderie bind them together in this life and the next.

I look forward to the day when I can join them.
Where are they working?

DJ Spring and Deven Shields doing a two-car mod at Eaton on Chagrin for Otis,

Bill Sellers is in West Virginia doing a jack for Kone,

Ryan Todd and Rob Timko at Tru Hotel on East 70th installing two cars for Schindler,

Ken Bowles and Shane Huff at the Cleveland Clinic P Building doing a four-car mod for Otis,

Dave Gnagy and Matt Carlton at Steris in Painesville installing one car for Schindler,

Joe Sumph and Brian Bond at the Holiday inn on Rockside doing a five-car mod for Schindler,

Don Kaiser and Matt Herbold at the airport doing escalator work for Schindler,

Bob Rawdon and Dion Yatsko in Columbus doing a jack for Gable,

Dave Adrian and Matt Paige at the mill doing maintenance for Otis,

Bernie Sickle and Cory Ptak at the Renaissance Hotel doing door operators for Schindler,

Shawn Yatsko, Dan Varga, Mark Byram and Felix DeJesus finishing a mod at Moreland Courts for Schindler,

Anthony Metcalf and Jason Saunders at Euclid City Schools installing a two-stop elevator for Thyssen,

John Logue and Pat Pollock doing a one-car mod at Lutheran Hospital West,

Dave Francis and Andrew Daniels finishing a two-car mod at Cleveland Athletic Club for Kone,

Jim Thompson and Lem Hurd doing a two-car mod at 740 Euclid for Otis,

Dave Lehotan and Brian Chambers doing door operators at Lake Edge Condos for Schindler,

Al Ward and Brandyn Alley doing a two-car mod at Progressive Alpha Complex for Otis,

Bob Meyer and Jon McCuan doing a two-car mod at Fenway Manor for Thyssen,

Matt Hausler and Jason Mays doing a two-car mod at the Lincoln Building for Gable,

Drew Williams and Joel Reyes doing a five-car mod at the May Company Building for Kone,

Pat McCann and Brian Owens installing two cars at St. Bernardos for Thyssen,

Tim Narowitz and Matt Harden at Randall Park Apartments doing a one-car mod for Thyssen,

Jim Ehrbar and Marc Carollo at St. Augustine on Detroit doing a six-stop mod for Gable,

Scott Hicks and Tino Chaibai at Monticello Middle School installing one car for Gable and,

Ed Gimmel and Dave Ford replacing travel cables at 1 Cleveland Center for Schindler.

As of this writing the bench is clear.
Until next month…

Work smart, work safe and slow down for safety.
Don
Dknapik@windstream.net