Comments on: An Award-Winning Letter

By: Kim Renfrow

Kim Renfrow — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:22:13 +0000

Upon reading this article I feel that carpenters /builders have not changed thru time. I started in much the same way 27 years ago as a carpenter with a dream of building projects that will stand the test of time with the right materials built on stable ground. I have enjoyed the trade by being blessed by building custom homes as I have progressed from carpenter projects to homes as my reputation grew. It truly requires a passion which provides the energy and ethics that builds your customer base over time. Now after the economy hase fallen at the age of 52 I have the blessing of being in the field phyically preforming the work that my original passion had started.This has been an energizing boost to the dreams that I had started with and share with young craftsmen as they grow in the industry. There can be no greater reward given than passion you apply. Kim Renfrow

By: Mike Guertin

Mike Guertin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:35:24 +0000

I’m actually hoping the article I wrote for Kitchen Garden about cultivating rhubarb will live on. It starts with skipping school at 12 to join my mother on a tramp through the land my great grandparents farmed to locate a clump of rhubarb. We moved some root pieces to my parent’s home and then to mine 35 years later. Roots of rhubarb, roots of family, roots of fellow craftworkers – it all matters.

By: Gary Katz

Gary Katz — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:56:34 +0000

So Mike,
Which one of your Fine Homebuilding articles do you think people will be reading one hundred years from now? :0)
Gary

By: Mike Guertin

Mike Guertin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:21:31 +0000

Will the words we write about our craft today live a century on and hold those same timeless lessons? I hope the valuable ones (like the 1912 piece) do.

This snippit of the past gives me pause to think that dispite the newfangled materials and tools we have at hand, the heart and soul of carpenters / builders hasn’t changed in all the years. It’s neat to think that someday – a hundred years from now – someone like Jeff will bring something written in our time about construction to our “Brother Builders” attentiion in that time.

By: Alan R Holbrook

Alan R Holbrook — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:34:52 +0000

Wouldn’t be hard to extrapolate from this article to just about any trade, profession or endeavor. We could sure use it! The final sentence tells all.

By: Kent Brobeck

Kent Brobeck — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:10:20 +0000

Gary, great read, thanks! Where has Jeff Burks been hiding? We need him back at JLC online forums. Always enjoyed his posts.

By: Colby Macumber

Colby Macumber — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:27:04 +0000

Great article, thanks for posting.

By: Ed Burt

Ed Burt — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:57:55 +0000

This is timeless. Thank you for sharing it.

By: Kreg mcmahon

Kreg mcmahon — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:48:19 +0000

Thank you for posting this article very interesting to read and with high standards and principles.

By: alec milstein

alec milstein — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:18:09 +0000

A jewel of wise words, truly. Even more valuable today than when they were written.