Dec. 04, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 4, 2013
Contact: Amanda Shell
Moxley Carmichael
865-255-0661
Holiday competition donates 10,000 cans of food to Second Harvest
Messer Construction Co. Vice President Andy Lorenz and Messer Business Development Executive Randy Fields present Joe Ledford and Chris Ramsey of Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Inc. with the “Jurors’ Favorite” award during the Knoxville Holiday Canstruction awards reception Dec. 3. The Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Inc. team was also awarded “Structural Ingenuity” and “Best Use of Labels” for its 2,500-can structure of a holiday mantelpiece with Santa coming down the chimney.
Five local teams of architects, engineers and construction companies received the results of Knoxville’s first “Holiday Canstruction” at an awards reception Tuesday at the Knoxville Convention Center, with Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee the ultimate winner.
Knoxville “Holiday Canstruction” is a massive can sculpture art competition presented by Messer Construction Co. that benefits Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee. Nationally, “Canstruction” events take place in 170 cities and are one of the largest national contributors of food to local food banks. Qualifying structures from the Knoxville “Canstruction” event will be entered into the national “Canstruction” competition.
“All of the teams showed great enthusiasm and creativity in design and craftsmanship with their entries,” Messer Vice President Andy Lorenz said. “The judges faced a very difficult challenge deciding the award recipients from among such great sculptures. At the end of the day, however, the real winners will be Second Harvest and the East Tennesseans that will receive more than 10,000 cans to help feed their families this holiday season.”
Nine judges representing media, arts organizations, nutritionists, tourism organizations and local food production companies convened to select the winners of the first-ever Knoxville “Holiday Canstruction” and scored each structure in four categories. A “People’s Choice Award” was decided through a public vote on the Knoxville Canstruction Facebook page.
At the reception, presented by Shoffner Kalthoff Mechanical Electrical Service, Lorenz announced the top awards and an honorable mention selection.
Second Harvest of East Tennessee employee Alan Stover packages the 10,000 cans donated by participating teams in the 2013 Knoxville Holiday Canstruction presented by Messer Construction Co. at the Knoxville Convention Center on Dec. 4. The cans were transported to Second Harvest’s warehouse in Blount County for distribution to fight holiday hunger in 18 East Tennessee counties.
Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Inc. was awarded the highest scores for “Jurors’ Favorite,” “Structural Ingenuity” and “Best Use of Labels” for its sculpture “Down the CAN-ney St. Nicholas came with a bound.” The huge mantelpiece structure focused on holiday reds and greens for the mantle and hearth with presents and a toy train depicted by various food items in front of the hearth. Santa’s legs dangled from the structure without floor support.
The University of Tennessee College of Engineering team was awarded “Best Meal” and “Honorable Mention” for its sculpture “CANcracker.” The sculpture included two large nutcrackers with a moving mouth and motion-censored sound effect built with cans to prepare a balanced meal of chili with peanuts and fruit dessert. The team was selected for creating the most nutritious meal to help fight hunger in East Tennessee and for earning the second-most points among the jurors. The team was also awarded the coveted “People’s Choice Award” for receiving the most votes in an online poll.
Additional entries were Massey Electric with “Santa CAN Help Fight Hunger,” a structure of Santa’s sleigh made of tomato and tuna fish cans; a team of Johnson Architecture, Partners Development and Moxley Carmichael with “Olaf the SnowCAN,” which featured a character from Disney’s new movie “Frozen”; and Messer and The Lewis Group Architects with “CANta Claus is coming to town,” a massive Santa with a bag full of goodies.
“‘Holiday Canstruction’ will donate more than 10,000 cans of food to help fill the need this holiday season,” Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee Executive Director Elaine Streno said at the ceremony. “Second Harvest and the 158,000 people that we serve each month are extremely grateful for each team’s contribution. We could not complete our mission without the support of this community.”
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee targets the working poor – those who are employed but might not receive benefits or earn sufficient wages. According to Second Harvest, one in six East Tennesseans lives in poverty and has difficulty meeting basic needs.
Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 16 million pounds of food and grocery products annually and is a partner with Feeding America, a national network of food banks.
About Messer Construction Co.
Messer Construction Co. is a construction manager and general contractor providing leadership for complex commercial building projects. Founded in 1932, Messer has built a premier reputation through outstanding construction experiences and value with a focus on health care, life sciences, higher education, and industrial markets. An employee-owned company, Messer is ranked nationally as a premier health care and higher education builder, and is consistently featured among Engineering News-Record’s annual Top 100 list of largest contractors. Messer was honored with the 2009 International Torch Award for Marketplace Excellence by the Council of Better Business Bureaus for superior commitment to exceptional standards that benefit customers, employees, suppliers and surrounding communities. In fiscal 2012, Messer put in place more than $792 million in commercial construction.
