Apprentices and journeymen members of Iron Workers Local 29 stepped up to the plate big-time in Oregon City, donating nearly 1,000 work-hours to construct an 80×160-square-foot pre-engineered metal building that will be used as an indoor hitting/practice facility for the high school and youth baseball programs.
“So many wonderful people have stepped up to the plate. We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Oregon City High School baseball coach Greg Lord. “And the ironworkers have been just great. What a great group of people.”
The indoor practice facility has been a dream in Oregon City going on 20 years. Lord and other baseball faithful have pounded the pavement in search of in-kind donations of cash and labor. Last year, a major donation boosted momentum, taking it to the $440,000 mark.
“But when it came to the building itself, we were somewhat perplexed how to do it,” Lord said.
It just so happened that Local 29 Apprenticeship Instruction Kirk Bearden, a 20-year union member, lived in the area and was active as a coach in Oregon City’s Junior Baseball Organization.
“Kirk said he might be able to help,” Lord told the Labor Press.
Structural steel building construction is part of the Iron Workers apprenticeship training program. Bearden saw it not only as an opportunity for the union to give back to the community, but also as a teaching opportunity for his apprentices. Arrangements were made, and for the last several months Bearden has brought his first-, second-, third- and fourth-year apprenticeship classes out to the ballfield to work on the project. [Two apprentices, Adonis Mott and Miguel Meza, are Oregon City High School alumni.] All of the hours apprentices log goes toward completion to journey-level status. Bearden said some journeymen Iron Workers got wind of the project and also have come out on their Saturdays off to help do some of the more difficult work.
“Labors of love — learning and giving back to the community at the same time; we teach our players the same thing,” Lord said.
When complete, the Iron Workers will have donated more than 1,000 hours of work valued at more than $30,000.
The indoor practice facility — located on the high school campus, north of and adjacent to Matile Field — will be one of the largest in the state. It will house four 70-foot netted hitting tunnels with space for pitching mounds and other drill work. And it will be open for use by the entire community, not just the high school.
“We were the only team in the Three Rivers League without an indoor hitting facility,” Lord said. “Now we’re going to have one of the best facilities around.”
Lord says that businesses and individuals who still wish to donate materials, labor or money to complete the project may do so by contacting him at 503-880-5377.
I’ve done plenty of this kind of volunteer work. Don’t get me wrong, but there should be funding to pay these people – MY brothers and sisters, if only the 1% weren’t cheating the taxman. Where is their sense of volunteerism?