WCC Annual Meeting Recap 2014

The West Coast Chapter celebrates 30th Anniversary May 15 – 17, 2014 – The Cliffs Resort, Pismo Beach, CA

Many rather (in)famous WCC meetings have been held in the Pismo Beach area over the years. After a lengthy absence where we held our annual meetings in conjunction with various state DOT training sessions, we returned to Pismo Beach in 2013. The 2013 meeting was a huge success, leaving no doubt in our minds as to where we should celebrate our 30th Annual Meeting.

What an amazing event! The Cliffs Resort once again catered to our every need, providing great food and atmosphere. The weather on Thursday was a little warm for our golfers and we sweated a bit through the welcome reception but it was perfect for Friday and Saturday.

Thank you VERY much to all of our sponsors and attendees for your time, support and dedication to this great chapter. 30 years is an impressive milestone, we wouldn’t be where we are today without countless hours of service and dedication from our members.

We took this opportunity to honor some of those who have worked so hard over the years to bring the Chapter to where it is today. We honored these individuals with Member Emeritus status. These are our first “inductees” into this status and we were thrilled to see those who were able to attend this meeting. Some of the Member Emeritus Class of 2014 who were in Pismo have not attended a WCC meeting in many years. In addition to the Member Emeritus individuals honored, there were many others in attendance that helped to make it a memorable occasion, read on to find out more.

Thank you to all who attended and to all of our sponsors! The great turnout is just another reason why the West Coast Chapter has been strong for 30 years and counting!

 

Golf Tournament and Welcome Reception

Our thanks to Jeff Ohlson with Williams Form Engineering for organizing, yet another, wildly successful golf tournament. Jeff’s efforts always make this a very profitable, and fun, event for the chapter. We had almost 60 golfers and while the temperature was 103 at tee time, there was plenty of good company and beverages to make us forget the thermometer. Also, thanks to Vinnie DiFabio and Mike Hagy, with PACO Equipment, for their on-course fundraising efforts.

At the 2013 golf tournament, some members felt like we needed a gathering after golf – to hand out awards, get registered for the meeting, and socialize; thus was born the idea of the Welcome Reception.

We originally thought we would include Presidents Awards at the Welcome Reception, turns out we were far too busy enjoying ourselves to focus on an awards presentation! We had tons of great appetizers, from Roasted Turkey to Salmon skewers to Lambsicles. The weather cooled down just enough to make it a perfect evening outside on the Waterfall Terrace, so perfect that we chose to stay a bit longer than we originally intended! It was truly great to see so many old friends and new faces together; we’ll happily be including the welcome reception as part of our “new” tradition.

 

Friday May 16, 2014 Education Session

The education and training of our current and future members is one of the main purposes of the West Coast Chapter. Friday’s Education Session, assembled by Will Gehrke – Case Pacific and Steve Williams – Condon Johnson, was another informative and useful session with great attendance.

With gratitude to all of our speakers: Colin Perkins with Condon Johnson, Will Gehrke with Case Pacific, Tony Kraut with Watson, Inc., Rick Walsh with Hayward Baker, Ryan Thody with DBM Contractors, Jeff Veilleux with PJ’s Rebar, Bill Mobley with Bull’s Eye Drilling and Eleazar Sotelo with Malcolm Drilling.

Over 80 of us enjoyed a great lunch in the California sunshine. Those who only attended lunch missed the story telling by Bill Mobley and Tony Kraut’s poetry (see insert at right), not to mention an overall informative and entertaining session.

 

Cocktail Reception with Silent Auction, Dinner with Live Auction, Awards and Live Music!

The Cliffs Resort went all out to make sure our 30^th Anniversary was outstanding, from the towering centerpieces that probably needed engineered foundations, to the exceptional food. It was such a treat to have so many of the Emeritus members join us. It was a great reminder of where we have been and who has helped us along that journey. Scot Litke, editor of Foundation Drilling magazine, and long time friend of WCC, regaled us with a presentation about our history while looking toward our future. Scot helped us introduce and honor our 2014 Members Emeritus. We appreciate all of Scot’s help at this meeting, and throughout the years.

We had 42 silent auction items and three live auction packages. Thanks to Joe Patterson with TEI Rock Drills, our auction chair, for twisting arms and getting a great selection of auction items – we raised over $29,000! Also thanks to Joe Patterson for joining The Mighty Croon Dogs on stage after the awards presentation for great live music, everyone had a lot of fun.

 

30^th Annual Board Meeting

After a wonderful couple of days celebrating our past, it was time to think about our future on Saturday morning for the 30^th Annual Board Meeting. While we had a full agenda, the meeting moved along at a healthy pace and, even with much discussion and a great lunch, managed to finish up a little early.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the Board Meeting; the minutes will be out to all members soon. There were our usual committee reports as well as a report from Mike Moore with ADSC International. There was a progress update on the two projects requesting funding from the WCC IAF and a conversation regarding the impact on dues for WCC members with the “new” International Contractor Category. There was a smooth Bylaw revision discussion with everyone in attendance seemingly in agreement. The suggested bylaw amendments will be circulated in the near future to all members for review and comment. The meeting had two Associate presentations – Kelly Tractor and Bay Shore Systems.

The next meeting will be held September 27^th at PJ’s Rebar in Fremont, CA. For our next Annual Meeting, we are exploring locations in both Northern and Southern California with more information to follow. Thanks to all who attended the board meeting on Saturday.

“Thanks to Becky Patterson for the hard work and long hours planning and being stressed out in preparation for this meeting.” Rick Walsh, President.

Many Thanks to..

Mike Moore of ADSC International for attending our meetings and providing support.

Sherry Epperson with Foundation Drilling Magazine for being our official photographer!

BD Smith, and everyone in the Dallas office of ADSC, who assemble and ship meeting materials for the chapters.

Scot Litke, for being our Speaker and for being a long-term supporter and WCC devotee.

 

Download the full event recap here: Meeting Recap 2014.05