HILLCREST LUMBER COMPANY LTD.
EMPLOYEES REUNION NEWSLETTER - THE LAST WHISTLE
JACK MILLAR
Jack Millar standing on the log carriage with the last log that was sawn in the big mill at Hillcrest Lumber Company in 1968
Jack Millar Dad was born in Cumberland, B.C. in 1911, where his father was a coal miner. The family followed the coal mines to the B.C. interior (Merritt), back to Scotland duringthe war, returning to Merritt in 1920 and finally to Ladysmith in 1927. He worked in thecoal mines in Merritt and Ladysmith until the mines closed in 1930. Unemployed duringthe early years of the Depression he finally gained employment with Hillcrest in 1935 or 1936. He liked working above-ground better than below-ground and decided to learn everything he could about the sawmill industry. He was always devoted to self-improvement and had already studied taxidermy (no specimens survive) and music (trumpet) in his youth. He played the Last Post at the November 11 ceremonies in Duncan for many years.
Once employed at the mill his first self-improvement was to obtain a bus driving license, probably before he even owned a car of his own. He drove a work-bus for Hillcrest, from Duncan to Sahtlam and later to the new mill at Mesachie Lake, for several years. He married our mother, Lillian Steven of Victoria, in 1938 and they decided to relocate to Mesachie Lake in 1946. He gave up his work-bus driving at that time. There is no record of where he worked in the mill in the early years (only Trimmerman in 1942) but it must have been many jobs and he undoubtedly learned everything he could about the operation. Once relocated to Mesachie Lake, Dad obtained his PLIB inspection certification, which he didn’t use because he was promoted to management as Yard and Shipping Foreman after that, a position he held until Hillcrest closed.
As part of his self-improvement, he studied house construction, bought an available lot on Forestry road, dug a partial basement for a wood furnace to provide heating, and built the house we lived in himself. We moved into it in 1952. Rising through the ranks in the local Masonic Lodge, he took a course in Public Speaking to improve his presentations. When I asked if we could buy a boat so I could fish out on Bear Lake instead of from the float, he studied boat building and built one in our garage over the winter. When Hillcrest closed in 1968 he stayed to the end, watching the last log being cut. He then renewed his PLIB certification and relocated to Port Alberni where he worked as a lumber inspector until his retired in 1977.
After Hillcrest closed, he kept in close contact with many former work-mates, especially Jack Irving (Mill Superintendant), Roy Jack (Maintenance), Hugh Robertson (Sawyer), Dick Rosendale (Machinist), Gordon Orr (Construction), and Gerry Griffin (Planer Mill Foreman). Marilyn (Millar) Hudson
A really young Jack Millar with his dog taken on their front porch in Duncan. It was 1942 and his hunting dog was named Rover. He was always an avid hunter and fisherman and Rover was his bird dog. Jack Jr. was born later that year, and listed on Jack Jr. birth certificate was his fathers occupation as trimmerman at the old Sahtlam mill.
JACK MILLAR JR.
Jack Millar Jr. with sis Marilyn Hudson taken at the 2008 Hillcrest reunion
Mike Yip and Jack Millar at the 2008 reunion. Jack is holding Mike Yip's wonderful book "VANCOUVER ISLAND BIRDS". Mike graciously donated his book for a prize at the reunion.
To learn more about Mike Yip and his wonderful book on Vancouver Island Birds, please click on his name to the left.
I worked part-time in the mill during my High School years and during some summers during my time at university. Dad being in management, I had advantages in that he told me about opportunities at the mill, but nothing was ever guaranteed. For every job opportunity I had to track down Jack Irving wherever he was in the mill and apply for a job. I knew him well as a friendly fellow because he often visited our house, but whenI asked him for a job he was all business, which is why he was the Mill Superintendant.Every time I applied for a job he would look me over sternly, perhaps considering whether or not I was capable of doing anything useful, and then tell me he would let meknow. Sometimes I got a job and sometimes not. There was very little part-time work in1961 and none in 1962, but I had summer jobs at the mill in 1963, 1964, and 1965.
My first job at the mill was in High School, Saturdays on cleanup, sweeping sawdust and blowing dust off the rafters in preparation for the Monday shift. I already had a job as part-time clerk for Don Berry at 50 cents per hour (about $4.00 per hour today), as didmany other kids in the community. When Don found out I had a job at the mill he fired me on the spot, on the grounds that another kid needed my job in his store more than Idid. True. My job at the mill paid better than $2.00 per hour (more than $16.00 per hourtoday, well above minimum wage now) so I wasn’t upset about being fired. My work-mate was Jaginder Singh and we spent our Saturdays together in clouds of dust. My summer jobs 1963-1965 involved yard work, stacking lumber, slinging crane cables on the timber deck, strapping loads for the dip-tank, and spark-chasing behind the locomotive during dry weather.
But one day I got an opportunity that I didn’t have to apply for. A carrier driver had seriously injured his hand and they had no driver for the next-day shift. When Dad got home from work Dad asked me if I was interested. Thinking it might be fun, I said yes. He told me to go to the yard after dinner and learn how to drive one. It wasn’t as easy as I though. It was all manual, 4 speeds forward and 4 backward, front and back wheel steering, and changing gears required double-clutching. In the first hour I though I would grind out the transmission! By the end of the evening I had the technical parts sorted out, but the art of driving a lumber carrier was another steep learning curve. The first day in the job, more than one fellow on the green chain yelled at me in a language I didn’t understand for knocking a load off kilter, but I sure understood what was being said! And nobody told me where to take the loads, assuming I should know, so I just put them in empty spots.
On my second day, Jack Irving spotted me putting a load of hemlock in a row of fir. To put it mildly, he was very, very, very disappointed in my performance. I spent that evening, on my own time, fixing the mess I had created. I finally mastered the art of carrier driving, but soon after that they found a real replacement for the injured driver and I was sent back to the yard. My career as a carrier driver was over, except for some night shifts.
MARILYN HUDSON ( MILLAR)
DOUG HUDSON:
Marilyn (Millar) Hudson worked in the local store when Mr Berry Sr. ran the store, starting out at 35 cents/hour and ended up working under his son, Don, and eventually moving up to 50 cents/hour.
I do remember saving up enough money to spend $25 on a sweater, and relating it to today’s money, that was way beyond my means, but being young that didn’t matter.
During the summer of 1957, when I finished high school, I worked in the Hillcrest office, earning money to go on to Business School in the fall of that year. We were very fortunate to gain valuable experience before moving on, as most of us did.
We were living in Port Hardy where the only means of transportation in or out was by ship or plane and my father-in-law, Jack Millar, knew we’d like to move on so when a position became available in the time office, he suggested I apply. We moved to Duncan and I enjoyed my employment from 1965 to when the mill closed in 1968. We were picked up at our homes each morning by a company car and I’d spend the day with Murray Cocks in the time office, then we were delivered back home in good time for dinner.
PETE HAWRYLUK:
Pete Hawryluk was Jack Millar's brother-inlaw. Pete worked at the mill in the early 1960s until Hillcrest closed in 1968, after which he was manager of the Legion until he retired. We can’t recall were he worked in the mill. He is best remembered for his passion for baseball. A good player himself, he was recruited by a farm team for the New York Yankees in 1939 but served oversees instead. He coached the Legion Little League team for many years, and was totally focused on baseball during the World Series.
TOM MILLER:
Tom Miller was Jack Millar's youngest brother Tom (spelling error on his birth registration) was a Faller in the woods for many years. He may or may not have actually worked for Hillcrest in the late 1960s. Nobody can recall for sure, but he bought Peter Stone’s house at Mesachie Lake in 1968, raised his family there, and Mesachie Lake was his base of operations for the duration of his career as a Faller. Tom is best remembered for his tall tales about his hunting and fishing exploits.