Bricklayers compete in Calgary for trip to Las Vegas

Bricklayers competed in northeast Calgary Friday for a trip to Las Vegas and a chance to win $125,000.

It was a battle of bricks in northeast Calgary Friday, in search of Alberta’s best bricklayer.

Seven teams of two competed for the position, having one hour to complete an eight metre long wall.

The winner heads to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl of masonry, and a chance at a USD $125,000 prize.

The North American event is the industry’s leading resource to recruit people into the craft.

“These are trades,” said Colin Thompson, one of the competing bricklayers. “Of course, you can see they get dirty!

“You’re working with your hands,” he added, “but there absolutely is a romantic side to bricklaying. I mean, it essentially built the western world – so when you see people that if you’re doing it with that passion, it’s nice, and it brings that romance back to the trade that sometimes you don’t see these days.”

Last year in Las Vegas, an Alberta bricklayer won Best Craftsman.

He didn’t lay the most bricks, but had the highest quality and best-looking wall.

This year, brothers Douglas and Daniel Veldman, from Lethbridge, are heading to Vegas.