In June, the Mount Hope Quarry in Rockaway Township, N.J., owned by Tilcon New York Inc., an Oldcastle Materials company, welcomed more than 2,200 local residents to its Quarry Education Open House. The nearly 100-degree heat did not deter residents from coming out to visit and learn about the 560-acre historic quarry, take bus tours of the site, climb on tremendous mining vehicles and equipment, and enjoy a grilled lunch and cold beverages.
The previous week, the company’s 1,200-acre Clinton Point Quarry in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., held its Open House for more than 1,400 neighbors. This was the fifth annual Open House that Tilcon has held in New Jersey and the fourth in New York to promote community understanding of the quarrying and road construction and paving industries. Visitors enjoy coming back year after year and bring their friends and families for a day at the quarry. So the guest list is always growing. Each quarry hosted about 500 more guests this year than last.
Nearly 200 employees and their families volunteered to help as traffic control, tour guides, greeters, grill masters, refreshment servers, and with children’s activities and arts and crafts. Heavy construction equipment was polished and put on display, including haul trucks, loaders, excavators, drills, a water truck, and paving equipment, and equipment operators helped children on and off as they explained how the equipment operates, how much it can hold, and what their jobs entail. Other pieces of equipment were displayed in active poses throughout the operation so that visitors on the quarry bus tours could see how they are used. Children of all ages enjoyed the opportunity to sit in the driver’s seat.
Emphasizing a “green” theme, volunteers at the welcome tables handed out eco-friendly fabric tote bags made of recycled plastic, and packages of wildflower seeds that visitors can plant to beautify their surroundings. Information packets were also included to teach visitors about natural resources, aggregates use in everyday life, how to identify rocks, and mineral word games.
There were numerous children’s activities including creating sand art, decorating rock pals that children could bring home, carnival games, framing Polaroid pictures of themselves taken in a model haul truck, decorating children’s plastic construction hard hats courtesy of the National Kids Construction Club, and a huge sand box area complete with miniature excavation equipment to keep the youngest guests occupied.
Perennial favorites included guessing the weight of the giant tire, supplied by McCarthy Tire, which offered a $150 gift card to the winner. Children of all ages marveled at the 10.5-ft.-tall tire, and many climbed inside it for a closer look. Others piled into the bucket of a front-end loader to see how many children it could hold.
An Open House concept provides an ideal opportunity to educate the public about the industry. Vendors who participated at the Open Houses included McCarthy Tire, Troil Enterprises, Chevron Oil, Vibra-Tech, Austin Powder, Foley, Binder Machinery, Trico Equipment Services, HO Penn, Dyno Nobel, Troy Belting, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Other outside participants included representatives from the local police, fire and rescue squads, as well as local mineralogical and historical societies.
This year, Tilcon invited a representative from the Mine Safey and Health Administration to both locations to speak about its “Stay Out, Stay Alive” program aimed at educating the public on the reasons that trespassing on mine property can be hazardous.
The Mt. Hope Quarry featured a special surprise appearance by BigFoot, a monster truck from Bridgestone/Firestone and its driver Ron Bachmann, who gave out autographed photos. Clinton Point had its own surprise in store for guests--the opportunity to witness a 75,000-ton blast. All were amazed at the sight. Employees dressed as the Flintstones added to the day’s excitement at both locations.
Although both quarries have operated for more than 100 years, neighbors are often surprised to find out how large and active they are. At Clinton Point, for example, most of the product is freighted by barge, so the community does not see truck traffic to the degree that many other quarry neighbors do.
Tilcon management recognizes that there are impacts to living near quarries and asphalt plants, and so community outreach events, like this one, are one of the many ways that Tilcon gives back to its community. In addition, the company communicates its appreciation and recognition of its employees and their families, customers and suppliers, as well as its neighbors.
Tilcon engineers, environmental experts, salespeople and human resources representatives were all available to discuss their functions with the public and answer questions guests had about quarry operations, blasting activities, products used in road construction and rewarding construction career opportunities. Residents also got to pick out their homes from an aerial view of the quarries and ask questions.
Tilcon New York Inc. operates quarries, asphalt plants and construction materials recycling centers across northern New Jersey, serving the central and northern New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island markets. The company is one of the largest producers of granite in the United States and the highest volume, single location, producer of bituminous concrete.
