By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
In the Forest Creek subdivision off Old Concord Road, the thermometer was pushing 80 degrees by 10 a.m. Friday, en route to an afternoon high in the mid-90s.
The sun was baking a crowd of volunteers working on the latest house being built under the authority of Habitat for Humanity of Rowan County.
“They’re leaving at 2 (p.m.),” said David Rowh, motioning to those aforementioned volunteers. “They’re getting out of here before it gets deathly hot.”
Then Rowh chuckled.
“They’re the smart ones,” he continued. “They’re leaving the idiots like me.”
Rowh, 31, is Habitat’s construction supervisor. It’s a job he’s held about 10 years.
Rowh is a jack of all trades when it comes to Habitat’s construction projects, able to do just about any building task there is while also having the people skills needed to supervise a group of volunteers, some of whom have previously never even swung a hammer.
“I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned,” said Dana Hogue, a resident of Lake Wylie, S.C., and sales representative for Bristol-Myers Squibb. Friday marked the fifth year that a number of the company’s employees have traveled to Salisbury to help build a Habitat house.
Hogue admitted her construction skills were virtually nil, but said Rowh makes the job easy and, better still, makes her feel as if she’s performing a valuable role in the home’s construction.
“We’ve got five or six guys here who know something about what they’re doing,” Hogue said of the 20 or so volunteers from Bristol-Myers. “The rest of us are like a bunch of little worker bees. Just show us what you want us to do.”
Janet Stahl, a Jamestown resident, agreed.
“He’s very encouraging,” she said of Rowh’s leadership, which includes a goodly dose of cheerleading. “We could feel pretty worthless out here if someone weren’t pointing us in the right direction.”
Rikki Spencer, a Salisbury resident, said he and his fellow Bristol-Myers employees volunteer a day each year to work with Habitat. It’s a worthwhile endeavor, he said, and it helps them give back to the community.
“It’s also a good team-building activity,” Spencer said.
He said Rowh always makes the project proceed smoothly.
“He doesn’t get rattled,” Spencer said. “He’s easygoing. He’s definitely top shelf.”
Rowh is a native of Dublin, Va., a small town in the southwest corner of the state not far from the campus of Virginia Tech. Rowh said his grandfather was a carpenter, as were an uncle and cousin.
He got a fair amount of training in the construction field while growing up, then took a job through AmeriCorps that brought him to Salisbury to work with Habitat. AmeriCorps is largely a volunteer organization, though its workers receive a stipend to help cover living expenses.
Rowh said the job he took with AmeriCorps in Salisbury was supposed to last 10 months. But after coming to Rowan County and becoming associated with the local Habitat chapter, he was eventually hired as construction supervisor.
“My 10-month job has lasted 11 years so far,” Rowh said.
The task of construction supervisor, he said, covers a variety of tasks. Rowh said his role is one that’s similar to that of a general contractor.
“I’ve got to keep up with materials, make sure everything’s scheduled to arrive by the time its needed,” he said. “And I’ve also got to keep up with the volunteers.”
Rowh said that whenever possible, he has materials precut and ready for volunteers to hammer into place. That helps, he said, because he seldom knows the experience level of those with whom he’ll be working.
“We get volunteers who have worked in construction and volunteers who basically don’t know one end of the hammer from another,” Rowh said. “We welcome them all.”
He estimates that he’s worked on more than 50 Habitat projects and has served as supervisor on more than 30.
Rowh and his wife, Sharon, met at Rainy Day Books on East Innes Street. He was working at the nearby Habitat Restore at the time while she was working at the nearby Simply Good Natural Foods.
They bumped into one another somewhere in the middle. They have two children: Jade, 7, and Dylan, 5.
Coleman Emerson, Habitat’s executive director, said there’s much to like about Rowh.
“Let’s say he’s a patient person,” Emerson said. “He’s a good face for Habitat on the construction site.”
Emerson said that because Rowh’s job is so multi-faceted, learning all that’s involved is a neverending task.
“He interacts well with the homeowners doing their sweat equity as well as the volunteers,” Emerson said. “We’re very thankful to have him.”
Emerson said that above all else, Habitat is a Christian ministry.
“And David helps others put their faith in action,” he said.
Darrell Bolick, a volunteer who was helping at the Forest Creek subdivision ó which consists primarily of Habitat houses ó Friday morning, said he’s worked on numerous local Habitat projects and also traveled twice with Rowh to Biloxi, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area.
“You see people living under lean-to’s without a thing in the world left to them,” Bolick said. “It really makes you appreciate the job that Habitat does.”
He said Rowh is as good at his job as there is.
“Nine times out of 10, unless you ask him something, you don’t even know he’s around,” Bolick said. “He’s just great to work with.”
Rowh takes a sort of “aw, shucks” attitude toward all those accolades, and said that while he’s never going to get rich with the work he’s doing, the feeling of accomplishment it brings can’t be beat.
“It’s such a satisfying thing to do,” Rowh said of his work. “I think some of that would go away if I was doing it for the money.”
He said that while Habitat homes aren’t especially fancy, they’re well-built, providing quality shelter for their owners. Rowh said he’s seen films of the aftermath of hurricanes that struck Florida.
At one stretch, Rowh said, are million-dollar homes that are blown to pieces, leveled by hellacious winds. Up the street a half-mile or so are Habitat homes that endured Mother Nature’s wrath, suffering nothing more than the loss of a few shingles.
“The whole concept is about simple, decent housing,” Rowh said of what makes Habitat go. “It’s a wonderful organization.”