Fourth-generation stonemason encourages trade specialities

While some families are full of farmers or bankers, the Kirkpatricks of Grant are full of masons.
Jason Kirkpatrick of Kirkpatrick Masonry in Grant is a fourth-generation stonemason.
Kirkpatrick has been in Imperial this year for the mason work for the veterans memorial along main street on the courthouse lawn.
He was back last week to count bricks and see how many personalized bricks were purchased.
While there are a few stonemasons in southwestern Nebraska, the need is still there.
“There’s not many young kids doing it,” Kirkpatrick said. “You need to have somebody to teach them and there’s not very many guys who are doing that anymore.”
One issue, Kirkpatrick feels, is that students believe they have to go to college to get a degree to be able to have a job.
“The other thing about it I think now, for whatever reason, we think that our kids have to go to high school and then the next logical step is to go to college,” Kirkpatrick said. “I think the trades are largely overlooked.”

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