Steve VanDyke, CSI, CCS, CDT, NCARB
After a four-year hiatus, I’m back as President of the Worcester County chapter for another round, taking the reins back from the very-qualified Marty Helly. I never really left though. As Immediate Past President I stayed active on the Board, having a hand in organizing the programs and acting as the Chapter’s representative to the Region Nominating Committee, as Worcester’s delegate to the Northeast Region and as the Region’s Certification Chair. My time on the Region Board was very fulfilling; it gave me a broader insight into how the other Chapters in the region operate, and a forum to share some really great ideas. I’ve made a lot of connections with members in other states, some of whom have become trusted advisors in my professional life. While the Region Board was a good time, I’m looking forward to pulling my efforts back and focusing them on the Worcester Chapter.
Congratulations to our own Roger Hoyt, who was elected by the Region to take over the Treasurer position from Marty Helly. Roger, I hope your time on the Board is just as engaging as mine was, and that you come away with many new friends and connections. While stepping up into a volunteer position can be daunting, know that you have a wide safety net of past and current board members to coach and guide you.
As a bit of sad news, it seems that the Rhode Island chapter of CSI is going to be closed down by CSI National for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is low membership and inactivity. Earlier this week I participated in a virtual meeting with members of the Institute, the Region and Boston CSI to consider what becomes of the remaining members in the RI Chapter. While the ultimate decision was to divide the State and assign members to Worcester and Boston geographically, members always have the ability to choose their own chapter regardless of where they live. We hope any or all of the Rhode Island members will come out to Worcester for one of our programs and see what we’re all about as a chapter. I don’t want to brag, but I can say with confidence that we have one of the best chapters in the Northeast.
Our August board meeting was held at Treehouse Brewery in Charlton, where we brainstormed the upcoming educational program topics with a few engaged volunteers. This year we’re making a conscious effort to engage educational institutions for a few of our programs. Look for a hands-on concrete program at WPI’s materials lab in conjunction with Sterling Concrete, where we’ll bring some concrete samples to test live in the lab and learn about how the decisions you make when specifying concrete and the way the workers place the concrete, affect its performance. Later in the year, we’ll head back to Keefe Tech in Framingham for a program on high-efficiency residential envelope design where carpentry students will construct an actual wood-framed wall assembly following drawings prepared by architects in the group, and demonstrate current barrier applications and flashing techniques using materials donated by supporting vendors. Both are great alternatives to the typical power-point lunch and learn in your office.
But next up is our September program covering the intricacies of the new residential energy code, presented by Michael Rossi, an Energy Code Specialist at Performance Systems Development, where he provides energy code training and technical support to various stakeholders in Massachusetts and other states in the Northeast. Joining Michael will be Patty Sheehan, Building Inspector for the town of Shrewsbury, who will be on hand to help answer any lingering questions that attendees may have as it relates to meeting the energy code. If you’ve ever been confused about this new code, you need to be here. Get all your questions answered before you put that next project out to bid, at the Grill on the Hill, at the Green Hill Park golf course on September 17 starting with networking at 5:00 PM.
See you there!
