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New
Co-op Construction Manager: Jack Carpenter
By Susan Simonds, from the June 2005 Newsletter
Look behind those dark glasses and imagine a twinkle
in the eyes of Jack Carpenter, who claims there is no connection
between his
last name and his profession. Jack’s job as construction
manager is to oversee the renovation of the new Co-op, making sure
that things get done as efficiently and as timely as possible. “To
keep the ball rolling is critical,” explained Jack. His “boss” is
the Co-op and Mullin and Associates, the architecture firm. “It’s
a big job and I have been looking forward to it since the first
time I talked to Kenna about it.” Jack explained that he
took on the job because “it’s the Co-op.”
Jack first worked as a carpenter at the age of
sixteen when he began as an apprentice in Seattle, where he grew
up. Since then,
he has worked all over the country, including ten years in Arizona,
four in Mississippi, and four in Wisconsin. Since 1996 he has been “just
me,” meaning that he no longer has employees and also no
longer works in Pullman.
On the very day that I interviewed Jack for this article, he and
his wife, Priscilla Salant, were celebrating 25 years of marriage.
He described Priscilla as a “wonderful wife and great person” who
is a longtime supporter of the Co-op. Priscilla is an agricultural
economist at the University of Idaho who specializes in working
with rural communities, helping them with agricultural development.
Priscilla and Jack have two children, Ben, age 22, and Holly, age
19.
In 1987 Jack and Priscilla ended up in Moscow
after a long search. When Ben and Holly were about to begin school,
the family was living
near Madison, Wisconsin. Priscilla, who at the time was working
for the Economic Research Service, was told that her next posting
was to be in Washington, DC, a place that held no appeal for the
family. They spent the next two to three years visiting university
towns in the Northwest, falling in love with Moscow. “It
was a no brainer,” said Jack, explaining that they were swayed
by Main Street.
Jack is a true Northwesterner. An avid downhill
skier, fly fisherman, and back country backpacker, his passion
is spending time on his
property on Moscow Mountain where he enjoys his latest project,
a new sawmill. In 2000, Jack collaborated with Kurt Rathmann to
build “the coolest house” on his mountain property
with a roof water collection system, passive solar heat, and a
hillside design. With Kurt’s eco-friendly design skills and
Jack’s construction skills, the two created an innovative
abode. Jack is particularly pleased that he doesn’t need
to leave the heat on when he is away from the house in the winter.
The combination of the 6,000 gallons of rainwater stored in the
basement and the recycled rasta block foundation creates an ambient
temperature in the house. Although the family lives in town, Jack
spends a lot of time on his mountain property doing fire prevention
and forest management and just generally enjoying the mountain
vibe.
Jack is a Co-op devotee, not only as a shopper, but also as a
worker and volunteer. He built the outside stairway on the old
South Washington
Street building and worked on the interior framing of the current
Co-op as a volunteer. He lunches there almost daily and comes
with his family on the weekends.
Jack wanted to convey to Co-op members his own
wisdom about the upcoming move: “We did it before and we can do it again--hopefully
for the last time. Let’s have a positive attitude and try
not to get stressed.” As I sat with Jack, I could feel both
his excitement about working on the project and his laid back energy.
Yeah. I’ll remember that.
Susan Simonds is a free-lance writer, writing coach, and psychologist. |
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