Features
Memorial Fund Established For GuildWorks Staff Killed During Pickathon Teardown
UPDATE: The Brad Swet and Brandon Blackmore Memorial Fund has been established by Pickathon and GuildWorks to support the families and will serve as the public memorial to the two killed while tearing down Pickathon music festival in Oregon, which took place Aug. 2-4.
“We are shocked and devastated by this terrible accident and the loss of two amazing people in our close community,” said GuildWorks principal Mar Ricketts. “Our focus at the moment is in supporting the families as well as helping our co-workers.”
The announcement says funds will be split evenly between the families, who will use the money to help cover funeral expenses and benefit nature programs.
“Brad and Brandon were great friends and shared an unusual bond,” a statement from GuildWorks reads. “They loved being in the trees together, looked forward to installing at Pickathon each year and were very proud of their work. They were known for their professionalism, creative thinking, and dedication to their craft. Their joy for life was contagious and they touched everyone with their laughter and enthusiasm. They both have a wealth of friends who greatly admire them and will be dearly missed.”
Previously:
Two arborists breaking down the setup of the Pickathon music festival were killed after the cherry picker they were in fell over, with the festival tweeting that “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic loss of two members of the GuildWorks crew during breakdown of this year’s festival.”
The 2019 Pickathon music festival took place Aug. 2-4 in the Portland suburb of Happy Valley, featuring a diverse lineup that this year was topped by Phil Lesh & The Terrapin Family Band, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, Pollstar cover artist Kruangbin, upcomers like Tyler Childers and Julia Jacklin, as well as many others not typically seen on multi-genre festivals, such as psych rock band YOB, singer-songwriter Damien Jurado, Lambchop and many others.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Please join us in offering up prayers and support to their families and friends during this difficult time. All involved in Pickathon are like members of a family to us.</p>— Pickathon Music Fest (@pickathon) <a href=”https://twitter.com/pickathon/status/1159648150832865280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>August 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
GuildWorks, “Architects Of The Air,” is a full-service design, specification and installation company that specializes in fabric architecture, tension structures and fabric-formed environments.
Ahead of the event, GuildWorks posted on Facebook: “Did you know that Pickathon’s Mountain Stage is one of the largest temporary festival tension structures in the world? Our designs have gone on to create permanent tension structures for places like SOMO Village and the iconic Spokane Riverfront Park Pavilion at the former 1974 World’s Fair site in Spokane, WA.”