by B - OneHSN · Baby Ben Last autumn, while working his trapline north of River Valley, Al Giroux...

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Transcript of by B - OneHSN · Baby Ben Last autumn, while working his trapline north of River Valley, Al Giroux...

TriangleFebruary/March 1984,Vol. 43, No. 7

PublicationsEditor

Peter vom Scheidt

Writer

Frank Pagnucco

Published monthly for employees andpensioners of the Ontario division ofInco Limited. Produced by the publicaffairs department and printed inCanada by Journal Printing Companyin Sudbury. Member of theInternational Association of BusinessCommunicators.

Letters and comments are welcomedand should be addressed to theeditor at Inco Limited, Public AffairsDepartment, Copper Cliff, OntarioPOM 1 NO. Phone 705-682-5425.

On the coverMaster woodcarver Bill Whittakerposes with his life-size creation of aBlue Heron. With the detail present inthis carving it is easy to mistake it forthe real thing. For more on Bill andhis hobby see story on page 12.

Super strobesIn recent times Sudburians have

noticed a proliferation of bright,flashing lights in their sky.Communication towers in the area, inresponse to new Transport Canadaregulations for high structures, havehad new pulsating strobe lightsinstalled to either augment or replaceexisting red lights.

The tallest freestanding structure ofall, Inco's superstack, had strobelights installed in May. Threeobstruction strobe lights, as they areknown, were installed at each of fourlevels of the 1250 foot stack. Thestrobe lights replaced some but not allof the original red lights. Three redlights were left on each level to act asa backup system. Now whensomeone looks at the stack, he or shewill see lights alternating strobe/red oneach level.

Measuring two feet wide by two feethigh by two feet deep. these strobelights work on the same principle asfluorescent lights. A gas in a tube, inthis case xenon, is ionized by high

voltage electricity causing the higniyvisible flash.

The intensity of the flash varies withnatural light conditions. During daytime, when the strobes have tocompete with sunlight, the intensity ofthe flash is 200,000 candle power.Towards dusk, or when atmosphericconditions alter natural light conditions,a photo cell at the base of the stacknotes the change and orders thestrobes to reduce the candle power to20,000. At night time the strobe lightspulse at 4,000 candle power. Theyflash 40 times a minute.

Another feature of the new lights isthat the beam is aimed as straight outas possible. This ensures that peopleliving near the stack will not bebothered by the light beams. Twoemployees from Inco's generalengineering department, RobbieRobertson, project coordinator, andCarl Ellsworth, constructioncoordinator, supervised the instai ,-r nof the lights.

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Baby Ben

Last autumn, while working histrapline north of River Valley, AlGiroux discovered: a young black bearcub trying to hibernate in the snowamong some ferns.

Al, a service foreman at Creightonmine and a long time trapper, figuredthat the emaciated creature had beenborn last spring. The cub's motherhad been probably killed by hunters.Not knowing enough to hibernate in aden, the cub chose an unprotectedclump of vegetation in which to sleep.The cub would not have survived untilChristmas, he said.

Al temporarily adopted the femalecub, which he named Ben. YoungBen became an honored guest in theGiroux household. Often and heartilyshe enjoyed the grub served up byher hosts; milk, bread and beavermeat. The diet served its purpose andwhat was once a skinny, little creatureballooned into a healthy, butterball ofblack fur.

Ben continually impressed herprotectors with her intelligence. Byday she inhabited the basementwhere she ruled a little domain fromatop a wood box. She learned how toopen and close the lid of the woodbox. Getting in and out of the boxbecame old hat. Her natural curiosityled her to discover the secret of liftingthe latch that opened the basementwindow. By night she slept in the tool

Al Giroux feeds friend Ben one of her favoritemeals, milk -snaked bread

shack in the back yard, a morecomfortable environment for a furbearing animal.

In December Al returned a rotundand robust Ben back to her nativearea. He deposited her in a den heknew of, and it is there she now

sleeps, oblivious to the winter ragingaround her.

Ben will emerge in the springhungry and with her instinctive fear ofhumans in tact. She will, Al hopes,grow up to one day have a family ofher own.

The spirit of ChristmasThere were numerous Christmas parties held for children of Inco employees. Thefollowing four pages show a pictorial sampling of some of them. Hopefully the

expressions of joy on the childrens' faces will last throughout the year.

Copper Cliff Nickel Refinery Divisional ShopsAn

General Office

Copper Cliff Mines

Creighton Complex

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Copper Refinery

Port Colborne Nickel Refinery

Wendy has a dreamOblivious to the January cold

chilling the confines of the CambrianArena, 13 year old Wendy Corellipractices for the umpteenth time thewhirls, twirls, spins and leaps of herthree minute freeskating routine. Shehopes her efforts will let her pass the

novice competitive test in a week's materials co-ordinator at Levack mine,time. It will be her first major challenge has been training for this big teston her way up through Canada's since last April. Her regimen is anfigure skating ranks and, perhaps, the intense one; seven days a week, threefirst step to realizing a dream of hours a day. She has no qualmscompeting in the 1988 Olympics. about making this sort of commitment

Wendy, daughter of Ron Corelli, a because "it's what I want to do."

It was when Wendy was sevenyears of age that she first beganskating. She recalls originallypreferring not to skate because shedidn't know how. Once she got on theice, that all changed. "I got seriouswhen I was nine," she continues. ''Ihad no idea how far I'd go."

Since that time Wendy hasdistinguished herself in numerouscompetitions and invitational meets.Her potential has been acknowledged.Realizing that potential is now hergoal.

Last year she was tutored by worldclass skating coach Doug Leigh at theMariposa School of Skating in Orillia.She will continue that training thissummer. This winter she is beingcoached in Sudbury by MaryCatherine Bardeggia.

When she chats about figureskating, words like "dedication","hard work", and "challenge"

is being touted as a figure skating star of the future,

frequently crop up. Her singleness ofpurpose and her awareness of thesacrifices that her greatest hopescommand, bestow her with a poiseand maturity that belies her tenderyears. "You really have to want itdeep down inside," she explains. "Idon't mind giving up other things. Inthe long run I'll be better off doingthis."

As figure skaters progress throughvarious levels they are expected tomaster increasingly difficult and

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complex jumps, Wendy's routineincludes, among other things, adouble lutz, a maneuver where one,while skating backwards, leaps intotwo complete rotations, landingsmoothly. She readily admits that shefalls "thousands of times'' learninghow to perfect such a jump. "Once Iland it, I get it. It takes a long time toget it.''

More than a few figure skaters quit,unable to maintain the tough pace.Wendy says she stresses positive

thinking. A positive attitude seems tostimulate the desire to work hard andexcel. Coaches and her family, sheadds, always support her in her figureskating endeavours.

Through lessons given by coaches,by watching other skaters and withgood, old trial and error Wendyattempts to perfect her figures and herfree skating daily. Her routine hasbeen described as energetic, peppyand fast. Now she is working ondeveloping her technique and

improving her on-ice presentation.Looking down the road, past the

novice competition trials, beyond thepath to national and internationalmeets, Wendy foresees herselfremaining in the sport. "I'd like to dosomething like the Ice Capades," shepredicts. "Then I'd like to teach figureskating. Other people have helped mealong the way and I'd like to helpothers.

Incidentally, Wendy passed hernovice test with flying colours.

The Bard of n ine shaft

Louis Beres, well-known poetlaureate of Creighton mine haspenned another winning composition.A miner for 35 years, he retired lastyear. On the occasion of a Creightonmine retirement party he read hislatest verse, "Some Names of theGood Old Days."

For over a decade, the bard of nineshaft, has been regaling his fellowemployees with poetry. Over that timehe says he has written "a couple ofhundred" poems. Many of them heexplains, "deal with comical thingsthat I would pick up on in the mine."One entitled "Old Gidi-ep-WhoaRandy-Joy", a humorous epic aboutthe ingenuity of miners in making ahybrid slusher go, was published inthe Triangle.

Louis' new work deals with the menhe has known in his long associationwith Creighton mine. "We had somegood men that worked at Creighton,"he says. "This deals only with the

Louis Beres continues writing the poetrythat made him famous at Creighton minenow that he is a pensioner.

people that I was personally in contactwith in one time or another. Therewere good men in other departments,he adds, who he did not know welland did not mention.

Needless to say Louis' poem got avery good reception from those inattendance at the retirement party."When I read it at the party I got awonderful hand," he says, somewhatunderstating the long and loudstanding ovation his audience gave."To me it represents the wonderfulmemories of the wonderful people Iworked with. The biggest part of mylife was working with these people."

Those reading "Some of the GoodOld Days" especially those who haveworked at Creighton, will appreciatethis sentiment.

Some Names of the Good Old DaysThe outstanding men I have on this

listThese memories are with me to stayFor they were the leaders I personallyknewSome gone some still here today.

There was Earl Mumford, BarneyCain,

Roy Hamil, Guy Innes, Jack Brown,Harry Narasnek, Frank McAteer,Charlie Quinn, Gar Green and BobBrowne.

Also Wally Blackwell, Roger Stabback,And the colorful big Grant Bertrim,And Harry Keller, Harvey Bangle,Doug Anderson, Alexander, LeeIngerman.

The first computer I ever sawHis name was Archie MasseyAnd of course it's an honour to be

able to sayThat I worked with John McCreedy.

There was Eric Ashick, LeoMcDonald,

Bill Armstrong, Doug Reynalds, DougBrown,

Treasure, Burnside, Kutchaw andHolmesThese names I proudly wrote down.

There was Milt Jowsey, Ron Brown,Stan Miller, Ireland and MarsonNorm Korpinen, Burns and AleryFrank and Martin Larson.

Ron Witherell, Nels Crowder,Wilf Rochefort, Adams, Bob Gorman,Sanderson, Fraser and Casey Cull

investmentrecovery

The skip hoist from Murray mine ispresently being used to sink a shaftfor a gold mine in Kirkland Lake. Millsfrom the old Creighton mill areprocessing copper in Mexico. Twocrushers formerly part of operations atCreighton are in service in thePhilippines. A slimes pump fromelectro-winning is performing its workin Quebec.

These are but a few examples ofsurplus lnco equipment that has beensold to other mining companies by theinvestment recovery group. The groupis located at Frood mine and is part ofthe purchasing and warehousingdepartment. They are responsible forlocating, assessing and disposing ofsurplus material in the Ontario division.

Jim Elliott has been supervisor ofthis operation for the last six of the 12years it has been in existence. Hesays the concept of an investmentrecovery function grew out of "arecognition of the fact that there was asignificant amount of equipment andmaterials that had value to otherpotential buyers both within andoutside the company."

Jim explains that the investmentrecovery group learns about surplusequipment in the division in threeways. A process redundancy review is

A warehouse at Stobre mine houses thousandsof pieces of smaller equipment. Here, Al Cyr,storeman. (foreground) and Ed Henry storeman(on ladder) look for :r;aterrals rn one section ofthe warehouse

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Were some of these good oldforeman.

I worked for a man a ministerKeith Henderson never sworeBut Grant Villeneuve rang his earsFrom old Shakey the swear words didpour.

Now Wally Neven, Mike Siry, ChuckBellLaakso and KnottAnd a special salute to all here tonightAnd perhaps a few I forgot.

They were all producers of nickelBut their names to me are pure goldNames forever to stay in my mindAs I live no matter how old.

For they stood the foundations of IncoA giant was formed in those daysBut the giant faltered and stumbledFor the costs got too heavy they say

But now that we're through sellingbatteriesAnd those laterite ones far awayLet's get at it you young whippersnappersAnd like those old boys againmake-er-pay

By Louis Beres

carried out as required when changesin production result in a processchanging or becoming redundant. Theinvestment recovery group and thecapital accounting department inconjunction with the former usingdepartment identify materials andequipment that are surplus. They canbe sold, in other areas or, if non-recoverable, written off for taxpurposes.

The second way the investmentrecovery group finds surplus stock isby identification by the end users. Amine representative, for example, willcall to inform investment recovery thata piece of equipment is available.

The third means of identifyingequipment is by a, selective review ofa particular commodity at a mine or aplant. This inventory is conducted byinvestment recovery personnel. Jimcites the instance of the survey ofelectrical cable undertaken two yearsago. Every reel of cable at every mineand plant was tabulated. A listcontaining the number and descriptionof reels was sent back to the plantsfor their review. Anything for whichthere was no planned purpose wassent to the investment recovery groupbase at Frood mine for disposal tointerested corporate buyers.

With cable costing up to $28 a foot,and 1,000 feet per reel, the resale ofthis excess material constituted asignificant recoup of cash resources.Since its start, investment recoveryhas utilized internally over 2,000 reelsof cable.

Each month the investment recoverygroup publishes a newsletter that iscirculated to managers, maintenancesuperintendents, area engineers,materials coordinators and otherinterested people within the company."We list selected items from ourinventory and every major item thathas arrived since our last newsletter,"adds Jim.

Twice annually the investmentrecovery group also publishes acatalogue listing its.major surplusequipment. The catalogue is sent toevery large mining company inCanada, major equipment dealer in

North America and other Incooperations outside of Ontario.

Enquiries from around the world arereceived at the investment recoveryoffice for information about surplusmaterials. Jim says mining companieswill look for used equipment first,because it is cheaper, and secondlybecause they can get it faster.

The lead time in the purchase of abrand new hoist from themanufacturer may be as great as twoyears. A used hoist is readily availableto a mining company anxious to get amajor project underway. All sales inthe investment recovery group are ona "where is, as is basis". Buyersassume all costs associated withremoving and transporting anypurchases they might make.

Prices for surplus goods areestablished by the marketplace. "Themining industry around the world isjust flat," comments Jim. "We can geta feel for that just by what people areasking for and how often we areapproached. It gives us a goodindication of what world miningconditions are like". Presently,requests are coming from companies

active in Detour Lake and the Hemloareas of Northern Ontario.

Historically Inco has not been a biguser of surplus equipment. Things arebeginning to change for the sake ofeconomy. "We're finding that becauseof the economic crunch we are gettingmore internal requests than there havebeen in the past. People are makingan effort to use more surplusequipment," says Jim.

The work of the investment recoverygroup extends beyond disposal ofsurplus goods and enters intoinvolvement in corporate projects. Thegroup has done equipmentevaluations at a joint Inco/Norandaproject. It oversaw the disposal ofsome equipment from Exide. It locatedand transferred much of theappropriate equipment for theMcBean mine project.

The goal of the investment recoverygroup is implicit in its name - therecovery of value assets for thecompany. "We feel we've been veryeffective in that," Jim states. The prooflies on the "bottom line." Since 1972the group has recovered something inexcess of $25 million from equipmentthe company wasn't using.

Buyer and seller examine an example of one of the larger pieces of equipment the investmentrecovery group handles From left, Harvey Blanchard. vice-president of Erana Mines Ltd., Jack St.Amand, an Erana mechanic, Ron McNair, a coordinator at the sulphur products. and Jim Elliott.supervisor of the investment recovery group look at a section of a conveyor system bought byErana mines The conveyor system was surplus stock at Sulphur Products.

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Master of his craftSince the dawn of history, artists

have been held in high esteem fortheir ability to capture the essence oflife with their craft. When youexperience Bill Whittaker's wild birdcarvings, you come to understandwhy it has been so.

Step into Bill's basement workshopand you step into an outgrowth of thecreative mind. In one corner sits ahuge easel. Perched across its racksare dozens of books and photographsdepicting every possible attitude of abird he intends to capture first in asketch and then in a carving.

Across the way is the actualworking area, where concept istranslated into startlingly real woodenreproductions. Axes, chisels, bladesand the other tools of carving orbitaround an elevated vise of Bill's owndesign. It is here that artistic instinct,the experience of a dozen years ofcarving, the knowledge acquired in

countless lessons and conversationswith other sculptors in wood, thefascination of wildlife and the love forart all come together.

A table in another part of thebasement holds countless tubes ofpaint, numerous wooden birds invarious stages of completion andother things. Here he mixes andmatches the hues and shades of paintthat, when painstakingly applied, bringa carving to life.

Originally Bill took up carving as apurely functional activity. He fashioneddecoys for hunting ducks and geese.The project leader at the process techdepartment at the Copper Cliff copperrefinery says, it doesn't take long toget addicted. You get some instantadmirers in your family. After you getstarted you just keep going."

Bill began carving on his own,learning from the instructional guidesand books he calls "basic sources of

wood carving knowledge." Later heenrolled in a night course in woodcarving conducted by Orest Andrews,well-known artist and an Incopensioner. Bill adds that he can't sayenough about Crest as an artist and amentor. "He was my very firstteacher. He had a style that more orless stuck with me."

But the style is distinctly "W.F.Whittaker." Each stroke of the chisel isa signature. Every effort that translateswhite pine into the distinctive profile ofa duck, the fine texture of a cardinal'sfeathers, the silent strength of an owl'swing, the overall daintiness of achickadee, is part of the trademark.

Bill's carvings of wild birds havewon him recognition from his peers

Bill sketches the bird he will eventually carve outof white pine.

and carving aficionados throughoutthe country. He has ribbons fromshows and exhibitions to prove it.People liked his works and boughtthem. They continue to do so inincreasing numbers. Having seen hiscarvings or having heard some verypositive reviews from his patrons,people invest sizeable amounts ofmoney for a Whittaker original.

Buyers will call Bill with a requestfor a specific type of wild fowl, often ina certain position. He has found that"women like songbirds and moredelicate birds while men prefer ducks."Organizations, such as DucksUnlimited, contract him to producelimited edition carvings which aredistributed to various chapters acrossthe continent and auctioned. A W.F.Whittaker original can commandhundreds of dollars.

Bill's carving is very much a familyenterprise. Wife Charlene handles thefinancial end of things, such as thesale of carvings and the purchase of

Work progresses and the subject is taking amore recognizable form.

materials. The children participate byhelping around the workshop.

"A lot of hard work, a lot of ducksand a lot of goofs," chuckles Bill inexplaining the evolution of his carvingskills. "It's a matter of time and ofhow much you want to contribute to it.

it requires a lot of discipline anddevelopment. You have to learncarving for years to make it." Thedevelopment process continues eventhough he has realized success. Heattends a carving course inOrangeville offered by master carverPaul Burdette in an effort to learneven more about this form of art.

Carving to Bill is the perfect hobby.He recommends it to pensionersparticularly. By pursuing this hobbynow, he explains, he is setting himselfup with a fulfilling pastime for his ownretirement.

The worlds of process technologyand carving wild birds are light-yearsapart and that's the way Bill likes it.He is one of those fortunate peoplewho has found happiness in acreating art and in doing so realizingan important personal goal: makingpeople aware of the beauty of nature.

Bill paints some details onto a duck that isnearing completion.

Mines research shopHelps Inco increase productivity

Earlier this year the Inco researchshop at Murray mine was put intooperation. As part of the minesresearch department, staffed almostentirely by partially disabled Incoemployees, the new facility consists offour different areas that incorporaterepair, salvage, inspection, assembly,manufacture and research functionsfor various kinds of mining equipment.

Dick England, superintendent of theresearch shop, introduces one of thefour areas as dealing with the salvageand repair of underground equipment.

Another area of the research shop,Dick continues, involves the assemblyand manufacture of prototype miningequipment. Design and draft peopleon the site, he explains, designprototypes and certain production

equipment. Some of the componentsare on hand while others are atdivisional shops. Assembly and fittingof these components is performed atboth places.

This area, for example, hasmanufactured seven in-the-hole drillsof Inco design. Its personnel havemodified and manufactured everyportion of a tilt and load truck abovethe initial carrier. Presently, theassembly of a new, nine-ton, batterylocomotive with radio remote controlsis being undertaken. Dick adds thatthere is ''a multitude of otherprototype products" that will be madehere.

A third section of the shop isdevoted to inspection and repair ofdrill rods, in particular, raise bore rodsand in-the-hole drill rods. Servicesprovided by this inspection and repairsection include some hydraulic workon raise bores and diamond drills.Rod repairs were formerly done at theFrood mine rod repair depot.

The fourth part of the operation isan electronic prototype shop whereelectronic and radio controls oflocomotives, scooptrams and othermachinery is repaired and designed.Currently, one project involves makingmodifications to the electronic controlsystem for a new nine ton batterylocomotive.

The Research shop's equipment ishardware that has been transferredfrom several company operations that

Richard Forget , nsrrumentation speciatist. testsa prototype desrgo for radio rerr:ote controlledmachinery

Rich Riach, left, a mines research assistant, and Don Desjardins, a minesengineering planner, go over a drawing of a piece of machinery thatwill be developed in the research shop.

Dick England, right, and Bill Glogger, repair salvage shop leader,inspect a slusher rebuilt in the shop by Fred Larocque.

have been shut down on a permanentbasis. Equipment has come from theKirkwood shop, Coleman mine, theFrood mine rod repair depot, and theCreighton machine shop.

The reason behind theestablishment of the research shoplies in the Company's desire toincrease its efficiency and productivityin the face of intensive competition inthe mineral industry. States Dick: "Thepurpose of the shop is to research,design and manufacture miningequipment to fulfill the Company'srequirements for equipment toincrease efficiency and productivity."

Jacklegs and stopers that have been overhauled at the research shop aretested for torque and air consumption. Ray Poulin, salvage repair man fitsa jade leg drill into the torque and air consumption bench.

Ugo Crozzoli, rod repair inspector, checks for minute cracks in a rod withan ultraviolet light and magnetic coil.

Dick is optimistic about thepossibilities and potentials that exist inthis new operation . "There 's a lot ofgood ideas floating around overthere," he elaborates . "Once peopleput their minds together they shouldproduce some very interesting piecesof equipment."

Charlie Hebert, an assembler, puts together theskid for an in-the-hole drill manufactured in theshop at Murray mine.

A grand old clubWhen the Inco Club on Frood Road

was presented to the CambrianFoundation recently, it marked thepassing of a social and recreationalinstitution into history. There is no onebetter to recall the Inco Club'scolourful past for Triangle readers thanVal O'Neill, a man whose associationwith the Club dates back 35 years.

Now on pension, Val was only 17when he arrived in Sudbury from hisnative Newfoundland via Toronto in1948. He recalls how he did notweigh enough to work undergroundor on surface. So he stuck aroundand soon a job opening at the IncoClub was offered to him. He acceptedand started in the Club's bowling alleyas a cashier clerk.

"It (the Club) was ten years oldthen," Val says. "It was mainly arecreation center, plus entertainmentupstairs. The old medical center andthe employment office were located inthe building."

At its peak, the Inco Club had amembership of over 8,000.Membership was restricted toemployees who paid the annual duesof $6 through payroll deductions. Onlymembers were permitted use of therecreational facilities. Members alsoreceived special discounts for anyspecial events staged at the IncoClub.

According to Val, the Inco Clubplayed an important role in fulfillingthe social and recreational needs of

Val O Neill above and inset , surveys the main hall in the Inca Club. You can almosthear echoes from the past.

employees from the time it openeduntil the mid-1960s. "There wassomething for everyone," he adds.Many of the people who came towork at Inco in Sudbury were single.There were no cocktail bars to speakof. Television was unheard of. TheInco Club was a meeting place foremployees.

Throughout its colourful history the Inco Club inSudbury was an important social andrecreational center for employees. Whetherpeople came to watch the antics of wrestlers, totest their bowling skills against friends, to bringtheir youngsters to the Company's "well babyclinics" or to dance the night away to thesounds of the big bands, they made the Clubthe best used facility in the district.

It was a grand old c lubIn its heyday, the Inco Club, Val

explains, was practically a non-stopoperation. Six bowling alleys bore thetrundling efforts of employees all daylong. Appointments had to be madeto play one of the four billiard tables.There were tennis courts available(located where the parking lot behindthe Sudbury Star building now is).Physical fitness classes were held inthe gymnasium. Weightlifters andbodybuilders worked out there.Badminton, an extremely popularwinter sport, was played whenever thegym was available. An employeecould work out, shower, change andthen enjoy nickel coffee, soup andsandwiches in the cafeteria.

Val recalls numerous organizationsbasing their activities in the club. Boththe bridge and the chess clubs heldtheir meetings in the building. It wasthere that sewing classes wereattended by countless girls andwomen.

From his clerk's position, Valadvanced to become assistantsteward and, in 1968, manager of theInco Club. Through the years he waspart of, or oversaw, the club'soperations. So it is with obvious pridethat he drifts over the Inco Club'shistory and its significance to thosewho used its facilities.

Every December the Inco Club wasthe scene of the various plantschildrens' Christmas parties. Nooutside bookings were taken duringthat month, Val elaborates, the Clubwas donated to the plant associations.

Val's mind hops to another bigannual event always held at the IncoClub. All the major first aidcompetitions up to and including theR.D. Parker Shield finale were stagedin the auditorium.

Of course every Wednesday nightwas the bingo," Val says continuinghis voyage through the golden yearsof an institution. Through the month ofDecember "the big turkey" bingoswere featured where winners received

a turkey . "We used to pack them infor that ," he smiles . " People used toarrive at 4 o'clock to make sure theycould get a table for 8 o 'clock."

The only time the Inco Club lostmoney on an event it sponsored, Valvolunteers, involved a bingo. With asnowstorm raging outside , a decisionwas made to carry on with thescheduled bingo . "We had 25 peopleshow up in the hall, " he chucklesreminiscing about the fiasco. Caughtshort , he was forced to give outI.O.U.'s to winners. "That put us inthe red for a few weeks ," he said.

Every Monday night was wrestlingnight. Fans lined up to see the anticsof "Whipper " Billy Watson , the Garvinbrothers and Gene Kininski in the ring.Boxing was also popular and fanspacked into the Inco Club to viewcards involving the best local andregional boxers.

But it was the entertainment functionof the Inco Club that made it soimportant to employees . The big bandsound was provided for patrons on aregular basis by Johnny Juryzak orWally Johnston . Outside attractionswere also brought to the Club . So wellattended were these dances thatpeople had to make reservations toget in, Val notes.

The most successful concert everheld at the Inco Club was put on inthe early 1960s. Val rememberspeople lining up outside the doorsright down Frood Road to see andhear singer Patty Hervey . At the timeshe had a hit single entitled "Mr.Heartache ". Her opener was arelatively unknown folk singer namedGordon Lightfoot.

Twice a year Don Messer and hisshow were booked. Other favoritesincluded Otis McClintock, Mart Kennyand Norma Lock. Television, Valclaims , gave people a new window onthe stars . With entertainment at home,"they stopped dancing."

Val's affiliation with theentertainment industry stemmed from

his role as booking agent for the IncoClub. It has earned him the right tobecome a voting delegate in theannual Juno music awards. He is theonly such delegate from Sudbury.

For six years the Companydonated space to the Sudbury TheatreCentre. Val witnessed the growth oflive theatre in the city. Actress YvonneDeCarlo once performed in an STCproduction, and Val vividly remembersher for insisting on having a drink ofvodka with a fresh rose in it beforegoing on stage.

In more recent times, as peoplefound their diversions elsewhere, theInco Club's functions changed. It wasno longer a big recreational center foremployees. The wrestling, boxing andpromotions ended. The bingosstopped. The hall was licensed andwas rented out for special occasionssuch as retirements and weddings. Italso served as a drop in center forpensioners. As Val puts it: "Companyclubs across Canada were dying. Idon't think there's any left in thecountry."

Reflecting on his long associationwith the Inco Club, Val thinks heenjoyed helping people the most."Satisfying people's needs, that wasthe biggest challenge for me. It was aform of public relations." Hecontinues. "I have never dreadedgoing to work, I was always workingwith nice people. I've really enjoyedit. "

He says he was fortunate to work atthe Inco Club with people like VernTupling, Henry Dunn, Sam Krazawski,Gina Angus, Mary Williams, JoanieMcNichol and Dorothy Purvis.

The end of the Inco Club asSudburians have known it wasinevitable, Val maintains. Its donationto the Cambrian Foundation he seesas a good thing. "I would have feltsad if they put the old wrecking ball toit," says the man who more thananyone has been part of the IncoClub and its history.

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Information availableOn rapidly changing technologies

Located on the second floor of theprocess technology building in CopperCliff, you'll find the library which wasestablished in 1937 when thelaboratory was built. By 1946 thelibrary boasted 600 books. Its presentholdings total 1800 volumes onvarious topics such as mining, milling,smelting, refining, chemical analysis,environmental issues, safety,metallurgical and chemicalengineering, management, computertechnology, and business. There isalso a very comprehensive referencesection in the collection.

Subscriptions to 124 periodicals andjournals offer the latest information onall of the above mentioned subjectsplus office equipment and methods,communication arts, metals andchemicals prices, just to mention afew. Interlibrary loans can bearranged and articles from journals

not held in Copper Cliff can beordered readily. Published Incopapers are also part of the library'sholdings.

According to librarian Janet Lindala,the library has been recentlyrenovated, providing shelf capacitywhich would' allow expansion to 4,500volumes and 190 magazines. Thelibrary is now in the process ofrecataloguing its book collection underthe widely used Library of Congresscatalogue system. This will make itmuch easier to locate a specific bookor books on a particular subject.

The library's main function is toprovide an information service toInco's Ontario division employees, sothat they may keep up with rapidlychanging technologies.

One means of doing this is byautomated literature surveys. The

Copper Cliff Process TechnologyLibrary has access to a largecomputer database and can provideabstracts of articles within minutes -complete papers can be orderedonline.

The J. Roy Gordon ResearchLaboratory, at Sheridan Park, hasaccess to six online systems.Information that can't be obtainedthrough the Process TechnologyLibrary can be requested fromSheridan Park. On line searching is animportant feature of the modernlibrary; whatever it is that you'reundertaking, you'll start with the mostrecently researched informationavailable.

Janet stressed that the ProcessTechnology Library is open to all Incoemployees. Enquiries are welcomed- 682-5556.

Librarian Janet Lmdala searches for information in one of the many reference volumes housed in the library

19

iffl4ybum

Rick David, a conveyorman at the separationbuilding in matte processing, has been with Incofor ten years. He and his wife Heather havethree children; Shayne, 8, Christine, 5, andChad, 2. The Davids are expecting a fourthchild this month. Rick and Heather are bothbowlers and they participate in league play.Shayne is a hockey and soccer buff whileChristine enjoys dancing lessons. Camping is afavorite summer pastime for this fine family.

Tom Eastwood is one of those important people who volunteer their timeto youngsters in the area. For the last 12 years he has been involved inminor hockey as a coach. His wife Geraldine helps with his hockeyteams when she can. They are both avid curlers. She is employed as asecretary at Canada Life_ The Eastwoods have a two year old boynamed Kyle Tom is a lead welder at the Copper Cliff copper refinerywith nine years of service with inco

A veteran of 13 years with Inco, Bill Strong has been at Shebandowansince 1973. He is a mine leader as well as a member of the Safety andHealth Committee. He and wife Inga have two children. Leslie, 12..s agrade seven student at Algonquin Public School, Wdbe celebrated his firstbirthday last Christmas Eve. Family hobbies include camping. gardeningand fishing. Bill is past president of RE.ACT, a group of CB enthusiastswho monitor channel 9 for emergencies.

20

Managing a very specialresource

Over three years ago, during aFace-to-Face session at Creightonmine, an employee expressed adesire to see the Company develop asystem of effective control over theharvesting of furs on its property. Atapproximately the same time, theMinistry of Natural Resourcesinaugurated a policy which enabled itto control trapping not only on Crownlands but also private property.

These two seemingly distant eventscame together to see theestablishment of Inco's Fur BearingMammal Management Program.

The responsibility for control of theharvesting of furs on the over 100,000

acres of Inco land in the area fell tothe agricultural department. Amanagement program was developedby the agricultural department inconjunction with the MNR, localtrappers and Ann Hendrick, abiologist, retained as a consultant byInco.

Mike Peters, administrator of the furbearing mammal managementprogram, says that the thrust of theprogram is to ensure that thisrenewable natural resource is notexploited and that a continuous cropof furs can be provided.

In the past, with few or noregulations governing individuals

Art Zimmerman. left, of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Mike Peters of lneo's agriculturaldepartment discuss changes in regulations governing the harvesting of fur bean.ng mammals

trapping on Inco land, problems arosewith trappers working each other'sterritory. Some order had to beimposed to avoid the conflicts thatinevitably resulted. The program,therefore, stipulates that trappers mustfirst be licensed by the province. Theymust apply for permission to trap onInco lands and pay an administrativefee.

Each trapper is given permission totrap an area of land, usually atownship, that has a geographicdelineation of its parameters, such asa creek or prominent ridge. MNRguidelines concerning the number ofanimals that can be harvested and themethod used to harvest them, mustbe followed.

These zones were set up by AnnHendrick who also conducted asurvey of the fur bearing animalpopulation on Inco land. Currently 22trappers harvest furs from companyproperty. Furs harvested include fox,beaver, mink, racoon, marten, weasel,wolf, muskrat, otter, fisher and lynx.

Art Zimmerman of the MNR isresponsible for implementing theMinistry's Private Land FurManagement Program in the SudburyDistrict. He has met with Inco andFalconbridge and discussed thephasing-in of the MNRs policy. Hereports that both land owners andtrappers are pleased with the newprogram and its implications.

Beyond the personal economicaspect of the trapping industry, Artsays, that it is important to controlanimal populations in relation to anarea and the food supply."Overpopulation is just as detrimentalas under-population," he states. Toomany animals exhaust food supplieswith starvation being the result.Excessive numbers also facilitate thespread of potentially devastatingdiseases.

21

SuggestionplanawardsDue to space limitations it is not possibleto list all of the suggestions . A total of293 suggestions were awarded $34,380.

Marcel Poirier$6,485

John Szendrey$3, 775

$6,485 Leading the way in this edition of the suggestion plan was Marcel Poirier of Stoble mine. Hesuggested that a number of modifications be made on portable drill stagings. They includedadding leg and deck braces, more pins for wing supports, additional central posts, the,installation of larger beam legs and a main support beam from front to back, to name a few.His modifications were found to greatly extend the life of portable stagings. The savings inpurchase and repair of stagings merited an award of $6,485.

$3,775 John Szendrey , now an Inco pensioner, received an award for a recommendation that cutcosts by increasing the life of primary screens in the crushing plant at the Frood Stobie mill.He found the flow of ore wearing out the middle part of the screens. When the screen woreout, he explained that it could be removed, cut in half and have the untouched outside sectionswelded together to form a new center. This extended the life of screens.

$2,815 Emile Langlois , an Inco pensioner who recently earned a $10,000 award, scored big againwith a suggestion to salvage feed screws on jumbo drills, repair them and then use them onfan and bar and arm drills. This proposal was found to save on the costs of material.

$1,730 Antti Suosalo at the Creighton bucket shop came up with a method of fabricating JS-500bucket wear shoes that was shown to save costs. It involved having the manufacturer producethe material from which the wear shoes are cut to the desired length and without a molded sidepiece.

$1,270 At Frood mine , Allan Kaven designed a new type of centralizer consisting only of two partsfor Joy Python Jumbos. This innovation was found to save material costs.

$1,265 J.P. Bouchard of the silver refinery at the Copper Cliff copper refinery designed equipmentand a method for handling gold furnace crucibles that was safe and inexpensive.

$1,040 Rather than replacing water pressure regulating valves on the AL 60 drifter, Horst Rychlowskiof the drill shop at Levack mine suggested that it be left out all together. Mine water pressureis regulated anyway, he pointed out. Downtime due to valve replacement and the cost ofpurchasing the valves were reduced.

$1,035 Ken Jones at the Creighton warehouse found a coupler and draft gear assembly used in therepair of mine cars were stocked together as they are joined by a pin. A problem arose whenthe coupler, the piece that is most often repaired, was changed leaving a growing stock pile ofdraft gear assemblies. He proposed that the two items be stocked separately thereby savingcosts in the further purchase of gear assemblies.

$845 Aurele Larose of Frood mine recommended purchasing new DH 123 drills with swivelexhausts. This eliminated the need to buy extra exhausts.

$735 Since Vianney Rheaume of Levack mine was awarded $670 for a suggestion for smallerslusher exhaust tubing more mines have been adopting it. As a result he was awarded anadditional $735.

$535 At Little Stobie mine, Lawrence O'Driscoll advised the installation of a deflector beam at thetipple car loading area that eliminated muck spillage. Now trains are not held up for cleaningduring the mucking cycle and men are no longer exposed to tramming and crushing hazards.

- ----- ----- --- - - -------- --

22

AN I lEmile Langlois Antti Suosalo

$2,815 $1,730Allan Kaven

$1,270

$480 Glenn Smith 's submission at the Frood Stobie mill, dealt with replacing the mounting pins ofthe flotation dart valves with a non-rusting substance. This was found to get rid of the problemof valves rusting to the dart valve frame which robbed the valves of their main pivot point andcaused excessive wear on the sleeves of the piston.

$425 Doug Jeffrey of Stobie was given an additional award for a suggestion to remove surpluscontactors from Goodman trolleys.

$400 William May and Gerry Laframboise of the crushing plant at the Frood-Stoble mill put theirheads together and came up with an idea to stock spare parts for rubber impact idler frames.Repairing with spare parts saves on the costs of having to buy new, complete frames.

$375 A trio at Levack mine , Rod Burns , Marcel Castonguay and John McDonald split an awardfor offering the plan to relocate cameras in 28 and 37 loading pockets to an upper level. Thisreduced downtime in the repair of cameras and reduced the frequency of camera repair.

$355 George Talbot of the Copper Cliff smelter warehouse hit upon a cost saving idea when heproposed purchasing screwdrivers from the manufacturer rather than having them fabricated atdivisional shops.

$300 Jean Villeseche of the modified work center at the Copper Cliff smelter suggestedpurchasing key blanks from a different supplier at less cost.

$290 Horst Rychlowski earned another suggestion plan cheque for his modifications to theditchdigger footpedals that improved lubrication and eliminated sticking.

$240 Laval Chabot and Aurele Larose at Frood mine shared an award for recommending thatchest valves on DH 123 and D 123 drills be reground and reused.

$220 Inco pensioner Hector Brazeau gained an additional award for his alterations in construction ofloco battery boxes when another mine began implementing his proposal.

$210 Ray Lagace of the Frood mine warehouse proposed purchasing "0" rings from a differentsupplier at a lower cost.

$205 Mike Petrak and Dillon Laberge of the plate shop at Levack mine suggested reinforcing thesupport frame of timber trucks by changing the size of the pin.

$185 At Little Stobie , Paul Menard and Ralf Prentice came up with modifications to the air andwater headers for development stope sill headings that saved materials.

$185 Brian Duff and Real Boucher also from Little Stobie suggested an identical plan formodifying air and water headers and shared in the award.

$180 Arden Buell and Gord Evans of divisional shops saved on material costs with the idea toreplace a copper ring behind the balance valve in Sulzer 12 stage pumps with a rubber "0"ring that can be manufactured on the premises.

$175 John Nadalin of the flash furnace of the Copper Cliff smelter saved costs with a suggestionto reline the ball in the valve of Oliver pumps rather than disposing of them when theydeteriorated.

$150 At the Copper Cliff mill Jim Secord recommended the use of a high pressure portable pumpto clean hard dried concentrate from the panels of Emco filters. This proved to be a faster,better method of doing the job.

$150 Harold Kiely of Stobie mine designed a tumbler to clean salvaged parts. It proved to be acleaner method than air sand blasting.

$150 Pensioner Emile Langlois , proposed rebuilding and rethreading drill backhead orifices onvarious types of drills at Stobie mine . The idea cut costs on the purchase of new backheads.

23

D

First graduates

An Inco sponsored HeavyEquipment Mechanic (Diesel)Apprenticeship Program atShebandowan mine had itsfirst graduates recently. BillCampbell, Eldon Erickson,Jerry Lepage, Brad Savelaand Reg Denison allsuccessfully met therequirements of the three yearcourse. All had their formalschooling in this field atConfederation College inThunder Bay.

Presently these fiveemployees are well on theirway to putting in the 2,000hours of on-the-job experienceneeded in order to write theprovincial exam set by theMinistry of Colleges andUniversities.

The Gold Award for the overall winner of all industry categories in the Financial Post 1983 Annual ReportAwards program is presented by Neville J. Nankivell, Editor-in-Chief. to Inco Chairman and Chief ExecutiveOfficer Chuck Baird . Independent panels of judges appointed by associations representing charteredaccountants, financial analysts, advertisers and public relations selected inco's 1982 Annual Report frommore than 200 reports of major publicly-held companies

Meet Shebandowan's first graduates of the Into sponsored Heavy Equipment Mechanic (Diesel)Apprenticeship Program. Front row, from left , Bill Campbell, Eldon Erickson . Second row, from left,Jerry Lepage, Brad Savela and Reg Denison.

A little brother wants"you"

Ever thought of becoming aBig Brother? Big Brothers ofSudbury presently have closeto 100 fatherless boys waitingfor a special friend, ''A BigBrother". Interested caringmen please call 673-6161anytime or drop into the officeat 158 Elgin St., Sudbury.

24

Labor of love

The artistic abilities ofpensioner Bruno Bartolucci arewell known among Incoites.This Christmas he turned histalents to creating a nativityscene for St. StanislausChurch. Using varioustechniques he fashionedalmost every part of thecolourful and religiously

significant vista except for thefigurines.

Bruno spent a monthcreating this representation ofBethlehem 2,000 years agowhen Christ was born. Muchof the work was done in thechurch basement. The scenewas placed near the alter forall worshippers to see.

Hospital dolls

The dolls that were part ofthe Inco float in the SantaClaus parade did not go towaste after the float wasdismantled.

They were donated toLaurentian Hospital, on behalfof Inco, by John Gagnon.

John is a member of theboard of directors atLaurentian and is amaintenance mechanic at Inco.

Val Armstrong and MelissaLeborgne from Inco'sagriculture department madethe dolls.

John Gagnon presents dolts from the Inco Christmas float to NorineSylvestre, clinical co-ordinator of pediatrics at Laurentian Hospital.Young patients Melanie Briere, left and Danielle Cardinal seem to beenjoying the new additions.

Inco pensioner Bruno Bartolucci stands in front of the nativity scene hecreated this past Christmas at St. Stanislaus Church.

Wood harvest

A crew of employees fromthe agricultural departmentbegan clearing the R-1 sectionof the tailings area behindCopper Cliff in October. ByChristmas they had finishedclearing the bush in lowerareas and cutting and haulingthe wood. The wood, mostlymature birch and poplar. wasmade available to the generalpublic.

In former years, littlepreparation of tailings disposalareas was undertaken. Nowthe useful wood is harvested

Employees from the agricultural department watch as a tree forwarder loads and hauls logscut in a section of company properly being prepared for pyrrhotite disposal

25

f tm

L w ^

Moise "Moe" RoyBorn on a farm at St. Charles in

1926, Moe Roy was raised therealong with nine brothers and sevensisters. "We had lots of people tomilk the cows then ," he said with agrin.

For several years Moe worked onthe farm in summer and for Inco inwinter . He worked at Creighton,Frood and Murray mines . The last 15years he was with the riggers atFrood where Tommy Mullins was incharge . He enjoyed that work andserviced all the shafts at Frood.

Married at Sudbury in 1948 toAlbina Bouffard they have one son,Daniel at Kincardine with OntarioHydro. Their daughter Carole'shusband John Starodub is also atKincardine . To date there are threegrandsons . Mrs. Roy has a brotherOmer, now retired from Frood mineand Moe ' s brother Roma is at LittleStobie. At one time there were sevenRoy brothers all working for Inco.

26

The Roys lived on Lasalle Blvd.until it became a four lane road, then12 years ago built their own home atWahnapitae. And Moe did all thework except bricklaying. He has alittle shop at home and he enjoysworking with wood. "He's a jack-of-all-trades," said Mrs. Roy with pride.

They have a summer home atCache Lake and have a garden thereand at home which keeps Mrs. Roybusy canning. They cut their ownwood across the lake, then in latewinter bring it across the lake bysnowmobile. "We always have woodcut for a year ahead," they said.They use very little oil for heating.

They have driven to Mexico andCanada's east coast and hope to seethe west also. Right now there areplans for a trip to Germany to visitfriends there who were formertenants. "We are really lookingforward to that," said Mrs. Roy, whois also active in her church and alsothe treasurer of the local Golden AgeClub where they play cards regularly.

Moe does a little fishing and huntsbirds. He's a Montreal fan in hockeyand likes the Blue Jays too. Inexcellent health this couple arehappily busy in their new lifestyle.

Swanti KangasSwanti Kangas joined Inco in 1956

at Levack but prior to that had beenwith Fraser Brace for several years."I worked on Creighton 7 shaft andthe pipeline to Copper Cliff thenhelped build homes at Lively andLevack. And I also spent about twoyears in Toronto pruning trees aroundthe city," he added.

At Inco, Swanti worked mostly on

underground construction and overthe years served at several minesincluding Creighton, Crean Hill andthe South mine. The last six years hewas at Creighton five shaft and nowis enjoying an early service pension."I'll be 65 next year," he said.

Born on a small farm in Lornetownship, between Whitefish andWorthington, Swanti now lives in thehome he built in nearby LouiseTownship, right on Highway 17 west.He has an acre of land and growsmany of the vegetables that his wifepreserves for the winter.

In 1958 he married Miralda Downeyat Beaver Lake. They have one son,Dean who is in Winnipeg, and theirdaughter Janet, Mrs. Bruce Emery, isin Edmonton. There is onegranddaughter that the grandmotherwould like to see more often. "We dovisit them occasionally," she said."But I wish they lived closer to us."

As a young man, Swanti had a trapline but now he is happy to watch the

animals and birds that appear nearbyhis present home. He prefers to fishand has a small boat which lets himvisit many locations. He does somecross-country skiing now and likes towatch skiing on TV along with hockeyand baseball. Mrs. Kangas is verykeen on quilting which keeps herbusy. In winter they feed many oftheir bird visitors and a Saturdaynight custom is to visit a friend for acard game, then the ritual steambath.

George LagerGeorge Lager was born in Vienna,

Austria, and lived a quite comfortableand happy life until 1938, when, atthe age of 19, he was drafted into theGerman army. "I spent several yearsin the Russian campaign and neverrealized before just how much thehuman body can stand," he related.

At a fairly early age George wasapprenticed for three years as aprecision mechanic and worked at thetrade for some five years before thearmy. "We made all sorts ofspecialized equipment," he said.

For the last few months of the war,George was in an American prisoner-of-war camp before returning toAustria. "They drove us 20 kilometersany direction we wanted from thecamp then you were on your own. Ittook me nearly two weeks to walkhome to Austria," George said.

For a time he was manager of adepartment of the Post Exchange,then returned to his former trade untilcoming to Canada in 1954. "I wantedmy son to be raised in a freecountry," he said. "But unfortunately

he was killed in Sudbury in 1957when he was nine years old."

The first year in Sudbury, Georgeworked as a sewing machinecompany service man before joiningInco in 1955 at the reverbs. He laterworked for Bill Chandler at the sinterplant, spent some time with JockRennie's gang, then joined JimWharton's crew at the substationwhere he became a stationeryengineer. "I worked at the F.B.R.building, on the waste heat boilersand finished at the substation,"recounted George.

George married Jenny Lehrer atVienna in 1943. She died as the

l result of an accident in Sudbury in1982. And George is graduallyadjusting his life to the reality of hisgreat loss.

His mother lives in Vienna and atthe age of 90, still sees her son everyyear or so. George has also travelledin Canada and the U.S. This winterhe plans to go to Florida. He has asummer place at Hartley Bay, likes tohunt birds and to fish and enjoysboxing among TV sports. "I aminterested in languages and may goback to school to brush up on myEnglish and learn French," he said.

Carlo LentiCarlo Lenti has retired from the

copper refinery on an early servicepension and is gradually adjusting tohis new way of life.

He joined Inco in 1951 at Creightonbut came to the refinery two monthslater and worked in the tankhouseand with the masons. "It was a goodplace to work" he declared. "And Imiss the guys. I go back and seethem once in a while."

Born in Italy in 1923, he wasworking in a coal mine when the warwas on and after the war went toBelgium and worked in coal minesthere. Later, for a short time, he wasin Switzerland, this time deliveringcoal. "Safety like we have at Incowas unknown in those coal mines,"Carlo said.

.' 4_

He came to Canada in 1949, toTimmins where he had a brother, andfor a time worked at the McIntyrebefore coming to Sudbury in 1951.

Carlo and Elisa Omeda grew uptogether in the same town and wereboth working in Switzerland whenthey decided to marry, so that meantreturning to Italy for the occasion.That was in 1948 and their familyincludes two sons, two daughters andfour grandchildren. Son Tino is alocal high school teacher, andClaudio works at the taxation datacentre. Daughter Patricia is Mrs. ElioBrutto and Rita is at home. They allenjoyed Christmas together as theydo each year.

The Lentis have lived in Sudbury'swest end for 33 years and plan tostay there. Carlo gardens and makesgood wine and Mrs. Lenti preservesmost of their vegetables, along withmushrooms which they gather eachfall now that Carlo has made a studyof them.

He enjoys hunting small game, andenjoys his weekly bocci game at theCaruso Club. Mrs. Lenti is active inher church. Carlo likes to read,watches most sports on TV and likesthe documentary films best.

They have made several trips backto Italy and plan to go again this year"It is a nice climate," said Carlo."But Canada is the best country tolive in." They may travel more nowwith extra leisure time and with bothin good health, are looking forward toretirement.

27

Alfred ` Fred ' GignacFred Gignac and his wife, the

former Mary Giroux of St. Charles,have raised a sizeable family. Theyhave three boys of their own; Jackand Gary of Sudbury and Roy whoworks in the transportationdepartment at Copper Cliff. Inaddition, over a period of some tenyears and more, they have made ahome for six boys who were wards ofthe Childrens' Aid Society.

"We had a small farm at St.Charles and raised them there," theysaid. "And by and large they were allgood boys who still keep in touchwith us." In addition, at one time,Mrs. Gignac took in boarders andused that money to take severalorganized bus trips to various placesin Canada and California. "I like totravel," she said, "but Fred enjoysstaying at home."

Fred was born at St. Charles in1921 and raised on the farm there.He worked in the bush and withFraser Brace before joining Inco in1951 at the copper refinery. He wentto the smelter in 1953 and returned tothe refinery with the bricklayers in1972 where he worked until hisretirement.

Fred and Mary were married at St.Charles in 1944 and have lived inNew Sudbury since about 1953. Theyhave a summer place on Trout Lake,not far from St. Charles and all thefamily enjoys their summers there.

Fred has a brother Rheal whoretired some years ago from Frood-Stobie and the Gignacs have threegrandchildren that Mrs. Gignac enjoysknitting for. She is also very active inchurch work.

Hunting and fishing are Fred's

favorite sports , although he enjoyshockey and wrestling on TV. Theylove their camp and spendconsiderable time there in winter aswell as summer . Fred does some icefishing . He got his moose this year ashe has every year for some time. Hecuts all his own wood and likes towork around his home and camp.

In good health , Fred and Mary arelooking forward , not to the end, but tothe beginning of a new life together.

Stanley BehennaStan Behenna is a second

generation Inco man, his father Bertwas the timekeeper at Creightonbefore his retirement in 1963. He diedin 1978. Stan retired on disabilitypension with a back problem and ashe is a relatively young man, wishesthat he could continue to work.

Born in Creighton in 1942, Stanwas raised there and in Lively. Likeother Creightonites, he had thebenefit of Miss Black's teaching atschool.

Before joining Inco, Stan hadworked for Wabi Iron Works. In 1960he was hired at the copper refineryand five years later went to CreanHill, his favorite mine.

When it closed he went to Southmine, then back to Crean Hill wherehe was a hoistman for a time beforegoing to Creighton as a hoistman atnine shaft where he worked until hisretirement.

Stan married into an Inco familywhen he and Nancy Niemi were wedat Copper Cliff in 1961. Her dad Billhad retired from Creighton. Stan andNancy have two sons: Shawn, with agovernment work project, and Darrenat school. Stan has a brother Bert Jr.

working at Creighton and Mrs.Behenna's brother Brian Niemi is alsoat that location.

The Behennas have lived atWhitefish for the past 18 years andthey enjoy the use of her father'ssummer place at Wabageshik whereStan still catches a few fish.

At one time he was an ardenthunter and fisherman but his activitiesare somewhat restricted now,although he still fishes both summerand winter. His wife has been hiscompanion on many a successfulhunting trip.

Stan likes to putter around thehouse and this winter he plans totake a course at night school. Beingyoung and otherwise in good healthhe finds the time rather long when hecan't do all the things he wasaccustomed to doing. However he istaking things in stride and adapting tohis new way of life.

Ray BouchardRay Bouchard retired this past

summer on an early service pension.He joined Inco in 1942, working firstat the old coalplant. His next movewas as a first aid man at the newlyopened number three dry at CopperCliff.

From there he went to Coniston asa first aid man and then went as shiftboss in the Coniston smelter in 1968.When Coniston closed down in 1972,Ray was there as safety engineer. Hemoved to Copper Cliff to work forFred Burchell as administrativePersonnel Services Coordinator. Laterhe worked on manpower planningand attrition for central maintenance."I enjoyed my work," Ray said. "AndI got around to see many of theplants when I was with the safetydepartment."

Born in Sudbury in 1923, Ray haslived in Coniston since 1956 and bothhe and his wife are very happy tostay in that pleasant community. Theywere married in 1942, she was YvetteCharron before their marriage. Theyhave two sons: Donald of Sudbury,and Robert with the maintenancedepartment at Copper Cliff. DaughterClaudette's husband RichardWainman works at Clarabelle mill,and Anita, Mrs. Jacques Cormier, isin Paris, Ontario. There are also fivegrandchildren.

The Bouchards have a verycomfortable summer home at Rock

Lake where they spend most of theirsummers. They have travelledextensively, to Europe several timeswhen Claudette was teaching there;to South America, Florida and manyparts of Canada. They now plan tolook at Arizona.

Over the years Ray has served hiscommunity in several ways; 16 yearson the local school board and tenyears as chairman of the arenacommission.

r-_ 11He likes to golf, enjoys sports on

TV and plans to curl with thepensioners now that he has the time.They also plan to make at least onemore trip to Europe and possiblyother areas of this globe.

Rene BujoldAmong his many friends in the

transportation department, ReneBujold was often referred to as thewhistler. "I like to whistle," heexplained. And he still whistles eventhough he has found it necessary totake a disability pension with aserious back problem.

Born in the Gaspe area of Quebecin 1927, Rene grew up on the farmthere and worked at farming and inthe bush. "I was on Anticosti Islandone winter," he said.

He left home in the early fifties,went to work at Spruce Falls andBeardmore. On his way back homehe stopped off to visit a cousin atConiston, Alex Bujold, who told himthis was the place to work.

Rene took his advice and was hiredat the Coniston smelter. "I was withthe transportation department all myyears, mostly on the running crews,"Rene said. "When Coniston closeddown in 1972 1 moved to Copper Cliff.

I enjoyed my work and I sure missthe gang ," he added.

At Coniston in 1955, Rene andRaymonde Leblanc were married.Their family includes five children:Richard, working at Copper Cliff, andJacques with Falconbridge. DaughterNicole's husband Maurice Lavoie is atStobie; Pauline is Mrs . GastonMichaud of Garson, and Ginette is inSudbury. There are three grand-daughters to date.

The Bujolds have lived at Conistonsince 1950 and have a fine gardenthere. They have a camper that takesthem to Manitoulin and other placesin summer and they may make a tripto Florida. They have made at least adozen trips to the Gaspe area ofQuebec and plan to see the westcoast in 1985.

He enjoys working around home, isa member of the K. of C. and doessome bowling. Mrs. Bujold has drivena school bus for 14 years and enjoysit. Rene enjoyed his work and missesit and the gang he worked with, but islearning to live with his physicalhandicap.

Herminegil ChevalierA 16-foot house trailer on the

shores of a crystal clear three-milelake north of Ottawa will now becomea second home for HerminegilChevalier and his wife, Anne.Herminegil has taken an earlyretirement from the Port Colbornenickel refinery after 28 years ofservice. "The knees just became toosore, so I decided to retire early,"Herminegil says.

Born at Calumet Island, Quebec in1925, he came to Port Colborne in1947 and worked at the Maple LeafMills for three months. He joined Incoon January 1st, 1948 but in July hewent back to Quebec and workedthree years in the mines . Returning toPort Colborne, he worked for awhileas a sidewalk contractor and returnedto the refinery for good in 1955. Sincethat time, he has been a laborer inthe furnace, basement, and boxfloordepartments and eventually became ajanitor.

Herminegil and his wife, the formerAnne Degenais, were married on May10th, 1949 in Port Colborne at St.John Bosco Church. Anne worked for17 years at the Crystal BeachAmusement Park as a gamesoperator before retiring two yearsago.

They have four married children,Victor , Michael , Ricky, and Paulette(Morningstar), and eightgrandchildren.

It is a 500-mile drive for theChevaliers to their house trailer butthe two to three month stay duringthe summer months is all worth it.You have to really rough it up

there," Herminegil says. "There is norunning water, electricity or indoorplumbing."

They both enjoy fishing and landsome big pike, pickerel and trout fromthe lake. Herminegil also enjoysworking with wood and repairingfurniture.

While the north country is theChevaliers' home away from home,they also are happy with family life at224 Humboldt Parkway. A visit fromthe children and grandchildren bothat home and up north is always atreat.

29

I

Geppino PieriJoe Pieri came to Canada from

Italy in 1949 and had worked for ayear at Temelini's farm before joiningInco in 1950. "I started in the copperreverbs and worked on the reverbfurnaces all the time I was there,"Joe said. "I was a fettler most of thetime but they don't have fettlers anymore. I worked there for 33 years andI guess that's enough," he addedwith a smile.

Bremwent into a army. w aprisoner of war in Greece and inGermany. "I worked on a farm inGermany so we did have enough toeat," he said.

Joe's aunt is Ginny Bertulli'smother so Joe came to friends on thehill in Copper Cliff. He and his wifelived in Copper Cliff until 1954 whenthey moved to Gatchell and havelived there ever since.

Before coming to Canada, Joeknew a nice young lady namedPierina Barilari who lived not too faraway. So as soon as he becameestablished in Canada he brought herover to be his bride. That was in 1951and they have enjoyed a good lifetogether and are happy with theirthree daughters and threegrandchildren. The daughters are:Paula, Mrs. Fred Zimmer; Diane, Mrs.Gerry Leuschen, and Rita, Mrs. GillesLanteigne, all of Sudbury. Thegrandchildren consist of two boys anda girl.

Joe is a great gardener and is alsoproud of his own wine. That is,when the grapes are good," heexplained. He is handy around thehouse and can do most of the repairs

30

on his own car. He likes to hunt birdsand ducks in fall and enjoys sport,particularly hockey.

They have made five trips back toItaly and will probably go again Mrs.Pieri said. She is active in her ladies'group at the local church here andenjoys having her family close athand.

In good health they are bothlooking forward to a new andpleasant life in retirement.

Jack HolmesAfter 43 years at the Port Colborne

nickel refinery, Jack Holmes hasdecided to give some of the youngerguys a chance to match his long termservice record.

When Jack took early retirementthis summer, he was second on thelist of seniority in the plant.

Born in Toronto in 1920, he movedto Port Colborne at the tender age ofseven weeks old. He started in theshearing department on March 5th,1940 with Gus Schihl and CurlyRobins. However, with the SecondWorld War underway, Jack joined the

Roy nal Carps ansere 4 months i WesterrjEuand Germany. When he returned fromoverseas, Jack went back to therefinery in January of 1946. He spent34 years in the pipe shop, retiring asa pipefitter.

Jack moved to Crystal Beach about19 years ago. He married the formerLydia Nichskovch two years ago. Jackhas one daughter, Carla, by aprevious marriage. She is a teacherin Montreal. He has one grandson.

Lydia has three sons, Allan in

Edmonton, Terry and Roland inToronto, and seven grandchildren.

Jack has always been involved insports and during his playing dayswas either on the basketball court orbaseball diamond. "I coached a girls'basketball team in Port Colborne for afew years," he said. "I was alsocoach of the men's Ontario Cchampionship team in Port Colbornein the 1950's."

Up until 1980, he bowled in boththe Port Colborne and Fort Erie tenpin leagues. "The league folded inFort Erie and that was the end of mybowling career."

He is a member of the RoyalCanadian Legion and was presidentfor three years of the RidgewayLegion Branch.

Jack and Lydia and planning acouple of trips in the near future, oneto Western Canada and a visit toLydia's mother and brother who livein Yugoslavia.

Rheo MenardFarming and moose hunting will

take up a lot of Rheo Menard's timenow that he has taken an earlyretirement from the Port Colbornenickel refinery.

After 37 years of service, Rheoplans to continue to work his 37-acrehobby farm by raising a few beefcattle and chickens.

Rheo was born on a farm in Vars,Ontario near Ottawa, and has alwaysenjoyed rural living. He purchased 60acres of land on Sherk Road in 1951and has lived there ever since. In themeantime, Rheo and his wife, theformer Mignonne 3ette, raised six

children while on the farm . Rheo alsorents another 37 acres of land tobring in an annual crop of hay andgrain.

Rheo came to Port Colborne in1946 and worked for a short time atRobin Hood Mills and in construction.He found it difficult to get a jobbecause he weighed only 127pounds. But in December of thatsame year, he was hired at therefinery and started off in No. 1building. He worked on the sulphidepile and the sinter plant, until 1948when he joined the mechanicaldepartment.

He was a first class fitter for 23years, the last 12 years with No. 3research station.

Rheo and Mignonne were marriedon July 29th, 1949 at St. John BoscoChurch. Mignonne was born inManiwake, Quebec and came to PortColborne in 1946.

Their six children are: NicholeFrolak in Niagara Falls; MoniqueDucharme, Suzanne Fox, andClaude, all in Port Colborne; Ronaldin Ridgeway, and Roger, in Manitoba.

where he worked for 32 years as acarpenter.

Romeo married Gladys Sager ofPort Colborne on October 29th, 1949at St. Peters Lutheran Church. Theyhave two children, a son Gary whoworks at Stelco, and a daughter,Linda Parkes, both of Welland. Theyalso have four grandchildren.

During the winter, Romeo. is alwaysbusy in the workshop. He is presentlyfinishing two doll houses for hisgranddaughters.

They also have 10 grandchildren. I eThis fall, Rheo shot a 428-pound

bull moose during an annual huntingtrip with his sons in the Temagamiarea.

Rheo and his wife, along with thefamily, enjoy summer vacations atTemagami and just relaxing with avisit from the children andgrandchildren at their hobby farm onSherk Road.

Romeo GaspardA sleek 19 foot inboard-outboard

deep hull fiberglass boat sits inRomeo Gasparri's driveway ready foranother season of fishing on LakeErie.

{ Now that Romeo has taken aspecial early service retirement fromthe Port Colborne nickel refinery, thefishing trips will be more regular nextsummer. After 35 years at the plant,Romeo has decided to take life easyand share time between his workshopand fishing.

Romeo was born in Port Colborneon January 17th, 1927. He built hishome at 304 Kingsway Drive inWelland 27 years ago.

Romeo started with Inco in 1948 inthe cutter's department. He was latertransferred to the carpenter shop,

Romeo and his wife have alreadydone plenty of travelling, but plan todo more. Included in their past travelswere trips to Las Vegas, WesternCanada, Florida, and Atlantic City.

They also enjoy camping inNorthern Ontario. Another excitingvacation was a journey through theTrent Canal system. "Along withfriends, we took an 18 foot boatthrough the waterway and campedout each night," Romeo said. "It wasjust great, a trip you never willforget."

Romeo docks his boat in PortColborne. He admits getting a greatdeal when he purchased the craft. Ithas given his family many hours ofpleasure on the lake.

Aurele GagnonAurele Gagnon played 125 games

of golf this summer and expects to beon the links even more next year.

Aurele, who has recently taken anearly service pension after 29 yearsat the Port Colborne nickel refinery,will also find plenty of time to enjoyanother of his favorite pastimes,downhill skiing.

Aurele was born in Bouchette,Quebec in 1927. He worked three

years in Montreal for the CNR beforecoming to the Welland area in 1947.He was employed at PlymouthCortage for five years before the plantshut down.

He moved to Port Colborne in 1953and started in the refinery's No. 5building in 1954. "I pretty well workedat all jobs throughout the plant,including precious metals, hookup,and warehouse departments" hesaid. His last position was trackmanwith the yard gang.

Aurele married Anita Huneault in1953 at the St. Jean de Brebeufparish. Anita was also born inBouchette, Quebec and came to PortColborne in 1945. She worked at theshoe factory and Port ColbornePoultry, but now is also enjoyingretired life.

They have three children, Ross ofHamilton, Kim Doucet of PortColborne, and Mary of Brantford, andtwo grandchildren.

Until 1974, the Gagnons lived onJanet Street. However, Aurele and hiswife sold their home and moved intoa comfortable apartment at 529 ElmStreet.

Aurele golfs in the low 80's. Healso does excellent wood carving.Aurele and his wife travel to theslopes of Quebec during the winter."We love skiing. Anita just becameinvolved in the sport a couple ofyears ago," he said. "Quebec hasthe greatest facilities."

The couple also plan another trip toFlorida this year. Their last vacation toKey Largo was by motor home withfriends.

"I do miss my friends in the plant,"he admits.

31

Leslie TothAfter 23 years of service at Port

Colborne nickel refinery, Leslie Tothhas retired on disability pension.

Although Leslie and his wife, Ona,enjoy their comfortable home at 133Barrick Road, they plan to put up the"for sale" sign and move to Simcoe.The three-acre property has justbecome too big to manage.

Ona's roots are in Simcoe whereher relatives and friends live. Lesliewas born in Miskolc, Hungary on May5th, 1924 and came to Port Colbornein 1958. He worked in a governmentjob in Hungary and a friend, LouieColeman helped him get a job at thenickel refinery on September 18th,1959.

He started in the precious metalsdepartment and was operator therefor five years. He was an operator inthe foundry for five years beforebecoming a furnace helper, reliefwheelman, and eventually a floormanbefore he retired.

Leslie and his wife, the former OnaAmes, were married on October 19th,1974 at the Hungarian ReformedChurch in Port Colborne. Therewasn't much time for a honeymoon,recalls Leslie. "We spent only aweekend in Niagara Falls. We wereboth working, and it was the onlyweekend we had off in severalmonths."

Leslie and Ona first met at a localclub. Born in Simcoe, Ona came tothe Port Colborne area in 1959 andworked at a Nursing Home in FortErie. The couple have no childrenand Leslie has no relatives in thiscountry.

"I really enjoyed every day in theplant. I made a lot of friends, but my

legs started to bother me and Idecided to retire."

Leslie enjoys working around hisgarden and reading. At one time, hedid some bowling. Ona and Leslieplan to take a trip to Hungary nextyear.

The Toths want to move toSouthwestern Ontario where there isplenty of open space. "We won't bebuying a farm or any large piece ofland", Ona says. "We just want tobuy a little house in the Simcoe areaand enjoy retirement."

William ReichWilliam Reich has retired from the

Port Colborne nickel refinery with anenviable record of 37 years without aloss time accident.

Born in Craik, Saskatchewan in1926, he was the youngest of 14children raised on a farm. His fatherdied in 1930 and William, along withhis five brothers, eight sisters andmother had to keep the farm going."There were no jobs out west and nofarms to pick up during the 1940's"he said. "So I came east looking forwork and got a job at the Nickel plantin 1946."

He started as a laborer and movedinto the shops department and laterthe crane gang. In 1947, he becamea plant fitter "A" leader, a position heheld until his early service retirementthis year.

He married the former TeresaDonovan of Toledo, Ontario in 1952.Teresa also grew up on a farm. Shebecame a teacher, a career whichextended for 38 years between SmithFalls and Welland. She also retired

this year after 16 years teaching atFitch Street School in Welland. It wasin Welland where the couple first met.

They have three children, Terry,who is a director of geneticengineering for the Department ofAgriculture in Ottawa, Tim, a thirdyear engineering student at theUniversity of Waterloo, andBernadette, who has an honorsdegree in geology and is working forTexaco Oil in Calgary.

William and Teresa have awinterized cottage north of Kingstonwhere they have spent countlesshappy hours since 1974. William notonly built the cottage but also theirhome in 1954 at 3 Gram Avenue,Welland.

He enjoys doing a lot of carpentryaround the house and cottage. Theyintend to do some travelling now thatretirement has arrived for both ofthem at the same time. They havefond memories of a Caribbean cruisethey took a few years ago.

William said he is proud of theaccident free record he accomplishedduring the 37 years of employment atthe Refinery.

Hormidas CharleboisHormidas "Herman" Charlebois will

have plenty to do now after taking anearly retirement from the PortColborne nickel refinery. Herman andhis wife, Marie, plan to travel andcontinue to watch their son Robertplay hockey and baseball.

After 36 years at the refinery,Herman decided to spend more timearound the home doing wood-working

r

I

32

and car repairs. He was born atCurran, Ontario in 1923 and learnedto work hard after being raised on afarm. Between 1940 and 1946, hestayed on the farm and also wasemployed at a block company. In1946, he came to Port Colborne anda year later started at the nickelrefinery in the ball mill department.From there, he moved into thecalciner and shop departments andwas a pipefitter between 1957-82.

Herman married the former MarieRose Chartrand in 1948 in their hometown of Curran. They have fourchildren, Denise Murphy of London,

Irene Arsenault of Welland, AnitaLipke of Montreal, and Robert, livingat home, who is a student atConfederation High School inWelland. He currently is playinghockey for Team Port Colborne in theJunior C division.

Herman built his own home at 280Wellington Street in 1952 with thehelp of his three brothers and somefriends.

Herman and Rose have alreadydone plenty of travelling includingtrips to Florida, Chicago, and the eastand west coasts of Canada.

"If you ever get a chance, go to

The ninth annual IN Touch Curling Bonspiel for retirees willbe held at the Copper Cliff Curling Club

Wednesday, March 28, 1984 - 9:00 a.m. andThursday, March 29, 1984 - 8:00 a.m.

All Pensioners Welcome

Entry forms can be picked up from any ofthe curling committees. The registration

tee of $10.00 must accompany theapplication and includes prizes and

lunch. Out of town pensioners who wishto enter can mail their entry to:

Jim Bryson630 Pine Street

Sudbury, OntarioP3C 1Y8

Curling CommitteeVerdell Price at Coniston, John Woznow at

Copper Cliff, Rusty Duberry at Walden, WesHart at Sudbury. Fred Spencer at Levack and

Ralph Brown at Idytwylde.

I N TouchCurling Bonspiel

Butchard Gardens on VancouverIsland, British Columbia" Hermansays. "It is beautiful, just beautiful."The Charlebois' travelled by motorhome to the west coast.

Herman is a member of the FrenchGolden Age Club and a committeedirector of Caisse Populaire CreditUnion.

During both winter and summer,Herman and his wife will be foundfollowing their son's participation inhockey and baseball. They havetravelled many miles throughoutOntario leading the cheers for theirfavorite player, Robert.

Name Phone

Address

Please circle preferred position: Skip Vice-Skip Second Lead

Entries must be received by March 19, 1984 In order that the draw may be made.

33

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