Can anyone tell me about this photograph?
Was there ever such a whale swimming near Everett?
The photograph with this column shows a whale’s tail in the bay in front of Kimberly Clark in Everett. The photo was given to Jerry Ballas, who spent 32 years at Scott Paper, then two years with Kimberly Clark.
Ballas lives in Rose Valley, Pa.
“I never worked in the Everett plant directly, but visited the plant on numerous occasions for a variety of projects,” Ballas said. “From 1993 through 1996, I was Vice President of Manufacturing for Scott Paper and after the merger for Kimberly Clark.”
The two years prior to the Scott and Kimberly Clark merger, and the year following the merger, was a very challenging time for the Everett plant, he said.
From 1993 to 1996, the plant carried out a major modernization of its converting facilities, built an energy boiler, restructured their product line as part of the merger while at the same time reduced the salaried workforce by 40 percent in addition to cuts in the hourly workforce. All this was done while sustaining an excellent safety, quality and production performance.
“I was involved in helping secure the needed capital as well as providing resources and support to carry out this work,” Ballas said. “Just prior to my retirement, I visited the plant.”
During that visit, the management team gave Ballas the whale photo. The photo is framed with an inscription below it that says: “One Moment In Time,” Presented To Jerry Ballas, Dec. 4, 1996.”
He said he has fond memories of his time in Everett and of the many great people that worked there.
“I was sad to hear that the plant was being sold. I also was thinking about the name of the pulp that was produced there. It was called ‘Soundview.’ This accurately described the plant’s location just as the photo does. Hopefully the new owners will be successful and the plant can get back to full operation in the near future.”
I would love to know about the photograph. If you have any background, please call me at 425-339-3451.
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We mentioned youngsters last week who turned 11 on 11-11-11. Marietta Gray of Snohomish let me know she turned 83 on 11-11-11, and 8 plus 3 is 11.
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With November voting concluded, I learned about a change in Everett — Everett, Mass.
And I learned a new word — bicameral.
The East Coast city voted to eliminate its bicameral city council.
According to news reports, Everett, Mass., has a 25-member council made up of a seven-member board of aldermen and an 18-member common council.
Residents voted to replace the two-tiered system with a single-branch 11-member city council. Proponents said the bicameral form of government is too cumbersome and a streamlined council would be more accountable.
They said the Massachusetts city, with a population of about 42,000, was the only bicameral form of government in the United States.
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A 12-year-old female African lion made the news last week at Woodland Park Zoo after she was captured. The lion escaped from a sleeping den into the service area in the felines building.
I liked that the photo of the lion was taken by zoo photographer Ryan Hawk.
Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451; oharrarn@heraldnet.com.
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