(The following blog is derived from excerpts taken from Jim Wilkins "prepared remarks" given at the luncheon celebrating his 30th anniversary with the firm. Enjoy!)
30 years at ANF Architects, a.k.a. Lee
Askew III Architects, a.k.a. Askew Nixon Ferguson & Wolfe Architects,
a.k.a. Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects
May, 1984. I was 21, in college at Memphis St., and
looking for a job. Theresa saw a posting
at Christian Brothers College for a summer intern position at an architect's
office in Midtown. So I called, made the
appointment, and showed up in my best coat and tie (actually my only coat and tie).
I was asked to wait in the 1503
conference room. Shortly, I heard
someone bounding down the steps as fast as anyone possibly could, and Bill
Nixon introduced himself. Nixon
interviewed me briefly, and I got the job.
That summer,
Tony, another office intern, and I ran errands, worked on Lee's old Chrysler
car, worked on Tony's VW Beetle, fixed things, painted things, ran bluelines
(learning that too much ammonia is bad), made deliveries, you name it. I think I was paid $4 an hour. My first drafting-related task that summer, I
was handed an electric eraser and told to start erasing. I'd never seen an electric eraser before. OMG, this thing was incredible. Burned a hole right through that vellum. Uh-oh.
Three months
later, in August '84, Lee asked if I'd like to go out to Federal Express,
someplace called CAC. We had a team
starting out there lead by Jane Zinkand, so I jumped at the chance. Lee said we’d be out there maybe six
months. Five years later, the contract
ended and I came back to the office.

Soon
after we started at CAC, I was hired full time.
The downside to working full time was that I had to switch to night
classes at Memphis St., trying to finish my degree. In December ’90, I finished. Nine years of college - geez, I thought it
would never end.
While at CAC,
later renamed CTC, I perfected many skills, including the art of licking the
dried out plotter pens to get 'em going again, synchronized rustling of
cellophane with Randy Bence, and configuring series 9000 Steelcase systems
furniture.
Lordy, I
could write volumes about those years at FedEx, those were some of the best
years of my life. I worked with some of
the best people too, folks that are still some of the best friends I ever had. Ever had bologna pizza? I have, with David "baloney" Keeton. The Hedge, Wag, Jerry, Lionell, Lula,
Charles Bradley, Tommy, Sandy, Jill, Courtney, Steve, Papatya, The Bence-ster, and
our boss, Jennifer Adair. I was
priviledged to work with you all. If you
haven't seen the Bence Book of Excuses,
Volume I - A through God's Will, just ask Gary Wagoner to show it to you.
I had worked
at ANF for 15 years before my time in the office equaled my time out of the
office. I've been sent to work on
contract for FedEx (twice), HBG, JMGR, Belz, MSCAA. They all tried to hire me, except FedEx. I never really told anyone this, but I was so
disappointed that FedEx only wanted to hire Hedgepeth, and not me too. We
were a team, dammit! Oh well, I think
things turned out ok.
I've sat in
the cockpit of a Flying Tigers 747. I've
walked around the FedEx hub at night. I've watched the Concord land at MEM while
standing on the roof of Module E at CTC. I participated in a halon test at the Module I
generator addition, during which I learned first hand how halon works! And I've witnessed Randy Bence dump thousands
of paper punches onto his head in front of Ophelia Tyson. Oh we had some great times during those years.
Once when I
returned to the office after being sent out on contract, I went to my desk and
someone was sitting there working. I
said, "excuse me, you're in my spot". It was Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Fortunately for me, Thor moved on, but to this
day, he shows up in the weirdest places - on the office calendar, signed up for
art shows, things like that. Weird!
Then there
was the time the sandwich shop across the street from the office was robbed one
evening about 5 p.m., and the robber ran out into Union Ave, and gunfire
erupted. I said some expletives, dove
under my desk, and called 911, and shouted, "They're shooting at us!"
Great
memories through the years include the various studio skits we used to do, like
The Wizard of Oz (I was the Scarecrow), Rappin Fish Heads, Charlie's Angels (I
was Bosley). I remember others as well -
The Chain Gang, lead by Sherriff Nixon, The Supremes, New Kids Been Around the
Block One Too Many Times. I remember
singing Blue Christmas at Leslie's
place downtown, singing with "Elvis" at my 20th anniversary party,
Robert Marcy yelling in my ear, "You want some cake?" at my 40th
birthday party. Becky Marshall and I met
Allison Kraus at Jonh & Sandy Williams' wedding in Nashville. True story.
Christmas is
very special at ANF. I love the personal
ornaments we put up each year, they bring back such fond memories of people and
good times. Many years I have been the
last to leave and lockup before Christmas. I turn off all the lights except for the tree and
just stare silently and think about old friends. Such great people who helped me, taught me,
encouraged me, befriended me: Leslie E. Smith, Benny J. Baggett, Jeff
Hedgepeth, Linda Smith, Carol Whitaker, Bill Nixon, Bill Ferguson, Dan
Garrigan, Stephen G. Hill, Emily Tickle Thomas...
Great
projects I've had the privilege to work on: the IRS Service Center, the new
Memphis Animal Services facility, CSI (I wonder if Joe kept those sketches of
Madonna's bra), many a Dobbs project for Dan. On the IRS project, I punchlisted over 5,000
items together with Troy Lee from Mortenson. Poor Rhonda listened to tape after tape,
typing all those items in. I'm sure she
thought it would never end.

Such great
friends: Brian D. Eschman, Robert E. Land, Jr., Derrick Choo, John L. Williams,
Paula Jean Myers, Tava Beau Frazier. When
my father passed away in 2005, I got the call here that morning. Linda was first to hug my neck while I cried,
then Carol, Julie, others. Special
folks.
I wouldn't be
doing what I'm doing now without those who’ve quit before me: Cindi Wagner,
Curtis Warhurst, Amanda Chrisco. I love
being the I.T. person for ANF. Hardly a
day goes by where I don't learn or read about some new or changing technology.
How many
people have I passed in the ANF hallways in 30 years? I counted about 150, plus everyone working here
today.
These are
some dates frozen in time for me during my 30 years at ANF:
- Jan. 28,
1986: Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. Many of us went to the breakroom in Module J
because it had a TV, and watched in disbelief what had happened
- Feb. 7, 1989:
Kathy Ireland made the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. I still hang that poster every St. Patrick's
Day. No, Joe, you can't have it!
- March 9,
1999: Al Gore said he invented the internet, or something to that effect. Now look what you've done, it’s both good and
evil at the same time. This is pretty
messed up sir.
- Dec. 30,
2013: the day I took and passed my last ARE exam to become a licensed
architect. Seriously? I, uh, I did pass, right? Really? Holy crap! In 12th
grade, way back in 1981, I figured out what I wanted to be - I won first place
in my high school drafting class's competition to draw some house plans. I talked with Jerry Durham, Architect, who was
a deacon in my church, about how to become an architect. Some 32 years later, my dream came true. I know my father smiled down on me that day, and
I know he would have shook my hand with that mighty grip he had, and said he
was proud of me. I miss him every single
day.
In 30 years
at ANF, I've had 3 cars, 8 dogs, 5 desks, 720 paychecks, spent about 10,000
hours driving and driven over 300,000 miles to work and back home, had 1 wreck,
and taken 9 trips to Walt Disney World with my beautiful wife of 27 years now,
Theresa. I’ve won the office basketball
pool once, the Dallas Cowboys won 3 championships, the Chicago Cubs won none, and
I've had 1 job.
I love this job.
Thank ya,
thankyavaramuch.
Jim Wilkins,
AIA
Associate /
Systems Manager
ANF
Architects