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When Mercury
Marine Engineer Paul Adams asked me who I was going to
have do the welding for the Elkhart River Queen engine
upgrade project I told him I hadn't thought that for
along, Paul suggested I seek out our local vocational
school. He has used vocational schools in other
areas for similar projects. I contacted Brandon
Eakins, the director of the Elkhart Area Career Center
to see if they would have any interest in helping out
with this project. I knew the school recently
built the Tom Mittler Welding facility on their campus.
Brandon spoke with his instructors who came out to the
Queen to look over the project, they were excited and
thought it would be an excellent experience for the
students. This past Saturday, January14, they
began the arduous task of removing the steel that held
the old engines in place for the past 68 years.
Under the direction of instructor John Kraus and another
adult welder, the students armed with a plasma cutter
completed the task in four hours. I would like to
give a special shout out to our Fire Chief Shaun
Edgerton who granted my request to allow Reserve Engine
3 and firefighters Dave Richter, Ronnie Shekell and Jim
Vance to stand-by onsite just in case of a flair up, all
went well. |
