2019 BAC Western States Apprenticeship Contest
June 22nd, 2019 - Honolulu, Hawaii

It started early in 2019 when the Inland Northwest Masonry Apprenticeship and Montana Apprenticeship held their local contests. Zachary Morton came out on top for the Inland Northwest contest while Joseph Byrnes beat out the field in Montana. A few months later the Western Washington Masonry Trades holds their contest and the winner from each trade announced: Harley Butler(Brick), T.J. Salazar(Marble), Tom Xiong(PCC), and Michael Cerciello(Tile). The field was set and six apprentices from our local were on their way to Hawaii to compete against the winners of the other local contests for the West Region.

During the week leading up to the big day; coordinators, judges, International/Local Representatives, contestants, and family members converged on the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort. A few years ago, members of BAC Local 1 Hawaii restored the famous 31,000 tile mosaic on the Rainbow tower, and the BAC crafts were on display everywhere in the resort right down to the flagstone sidewalks. Contestants settled in and attended an orientation on Friday to familiarize them with the projects they would be performing. 

Saturday morning at 6:00am, 34 contestants boarded the bus bound for the contest site at the Honolulu Community College. The apprentices knew that their competitors were the best that the other training programs had to offer and the nerves crept in. The weather was hot and humid with scattered showers throughout the day, but in the end the contestants stepped up and put their best work out there. With the contest wrapped and judges beginning deliberation, everyone else headed back to their hotel rooms to get cleaned up and ready for the awards banquet that evening. 

While all of our apprentices did great, we want to give special recognition to Zachary Morton who took 1st place in Brick, and T.J. Salazar who took 2nd place in Tile. Mahalo.