The Words of Joyce Tetachuk

-Wrote in 1989 to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary

Alex was born in Kentucky and came alone to Canada at the age of ten years. He worked as a farm hand for a few years, saved up his earnings and purchased a truck with which he began his general trucking business in Swalwell, AB.

He came to Cayley in 1929 to continue trucking basic goods relative to the agriculture industry. By 1934 this had expanded to include gasoline products. Hauling fifteen drums per load, Alex made a 400 mile round trip to Oilmont, Montana twice per week. Tuner Valley, AB did not yet have a refinery, raw Naphtha being the only fuel available from the Valley. While being suitable for 6 cylinder tractors, heavy duty distillates were needed for the 2 cylinder tractor and for motor fuel. For this reason Alex, for four years prior to 1937, was the local agent for Texaco.

Having found that he enjoyed the gas business he took over a service station in the old bank building on the corner of Hammond street and Railroad Avenue in Cayley, AB and acquired an agency from gas and oil products. Thus, in 1937 began his association with the company that has endured for fifty years.

The service station in town burned down in 1941 forcing Alex to set up temporary quarters until 1944 he built Alec’s Auto Service on what was then the No.2 Highway. Sporting marvelous bright neon 99 sign that could be seen for miles it proved to be a very busy place.  In 1953 gas and oil products sold to Anglo American but continued to use the 99 Logo.

In 1960 the highway was re-routed one mile east by-passing Cayley. This brought the tourist trade to a screeching halt. At the same time this had been a period of tremendous growth in the industry. Farmers had completed the transition from horse power to highly mechanized machinery and had converted from coals to a heating stove oil. These factors contributed to a seemingly insatiable demand for petroleum products so while the retail trade diminished the bulk business flourished.

Gas and oil products had built in a modern refinery called Mercury Plant at Hartell, AB. This facility was now equipped to supply all petroleum needs. The task of hauling the fuel to the mercury plant to the station and in turn to the farmers also went through a process of evolution. At this point in time all fuel was being delivered to the farms by the barrel. Alex had to constantly go around the country gathering empty barrels, bring them back to the station to be filled and returned to the farms.  These 45 gallon drums had to be loaded and unloaded by hand. In his prime, Alex was a powerful man and could handle these full barrels with ease. Never-the-less, it was not a very efficient method of distribution, one problem being he was never able to find enough empty drums to fill the orders. A procession of pick-up trucks were used for the job, the most memorable which was a Diamond T. Its most distinguishing feature had to be the color. It was the orangest thing on wheels and like the neon sign, could be seen for miles. It was a familiar sight on the road as Alex used it to haul a 400 gallon tank in the box to haul Ethyl and Miracle Bronze, the clear gasoline for the retail pumps from Mercury Plant.

The fifteen barrel routine gave way to an 800 gallon tank which hung suspended from a scaffold when not in use and was let down into the grain truck when needed. By means of a home made do-it-yourself, one-of-a-kind system utilizing a pulley rigged up to the power take off and attached to a pump, Alex was now able to fill thebarrels directly at the farm site. This was not state of the art but it worked and was a tremendous improvement on the roll out the barrel routine.

When farm storage tanks made their appearance farmers were quick to adopt to this improvement and barrels were no longer used to any extent. This meant that fuel would have to be delivered in bulk volume and metered off at the farm. The next step onward was the purchase of a Royal Canadian Air Force refueling truck left over from World War 2. Alex acquired this one in about 1950. It came complete not only with its tanks permanently mounted on the frame but it sported a meter. This was progress! The boys christened this vehicle “The Blossom.” For fifteen years and countless miles this old relic served as delivery truck. When the need for a larger tank arose Alec simply stuck another compartment on the back end.  In 1965 “Blossom” was replaced by a real built-for- the-purpose delivery truck. Affectionally referred to as the “Blister.” This one has been in service for 22 years and still is today.

Considering that both of these trucks were pre-owned and have been driven exclusively over the country roads—some good and some not so good, and conceding that they both had air conditioning long before General Motors ever thought of it these two farm delivery trucks have been almost as durable as Alex himself.

Meanwhile, the daily trips to Turner Valley, AB ended in 1953 when a tractor/trailer unit was purchased along with a 3,000 gallon tanker to haul duels in from the refinery to the station. This was later replaced by the 6,500 gallon trailer in use at the present time.

Alex has seen a parade of take overs of the parent company. What began as a small intimate privately owned company in the Valley became a part of Anglo American and was once again bought out by a larger company under the Royalite banner. Royalite in turn was taken over by Gulf and most recently by Petro Canada.

In keeping with the building up and the tearing down trend of the era Mercury plant, symbol of the Turner Valley, AB boom dismantled without ceremony. Since that time in the early 60’s all fuel was hauled from Calgary, AB. At first from the B.A plant which was included in the Gulf take-over and which also was closed down about 2 years ago. Texaco refinery in the S.E Calgary,AB is the present source.

Alex has seen the industry grow and develop from its nucleus to the present day status. Through out all of the years he has served both the company and his customers with honesty and integrity, It could be that is why he has lasted so long.