HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-12-13, Page 15PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2012.NH’s Campbell retires after three decades
Ralph Campbell recently retired
from his position as the head of
public works for North Huron
Township and with his departure, 31
years of experience in the area has
left.
Campbell, who lives in East
Wawanosh, originally got involved
with North Huron by being
employed by East Wawanosh, pre-
amalgamation.
“In 1971 and 1972 I began
working for East Wawanosh as a
snow plow operator,” he said. “I had
lots of fun years back then, plowing
snow. For 15 to 20 years there was alot of snow falling, not like it is
today.”
After being a snow plow operator
for several years, Campbell found
himself invited by Arnold Bruce to
supervise the building reinforcement
of the Belgrave Community Centre.
“It was a big job, and it was
finished in the spring of 1976,” he
said.
Not long after, in 1977, Campbell
became a councillor in East
Wawanosh and ran for two terms,
one in 1977 and one in 1979, during
which time he got to know the ins
and outs of the running of the
community.
“After that, the roadssuperintendent said I should take on
his position,” he said. “I interviewed
for it and was hired Jan. 1, 1981.”
From there, Campbell got another
taste of working the winter roads and
says that people may not know now
how tough it was back then.
“Winter was much worse then.
The equipment was smaller and it
took more time,” he said. “There
were even some times when we had
to call in bulldozers to clear the
roads.”
After working the roads for a few
years, one of Campbell’s first major
projects was presented: the
construction of the 10th Line Bridge.
“The township received fundingfor the project and it was completed
by McLean Taylor of St. Marys,” he
said. “It cost $1 million to build the
bridge.”
Not long after that, Campbell was
elected to the Board of Director for
the Association of Ontario Road
Superintendents and, after three
years, in 1990, he was elected
president of the association.
“That was a busy three or four
years for me,” he said. “I travelled
across the northern districts of
Ontario, promoting the association,
and our membership was growing
very quickly. I was quite involved in
the project.”
Afterwards, as past president ofthe association, he sat on the
Transportation Committee at the
Ontario Good Roads Association.
It wasn’t long before
amalgamation occurred in 2001
when Campbell moved from being
East Wawanosh’s road
superintendent to the rural roads
foreman for North Huron.
“I was also, at that time, asked to
become the drainage superintendent,
which I did,” he said.
Three years later, in 2004, Bob
Thompson retired as Public Works
Director. Campbell applied for the
job and got it that year and worked
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By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 16