(Southeast)

On a Friday evening, December 15, 1967, Paul D. Wedge and his wife Lillian were in a hurry to have dinner and buy a Christmas tree in order to return to Point Pleasant, West Virginia in time to witness the basketball coaching debut of their son, Jimmey Joe, in the Point Pleasant-Ripley high school game.  Sadly, they never returned.  The Wedge’s car was in midspan on the Silver Bridge when it collapsed.  The car and Paul’s body were recovered on Sunday morning, December 17.  As a crane was pulling up the wrecked vehicle, searchers saw the body of his wife fall through the broken windshield into the river.  Her body was recovered on Monday, December 18. 

Paul was initiated into the International Brotherhood in 1941 and was active in the work of the Brotherhood from the beginning.  He served as the Business Manager for Lodge 30, Greensboro, North Carolina; for Lodge 610, Point Pleasant, West Virginia; and for Lodge 667, Charleston, West Virginia.  At the time of his death, Paul was working out of International Headquarters in the Building Trades Department as an International Representative.

In addition to his duties as an International Representative, Paul and his wife raised two sons and two daughters, strived to improve the education system in Mason County where he was known as the 53-year old School Board President, collected rare coins, and spent time writing a book entitled “Canadian Coins.”  Paul also took time to finish rearing and schooling a second cousin whose parents had both died, as well as a nephew that he raised as his own son.  Wedge was also quite an athlete.  He played golf, never missed a high-school basketball or football game, and at one time played professional baseball.

Following Paul’s tragic death, the Southeastern Apprenticeship committee established the Paul D. Wedge Memorial Award.

While meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 7-8, 1969, the Southeast Joint Apprenticeship Committee set minimum qualifications necessary for nominating an applicant for the Paul D. Wedge Award.  At that meeting, a committee was established to judge the apprentices.  The winner would receive a plaque with the Brotherhood emblem, a watch, and a purse of $100.00 together with a scroll.  The winner would also be reimbursed his travel expenses not to exceed $100.00.

To receive the award, an apprentice had to be a fourth-year apprentice or graduate apprentice in good standing within the Southeastern apprenticeship area.  He also must have received credit during the calendar year immediately preceding that of the annual meeting of that group for a minimum of three months of fourth year scholastic and on-the-job training.  Each Local Lodge could nominate only one candidate annually and a local candidate could be proposed only once.

The candidate had to have an overall average of a “B” in their International Correspondence School study program for the last two years of the program.  Each candidate had to have a consistent good job rating; supporting written material had to be available on company stationary and include top supervisory signatures and titles.  No candidate could be more than three payments in arrears without a valid reason and could not be more than three International Correspondence School lessons behind without a valid reason.

The selection of the award winner remained the same until the year of 1980 when the question was raised, “Are we truly selecting the outstanding apprentice?  Does the “B” average, a good job rating, a top supervisor signature and payments make the top apprentice?”  After several meetings and the constant push for a test to include a written examination, a hands-on committee adopted the change to become effective for the selection of the 1981 candidate.  Chairman E. C. Guhne, appointed Secretary of the Southeast and Daniel F. Everett, then Business Manager of Lodge 40, were appointed to develop the test and make arrangements for the testing.

The test was finalized in March of 1982 and was held April 27 through 29, 1982, at Owensboro, Kentucky, with the written examination held at the Executive Inn, Owensboro, Kentucky.  The welding test was held at the Owensboro Kentucky Vocational School.  The rigging, blueprint reading, layout, and burning tests were held at the D.B. Wilson job site, Center Town, Kentucky.  A total of six candidates were in the first eliminations.  A total of ten judges were selected to judge the testing; five from the employers and five from the union.

The winner received a watch, a plaque, a $1,000.00 check and a trip to the International Headquarters in Kansas City, Kansas to visit with the officers, the Construction Division, and the National Funds office.

From the beginning of the new testing procedure, Judges were selected from different areas of the apprenticeship program. By using judges from other areas, word soon spread of the testing procedure.  A total of five years passed before another area was added to the list of the Boilermakers National Apprenticeship Competition.

2007 Southeast Area Representatives:

2007 Paul D. Wedge Award Winner:
William B. Vanmeter, Local 40

2007 Paul D. Wedge Award Second Place:
Christopher P. Knox, Local 83

Recipients of the "Paul D. Wedge Memorial Award"

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