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Circle Pines resident Keanan Carlson, 28, is a second-year brick apprentice with John Foley Masonry.

Circle Pines resident Keanan Carlson, 28, is a second-year brick apprentice with John Foley Masonry.

A Circle Pines resident is one of two apprentices who will represent Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota at the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers’ (BAC) and International Masonry Institutes’ International Apprentice Contest Sept. 23-24 in Boston, Massachusetts, at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center. 

The contest draws the BAC’s top apprentices from the U.S. and Canada to compete for the title of International Champion in each of the BAC’s trades: brick, cement, tile, marble, terrazzo, plaster, pointing-cleaning-caulking/restoration and stone.

Circle Pines resident Keanan Carlson, 28, is a second-year brick apprentice with John Foley Masonry. As he was growing up, trade work was never a foreign topic in his household; his father was a union carpenter and spent a lot of time helping him with projects. Before becoming a bricklayer, Carlson had many other work experiences, but after laboring for a year with a union masonry contractor, he realized that his love of the detail in brick and stonework was pointing him toward a new career path. 

Carlson aspires to become a foreman for the company and to continue to take on any new additional challenges and responsibilities. He hopes to learn more about natural stone laying: in his opinion, nothing looks better. 

In April, the BAC of Minnesota and North Dakota Apprentice Training Center hosted its 2022, Local 1 Apprentice Contest. First-year apprentices made up just three of the nine competitors in the event. Carlson took first. 

 In June, he traveled to Addison, Illinois, to compete in the Regional Apprentice contest, where he took 10th place. As a result, Carlson plans to make the necessary changes so he can compete at a higher level this time around in Boston. Win or lose, he will remember this experience for the rest of his life. 

Rebecca Nohava, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers

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