Students earn biathlon caps
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
HATS OFF TO YOU — The local organizing committee of February’s International Biathlon Union E.ON World Cup recently presented the building trades students at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center (PIRCTC), who spent much of December constructing fencing that lined the perimeter of the Nordic Heritage Center, with embroidered baseball caps as a way of thanking them for their work.
Thirty students spent about three weeks last December cutting, assembling and painting the wooden fencing as a community service project. Wearing their new caps are, from left, front row: Craig Nadeau, Brian Buck, James Bradley, Shane Buckley, Jared Lunney and Jon Dougherty. Middle row: Zack Lunney, Locke Robbins, Nathan Beaton and Seth Powers. Back row: Spencer Bragan, building trades instructor; Dustin McLaughlin, Steve Towle, event manager; David Belyea, stadium chief; and Nick Monroe.
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
PRESQUE ISLE — As a way of thanking the building trades students at the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center (PIRCTC) who spent much of December constructing fencing that lined the perimeter of the Nordic Heritage Center during February’s International Biathlon Union E.ON World Cup, the local organizing committee bought each of them embroidered baseball caps which were presented last Tuesday.
“We wanted to give the students some recognition for the massive work that they did for us, and we all thought that a hat would be nice,” said David Belyea, who served as the stadium chief during the biathlon. “The organizing committee decided to buy hats and have them embroidered with the letters ‘PIRCTC’ on the back.
“When I told the organizing committee that the students had agreed to build the fencing, I heard cheering in the background from folks who had worked on this stuff before,” he said. “Buying them hats was just a small token of our appreciation. They really helped us out a lot.”
The navy blue hats feature the biathlon logo on the front.
Thirty students spent about three weeks last December cutting, assembling and painting the wooden fencing as a community service project.
“They made 1,200 feet of new fencing for us,” said Belyea. “We had about 1,200 feet out there already and we used every inch of it.”
“It was a massive project that we didn’t have the manpower or the time to do,” said Steve Towle, event manager. “Usually it takes about two years to pull an event like that off and we did it in six months. PIRCTC was able to provide the saws, the manpower and the time. It’s a painstaking project and they did it very well.”
Towle knows firsthand how time-consuming the fencing project can be.
“I helped paint the first 1,200 feet,” he said. “There were four or five adult volunteers who helped with the manufacturing, the fabrication and the painting right through. It’s a painstaking process … there’s no getting around it.”
The fencing is now part of the Nordic Heritage Center’s inventory.
“This was our first World Cup that required a lot more fencing and delineation of areas so we had to have a bunch more fencing,” said Towle. “Until it’s broken or somebody changes the dimensions required at these types of events, we’ll be able to use it again and again.”
In addition, the students constructed over 110 uprights, which the fence sections fit into, as well as some 8-foot and 6-foot sections of fencing.
Spencer Bragan, building trades instructor, said the students spent more than 60 hours constructing the fencing.
“We had to do some measuring, cutting, had to lay out and make a jig for the fence, so we put the backer boards in and then put all the pickets up right and equally spaced,” he said. “With the fence posts, obviously the holes had to be the right height to accept the fence, and it had to be uniform. It was like an assembly line project.”
Towle said when people hear the word “volunteer,” they assume it’s onsite for the event itself.
“This was one example where we had 30 kids involved months before the event. It takes a lot of work to host a World Cup event, but it’s not all done at the venue,” he said. “A lot of volunteering opportunities exist before the actual event even happens.”
Local officials anticipate the Star City could host another “big event” in 2014.
