Funny How Things Work Out
By: Steve High
April 2012
I often think about many of H. J. High’s past projects and how we acquired them – over the years there have been some rather unusual circumstances surrounding certain project awards.
One project that comes to light is the Titusville Astronaut High School we constructed in 1989 for the School Board of Brevard County. We were a small company at that time with only three employees – our vice president and estimator Paul Gips, a bookkeeper and myself. The new high school was designed by Lemmon and Megginson, Architects from Titusville, Florida. The project was delivered as a hard dollar bid project as most projects were back in those days, long before design-build and construction management were commonplace in the market.
We bid the job at the usual 2:00 p.m. school board deadline and were the apparent low bidder. Hard to imagine with today’s prices but the bid for this 100,000 sf building was an astounding $4 million (yes, $40/sf). We were happy to be low and looked forward to beginning work because we really needed the job.
Well, it turned out not to be. Our price was over the budget, so the school board rejected all bids and told the architect he had to redesign the project to bring it into budget. We assembled our plans and sent them back to the architect to collect our deposit, not knowing when it would rebid.
Thirty days went by and we heard nothing. One morning while I was on another job I received a call from the architect. He said they were meeting with the school board that afternoon and would award the job to us if we would guarantee the same price and still meet the original completion schedule. We thought it was difficult to build without already losing the thirty days.
We said what any enterprising general contractor says, “Sure we can do it!” We don’t say anything about not having a superintendent to put on the job or that the contract time would start from the award that day. What a fix!
Luckily several days later we interviewed Alfred ‘Fritz’ Myrtle and hired him for the job. What a blessing. We built the new high school and completed it on time. Fritz was a tremendously skilled superintendent and ended up being with H. J. High for over 15 years. Abe Collingsworth was the principal of the school and had a son Chris who later played ball at UF. Chris is now a well known football announcer for network television.
It’s funny how things work out – we thought we would have to rebid the job not knowing if we would be low the second time around, as one usually is not. We were lucky and blessed to be able to complete the school on time and have such capable employees to help us in the process.
Flying High for Those in Need
January 23, 2012
While our economy has been grounded, H. J. High Chairman, Steve High has been flying high for those in need for more than 20 years. Steve has been an integral part of Angel Flight Southeast, a 501(c)(3) organization of volunteer pilots who utilize their own aircraft, fuel and time to provide free air transportation to medical facilities for families that are financially distressed or otherwise unable to travel on public transportation.
This journey with Angel Flight began after Steve’s own medical scare in the early 1990’s. While recovering from surgery, Steve found an article that mentioned air ambulance operations and Angel Flight Southeast. As a pilot for over 40 years, he realized he could help the organization. “I feel that God has given me the ability to own an airplane and have a company that supports my flying. He was gracious enough to allow me to live, so I feel I ought to do something in return.” As soon as Steve was fully recovered he signed up for his first flight and the rest is history.
There have been hundreds of missions over the years and each one holds a special significance. In Steve’s own words, “There have been many memorable flights. The ones I remember most are flown with young children. Seeing them in a helpless state, depending on medical miracles to keep them alive and the trials they have to endure is pretty rough. Thank God for all those who participate in Angel Flight.”
Steve now flies an average of 25 Angel Flight missions a year and in 2010 was ranked 3rd in the Southeast for the most legs flown with 28. This selfless giving helped to inspire H. J. High’s charity initiative that was started in 2008.
To learn more about Angel Flight Southeast or to donate to this worthy cause, please visit their website as www.angelflightse.org
Memorable Angel Flight
By: Steven High
January 19, 2012
I don’t remember the year but it was at Thanksgiving and probably in the late 1990′s. I was part of a 6 plane mission to go to Opa-locka Executive Airport and fly children who were burn victims to Disney for the long weekend. All the planes arrived on time and we were awaiting arrival of the children. They showed up in a van accompanied by a nurse or social worker who was going along and I will never forget the sight I saw. Most had their bodies completely wrapped and a number of them had their heads wrapped and the only thing you could see was their eyes. What you saw was fright and shock from the ordeal they had been through, but they were going to Disney.
The flight was uneventful and we delivered the children and workers on time. I was not part of the trip back but I did find out they had a wonderful time. Thank God for all those who participate in Angel Flight.
Leading the Blind
By: Steven High
July 29, 2011
Recently I flew Charles Miller who is legally blind from North Palm Beach County airport home to Gainesville. When I met Charles he explained that he was almost totally blind and had been at the VA hospital for 2 weeks learning to operate a GPS that would allow him to navigate. At age 30 doctors told him he would slowly lose his eyesight and now at the age of 54, is almost blind. I asked him if he had family and he said he had legal custody of his 12 year old son and he was anxious to get home to be with him.
Angel Flight Southeast
![2_72[1]](http://www.hjhigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2_721-570x205.jpg "2_72[1]")
Steven High put his Company Plane in the Service of Angel Flight Southeast Patients
By: Leslie Johnston
Article Published in AutoPILOT Magazine (2006)
This construction company executive finds satisfaction in being a link between patients around the state and access to specialized healthcare resources.
It was while he was recuperating from a surgery of his own that Orlando’s Steven High, Chairman of H. J. High Construction Company, learned about Angel Flight Southeast and decided that he wanted to become a part of the organization’s work. That was in 1991 — 15 years later he’s still flying Angel Flight missions.