| Ironworkers August National Festival Competition in Mackinaw City | |
| Special Note: Permission was received from the Muskegon Chronicle in posting the following article on the West Michigan Construction Alliance website. A special thanks goes to the Judd family for the use of their photographs.
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| Champions of iron: Local builders show their metal at competitions
Saturday, September 02, 2006 By Cindy Fairfield CHRONICLE SPORTS EDITOR Imagine |  |
| strapping on a 70-pound tool belt and trying to shimmy up a smooth column of iron rising 40 feet into the air as fast as you can.
Picture having to hug that column while screwing in a rivet or tying a rod with a series of steel wires. Ravenna native Todd Foreman and Muskegon's Mike Judd do it every day on their jobs. And they are so good at it both recently teamed with Dave Dumas from Manistee to take overall honors for the Ironworkers Local 340 at the 49th International Ironworkers Festival in Mackinaw City. They beat teams from as far away as New York, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Foreman even came within three-tenths of a second from unseating the seven-time champion in the world column climb and setting a world record. "Todd is just amazing at the column climb," said Judd, a 26-year-old Muskegon Reeths-Puffer graduate. "His work ethic is his biggest asset." LABOR OF LOVE Taking pride in one's work is what the festival is all about. The competition includes knot tying, spud throwing (lofting a heavy wrench at a target 25 feet away) and the rivet toss, in which red-hot rivets are thrown and caught by teammates in a can on a timed basis. They are the kind of skills ironworkers use every day on their jobs while building bridges and erecting tall buildings. It is physically demanding work. And it is dangerous. Last year, Foreman's best friend, Zach Nelson, fell from a beam while working on a building in Kalamazoo and was impaled on a rod. He died soon after. "It is dangerous, but I love it," said Foreman, who received his college degree in Occupational Health and Safety before deciding to shed the tie and join the blue-collar world working in iron. "I always said college was something to fall back on if ironworking didn't work out." Wednesday, Foreman, 30, was taken by ambulance to Spectrum Hospital after he was in a two-car collision near his Coopersville home and both vehicles were totaled. He went to work the next day. "I was so mad at him," said Jamie, Todd's wife and the mother of his three children. "He just refuses to miss a day of work." Last year, Foreman fell two stories from a building while working for Bee Steel after his supervisor stepped in to help him "throw" a piece of sheet metal. Amazingly, Foreman, who fell backwards off the beam, was wearing a safety harness and landed on his feet. When Foreman's ashen supervisor made it over to the edge to see if his worker was OK, Foreman jokingly had a tape measure out and was measuring the beam where he landed. "Boss!" he hollered up. "That beam is 20 feet long!" And, of course, Foreman finished out the day on the job, despite the scary incident. The camaraderie and joy of working with their hands is important to ironworkers, said Judd, who has spent the past several weeks working on the Victories Casino in Petoskey. "I've worked in a factory, built houses, and there is nothing I love more than this job," said Judd, who has three children with wife, Brandi. "There is great satisfaction that comes with building something and driving down the road with your kids and showing them what you helped create." NO PAIN, NO GAIN Foreman played on Ravenna's 1994 state football championship team and was part of a squad that won 23 straight games. "I like my job because it's like football practice every day," said Foreman, who also gives God credit for helping him achieve his goals. "The adrenaline is always pumping, and you're always trying to outwork your brother." Judd, who works for Birmingham Steel, was a three-sport standout at Reeths-Puffer and one of the toughest pitchers around. Foreman got involved in iron festival competitions when a co-worker watched how fast he could scale a steel column. He practiced climbing a 40-foot column, which he erected at his house, 490 times last year. Last month, he scurried up the iron rail in 4.8 seconds, good for second place. But, individually, Foreman won the all-around competition, and his team placed first. "When I found out our local won, I was pretty excited about that," said Tom Scheuneman, business agent of Ironworkers Local 340, which covers an area from Manistee to Kalamazoo. "You can't believe the training that goes into the job. Ironwork definitely isn't for everyone." Foreman's training began when he was 7. His father gave him an ax and maul and sent him out every day in the winter to chop wood for the family of nine. "Todd is very intense, but he is very helpful to others," said Judd. "Even though he is very good at what he does, he tries to help others become better, too." Being good has its rewards, and not just at festival time. "Ironworking is one of the most competitive jobs around," said Foreman. "You want to make your (beam) connections faster, because it makes you look good and helps you earn more money." And, said Judd, it makes you feel good about yourself. "The exhilaration you get (from winning an event at the ironworkers festival) isn't like striking out someone or scoring a touchdown," said Judd. "It's about taking pride in your work." | |
