It was an ordinary day. Standing in front of historic Rock Ford which was the former home of Revolutionary War General Edward Hand. As I stood in front of Rockford, I could see the biggest difference in the pathway from the fence to the regraded brick walkway at Rock Ford. The collapsed stone wall near the property's barn was sizable, at 80 feet long, 4 feet high and 2 feet thick. The brick walkway leading to the main entrance of the mansion had also buckled. Both were on the Foundations's "to-do list" for years, but high-cost estimates from commercial contractors prevented any previous restoration work from being done. So...up steps the instructors from Thaddeus Stevens Trade School who just so happened to be looking for a maintenance project to fill a gap in their freshman spring curricula. The work took place during two weeks in late March and early April...and it looks great. Mike Gardner, the craftsman who has been teaching first-year masonry at Stevens for 10 years, took over the job of having his class work on the stone walkway. Seems that the college is only able to work with nonprofits to gain real-world experience for their students, and since Rock Ford was struggling to find affordable commercial contractors, the partnership was a perfect fit. Mr. Samuel Slaymaker, executive director at Rock Ford, was equally pleased by the working relationship. A grant from the High Foundation luckily covered all the expenses and supplies of the job. Seems that moisture on the existing walkway had caused the walkway to warp and the entire area needed to be regraded. Drainage needed to be added before the bricks could be relaid. So, giving first-year students the opportunity to work together with real brick is a great way to prepare them for the final project of the two-year program of building a house. The sophomore class builds a house every year and the school sells it. So by working on the brickwork on the walkway, it gives the students some preparation for working with bricks. Gardner saw an opportunity for multiple classes to gain practical work experience at Rock Ford. Gardner had Mitch Kauffman's first-year civil engineering construction technology students tackle the 700-square-foot section of the brick walkway. The students had to figure out the bricks used from that period of time. Kauffman's 19 students are part of the first-ever class in a new civil engineering construction technology program. The program was created because of an industry need, and students will be able to leave the program and immediately find work making a very livable wage. Kauffman said it was hard work for his class. Gardner agreed and said that in areas like Lancaster County there are lots of restoration construction work to be done. Sometime in the future one of those students who worked on the walkway will be back and say, "Hey, you know, I worked at this place 20 years ago." The job will give all the students a sense of pride about what they were able to accomplish. And, I must admit, that while walking down the path as I was taking photos for this story, I agreed that they had done a great job on the new path. Check out the photos I took and see if you don't agree that they did a great job at Rock Ford. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - You can see where the old stone path ended and the new path began as it leads directly to the steps of the porch. The new path looks great!
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| New section of the walk. |
| Here you can see where the new part ended and the old part led to the parking lot. |
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| Another view showing where the new part ended and the old part led to the parking lot. |
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| Historic Rockford with the new brick pathway leading to the porch. |
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