A special bond between alumni of the Foothills Composite High School welding program is helping students form future bonds at the school.
Approximately 13 alumni from teacher’s Virgil Green’s program met at MR Services in the village of Arrowwood to build 20 welding tables for the Comp on Sept. 16.
“Virgil really encouraged me and lots of others to get into welding,” said Mitch Randle, owner of MR Services. “There were a lot of us who went through the program and welding has been great for me.
“A lot of us have kept in touch with Virgil and this is just helping out a friend.”
A gathering of friends, but it was plenty of work.
“We all work hard on a regular basis, so we worked hard all day and did a bit of socializing afterward,” said Randle, a member of the Class of 2010. “It was a good day.”
The former Comp students built welding tables to replace the longer, cumbersome ones used at the school for years.
“I thought about doing this project with the high school kids but I realized that would take me forever,” Green said. “So, I sent out 26 text messages and in a half-and-hour I had 13 confirmations.
“I had either guys working or who said they could make it.”
It was an emotional day for Green, it was a case when the old proverb ‘When I follow you, I know I have been a good leader’ rang true.
“I didn’t weld anything on Saturday,” Green said. “Why? They are all better than me. There are so many kids there that could out weld me.
“To be a teacher, teach these kids the basics and then have the chance to work with them again… It was such a blessing.”
And, it’s rewarding for a teacher.
“There were powerful moments for me,” Green said. “Cody Hirsche had to show me his welding truck and his rig. He told me the nicest stuff – ‘Thank you for putting me on this track.’
“It was such a nice reunion.”
The alumni could also weld circles around any dancer from Flashdance. They were at least 10 journeymen in the group. Green estimates the values of the work done by the Foothills crew at $20,000.
“We took about 15 minutes coffee break in the morning and a pizza break about 2 p.m. but besides from that it was heads down, butts up working,” Green said. “It was just awesome.”
Foothills alumnus John Belley said volunteering a day’s worth of work was a small fee for what he’s got out of the welding program.
“The welding program was very important to what I am doing now,” said Belley, an ‘09 alumnus who currently works as a rig welder. “Who knows what I would be doing now, maybe cleaning bathroom stalls.”
As soon as he got the text from Green, he was in.
“He was always there for me when I needed him,” Belley said. “Why not return the favour? I hope the tradition continues, it was a lot of fun.”
He added those in the trades have the rare opportunity to get together and help one another – including a teacher now and then.
“Nobody calls up and says: ‘Hey come on over and let’s do some math,’’’ Belley said with a laugh.
It’s not the first time the Foothills Comp welding community has helped the area.
In the past, it has helped build fire pits for the Turner Valley Lions and has worked with the Davisburg community. It also helped build the trophies for the highly-successful River City Classic Show ‘n Shine in High River.
