Trading Places
Vince McCafferty spent 15 months in England on a Carpenters’ Company cultural exchange program
Vince McCafferty shares a laugh with British tourists Shirley Stewart (left) and Cathie on a Saturday afternoon at Carpenters’ Hall. Photo by Jim Murphy, author of “Real Philly History, Real Fast.”
Vince McCafferty, a member of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides, (APT), has fond memories of the time he spent in London representing the Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia from Oct. 1989 to Dec. 1990.
He just can’t believe how fast the time has flown
Vince, who lives in Jenkintown, Pa., wasn’t even a member of the Carpenters’ Company. But he was a recent grad from Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering.
And while working for a company called Morse Diesel as a young construction manager, Vince was nominated by Mike Pennington — a regional vice president and member of the Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia — to apply for the “Young People in Construction Architecture/Engineering Award.”
Soon after meeting in the library of Carpenters’ Hall with three Carpenters’ Company members, Vince recalls, he happily learned he was heading off to “Jolly Old England” and the 700-year-old Carpenters’ Company of London.
He’d like to have stayed longer
He thoroughly enjoyed his time there working as an assistant project manager for Henry Neale Company. “I was actually trying to find ways to stay,” he admits.
Vince also traveled while in Europe, visiting relatives in Isernia in the southern Italian region of Molise at Christmas, and touring Ireland with his dad. He also played Australian football in a newly formed English League.
One of his fondest memories: Dressing in a tux while attending a dinner hosted by the Lord Mayor of London and being announced as a special guest of the Carpenters’ Company in Philadelphia. He took in the marvelous spectacle … and never forgot it.
After returning to the states, Vince was eventually employed by Lendlease, where he is now a general superintendent.
More recently, he continued his Carpenters’ Hall connection. After joining APT in 2023, Vince started working as a tour guide and docent at Carpenters’ Hall. “I didn’t know what I was getting into.”
Now he also heads APT’s Events Committee, is on its board, does “Grim Philly” tours, volunteers at the Powel House, guides at Elfreth’s Alley and does Twilight Tours for the Independence Historical Trust.
You can often her his deep voice at the front of the Independence Visitor Center at 6th and Market Streets, as he gathers tourists for his group. Vince also now records and sometimes writes popular Philly Phun Phacts for John Weber at radio station WHYY-FM.
It’s been a long fun ride since he first went to England.
And Vince, a “lifelong Philly guy” raised in Northeast Philadelphia, is doing something he’s always enjoyed: “Showing off our great unappreciated city.”
Look for him doing just than on tours around town.