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Preserving Phone Company Heritage
Number of Qwest Pioneers in Oregon:
OREGON'S TOTAL MEMBERSHIP: 5,316
ACTIVE EMPLOYEES: 1,545
RETIRED LIFE MEMBERS: 3,771
1998-99 VOLUNTEER HOURS DONATED FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS: 161,867
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Now the lush trees and ribbons of mist stand above the buzz of speeding
traffic.
In Canyonville, Oregon, twenty-five years ago on January 16, 1974, a tangle of
trucks, heavy equipment mud, timber, brick, wire and the bodies of nine utility
workers were shrouded in an eerie silence.
On that fateful day a quarter century ago, seven Pacific Northwest Bell workers
-- now the company is known as Qwest * and two employees of a pipeline
company were swept to their deaths in a freak landslide at Canyon Creek. On
January 16 of this year, nearly 200 people gathered to honor the workers and
the spirit of service and dedication to customers they represent.
This year's recognition event, which was organized by Oregon Pioneers John
Schuyler and Howie Long and sponsored by Qwest Pioneers of
Oregon, is the sum of many years their support of those ideals. They donated
and dedicated a memorial at the site approximately a year after the disaster
and have diligently maintained the memorial ever since. Pioneer Jim Haynes says,
"The Pioneers have not only taken on the task of preserving the memorial, but
of preserving the heritage of our company. It's just another way the Pioneers
present a nice community profile on top of the company's core business."
Jerry Potier, Mayor of Myrtle Creek, and Gloria McGinnis, Mayor of Canyonville
joined Larry Huss. Qwest Vice President for Oregon, past
executives of the company, former co-workers and relatives of the deceased,
local citizens and Qwest Pioneers to commemorate the 25th anniversary of
the disastrous landslide. The event received quite a bit of local media coverage
by local newspapers and the CBS and ABC television affiliates.
"Injury or death in the history of telecommunications workers is very unusual,
and the fact that people in this company have tended to spend entire careers
working together made the Canyonville disaster even more painful," Huss noted.
"That's why it is vital that we commemorate the event and again celebrate the
lives and careers of those who died that day."
The slide came late in the day as workers repaired a long-distance line linking
Medford and Sacramento. Calls between the cities had been knocked out earlier
by a smaller slide that tore out a buried cable.
Employees of the former PNB company who were killed are Gilbert Maret of
Wilbur, Robert Miller of Roseburg, William Centers of Medford, Robert Keller
of Lake Oswego, William Combs of Roseburg, Edward Waldron of Jackson and Roy
James of Roseburg. James was the eldest lost in the slide * a 33-year employee
with the company; Keller had the least time, 17 years. Ray Bell and Mark Garoutte Jr.,
employees of Sage Pipeline Company, on site to aid in the repair of the cable,
were also swept to their death by the slide.
This is just one of many projects that represent the spirit of Pioneering at
Qwest. If you'd like to find out about projects happening in
your community, contact your local Pioneer leader.
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