Forty-five years ago this month, the lunar module bearing the name “The Eagle” deposited Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.  As Armstrong descended the ladder to the lunar surface, he uttered the words: “One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind”.  I was amazed and mesmerized at what I witnessed that day and the moment has stuck with me ever since.

Armstrong’s famous quote has become synonymous with completing a difficult mission.  His step was the culmination of a speech the late President Kennedy gave some eight years earlier, when he inspired our Nation to the national goal “before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth”.  We can accomplish great things when working as a team in pursuit of a compelling vision.

Closer to home and much more recently, the Associated Builders and Contractors Association has just honored its local membership upon completion of difficult missions to construct commercial properties of all types. Their “Eagle” awards depict an eagle with wings flared and about to complete its mission. How appropriate!

Our business has been honored for the fourth year in a row with an Eagle Award, which is reason enough for us to be proud. But this year the awards program stretched beyond the work, to the people who actually produced it. A handful of worthy individuals received an Award of Excellence at the ABC Awards Banquet. Our very own David Gerken was honored as an industry-leading project manager.  While the work he produced with his team earned our company an Eagle award, David is an Eagle.

With clarity of purpose and unwavering focus on the goal, David Gerken delivers top-notch results with multiple projects and under all sorts of field situations. We may not be working on the surface of the moon with what we do, but sometimes it feels like the next closest thing. The Eagle has Landed, for just a moment, and this journey was worth the extraordinary effort.