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Back in the day, I worked there for 8 months. My first job was as sample boy. I went out and drew product samples from various tanks like fuel oil, gasoline, propane and butane spheres. It was winter and I would drive the lab truck out to a tank, climb the stairs to the top, open the sample hatch and drop a weighted bottle on a cord with a cork top. Once immersed in the liquid, a quick flick of the wrist upward would dislodge the cork and the bottle would fill with liquid. On pressurized propane or butane tanks I would use a metal cylinder called a bomb with valves on each end. You connect one end to the tank/sphere, open the valves, flush it out on the ground to get rid of any water and then close the valves. I would then take these sample back to the lab for quality control testing.

I remember many a cold day that winter out in the tank farm. I could see the Toronto skyscrapers shimmering in the distance. I had trouble getting to work. I boarded at a friend’s house in Burlington and would catch a bus to the edge of Oakville. I would than have to walk 2 or 3 km or hitch hike from there! Often a colleague at work would see me and give me a lift. One day the lab manager asked me to drive the lab truck to Maple Leaf Gardens in downtown Toronto to pick up his hockey tickets for the weekend. Pretty cool I thought!

My second term that Fall was as shift tester in the lab. Various samples of products would be provided from the units or tank farm. I conducted freezing point, distillation, flash point and viscosity quality control tests on a rotating shift. At least I was inside then but I remember the constant smell of solvents like acetone and maybe even benzene which we used to clean the equipment – as well as our hands! I enjoyed joshing with the guys in the lab at coffee break and lunch when I worked the day shift. I remember the gas chromatograph guy who was very nice, the older engineer who picked me up as well as the good natured lab manager. Also one of the guys in the union who loved working stat holidays for the double time and a half pay lol.

That term I lived in Mississauga near Oakville boarding at another friend’s house. I had a car this time, a brand new VW Beetle that my mom had purchased for me. I remember listening to Green Eyed Lady on the radio and Led Zeppelin III on the tape deck. Cool!

As there were no oil refineries anywhere near my home in Ottawa, I really enjoyed these unique university coop work term experiences! Here are a few pics and the ChatGpt history of this refinery for which I have fond memories of.

Short version up front: the “Trafalgar” or Oakville refinery was built in the late 1950s, operated by Cities Service, bought by BP in the 1960s, later sold to Petro-Canada, and was decommissioned and closed in 2004–2005 (the site now functions as a storage/terminal). 

Key dates & facts

Commissioned 1958 — the refinery was built and began operations in 1958 (original owner: Cities Service Company).  Acquired by BP (early 1960s) — BP bought the Oakville/Trafalgar facility in the mid-1960s as it expanded its Canadian operations. The site was known locally as the BP Trafalgar Refinery.  Growth & capacity — over time the plant was expanded (1970s plans to add capacity are documented); historical BP material shows the Trafalgar refinery processed tens of thousands of barrels per day (period figures in reports show ~31,000 bpd in 1969 and later references list up to roughly 90,000 bpd as a peak/combined figure in later summaries).  Sale to Petro-Canada (1982) — BP’s Canadian refining/marketing assets (including the Oakville/Trafalgar site) were sold to Petro-Canada in the early 1980s. The refinery then operated under Petro-Canada.  Closure & decommissioning (2004–2005) — Petro-Canada permanently shut and decommissioned the Oakville refinery around 2004–2005. The company cited the cost of meeting new, stricter low-sulphur gasoline rules and the small/less-efficient scale of the plant as reasons for closure. Decommissioning took place in late 2004 into 2005.  Aftermath / equipment sale — parts of the refinery equipment were shipped (or planned to be shipped) overseas — there was a plan to re-erect equipment in Pakistan (Indus Refinery Project), though some components were not ultimately reassembled there; the Oakville site was retained in part for storage/terminal operations (Suncor/Petro-Canada legacy). 

Local details / name

The facility is commonly called the Trafalgar Refinery or Oakville Refinery in local archives; examples and photos appear in the Oakville museum / town collections (site address listed historically as 1225 Trafalgar Road). 

…is somewhere I could live. Sunny everyday, occasional sprinkle, 5 beaches within walking distance, a laid back vibe, friendly courteous people, wild chickens.

So we have been everywhere and this is one place I would choose to live. Just had the best of family vacations there in a 4 bedroom house. Six plus days to get into the local vibe: grocery store, shrimp trucks, Catholic Church, ocean sunsets every night, all within walking distance.

The Shaka is the Hawaiian sign used in the surf culture to mean great, compassion, friendship and understanding. Read all about it here. That sums up everything here. Just sayin’

If you ever get a chance….

A change of heart, this cruise was a solid 4 out of 5.

After a few lacklustre days, we finally had some very good times on the Anthem of the Seas.

We went to the matinee performance of the We Will Rock You show. The story was a bit confusing at first but we really liked it in the end.

It is a futuristic story taking place in 2325. The world has forgotten all about rock and roll. A guy has some dreams and strange words pop into his head, the titles of famous songs like Blue Swade Shoes etc. He eventually remembers a bunch of Queen songs, this engages everyone and they get into it.

It’s hard not to like the music and the dancing. They did a great job putting the show on 3 times so everyone could see it. Will remember this one. Apparently it was a massive hit musical with audiences around the world but the critics panned it due to its thin storyline.

Then, the next night they had Maine lobster tail and baked Alaska in the dining room for dinner. Yum. And they did a dancing parade of all the dining room staff. Pretty impressive.

And finally on the last day, they had a hula hoop contest and a lady from Canada won. Lots of fun on this cruise. 9 days all the way to Hawaii!

What we liked about AotS

• Cleanliness and layout of the ship
• Food was generally good in both the Windjammer buffet and the main dining room
• Service in the cabin and dining room was excellent
• Kids camp and arcade for the grandkids was great fun
• Bigger ship had more to do yet never felt crowded
• People very polite and well behaved
• Less focus on alcohol drinking
• Value proposition high due cheaper fair
• No high end ship within a ship cabins so not as class oriented like Celebrity
• They held daily Mass onboard with a great priest from Victoria, BC

Not so liked

• The daily entertainment guide had some errors and omissions
• The 2 device internet account was awkward to switch back and forth
• The numerous cutbacks – no turn down at night – no chocolates – no high end foods like pickled herring, no hard ice cream in the buffet, fancy cheeses, peanuts at the bars
• Upsell for e.g., specialty restaurants
• Some confusion finding the birthday cake I had preordered
• You have to sign out towels to your cabin now
• So far, not impressed with the shows or theatre compared to Celebrity Edge
• Captain had no personality we were aware of as we never actually saw him
• There was an extra hour time change that they forgot to tell us about

We much prefer Celebrity in general and the Edge in particular however for a best value family cruise, RCL is hard to beat

Were you ever in a rock band or dreamt about it? Well I was very briefly in 1969. The band was called Powerhouse. Doug on drums, Eric on keyboards, Tommy lead singer. There must have been a bass, a guitar and a trumpet player too. I played tenor sax. I remember doing one gig in Renfrew I think it was, before we broke up. We had a hurse for transferring the equipment.

I was new to the tenor sax having dropped playing the flute a year earlier to learn the sax in grade 12. While generally easier to play than most wind instruments, I was still nevertheless a pure novice. So I had not played it in a year and borrowed one from Woodroffe High School.

I remember practices at Doug’s house near the Ottawa airport. We also set up in our family room for awhile but that may have been the summer before. I remember playing or rather trying to play the sax parts in Sam and Dave’s Hold on I’m Coming. Of course in those days all we had was a record player way of listening to a song to learn it.

Eric, my good friend got me into it. Not sure how but he knew the other members. Tommy was the son of my grade 9 Latin teacher. Doug (Inglis) went on to a recording career with the reconstituted trio Powerhouse, then on to the better known rock trio Goddo and sadly passed away in 2021. It was fun playing with them but I felt I did not know what I was doing and would often fake playing.

So the realty of the need to practice eventually took the fun out of it for me. Anyways another bunch of fond high school memories I sometimes reminisce about. Should have kept up that sax and flute!

That’s Doug in the middle.

I leave you with a lovely tune from Greg Godovitz’s band Goddo that showcases Doug’s creative ability.

Finally, here is a great tribute to him from fellow band member …. starting about 32 mins in.

This is a photo of the Sun Tube factory at 145 Spruce Street in Ottawa in the 60s courtesy of the Ottawa Journal.

I worked there on the midnight shift during the summer of 1968. My friend Steve was working there and told me about a summer job opportunity. As “box boy” I was responsible for ensuring shipping boxes were at the end of each line for packing empty Crest tooth paste tubes into that they produced there. I was paid $1.40/hr I recall.

It was a ball!

They had 2 or 3 production lines. Starting with a sheet of lead coated tin or perhaps aluminum about .25” thick, a punch stamped out circular discs. The discs would then be punched into the tube shape, narrow at one end and open at the other. It must have been loud. The tubes would then be painted with the Crest logo, wording and colours and then placed open end up in the boxes. I would move the loaded boxes onto a skid and move them to the shipping room. They were shipped by truck to a factory in Hamilton where they were filled. Can’t remember how the threaded end was made and if caps were installed there but I think so.

Pretty cool.

There would be frequent equipment breakdowns and the line would stop while the male mechanic fixed something. I recall the rest of the line workers were women of various ages. Some were French speaking or people of colour. We used to have two 15 min smoke breaks and a 30 min lunch break that were timed.

I remember sitting out on the open dock behind the blue door you can see in the photo and puffing away with a few women in the middle of the warm night. I remember too the solvent room where they stored enamel and paint solvents. You could not breathe in there due to the extremely strong solvent smell – very unhealthy for the individuals who had to go in there frequently.

Not sure how I got to work. Probably took the 52 bus route which got me close and then I had to walk a few blocks. Met a nice guy named Tom who had a car. Well didn’t we befriend a couple of nice girls also working there for the summer who we tried to visit in Hull where they were staying. Could not find their place I recall. After the summer we visited them in Cornwall once or twice and probably took them to Massena, NY to The Club for a drink.

Sadly the factory closed in the 70s or 80s as everything moved to plastic. Still have fond memories that were triggered yesterday by hearing BJ Thomas’s Hooked on a Feeling. Also playing on the radio that summer was the Bee Gees hit I’ve Got to get a message to you. Enjoy the memories too if you’re old enough lol!

I have probably played close to 500 rounds of golf since retiring 15 years ago. Yes it is an addiction. Recently I went on a 3 day golf adventure with the golf buddies.

It was fab. We journeyed from Arnprior to Huntsville, ON to play the highly ranked Deerhurst Resort Highlands golf course. Tucked into the Canadian Shield, this is a spectacular course with steep hills and gorgeous views and fast greens. We loved it.

Moving on the next day we played the gorgeous Parry Sound golf course. An equally spectacular course with the Shield poking through again but much less hilly. I loved this one even more. On our way home on the 3rd day we stopped at the Homestead at Wolf Ridge GC in Killaloe, a nice country course we have played several times before.

We stayed in beautiful Parry Sound the home of Bobby Orr, just off Georgian Bay at a condo owned by one of the golf buddies. It was an all round great trip. We ate at several superb restaurants including a Cajun spiced fresh pickerel meal I will not soon forget.

Perhaps the best part of golf is the social contact we have together. Chatting about health ailments, electric cars, places we’ve travelled to, jokes and career experiences, we really bond. Golf is a bonus.

We are slowing down now. Playing 3 days in a row was a challenge for me. I hope we can to do it again next year. Thanks golf buddies for all the fun, the great memories and all those gimmies on the green!

Almonte HS teacher, historian and friend Terry Currie wrote and self-published this book in 2009. At the time it was the first comprehensively researched complete story of this cataclysmic event.

On August 17, 1870, locals woke up to yet another hot day. Since there had been no rain since April, Carleton County was a tinder box. That day, a work gang was clearing brush near Blakeney in the process of extending the rail line right-of-way from Almonte to Pakenham and beyond.

They would pile up the dry brush and burn it off. Suddenly a strong southerly wind caught the flames and blew them north across the line into the woods. The fire was immediately out of control heading north and NW towards Carp and Pakenham.

No one in the path knew what was happening until they were nearly engulfed in flames. As Terry explains in detail, the Press were very limited in their ability to find out what was going on and inform everyone. People and animals fled but there was nowhere to go. Farm families would put a ladder down their wide diameter well and climb down to escape. Those who ran back to the farmhouse to retrieve some heirlooms often died.

Can you imagine the terror – a wall of fire several kilometres wide – and nothing you can do! There were no rural fire departments in those days. The fire burned all day and night advancing as far as Arnprior and Fitzroy. On the 18th the wind changed to westerly with gusts as high as 140 km/hr. This carried the fire all the way to Dows Lake in Ottawa, south to Westport and into Quebec by jumping the Ottawa River at Britannia.

My home town Arnprior was saved by the Madawaska River and shifting winds. All told 3000 farms were completely destroyed and as many as 20 people were killed creating 8000 refugees. Ottawa was saved at the last minute by flooding Preston Street. Places like Bells Corners and Stittsville were completely wiped out. The fire continued to smoulder until the mid-September when heavy rains finally came.

In the aftermath, governments were very stingy in assisting people to rebuild. But gradually, farms and infrastructure were rebuilt until today, you would not know. There is an area south of Almonte called the burnt lands where the soil was burnt down to the limestone. Will have to check this out.

Thank you Terry for this interesting if tragic bit of local Valley history.

I’ve spent some of this summer meeting up with friends I met 45 to 70 years ago. I had not seen them for many years. It was awesome. The memories, the stories and even the pain.

The thing is, we appreciated that we were able to do this. Many of our childhood friends have passed.

With a few exceptions, most did not do well school. Many had their own small businesses and followed a different track than me. They are very smart people and always were.

Despite our life differences with all its ups and downs, we are still friends. I am proud of that.

I’ve had a battle with ChatGpt lately. The popular AI platform says KPLZ 101.5 Seattle never had a program called Friday Night Jazz. Well I happened to have recorded this program on 6 separate occasions way back in 1982 when I was living in North Vancouver.

So here is the proof. It’s a short sample of the full audio cassette recording I made of the program on April 2, 1982.

So I uploaded this file to ChatGpt and it now has adjusted its database accordingly. It really was a great radio program playing crossover jazz and fusion artists like Bobby Caldwell, Maynard Ferguson, the Yellowjackets, Grover Washington, Spyro Gyra, etc. Tom Reddick was the announcer.

In case you don’t know what music I am talking about, I leave you with a couple of samples. It really was groundbreaking music at the time – the precursor I suppose to Smooth Jazz which I don’t really like. Yes, I know, this is all trivial pursuit but great memories nevertheless.

Dave