Sharing my Experiences.
During the winter of 1968 my friend and neighbor, Ron Barnett, asked me if I would like to work on a seismic crew. I discussed it with my parents and they suggested it would be a fantastic experience. After Christmas, I drove with Ron to Hanna, Alberta to begin my career with Velocity Surveys, a Seismic company from Calgary. We spent a couple weeks living in the old Seymour Hotel and working south of Youngstown, near Big Stone, after that, we moved to a camp job south of Grande Prairie on the Kakwaw River. We spent the winter there and at breakup moved all the trucks and drills back to Calgary.
The following winter I went back and had the opportunity to work on the survey crew, eventually ending up behind an instrument, working with two great guys, Bill Pajak and Brian McBride. When spring came, instead of shutting down, we all boarded a plane and ended up in the Arctic on Prince Patrick Island at a place called Satellite Bay. When I stepped off that airplane, it was -60 F and very windy. I asked myself, what on earth possessed you to do this? Well, long story short we stayed there from April 1 until July 1 and I got to experience 24 hours a day daylight and had the opportunity to work with some great people, who became lifelong friends. When I got home I helped on the farm then back to a crew doing Gravity Exploration near Caroline. My younger brother Brian joined me on this crew and that is where he began his career as a surveyor. He too has had some fantastic adventures throughout BC., Ab., NWT and now in Saskatchewan with Stantec.
All in all the many different experiences I had during my time on seismic crews prepared me for the rest of my life, preparing me for life's experiences and allowing me the ability to be able to work with confidence in myself.