DE PERE, Wis. — Aden Widmer, a 15-year-old Syble Hopp student with cognitive disabilities, got the thrill of a lifetime this week.
Aden Widmer was invited to tour the Mulva Cultural Center construction site by contractors JP Cullen and City Wide Masonry. Aden got the chance to sit in several large pieces of heavy machinery and got to watch a crane operate up close.
"He is obsessed with all things construction," says Aden's Mom Tasha Widmer. She's been bringing him to the Mulva construction site since work began so he could watch progress from the sidelines.
"We wanted to spend a little bit of time watching the crane being operated. So, I called a friend of mine, Ryan Fritsch with City Wide Masonry, to see if he had any contacts. Unbeknownst to me, things started working in the background," said Widmer, according to a statement.
City Wide Masonry worked together with JP Cullen to bring Aden onto the worksite for over an hour. In addition to the tour and sitting in construction equipment, Aden also got to sign the topping out beam. It's a tradition created by iron workers to commemorate the highest point on a build and the final beam of any given job.
"When we set this beam, Aden will forever be a part of this project," says Colin Frey, assistant project manager for JP Cullen.
Aden also went home with a pile of construction toys and tools. You can watch some of his tour by following this link.
