Silver Peak Restaurant and Brewery

Construction Ditties

I'm amazed by a lot of things in life, but the fact that we escaped the Wonder St. remodeling project with only a few punctured feet, bruised heads and squashed appendages is borderline miraculous. The potential for mayhem was huge.

Take one brewer who knows only enough about construction to be a danger to himself and those around him, place under his tutelage a chef with a rightful fear of power tools, turn them loose to remodel a 1906 building and it's a recipe for disaster!

Dave and I both have a strong passion for what we do and making sure that we do it right, but our methods for getting from point A to point B can be quite distinct. I tend to be somewhat impulsive and reckless, whereas Dave is an organizer who prefers to know how things are going to be played out, hence my fondness for snow sports and mountain biking vs. his love of golf and squash.

After months of working together in the remodeling project, I think Dave was ready to boil me alive if I answered one more question with "you know what? I'm not sure, but don't worry, it's all gonna work out."

How are we gonna pay for that tile? "I'm not sure, but it'll work out." What if the old roof leaks? "We'll have to fix it." With what money? We spent the contingency! "I dunno, but it'll work out, let's worry about it when it happens."

When building costs continued escalating, but our budget remained the same, Dave and I decided to do some of the more heinous jobs ourselves in an effort to save some dough. Of course, we didn't know how heinous these tasks would be until we embarked on them.

Had it not been for skippers Don Clark of CATHEXES architecture and Geno Harry of TNT Construction, our mighty ship would most certainly have been tossed. Dan 'Norty' Norton, Grant 'Wiggy' Wigmore, Brother Gerritt and Aaron 'Rembrandt' Silverman are a few more people who deserve credit for helping us maintain our sanity during this phase.

Aside from doing a bit of everything around the construction site, Big Norty entertained us with the now classic "rock the bob-cat-truck" stunt. Silent but deadly, Wiggy volunteered 20 to 40 hours of carpentry per week. He was my bodyguard back in elementary school -I guess he's still got my back even after all this years. Gerritt was our master demolition machine. Anyone familiar with this guy's auto-demolition record back in high school will appreciate how effective he was tearing down unwanted walls. Dave's brother Aaron painted our building -twice! It's crazy how different a color looks when you compare a 2 inch by 2 inch sample to the real deal, but this guy was extra patient and super fast. He had to be, otherwise we would have missed the inauguration date.

As you can see, the history of the Silver Peak is inhabited by a colorful cast of characters. From the embryonic stages of planning, through the painful labor of remodeling, many friends came to our aid. We would like to take this opportunity to recognize, thank and salute all of those who stayed up with us: testing our brews, helping us dream, do research, demolish walls, drink, paint, haul furniture around and drink some more. To all of you: Cheers!

Sincerely,

Trent




	The Chef History Construction Ditties the brewmaster
	Construction Ditties I'm amazed by a lot of things in life, but the fact that we escaped the Wonder St. remodeling project with only a few punctured feet, bruised heads and squashed appendages is borderline miraculous. The potential for mayhem was huge. Take one brewer who knows only enough about construction to be a danger to himself and those around him, place under his tutelage a chef with a rightful fear of power tools, turn them loose to remodel a 1906 building and it's a recipe for disaster! Dave and I both have a strong passion for what we do and making sure that we do it right, but our methods for getting from point A to point B can be quite distinct. I tend to be somewhat impulsive and reckless, whereas Dave is an organizer who prefers to know how things are going to be played out, hence my fondness for snow sports and mountain biking vs. his love of golf and squash. After months of working together in the remodeling project, I think Dave was ready to boil me alive if I answered one more question with "you know what? I'm not sure, but don't worry, it's all gonna work out." How are we gonna pay for that tile? "I'm not sure, but it'll work out." What if the old roof leaks? "We'll have to fix it." With what money? We spent the contingency! "I dunno, but it'll work out, let's worry about it when it happens." When building costs continued escalating, but our budget remained the same, Dave and I decided to do some of the more heinous jobs ourselves in an effort to save some dough. Of course, we didn't know how heinous these tasks would be until we embarked on them. Had it not been for skippers Don Clark of CATHEXES architecture and Geno Harry of TNT Construction, our mighty ship would most certainly have been tossed. Dan 'Norty' Norton, Grant 'Wiggy' Wigmore, Brother Gerritt and Aaron 'Rembrandt' Silverman are a few more people who deserve credit for helping us maintain our sanity during this phase. Aside from doing a bit of everything around the construction site, Big Norty entertained us with the now classic "rock the bob-cat-truck" stunt. Silent but deadly, Wiggy volunteered 20 to 40 hours of carpentry per week. He was my bodyguard back in elementary school -I guess he's still got my back even after all this years. Gerritt was our master demolition machine. Anyone familiar with this guy's auto-demolition record back in high school will appreciate how effective he was tearing down unwanted walls. Dave's brother Aaron painted our building -twice! It's crazy how different a color looks when you compare a 2 inch by 2 inch sample to the real deal, but this guy was extra patient and super fast. He had to be, otherwise we would have missed the inauguration date. As you can see, the history of the Silver Peak is inhabited by a colorful cast of characters. From the embryonic stages of planning, through the painful labor of remodeling, many friends came to our aid. We would like to take this opportunity to recognize, thank and salute all of those who stayed up with us: testing our brews, helping us dream, do research, demolish walls, drink, paint, haul furniture around and drink some more. To all of you: Cheers! Sincerely, Trent