Canstruction to Remember

Patricia,

We did it!! We repeated your Structural Ingenuity with our structure this year!!
Build night was a blast, stressful at times and down to the very last second, but it was all worth it. The awards ceremony was so nice, they gave us a certificate in your memory and then I gave a speech. I know you were there listening, but I want to share it with you again:

11/13/08 Canstruction Speech;
My name is Lisa Jolley and I am a Project Coordinator at Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company. I would like to thank the CANstruction Committee for allowing Hanbury Evans and the design community to remember Patricia Parker-Williams in this way. I would also like to welcome SGT. Chris Williams, Patricia’s husband, and his parents, Henry and Arthier Williams, for joining us for this event.

I had the great pleasure of knowing and loving Patricia. She was a vibrant young woman who was passionate about three things: her family, her design career, and helping others in her community.

Patricia loved CANstruction because:
1. It is an event that uses design for the greater good of the community.
2. It makes architects think outside the box.
3. It feeds hundreds of Hampton Roads families.

The design aspect of this event was so important to Patricia that she shared a concern with last year’s CANstruction Committee. “We are architecture firms, and we should design not just mindlessly stack cans on ply,” she challenged us. The fact that using less plywood is more environmentally sound was also on her mind.

Hanbury Evans has dedicated its structure, Yosemite Spam, to her memory. We used a structural system—no plywood—designed by Patricia for last year’s firm entry that earned the “2007 Structural Ingenuity Award.”

Patricia, we know you are watching us tonight. We hope our effort embodies your passion and ideal for design and community. We feel certain you are proud of all that your colleagues, coworkers and friends have accomplished here tonight, and that you are comforted by the knowledge that so many families will have food for the holidays. Hanbury Evans would like to thank you all for taking part in this event and helping us celebrate the life and memory of Patricia Parker-Williams.

We love and miss you Patricia.. Always keep smiling down on us!!

Here are some pictures for those that couldn't be there in person....