I just saw this on the local news and thought it was pretty neat.
A man who helped lay the bricks for the original Memorial Stadium at the University of Minnesota will have the honor of putting the first brick in place for the Gophers’ new football stadium.
Hilding Mortenson, of Richfield, who is now 100 years old, placed the first brick during a private ceremony at 2 p.m. today as progress on the $288 million TCF Bank Stadium reaches another milestone on its way to opening in the fall of 2009.
Mortenson was 16 and a sophomore in high school when he worked as a bricklayer when Memorial Stadium was built in 1924. His father, Nels Mortenson, was the general superintendent in charge of building Memorial stadium. Hilding is the uncle of Mort Mortenson, Jr., of Mortenson Construction, the company that is building the new stadium.
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I was watching a show on TV forgot what it was, but refrig. Perry is
laying brick.
Well, he's built like a brick refrigerator
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I have touched on this before in another thread a good while ago, ya know you see all sorts of older brick and stone masons ,still kickin around and practicing their trade, I mean dudes in their late sixties though early eighties still throwing mud on a wall, my greatuncle Cub Sours was still laying brick into his late seventies , my grandfather Clayton Webb still bricked into his early seventies, probley both of them would have still been first up the scaffolding today if a diet of cornbread and hogmeat hadn't given them both strokes a few years apart.Right now it's only My oldman and an uncle, plus myself that do any work together.
Thomas Jefferson, and Winston Churchill both practiced the trade as a hobby for relaxation---Relaxation? go figure,
I personally taught my oldest son how to lay brick , and he is pretty good at it, and one of the best laborers I ever had that could work and tend two masons at a time is my oldest daughter, she is 105pds. head cheerleader type , that could do 45 overhand pullups . But alas both are professioal peeps now and get some one else to do their masonry for them, or get me to do it of course,with them carring brick and stone and mixing the mud.
A cheerleader carrying brick!?
Do you have a picture of that? ;-)
Some of the best times I ever have had working , are with my two oldest . I am not into sports, but they where/are so I had a deal with them at a very early age , You help me on weekends and when ever you can and I will support yoursports carreer, go to as many swim meets "she was top sixteen in the nation in 4 events " and traveled all over the contry, cheerleading competitions again nationaly ranked. Him another swimmer -nationaly ranked ,olympic trials qualifier and lacrosse, played in collage Division III, had scolorships to div. I and II schools but messed up his math grades in his senior year so he is still paying off collage debt from expensive div III .. prtty good for two hillbilly kids, that is what they were called, untill they were getting out off the pool and reaching for their towels while the kids that called them that were still 5 meters behind them in the water .Yes I think mixing mud and carring bricks and stones was good for them.
Yea, college and all the money he made in the NFL and look at him. How does one pizz away that much money?
Doug
Edited 4/7/2008 10:22 pm ET by DougU
I don't thing his money is gone, he talked about going fishing when the mood struck.
Besides what else is he going to do, get arrested?
Besides what else is he going to do, get arrested?
There is always that!
I thought I read somewhere that he had blown through his money - oh well, it was his to do so.
Doug
Just remember, when he turns 50 or 55 he is elegible to recieve his NFL pension.
what is the NFL pension? Not For Long?
For a few days I worked alongside a former NFL player--hopefully he was better at football.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
My grandapa, dad, brother, 3 great uncles, 5 uncles and 6 cousins - all bricklayers. The family has been in it almost 100 years. I was in it until I was 25, then went to engineering - sometimes I feel like a traitor.
The greatest thing about a family legacy in masonry, is that you can go see what was worked on 75 years ago, and likely it is still standing. I like driving by the last chimney I carried hod for my uncle on before he passed away - its a good way to remember him.