The best thing Dave Janzen likes about his retirement is wearing running shoes all day instead of safety boots.
After nearly 33 years working for the Town of Oliver, he’s hanging up his vest and eying all those trout and salmon waiting to be caught at the end of a fishing pole.
While Janzen won’t miss the stress associated with being foreman of Public Works, he’s going to miss all the guys.
“Like any job, it had its ups and downs, but fortunately the ups outweighed the downs.”
Janzen was a carpenter supporting a young family when he sought a change of career in early 1982.
“I wanted more stability,” he said, referring to his accepting employment with the Southern Okanagan Lands Irrigation District, run by foreman Greg Norton.
Janzen will never forget the Tinhorn Creek flood of 1983. A bunch of debris ended up in the irrigation canal, which created a huge mess that employees had to clean up.
He recalled a backhoe operator who was looking for a culvert under the canel. At one point, the backhoe bucket came up with approximately 100 bull snakes, which creeped everyone out.
During another natural disaster, a rockslide took out an irrigation flume near Gallagher Lake.
“We worked a 24-hour shift to get the water back on,” Janzen said.
He worked for the irrigation district until 1990, when the Town of Oliver took over the operation. Janzen was in charge of building maintenance and later obtained certification as a water relief operator.
His favourite job with the Town was removing snow from area streets. He liked it because there was no traffic at 5 am and he was able to get lots of work done.
The winter of 1996 will always be ingrained in his mind because it was the heaviest snowfall he could remember.
“We were working every weekend, on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. The snow wouldn’t stop.”
Janzen became the Town’s foreman in 2007. He enjoyed seeing the accomplishments of his crew and taking on the challenge of various projects, such as the water-twinning and Hollow Street upgrades.
The one job he didn’t like was fielding complaints from the public. Who likes doing that?
Janzen said a lot of residents don’t fully understand the nature of Public Works and what’s involved. His pet peeve was seeing residents pushing snow from their driveways onto freshly plowed streets. This caused a safety hazard for motorists and pedestrians.
Janzen said one resident came into his office yelling and screaming because crews had not picked up the leftover sand from his lawn over the winter.
“He wanted me to drop everything and do it (right away). My answer was we’ll do a bunch at one time, but he walked out.”
Janzen joined the Oliver Fire Department in 1976 and served the community for 35 years, retiring as chief in 2010. He admitted that juggling both jobs was extremely challenging.
One of the most significant changes Janzen has seen over the years is technology. For example, the irrigation canal could only be operated manually in yesteryear, but now it’s all run by computers.
Besides the flood of 1983, the event that Janzen remembers most is the Testalinda mudslide in 2010. He made the initial 9-1-1 call and stopped traffic when he saw the wall of mud coming down the creek towards the highway. Watching the houses being wiped out was surreal for Janzen; it was like watching a disaster movie.
Although retired, Janzen is finding lots to do with his time, working for Big Blue Septic Service three times a week and helping a friend build a house.
He can’t wait to take advantage of his retirement gift from friends and co-workers – a salmon fishing trip to Campbell River. Woo-hoo!
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
