As The Drum Turns…

Squeezing by the second place boat by just .04 lbs., Jamie Nelms and Alex Chandler, aboard the 26’ Sailfish “She Said Yes,” hauled a huge 51.3 lb. king mackerel to the scales to take first place in the Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club King Mackerel Tournament. Hailing from Mebane and Cary, NC, respectively, the anglers brought over $19,000 back to the middle of the state.

“Well, I’d caught a big one two weeks before in the shipping channel,” Nelms replied when asked how the crew decided where to fish. “And Alex pre-fished during the week and saw some nice fish caught, so we decided to sit there all day and wait for a big one.”

The anglers had plenty of action at first, landing sharks and several 3-6 lb. spanish mackerel, but they didn’t see a king mackerel until well after lunch.

“The bite turned on about 2:30,” Nelms said. “We doubled up right after that and landed a fish around 20. Pretty soon after we got the lines back out we hooked the big one.”

Their monster king inhaled a double pogy rig 25’ deep on the downrigger as the anglers were trolling near the third set of buoys off Beaufort Inlet in 45’ of water. As the king tore line from the reel, the anglers had an unpleasant surprise.

“We had somebody run over our other lines behind the boat,” Nelms continued. “We were so lucky he bit the down bait or he’d have gotten cut off. That’s just the way it goes fishing the shipping channel on a weekend.”

With a big fish running one way and the rest of their lines running into another boat’s prop, Nelms was forced to cut the remaining lines to try and chase their fish.

“I think we were actually able to get after the fish quicker than if I’d had to clear them,” he explained.

After making a 200+ yard initial run, the king came to surface around 10 minutes into the fight and the anglers saw they had a solid fish on.

“We saw he was a good fish,” Nelms said. “Then he took a couple more runs. We probably fought him for about 20 minutes before I said ‘we need to hurry up and get him in the boat. I’m going to have a heart attack if we don’t’.”

After they’d worked the king close enough, Nelms leaned out and planted the gaff, hauling it over the Sailfish’s gunwale.

“We started high-fiving then,” Nelms continued. “We both thought it was a 50. It was the biggest king either of us had ever caught and the first tournament I’d won.”

After packing up and heading for the scales, the anglers made a wise decision that likely secured their win.

“We debated taking the fish out of the bag and taking a picture, but we decided not to,” Nelms explained. “That fish probably would’ve lost enough fluid to knock us down to second if we had.”

Skip Conklin and the “Ocean Athlete,” from Morehead City, were right on Nelms and Chandler’s heels with a 51.26 lb. king, pocketing over $10,000.

Atlantic Beach’s Jimmy Butts, on the “Jimmy Mack,” weighed in a 43. 84 lb. king to capture third place and over $5,500. Fishing with Mike and John Davis aboard the 28’ Privateer center console, Butts decided to fish an area typically hot this time of year.

“We didn’t pre-fish,” Butts explained. “We just used our past history. We keep logbooks going back 10-12 years, and Drum Inlet has always been hot this time of year.”

Heading around the point of Cape Lookout for 4 Mile Rock off Drum Inlet, the “Jimmy Mack” crew didn’t wait long for their big bite.

“We got there, marked a good pod of bait, made a couple circles of it, and that’s when it happened,” Butts continued.

A naked pogy trolled in the middle of the spread fooled the 43 pounder, and Butts took the rod while the king ran.

“He made a pretty good run,” he said. “We got him to the top 1-2 times, and then he made a few more short runs before Mike gaffed him. We really didn’t think much of it until we put it in the boat. Only then did we realize how big it was.”

After continuing to follow the bait at 4 Mile Rock and landing a few fish in the 20’s, the anglers decided to troll towards the scales in order to weigh their fish as quickly as possible.

A 42.64 lb. king earned fourth place for Brandon Sewell, on the “Been Hot.” Tim Newton, aboard the “Deal King,” finished out the top five with a 34.42 lb. king.

This year’s Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club KMT attracted 143 boats. More information and full results are available on the club’s website at www.rswsc.org.

Jamie Nelms and Alex Chandler, fishing aboard the "She Said Yes," hauled a 51.3 lb. king mackerel to the scales to earn first place and over $19,000 in the Raleigh Saltwater Sportfishing Club KMT.

Chandler Concrete Company’s Mill St plant in Greensboro has earned the Green-Star Certification from the National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA). They are the 120^th ready mixed concrete plant across the country to earn the certification to date.

The NRMCA’s Green-Star Certification is a plant-specific certification that utilizes an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on a model of continuous improvement.  Qualification for this certification requires a rigorous review of the plant’s environmental management systems to ensure there is a structured program in place to minimize/reduce possible pollution and to make the most efficient use of natural resources such as water and air and must include a process for continual monitoring and continuous improvement.

Chandler Concrete Company’s Burlington Worth St plant recently earned the Green-Star Certification from the National Ready Mix Concrete Association (NRMCA), one of less than 120 ready mixed concrete plants across the country to earn the certification to date.

The NRMCA’s Green-Star Certification is a plant-specific certification that utilizes an Environmental Management System (EMS) based on a model of continuous improvement.  Qualification for this certification requires a rigorous review of the plant’s environmental management systems to ensure there is a structured program in place to minimize/reduce possible pollution and to make the most efficient use of natural resources such as water and air and must include a process for continual monitoring and continuous improvement.

Brian Marsh Named 2009 Driver of the Year

Charles Gray and Derek Boswell are also honored

While business conditions dictated a change in format, the Safe Driver of the Year competition once again recognized the top individual efforts from 2009.

With nearly 100 employees attending the June 1^st event, the nominees from the three award categories were recognized as well as other individual and group accomplishments in the areas of safety, productivity and company service.

The event featured an outdoor venue including a catered dinner under a large festival tent at the newly completed landscape/hardscape display at the corporate office in Burlington, NC.

Brian Marsh, Siler City Mixer Driver was recognized for the top honor as the company’s Safe Mixer Driver of the Year having been selected from 32 very deserving nominees. The finalists included Rudy Coleman, Reidsville, Calvin Cowan, Salisbury, and Eddie Thompson, Greensboro.

Derek Boswell, Hillsborough Mixer Driver was recognized as the Level I “Rookie” Safe Driver of the Year winner from 20 nominees. The other finalist was Wayne Carner, Christiansburg Mixer Driver

Charles Gray, Danville Tanker Driver was recognized as the Safe Delivery Driver winner from seven nominees. The other finalist was Stanley Linkous, Christiansburg Block Delivery Driver.

Congratulations to the winners and to all those nominated. We are very fortunate to have some of the best driving professionals in our industry

In addition to the Driver of the Year winners, other recognition included our top safe yardage haulers for 2009, cumulative safe working/driving milestones, driver championship participants, plant safety awards and the newest members of our Quarter Century club recognizing 25 years of service to the company.

Our top safe yardage haulers were recognized in 5 different levels based on the total yardage produced at their location and included;

Group     Driver                     Location    Cubic Yds Hauled

I               Bobby Gerringer   Pittsboro,               4,637

II             Wayne Carner      Christiansburg,    5,960

III            Lyndon Jeffers      Roxboro                  3,611

IV            Dennis Robinson  Wytheville             3,401

V             Jimmy Jones         West Jefferson      2,749

There were over 340 employees recognized for achieving various levels of cumulative years working and driving safely since being employed with the company.

Employees achieving cumulative safe working and driving milestones achieved at 5, 10, 15 and 20 years were also recognized with a belt buckle, engraved watch or custom jacket (respectively).

In addition to individual recognition, dozens of plants were recognized for achieving safety awards from state and national agencies.

Nine employees were added to the Quarter Century Club in 2009. This group recognizes employees who have invested at least 25 years of continuous service with the company. The newest members include;

Terry Kesler, Salisbury Truck Mechanic

James Ferrell, Roanoke Mixer Driver

Mike Pullen, Roanoke Dispatcher

Steve Morgan, Asheboro Dispatch/Production

Jimmy Dillon, Roanoke Mixer Driver

Dan Canada, New River and Roanoke Valley General Manager

Junious Harris, East Division Tanker Driver

Raymond Yellock, Haw River Plant Manager

In addition to these newest members, there were two employees who reached 50 years of continuous service who received custom hand carved replicas of the vehicles they are currently driving. They were,

Ray Griffin, Salisbury Building Supply Driver

Charles Tucker, West Division Tanker Driver

These are certainly impressive achievements and we thank each of these individuals for their service and loyalty.

Dawn Richey has joined the company as a Dispatcher in our Roanoke office effective today. While she will report directly to me in this role she will also work closely with Tracy Saunders, Corporate Dispatch Manager.

Dawn has over 8 years of dispatch experience with Yellow Roadway freight in Fishersville VA. She also has experience in billing customer service and dock operations supervision. She holds a CDL and has also done team driving as an OTR driver.

Dawn will participate in a 7 week training/orientation process which will include time at the corporate office in dispatch as well as in the masonry/block operations, building supply and quality control areas.

Dawn and her husband will continue to live in New Castle, VA.

Please join me in welcoming Dawn to our organization.

Frank Caldwell, Roanoke Area Manager