Sunday, January 15, 2012
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
President's Message - August 2011
The next social on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 will be the ever popular annual luncheon at the Halifax Casino. This year it will be our Biannual General meeting At this meeting we will be electing the new slate of Board Members for 2012 – 2013 term. We will also be reviewing the club activities over the past two years.
My two year term as your President is quickly coming to an end but I will continue as Past President. Gary Upham will not be reoffering as a Board Member. I personally want to thank Gary for all his work as Vice President, and for a job very well done. Gary was largely responsible for the social events running very smoothly.
Our club is in good shape and your Board is an important part of its success. In addition your support and participation is also critical. If you wish to be on the Board please let Carl or any of the Board members know before September 21. Our Board meetings continue to be lot of fun and a great time to work with a very special group of people who actually enjoy going to the meetings
For my special feature this month I have the pleasure of including a summary of Don Appleby’s career with Imperial Oil.
Sincerely
Ben Weeks - President
My two year term as your President is quickly coming to an end but I will continue as Past President. Gary Upham will not be reoffering as a Board Member. I personally want to thank Gary for all his work as Vice President, and for a job very well done. Gary was largely responsible for the social events running very smoothly.
Our club is in good shape and your Board is an important part of its success. In addition your support and participation is also critical. If you wish to be on the Board please let Carl or any of the Board members know before September 21. Our Board meetings continue to be lot of fun and a great time to work with a very special group of people who actually enjoy going to the meetings
For my special feature this month I have the pleasure of including a summary of Don Appleby’s career with Imperial Oil.
Sincerely
Ben Weeks - President
Special Feature - Donald Appleby
I started working for Imperial Oil on September 19, 1946. At that time a saying was, “every time a President of IOL retires they hire a new office boy”. I never did find out which President I replaced. It was generally recognized at that time that everyone started employment in the Accounting Dept. and as you developed you transferred to other departments.
There were quite a few people in the Halifax office that were from Saint John, NB. I soon learned that prior to my employment there were NB and PEI divisions with the Head Office in Saint John and a NS division in Halifax. They were amalgamated in the thirties under the title “Marine Division of Imperial Oil Limited”, Located in Halifax. Later on the Newfoundland division was closed out (much to the chagrin of Premier Smallwood) and the Atlantic Region was created.
Years prior to these amalgamations Imperial Oil wanted to build a refinery on the Bedford Basin in the north end of Halifax. They were consistently turned down by Halifax City Council. Imperial finally accepted this decision and built a refinery outside of Dartmouth at Woodside, the present location. It was so remote at the time that Imperial Oil built their own school close to the refinery for children of employees.
I enjoyed my career at Imperial Oil and found each new job rewarding and exciting. I started in the Accounting Dept and reached a first level supervisor. I then transferred to the newly formed Economic Dept. From there I went to Automotive Sales and located in Sydney, NS, followed by several years in St Johns NL, then to Fredericton, NB. This was followed by a transfer back to Halifax as Real Estate Insurance and Tax Advisor, reporting to the Marketing Manager. I finished my career with the Tax Department, Toronto, but was located in Edmonton AB.
There were occasions during my regular positions when I had the opportunity to work on special assignments. It happened frequently and I enjoyed them all. Here is a brief summary of two of them:
I was working in Accounting and was called to the Manger’s office. I was invited to go to Toronto and work for a month on a secret program. Furnace oil was a very profitable product and selling for approximately 17 cents per gallon. Imperial Oil, rather than reduce the price further, decided to give customers free burner service. The team in Toronto were to work on designing and ordering all forms and procedures. We were to produce record cards for all customers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Provinces. Back in Halifax the heating Oil manager was gathering a team of burner dealers in most of the major towns and cities. The program was announced the same day on schedule in all eastern Canada daily newspapers, much to the surprise of our competition and customers.
I worked on another project and was assigned to the Distribution Dept. The present system was all Imperial commission agents and terminals in the Maritimes carried an inventory of barrels or cans of oils and grease. I was to prove or disprove the benefits to move to one distribution terminal which would supply directly to all Maritime customers.
It took almost a year to calculate existing costs of transportation, inventory, commissions, etc. compared to the proposed method. Moncton was proven to be the ideal site and cost savings to be outstanding. It was approved by Toronto.
Tenders were called for but I missed out seeing the actual construction. I was advised that I was being transferred to Edmonton to work for the Tax Dept. Five years later I took early retirement and returned to Nova Scotia.
Donald E. Appleby
There were quite a few people in the Halifax office that were from Saint John, NB. I soon learned that prior to my employment there were NB and PEI divisions with the Head Office in Saint John and a NS division in Halifax. They were amalgamated in the thirties under the title “Marine Division of Imperial Oil Limited”, Located in Halifax. Later on the Newfoundland division was closed out (much to the chagrin of Premier Smallwood) and the Atlantic Region was created.
Years prior to these amalgamations Imperial Oil wanted to build a refinery on the Bedford Basin in the north end of Halifax. They were consistently turned down by Halifax City Council. Imperial finally accepted this decision and built a refinery outside of Dartmouth at Woodside, the present location. It was so remote at the time that Imperial Oil built their own school close to the refinery for children of employees.
I enjoyed my career at Imperial Oil and found each new job rewarding and exciting. I started in the Accounting Dept and reached a first level supervisor. I then transferred to the newly formed Economic Dept. From there I went to Automotive Sales and located in Sydney, NS, followed by several years in St Johns NL, then to Fredericton, NB. This was followed by a transfer back to Halifax as Real Estate Insurance and Tax Advisor, reporting to the Marketing Manager. I finished my career with the Tax Department, Toronto, but was located in Edmonton AB.
There were occasions during my regular positions when I had the opportunity to work on special assignments. It happened frequently and I enjoyed them all. Here is a brief summary of two of them:
I was working in Accounting and was called to the Manger’s office. I was invited to go to Toronto and work for a month on a secret program. Furnace oil was a very profitable product and selling for approximately 17 cents per gallon. Imperial Oil, rather than reduce the price further, decided to give customers free burner service. The team in Toronto were to work on designing and ordering all forms and procedures. We were to produce record cards for all customers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Provinces. Back in Halifax the heating Oil manager was gathering a team of burner dealers in most of the major towns and cities. The program was announced the same day on schedule in all eastern Canada daily newspapers, much to the surprise of our competition and customers.
I worked on another project and was assigned to the Distribution Dept. The present system was all Imperial commission agents and terminals in the Maritimes carried an inventory of barrels or cans of oils and grease. I was to prove or disprove the benefits to move to one distribution terminal which would supply directly to all Maritime customers.
It took almost a year to calculate existing costs of transportation, inventory, commissions, etc. compared to the proposed method. Moncton was proven to be the ideal site and cost savings to be outstanding. It was approved by Toronto.
Tenders were called for but I missed out seeing the actual construction. I was advised that I was being transferred to Edmonton to work for the Tax Dept. Five years later I took early retirement and returned to Nova Scotia.
Donald E. Appleby
Saturday, February 26, 2011
President's Message - February 2011
By the time you receive this newsletter I hope I will be on the beach in Maui and away from all the snow and cold for a little while!
Your Board is geared up for the first social of the year to be held at the Banook Canoe Club on June 29. It will be a lobster lunch with steak for the non seafood eaters. This social has become a popular event on our calendar. I hope to see many of you there. More information will follow in the June Newsletter.
We have been fortunate to have six new members join the club over the last few months.
Many of you met Dave and Cathy MacKinnon, and Dave and Sandra Johnson at the Christmas party. Wayne Mulock and his partner Jan McKenzie also joined us. Dave Johnson was Manager of the Atlantic Distribution terminals. Dave MacKinnon was a Distribution Coordinator at the Dartmouth terminal. Wayne Mulock was the Atlantic Territory manager for Industrial/Wholesale. We look forward to getting to know each of the new members at the Banook lobster lunch.
All the best to each of you. Don’t hesitate to call any of the board members or send an email to me if you have any questions or concerns that we should address.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Weeks - President
Your Board is geared up for the first social of the year to be held at the Banook Canoe Club on June 29. It will be a lobster lunch with steak for the non seafood eaters. This social has become a popular event on our calendar. I hope to see many of you there. More information will follow in the June Newsletter.
We have been fortunate to have six new members join the club over the last few months.
Many of you met Dave and Cathy MacKinnon, and Dave and Sandra Johnson at the Christmas party. Wayne Mulock and his partner Jan McKenzie also joined us. Dave Johnson was Manager of the Atlantic Distribution terminals. Dave MacKinnon was a Distribution Coordinator at the Dartmouth terminal. Wayne Mulock was the Atlantic Territory manager for Industrial/Wholesale. We look forward to getting to know each of the new members at the Banook lobster lunch.
All the best to each of you. Don’t hesitate to call any of the board members or send an email to me if you have any questions or concerns that we should address.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Weeks - President
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