Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 22

B2 EDMONTON JOURNAL CITY FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 2000 Petroleum Club sees 50 years of change y-9 Mi Li si 28 tr Dancing at the Petroleum Club in the early days. ML SHOP OUR NEWT' rv I bed rsouTHSiDEli I 10187-34 OBIS 2) JI A. J) VASHin $AkQ SUPER CAPACITY 21 CU FT DELUXE. JlVO OVER RANGEFAN STwO DimmnpiipiVi rwi i tM ltd Jt EJ 3 MULTICYCLE VU BBSF648 i Where the boys are Those were the days to be a young man in the ofl patch. Leduc No.

1 and other major finds in the late '40s had just transformed Edmonton into a boomtown from a rather sleepy industrial city. The population doubled in the decade that followed, and many Prairie boys found opportunities to become wealthy beyond their dreams. It was almost inevitable that these hard-working folks who took the risks, braved the miserable conditions and rode the ups and downs of the oil business would form their own club. And exactly 50years ago today they did just that. Ahalf-dozen oilmen put up $50 apiece, signed an application for incorporation and the Edmonton Petroleum Club was rolling.

Today its quiet elegance, gourmet meals, associated golf course and membership of 785 including women evokes a rather comfortable existence. But in the early days the atmosphere stressed the rough in roughneck. According to the colourful history of the club being prepared by local author Shirley Graham, it was first located in a couple of rooms of the old Airlines Hotel, which was a series of old Air Force Quonsethuts. There was no liquor licence, but in their lockers the boys kept "liquid refreshment," which they used to wash down their bacon snacks. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of pok-er played, and you couldn't cut the smoke with a knife.

The club would be jam-packed during road ban times, when workers couldn't drive up to the fields. In 1953, when the big fields at Drayton Valley were discovered and steady rain for months kept frustrated rig workers in town, they gladly hung out in the cramped quarters of the club. As the industry grew, so did the Petroleum Club. In those days you had to derive most of your income from the oil business to be a voting member. Others could join, although they couldn'tvote.

The club finally moved to its current quartersatKingswayand 108thStreetin 1958. Bob Tate, who has been a member for more than 40 years, says the club served business, for everyone from roughnecks to company presidents. "The industry wasn't that big," Tate says. "A lot of people don't understand, but you could see almost everyone in the industry at some time." Manydealsweremadeinthedub.and there was a lot of talk in the casual dining room about what energy stocks were going to be hot, he says. Althoughtherehasalwaysbeenadress code, Tate says there has also always been a casual atmosphere.

Because Edmonton is a service town rather than a head-office town, its oil- rz. WAY 1 1 fl I OIIIIJ I 19 CU FT DELUXE OwO SELF CLEAN Q90 FULL SIZE DELUXE SfOO DRYER $010 MULTICYCLE CERAN TOP OWU HUGE VOLUME EDMONTON'S: BEST SELECTION PURCHASE SAVE NOW! QUALITV DISHWASHERS OVENS load7 WASHERS CUSTOM BUILT-IN REFRIGERATORS MIDSIZE FRIG-FREEZER $398 REFRIGERATOR COMPACT ENERGY SAVER DESIGN "28 WHITE BLACK FROST FREE ff0r MID SIZE 2 DOOR '538 COMPACT 4lf 0 FRIG-FREEZER 168 l7i ULTIMATE ENERGY SAVER TUMBLE WASH l2 gentle clean 15 MODELS TO CHOOSE FROM STACKABLE' SIDE SIDE -BUILT IN FLOOR MODEL CLEARANCE OUR BEST MODELS REDUCED TO CLEAR REFRIGERATOR 18 ft DELUXE GLASS SHELVES UFT OFF DOOR BINS 768 FIVE YEAR GUARANTEE DISHWASHER $nn MUUI CYCLE BUILT IN UQO RAfJGE $Ann EASY CLEAN DELUXE OO UltchenAld duty7 MIXER ff WITH ATTACHMENTS 300 wattF OSCH KITCHEN CENTRE INCLUDES BLENDER WITH TOOLS MICROWAVES tJ OVER RANGE FAN ft LIGHT COMPACT ELECTRONIC 148 MIDSIZE $4 00 1000 WATT POWER lOO FULL SIZE ALTTO SENSOR $218 VENTILATION UPDRAFT D0WNDRAFT UNBEATABLE SELECTION CANOPY EURO STYLE 'SLIMLINE WOOD HOOD ALL COLORS ALL POWERS STAINLESS STEEL i' i $798 IB 388 GENERAL ELECTRIC shaughn butts, the journal Quiet elegance: Petroleum Club president Don Enyedy (back) and general manager Mario Re in the club's dining room. EDMONTON INSIDE (5 OUT patch types are down to earth. Having beenamale bastion until 1987 (except for the socials), the Petroleum Club did have its earthy times, Tate says. The "oyster stags," which featured oysters cooked in many ways on the menu and exotic entertainers on the stage, raised a lot of money for the club, but got so raunchy that the doors had to be locked.

And police attended the event on a couple of occasions, he says. Of course, it was usually quite civilized and attracted some top-notch entertainment, including singing cowboy Gene Autry and, quite amazingly, Bob Hope. Times have changed. Today, the female presence in the oilpatch has grown, with women well represented in all sorts of jobs, from trucking to engineering. The Petroleum Club became one of the last club to afford women full voting rights in 1987, after Dennis Anderson, men-minister responsible for women's issues, called for an investigation into the legality of its men-only membership.

Don Enyedy, the current club president, says the membership policy of the club, which makes it open to ail occupations as well as genders, is key to its survival. Although the price of oil is sky high right now, everyone in the patch knows the ups and downs, and it would be hard for the club to keep going on only the fortunes of the oil business. By Mike Sadava If you know of any interesting people, places, issues or activities in the Edmonton region from the serious to the ridiculous we'd love to hearfromyou. Please send usyour suggestions by phoning us at498-5862, fax at 429-5500 or e-mail msadava thejournaLsoutham.ca. We want to be part of that benefit package." The next mediation meeting is set for Wednesday.

If it doesn't go well, there will be a 14-day cooling-off period before a strike vote can be taken. "We don't want to go on strike," Sohi said. "But if there's no movement and they're forcing us that way, I think we would have no choice." DATS drivers are currently paid per trip with no guaranteed number of trips and therefore no predictable level of income. They get $12.95 for a one-way trip for a person in a wheelchair, and $8.15 for an elderly or disabled person who can walk but is unable to use regular transit. The drivers are asking for $19.81 per hour for those who drive vehicles that can accommodate wheelchairs, and $16.45 per hour for car and minivan drivers.

DATS is subsidized by the city but passengers must buy tickets or passes. Sohi said the city's decision to contract out means about 75 per cent of the estimated 856,624 DATS trips this year will be made by unionized employees, and the rest will be contracted out Edmonton Transit manager Wayne Mandryk confirmed the contracting out but said he couldn't comment during negotiations. A REFRIGERATORS RANGES WASHERS DISHWASHERS DRYERS BUILT-INS STAINLESS FINISH CLEARANCE YEAR END CLEARANCE I EVERY MODEL '(( ON SALE DATS drivers oppose city's contracts with cabs EURO QUALITY THE QUIETEST CLEANEST WASHING DISHWASHER YOU HAVE EVER OWNED STAINLESS crrci FRoaS, 698 INTERIOR OtILf LI BOB GILMOUR journal Staff Writer EDMONTON DATS drivers are upset negotiations with the city for their first union contract have dragged on for 16 months with little progress. They re also disturbed by a city move to contract cab companies to do any new trips added to DATS service and to do the work of any DATS driver who quits. "I think this is a deliberate attempt to undennine our new unit," said Amarjeet Sohi of Local 569 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which won both city employee and union status in 1998.

The 83 owner-drivers and 70 casual drivers of the Disabled Adult Transit System will hold a noon-hour information rally in front of City Hall Saturday. The DATS drivers are asking forpub-licsupport to obtain hourly pay and benefits and to stop the city's contracting out. "Is there any other employee of the city who works 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week, without any benefits, overtime or statutory holiday pay?" Sohi asked. "We only get what is required by law vacation pay. "We want to be treated like other city employees.

The city has an agreement with other unions to provide benefits. ALL FREE STANDING AND BUILT-INS TOP SIDE BOTTOM FREEZERS ALL SIZES UMOOSE FROM 5 TO 25 CU FT CHEST 'GlfT FIVE YEAR ENTIRE SYSTEM GUARANTEE INCLUDED FREE STANDING SLIDE IN CONVECTION REGULAR SELF CLEAN hotpoiistt BOIT0U FREEZER DELUXE GLASS SKE1VES ON SALE SELF CLEAN OVEN CONVECTIOH REGULAR $2198 PAIR PRICE BEST (3) (S) BUY. CQJCQ) STAINLESS INTERIORS WHISPER QUIET UNBEATABLE QUALITY mm BEST -T TOTAL fJODEL IM33 CLEARAFICE Edmonton WOMAN'S SHOW- Northlands AgriCom SATURDAY SUNDAY 9:00 am pm Regular admission I I before lpm Lm both days For more information 10:00 am pm please call 490-0125 422218 9Ss2 33 0 52? ISSl KSZ tight.