SPECIAL REPORTHUMAN RESOURCESSPECIAL REPORTHUMAN RESOURCESINDUSTRY REPORTLANDSCAPINGThink Big Graduate Jeff BrazeauJourneyman Carpenter Colleen Debuersworking in the field. With an interest in gas compression,his goal is to work as a gas compression mechanic.Brazeau expects to have journeyman’s papers byDecember.For DeBeurs, 39, it has been seven long, determined,dedicated years from the time she enrolled as an apprenticeuntil she received her journeyman’s papers in carpentryin April. “I love what I’m doing, or I wouldn’t bedoing it,” she says. It took a lot to get there. “I neededto do this for myself,” says the determined mother oftwo young adults. As a hairdresser and then workingin a nursing home, she decided that it was time to finda job doing what she had always loved – carpentry.But there were roadblocks and detours. She studied toget high school equivalency, and applied to apprentice.After seven years – sometimes with side journeys forraising two children – she reached her goal. “After Istarted, I had to get it done,” DeBeurs says. Some earliestchildhood memories were helping her carpenterfatherwith projects. Later, as an adult and discontentwith her indoor jobs, her passion for carpentry wastweaked when she was building a garage. The physicallabour, working outdoors and working with wood is adream job for DeBeurs.Being a female on an industrial site has its moments,she says. There was the day a teacher brought a group ofhigh school girls to the site to see what the trades hadto offer. She was asked to talk with them for a few minutes.She wasn’t wearing nice clothes, or even a cleanshirt. It was wet and she was covered in mud. DeBeurstold the girls it was just an every day part of the job,“you had to love it anyway.”Getting along in a male-dominated world meanshaving the attitude that you are there to get the jobdone, she says. If, for example, someone hands you asledge hammer, you use it. Right now, the new journeymanis working for Coram Construction Ltd. on anindustrial site in Edmonton. She’s working with lumabeams, steel, loose forms and building pony walls. “Ienjoy doing millwork and form work on concrete,”Debeurs says. “The future looks fantastic!”26 TRACKS & TREADS • Summer 2005 www.finning.ca
Yesterday/TodayTHIS SUMMER’S WETASKIWIN ANTIQUE EQUIPMENT SHOW IS SHAPINGINTO A LEGENDARY EVENT. KEITH HADDOCK PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON THEFRATERNITY’S BIG JAMBOREEHistory in theMakingAre you all set to attend the “Greatest Showon Earthmoving”? Expect to see lowboysrumbling towards Wetaskiwin’s ReynoldsAlberta Museum (RAM), carrying dozensof antique construction and earthmovingmachines this summer. The earthwill move August 5 to 7 for the workingexhibition of the Historical ConstructionEquipment Association (HCEA) annualInternational Convention and Old EquipmentExposition. It’s the first-ever HCEAconvention held outside the United Stateswhich coincides with the association’s20th anniversary and Alberta’s centennialfestivities.What could be more appropriate tocelebrate Alberta’s prosperity, than to recognizethe machines that built our highways,mined our coal, leveled industrialsites, installed pipelines and excavated forevery type of infrastructure? The threedayevent will highlight demonstrationsof horse-powered grading and excavatingusing some of the largest horse teamsever assembled. Witness grading andexcavating by antique gasoline-poweredequipment manufactured between 1905and 1930 and the diesel-powered crawlertractors, scrapers, graders and haulersfrom 1930 to 1955. The turbo-chargeddiesel-powered equipment built between1955 and 1980 will also be featured. Be aspectator to excavators, including shovels,draglines and backhoes at work.Experience an old-time road campcomplete with fresh baking powder biscuitsfor a taste of the past. Static equipmentdisplays, literature, books, scalemodels, equipment memorabilia andmuch more will be part of the festivities.The Wetaskiwin exhibition will includedisplays from the Alberta Roadbuildersand Heavy ConstructionAssociation, Antique <strong>Caterpillar</strong>Machinery OwnersClub and the Alberta Chapterof the American TruckHistorical Society. Also, localequipment supplierswill hold a trade show displayingmodern industrialequipment.The world-class RAM isa major tourist attractionpreserving the heritage ofmachines in agriculture,industry and transportation.It is a permanent hometo hundreds of antiquecars, trucks, tractors, aircraftand surface miningequipment, including theworld’s oldest dragline anda 370-ton stripping shovel.There’s more than enoughfor the entire family to doand see at this year’s OldEquipment Exposition. Antique<strong>Caterpillar</strong> ownersare encouraged to bringmachines to Wetaskiwin –the organizers are looking for more.You can put it to work, or display itfor visitors eager to hear your story. Don’tworry about restoration or painting, justbring it on in!There is a generation that has never seenmachines like these operate and Wetaskiwinis the place for the entire family toexperience the past first-hand. So keep thefirst weekend in August open and attendan unforgettable show. After all, we oweit to ourselves to recognize the machinesthat contribute to the high standard ofliving we enjoy today.1. Crowds watch as vintage <strong>Caterpillar</strong> D8 tractorspull scrapers at a previous Historical ConstructionEquipment Association event.2. Here a vintage D4 pulls a perfectly-matched<strong>Caterpillar</strong> No.40 hydraulic scraper at a previousHCEA Convention held at Albany, Minnesota.For information or registration for the HECAConvention and Expo contact Bill Graham,show chairman at (780) 413-1725 or(780) 446-4151. Or visit www.hcea2005.com12www.finning.ca Summer 2005 • TRACKS & TREADS 27