Spooky celebrations: company crews mark Halloween with fun and fiendish displays

3 Martin Marietta sites honor spooky season with unique displays

 

Creepers Crawl Throughout Clayton Aggregates

Every October, drivers are surprised by some new, interesting-looking Wingmen throughout Clayton Aggregates in Concord, California.

That is because, for the Halloween holiday, Martin Marietta’s ONE Team is joined by a group of bone-chilling skeletons that inhabit the site. Once autumn hits, Weighmaster Kimberli Newell, also known as the “Halloween Queen,” decorates the West Division quarry with wall-to-wall creeps as she plots “new and fun ways to add to the expanding skeleton crew.”

The tradition started over two decades ago, and every year, crew and customers look forward to what Newell will do to surprise them as All Hallows’ Eve approaches.

“We get great feedback in the office all season long. Customers and vendors come through, and they’ll ask about it before we start setting up,” said Assistant Plant Manager Taylor Anderson. “It’s a staple here and something that people remember.”

 

 

¡La Celebración del Día de los Muertos en Hunter Stone!
In keeping with an important tradition in the Mexican culture, crew members at Hunter Stone in New Braunfels, Texas, take time to celebrate Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

This hauntingly beautiful holiday sees families taking time to honor and remember ancestors no longer in the living world. “We decided to celebrate this event because it is a holiday to remember our loved ones who have passed,” said Office Administrator Christina Oliva, who helps organize the celebration. “The feedback I get from the team is always positive. They are always excited to participate.”

Honored in various ways, families often create and decorate altars, cook traditional foods, and lay Mexican Marigolds, also known as “Flor de Muerto,” which are believed to be pathways that guide the spirits of their families and symbolize the beauty and fragility of life. At Hunter Stone, crew members who celebrate this holiday take time to share stories and participate in fun events like a pumpkin decorating contest.

“I felt good about celebrating the holiday with my team,” said Equipment Operator Jonatan “Jovany” Suarez Hernandez. “We had fun.”

The Crew Works While Others Rest at Woodville Lime

Some have found their final resting place in a unique location: a cemetery under a conveyor belt spanning plants at Magnesia Specialties’ Lime operation in Woodville, Ohio.

The Woodville Township Cemetery – also known as Union Cemetery or Gold Hill Cemetery – started with a single plot in 1846. Today, hundreds are buried across 14 acres of well-maintained land surrounded by quarry activity. Those wishing to visit the departed can safely and easily reach the headstones and plots.

In 2000, salvaged materials from the graveyard’s former mausoleum were used to construct the archway entrance to the cemetery – a project financed by Martin Marietta.

“Almost daily, there are visitors to the cemetery,” said General Manager Wade Weaver. But when it comes to ghost stories and urban legends, paranormal enthusiasts will have to find another burial ground to explore. “I’ve never seen anything too suspicious out there. I haven’t even seen the lights flicker,” Vice President of Operations Brad Vernier said. “I haven’t seen anything too spooky, but who knows? Maybe one day.”