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MARTINSBURG - Contractors are gearing up for the fifth annual Blitz Create in Martinsburg, which will begin on Monday.

The undertaking is really a collaboration between the Eastern Panhandle Country House Plans Association and Habitat for Humanity from the Japanese Panhandle. This new residence will likely be built in just 1 week with the participation of more than 70 organizations. Members of the Jap Panhandle Home Builders Association, together with many region companies, are responsible for the venture.

A "blitz build" involves planning, fundraising, coordinating, and then constructing, a complete household in one week. Members in the Eastern Panhandle Residence Builders Association's Community Service Committee, beneath the leadership of Brian Hensell of Expert Designs & Services, are responsible for the undertaking.

"After months of preparation and planning, the house comes together in less than 100 hours. The reward that we receive from this long week is handing over the keys to the family," Hensell said.

This year's household will be different from others in that it will likely be the first house built as a part of a new planned community of affordable homes called Auburndale. This community consists of 26 lots and will contain green space, single-family homes and townhouses when complete. Auburndale is named after the Auburn Wagon Company, a business previously located close to the community that constructed and sold wagons in Martinsburg from the 1800s to about 1925.

Habitat for Humanity selected the family that will receive the home earlier this year. Susan Butcher, her two daughters, Tiffany and Ashley, and new granddaughter Ava will be living in the Blitz Build house. Susan and her family are looking forward to owning a dwelling and excited about participating in the construction.

Anyone interested in applying for a dwelling can contact Habitat for Humanity from the Jap Panhandle at 304-263-3154 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 304-263-3154 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

Region companies and restaurants provide food and drinks for crews during the weeklong construction. The Jap Panhandle House Builders Association is really a nonprofit trade association of over 200 member businesses and almost 10,000 employees including builders, suppliers and related service businesses in the area.

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Construction employers will have higher accessibility to workplace wellbeing applications after the merger with the province’s two engineering security associations.

The Construction Safety Network plus the Building Wellbeing Affiliation of BC (CSABC) announced Wednesday they had completed a merger to create the BC Construction Safe practices Alliance.

Both organizations were formed from various segments of the engineering marketplace, both supplying industry-approved wellbeing training.

The Building Safety Network, as an example, started in 2001 to boost security inside road design and maintenance sector. Its programs slowly grew to consist of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Affiliation of BC, the Canadian Residence Builders Affiliation of BC and other people.

The CSABC started in 2004 and was owned and operated by the B.C. development sector and included numerous key building associations, including the Council of Building Associations along with the BC Design Affiliation.

The new alliance will work with WorkSafeBC to focus on delivering programming and resources to address the top three causes of injuries and death inside sector: falls, becoming struck and over-exertion.

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Yankee Barn Homes has been named a 2010 Layout Excellence Award winner in two categories by Residential Layout & Build magazine. The annual awards program recognizes residential design and construction firms for excellence in the single-family custom home market.

The panel of judges that selected the 2010 Layout Excellence Award winners consisted of two architects, two custom home builders and an interior designer. The judges chose Yankee Barn Homes for its success at addressing challenges, style creativity and overall dedication to success, and as proof of the firm’s unwavering quality as the nation’s housing market begins its slow recovery.

“We are honored to receive this recognition in both the detached structure and outdoor living award categories,” said Yankee Barn Homes Chairman Tony Hanslin. “We are committed to designing and building, versatile, beautiful, and energy-efficient homes and we are so pleased that our carriage house and tea house designs received top honors from the judges.”

Founded in 1969, Yankee Barn Homes has been designing and building custom post and beam homes nationwide. The firm’s prefabricated approach to building allows customers to design and build a custom home with all the latest energy efficient options and still save money by shortening the construction time on site. Each custom timber frame home starts with the homeowner's vision and is handcrafted one at a time to be a home of distinction. Through innovation and traditional aesthetics, over a thousand Yankee Barns stand across the country today - with no two exactly alike.

Profiles of the firms and projects selected as winners of the 2010 Style Excellence Awards were published in the July/August 2010 issue of Residential Layout & Build and on the magazine’s website at rdbmagazine.com.

“It’s inspiring to browse through this year’s entries, and to see so many different well-executed styles from around the country. Presenting these winning projects to the industry is our way of thanking the hard-working architects and builders for continuing to raise the level of professionalism and creativity in the residential construction industry,” says Rob Heselbarth, editor of Residential Style & Build.

“The winners of the 2010 Layout Excellence Awards are the newest members of an elite class of architects, designers and builders,” says Tim Campbell, group publisher. “They truly represent some of the best projects in the country – and we are proud to showcase the winners within the pages of Residential Layout & Build and on rdbmagazine.com.”

NEW ORLEANS -- They're a familiar sight in South Louisiana, where some would jokingly call them "Cajun Reeboks," but shrimp boots are now assisting with a critical cause as they take fundraiser middle stage to benefit those impacted by the BP oil spill.

"It kind of began as a joke. We all just went, 'Oh yeah! Oh yeah!' I mean, what's a lot more local than that?" said Mike Zalaznik, from the New Orleans Home Indicate.

The Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans and Catholic Charities sent out plain boots to be signed and decorated by celebrities and later to become raffled off in a fundraiser. Celebrities, like Hoda Kotb, right away jumped on board.

"I beloved the notion. I loved, loved the strategy that the shrimp boot became the iconic image of this," Kotb mentioned.

"We needed chefs. We wanted media folks, and we desired individuals who have been directly impacted by this (event)," New Orleans Household Show's Michael Gay stated.

There are far more than 40 boots already displayed at the convention middle for this weekend's New Orleans Residence Interior Layout exhibit, mostly from volunteers who wanted to be involved inside the fundraiser, like Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.

"He went out and obtained his own boot and received a person to help him paint it, and then (he) showed up with it the other day," Zalaznik mentioned.

Also among individuals who participated have been artists Keith Eccles and Terrence Osborne, chef Emeril Lagasse, musicians, including the Zack Brown Band, and celebrities, like Kotb.

"The snail right here was created out of clay. There's (also) a catfish. There's a blue crab. There is a red fish," Eccles stated of his shrimp boot design.

"We decided to go with some Mardi Gras colors and some Mardi Gras themes," Kotb mentioned. "Look, anything that has to do with helping my close friends in New Orleans, I'm in. You just need to say the word and I'm in."

The raffle tickets are priced at $5 every and participants can opt for which boot or boots they would like to win.

"I hope that individuals show up and really appreciate how far a white shrimp boot can go to assist the people today of your Gulf coast," Eccles mentioned.


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