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Tree-topping ceremony

Photos from February 28, 2006

The tree-topping ceremony follows from an old pagan ritual to honor/appease tree gods for providing the building material for construction.  The tradition made its way to America via European immigrants.  In the last century it has become an important iron worker tradition to signify reaching the highest level of a construction.  This day we held a topping out ceremony with a potted live oak which, in a our own twist on the topping out tradition, will later be planted on the grounds.  (Thanks to Janet Everett for providing additional photos)

Before the ceremony, Bill Fisher (left, Dean of the Jackson School), Matt Shaw (Flintco), Cliff Frohlich and Fred Taylor (UTIG) converse.  No hard-hats required: the work site has been shut down for the ceremony.

While the crowd watches in the background, the live oak is hoisted to the top floor...

...where construction workers take it into their care.

Afterwards - chow time on the first floor, west wing where a lot of the interior framing has already gone up.  A Salt Lick BBQ lunch has been generously provided by Flintco.

Most folks eat at the tables....

...while the UTIG crowd can't wait to check out their space for the first time.  Here we have Patty Ganey-Curry (left), Jamie Austin, me, Gail Christeson, Sasha Carter, Sean Gulick and John Gerboc on the 3rd floor.  The wind blows dust on our food, but we don't care.

Here's the topping-out tree on the 3rd floor, framed between stacks of door frames and the UT water tower in the background.

This is Jamie Austin's first visit in to his corner office....

...and Gail Christeson enjoys her future view (she's glad to hear that the microwave tower just outside is soon to be torn down)

Here's Sean Gulick and a partially-veiled Nancy Hard posing with the topping out tree.

Some of our TACC buddies visited us in our 3rd-floor digs.  That's Janet McCord in the middle, and Dean Nobles to her left - they are Cliff and John's TACC counterparts on the building committee.  We know each other very well by now.

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