b'CHAPTERl Ma rshall Royo fLeeds ,Engl and,p:covi dedt.:.etitle ,"My~!other Neve r WantedMeToBeARoofer;"andwhe~o:iet :-linksa::ioutit,hemustadmit that rarei stherno~herw~ol ookst enderlvi ntot he~aceof hernewbornchi ld a ndvisualizeshisac:,ievingfa:neandfortune .:.-::ianooandkettle .One doeswo:-iderthen :W r-edoa llthoser oo:\'er sc-=::.efrom?Whatmadet he;n hechoosethisprofession?True ,it do~spu~the= ~n\'\'top\'\'buti tisarugg2d fieldofe~deavor . TomM of KansasCitywantedt oteacho=adent ist,but,due ansonbe tothefact tha thewa ntedt of inanceafamil y,heent eredtheroof ing industry . For Bi l lKuglerofDenver,Col orado,traditionwa sthedecidingf actor, alongwiththechal l engeofthef i eld,theperscnalandprofes sionalgrowth potentialandatruea ffectionfor"thatsmell." RayJohnsonof Tuls a ,Oklahomacreditshi schoicet ot hef act ,t he com?anyt owhichheappliedwaswil lingtohir e~im. PaulMorri sof KansasCi tyclaimshedidn \' tchooseit,"it "c hose him. J ohnBradfordofBilli ngs,Montana,just :;::l ainlikedgettinga sphal:: onhi sshoes . Onlyonehadinsidehelpi nobtaininghis=i rstjobintheindust ry . It wasduringt hede?ressionandjobswereworsat hanscar ce, almost nonexistent,but,accordingt oJohnSheaof Omaha,~e:Jraska ,.this wasno obs tacleas.his no therwasrunningthekettlea,dgavehiraagoodr e f erence .Thismayo rmaynot betrueasJ ohn \' sto~guewassodeepinhi s check,Imayhavemi sunders toodwha thesai d . What everpr omptedment oenterthefield,the majority arecontent with t heir choicethoughwhenaskedif hecoul ~doit all overagain, woul dhe,TomEganhe s i t atedbeforestating,"~\':.wouldde;:iendonwhether ornotit wasrainingthat day." Most agree ,t hough,thatalargef actori~thesuccesstheyhave achievedasR f ingContractorscanbeattribu\':.adt otheirmembe rshipin ootheMi dwestRoofingConr actors. ation.7:ieM is nowovera t a.ssoci RCA quar t er ofacent uryoldandfromi ts m gert?-qinni ngofninemen ,nee t eatg~aga~hert ~e-i.cu_ssandtrv andsolvecow""~probl ems-,rac!ngthe RoofingContract or. i nt heMidwest,it nowoffe=smucht om yandits anembm ers hiphasenlargedtothepointthatConva~tionAttendanceisoverflowi ngeve nthelar gest hote ls.I tsHistor yisascolorfulasthemen whomadei tandat t heJanuarvBoar dMeeti ng .:._,1976 ,it wasfe lt t he tir.iehadcometopresentawrit tenhistoryoft Association,pas tand \'!e present.Theprimaryreasonforawrittenaccountoft heMRCAistohel? thoseassociatedwithit tounderst andandapp~ec i ateourI ndustr yandto acquaint t hemwit hthemenwhoarer esponsible: :nt hepresentMRCAorgani zationthat benefitseverymeroer.It should=.lsohel[)us"newcomers " renembert hattheMRCAoft odavis whatit is ::ecauseofthehard work anddedi cation o fm outstandingcontractors whocaredenoughtounde rany taketheawesomet askofl i ftingthei rindust ~:,- fromasecond- rate , -1 -'