National Carpenters Day celebrates 5th birthday with the Carpenter and Apprentice Carpenter of the Year at Australia-wide barbies!
Friday 21st November saw Ross O’Neill, director VR Builders in Victoria’s Castlemaine announced as Carpenter of the Year, while Aaron Holmes from Northern Valley Constructions in Victoria was named Apprentice Carpenter of the Year. These announcements were made at approximately 100 BBQ’s held across Australia and sponsored by WoodSolutions and Wood. Naturally Better.TM
Now in its fifth year, National Carpenter’s Day is a celebration of the role of carpenters in building Australia, and their ongoing contribution to our environment though the use of wood, our only practical large scale renewable building material. Wood not only stores carbon (up to half the dry weight of wood is carbon, stored for life by a growing tree), but it also has less embodied energy than other comparable materials.
“We’ve been involved every year,” said Nick Steens from Perth’s Independent Timber Supplies, “this year we had 230 chippies. The first 200 received a show bag full of branded items, an incentive to arrive early!” Nick went on to explain that they maximise the impact of their BBQ by involving many carpentry industry stakeholders. He said they also actively remind their carpenter contacts in the week of and in the weeks preceding the BBQ.
As Carpenter of the Year, Ross took home around $3000 worth of tools and vouchers, while Aaron scored more than $2300 worth of tools and vouchers for winning Apprentice Carpenter of the Year.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to recognise the contribution carpenters make to the lifestyle we all enjoy,” said Eileen Newbury, Marketing and Communications Manger of Forest and Wood Products Australia, the industry services company that manages and resources Wood. Naturally Better.TM, “it’s also a chance to spread awareness of the environmental advantages of wood. Many people who work with wood every day are not aware of all the benefits of wood.”
Read more about National Carpenters Day at www.carpentersday.com.au