Tom Ralston Concrete

Speaking of Santa Cruz and it's beauty. Today we are staining "tide pool concrete" and bringing the ocean's brown shelf replete with the colors of moss a multitude of tide pools onto adjacent Tom Ralston Concrete hardscapes...everything is so uplifting when we have a chance to work in Pleasure Point

Well having flunked every class in my freshman year @ Santa Cruz High...low and behold I actually graduated from UCSC in 1973. However I didn't attend the ceremonies. Chancellor Cynthia Larive was kind enough to let me graduate with the 2023 Class this summer!

Its an extremely rainy day but the TRC crews are venturing out to form an under house foundation in Santa Cruz and pouring concrete for a loggia slab in Los Gatos...our crews are hearty, committed and...well simply put...Awesome!!

TRC poured a Plaza slab at the new green/blue glass Glacier building around "icebergs" last week in Anchorage Alaska on Sept 7th. We broadcast black sparkle grain with a sand wash finish that came out great! Pouring out of state requires a lot of logistics but when the pours come out great it is very rewarding.

This week I was in Del Mar to attend a Decorative Surface Solution Group meeting and workshop. We learned a lot about each other, about best practices from some of the best in the business...about the industry from many sides of the fence i.e. suppliers, contractors, commercial work and residential work. One of the group's founders, Mike Price, asked after the event if I could write a song about concrete cracks...a song didn't come to me but around midnight an almost haiku poem about it did...hope ya'll like it:

Concrete Cracks!

Concrete Cracks!
Put some hair around it…

Concrete Cracks!
I’m excited you found it…

Concrete Cracks!
And so does Thunder

Concrete Cracks !
It ain’t your blunder…

Concrete Cracks…Jack!

There were 7-redwood trees planted around the memorials and there were 7-of us were asked to participate in the ceremony and set our small abalone shells around a fire. As I understand it the number 7 signifies North, South, East, West, Above, Below and Here in the Middle the place of the Sacred Fire...it was a beautiful and heart felt ceremony.

It was a great honor for TRC to help design and build these memorials for over 2,000 Native Americans who were exhumed and dumped into a mass gravesite across the town of Santa Cruz. Chief Valentin Lopez of the Amah Mutsun tribe shared his message of sadness but also of healing and responsibility In a resonating speech he talked about land coservancy, healing the destruction of the earth being mindful of the stewardship of the land for all future generations.

It was a great honor for TRC to help design and build these memorials for over 2,000 Native Americans who were exhumed and dumped into a mass gravesite across the town of Santa Cruz. Chief Valentin Lopez of the Amah Mutsun tribe shared his message of sadness but also of healing and responsibility In a resonating speech he talked about land coservancy, healing the destruction of the earth being mindful of the stewardship of the land for all future generations.

I am not sure that we are going to enter many more contests but I would like to say that I am so very proud of all the members of Team TRC. They have been the backbone of creating so many amazing projects...projects which have received so many accolades over the years!...Thank you all so very much!!

I'm flanked by an amazing bench and such an amazing, supporting cast of people!