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Robinson Wins Title of World’s Best Bricklayer

Words: Jeff Farmakes/Public/News/20110129080000-1.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Ray Robinson and his mason tender Lynette Darby, 1st place overall with 697 brick laid." />
Ray Robinson and his mason tender Lynette Darby, 1st place overall with 697 brick laid.
The 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National bricklaying championship decides, “Who is the World’s Best Bricklayer?” Mason Ray Robinson from Florida, took first place overall with 697 brick laid. This timed, 60 minute competition was held on Wednesday, 2:00 PM CST, January 19th, 2011, at the Masonry Construction’s Challenge Arena at the 2011 World of Concrete / World of Masonry trade show. This is the largest annual construction trade show in the world which is held once a year at the Las Vegas Convention Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National is a bricklaying competition comprised of the best bricklayers in the world. Twenty, 2-man teams made up of a mason and mason tender, compete to lay the most brick while meeting strictly defined quality standards. The competition has the largest winner’s purse of any masonry competition. The competitors compete for well over $100,000 in cash and prizes before a crowd of as many as 3,000 spectators and web cast audience of 5,000 viewers.

First place winner, 44 year old Ray Robinson, a mason with J.A.M Construction, Inc., Gainesville, Florida, was declared ”World’s Best Bricklayer,” with 697 brick laid in just sixty minutes. Robinson is proud to attest that he has 27 years experience as a mason and he is proficient at installing brick, block and stone units–a skill set that is becoming less common. Robinson won the grand prize of a new 2011 Ford F-250, 4 x 4 XLT, V8 Super Duty, CrewCab, truck that he drove home with his wife and father in-law. Ray also won $5,000 in cash, a STIHL TS 420 A-EWC Cutquik® cut-off machine, and thousands in additional sponsor prizes. His mason tender was Lynette Darby, also with J.A.M. Construction, Inc. Lynette is the first female ever to compete in the SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National.

/Public/News/20110129080000-2.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Dave Moyle, 2011 SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN and 3rd place overall with 625 brick laid." />
Dave Moyle, 2011 SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN and 3rd place overall with 625 brick laid.
The SPEC MIX Bricklayer 500 TOP CRAFTSMAN® award, recognized as the event’s next highest achievement, was earned by mason Dave Moyle, of Moyle Masonry, Wadena, Iowa. Dave laid 625 brick, and his combined brick count and quality of his wall was judged the, “most sellable” by the majority of the officials. Dave’s tender was Pat Pope of Volga, Iowa. As the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN, Dave won $5,000 in cash, an EZ Grout MH-12 “Little Piggy” mixer, a STIHL TS 420 A- EWC Cutquik® cut-off machine and thousands in sponsor prizes. Both Moyle and Robinson will return to the 2012 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National to defend their respective titles.

The 2nd place overall winner was mason Jeff Burton, with Miter Masonry Construction, Cincinnati, Ohio. Jeff laid 671 brick and his tender was his son, Raymond Burton. Jeff won $4,000 cash and sponsor prizes.

The 3rd place overall winner was mason Dave Moyle, with Moyle Masonry, Wadena, Iowa. Dave laid 625 brick and his tender Pat Pope of Volga, Iowa. Dave won $3,000 in cash and sponsor prizes.

/Public/News/20110129080000-3.jpg" width="600" height="338" border="0" alt="Raymond Burton, SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER winner." />
Raymond Burton, SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER winner.
The SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER® winner was Raymond Burton, with Miter Masonry Construction, Cincinnati, Ohio. Raymond won $2,500 in cash and sponsor prizes. The SPEC MIX TOUGHEST TENDER is a preliminary event held just before SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500 National. In this event the tenders race the clock to set up a predefined work area for the mason. Raymond’s winning time was 20:20:56 minutes.

Established to showcase the skill and craftsmanship of masonry, the general description of the bricklaying competition is as follows: The contest requires all masons to meet the quality standards of the event. They have 60 minutes to complete their 26 foot 8 inch, double wythe brick wall. The competition has four awards; 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place are based on the highest brick count meeting the quality standards. The 4th award, and arguably considered the most coveted price, the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN is judged the most sellable wall over 500 brick. The walls are closely evaluated by 20 carefully selected masonry officials averaging 20 years of bricklaying experience. Many of the competitors consider winning the SPEC MIX TOP CRAFTSMAN award as their main goal, and it has the second highest award purse.

This year’s competition was made up of winning bricklayers from 11 Regional qualifying competitions held throughout the United States and Canada. Competition bricklayers come from states such as Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Iowa, Utah, Kentucky, Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, North Carolina, the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, and Ontario, and a mason from London, England. The 1st Place & Craftsmanship winners from the 2010 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® also returned to defend their titles.

For more details about this event go to www.specmixbricklayer500.com. This web site offers a FREE, webcast connection of the 2011 SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® National.
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