April Events Report
Honda Plant Trip
Outside The Honda Plant
Bob Funston, Steve O'Krafka, Cliff Bilyea, Jerry Ayres
Kelly's Kitchen - Alliston
Bill Miller, Dennis Heathers and Clair Knight
Thirty members (2 groups of 15 split between morning and afternoon) of the Sauble and Area Men’s Club enjoyed a super spring tour of the Honda Manufacturing Plant in Alliston on Tuesday, April 10th. To set the stage for our tour our host and tour guide, Lisa Cooper, gave a brief history of how it all began. Mr. Honda was concerned about his wife having to peddle her bicycle into town every day to shop for groceries and so thought of a way to help her by putting a small engine on her bike. From this simple beginning which was meant to improve her life things evolved into what is now a worldwide manufacturing company.
The complex in Alliston represents an investment of 2.6 billion dollars and is one of the premier manufacturing sites in the world. The Alliston plants produce the Honda Civic Sedan, SI and Coupe in plant #1 which we had the privilege to see today. We had an up close view of the robots operating with precision to weld the frame and body panels through to the final installation of glass and tires and all the components in between. This is one very smoothly orchestrated performance. The robots almost have a personality of their own.
Produced in Alliston at Plant #2 is the CR-V model and an engine plant producing 200,000 environmentally friendly aluminium engines per year to support both facilities and also for export.
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The 4000 associates working in the two plants produce 390,000 units annually which are sold in Canada and export markets.
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Honda Canada continues to earn awards for their quality vehicles and through its Honda Canada foundation and charities has touched the lives of 1.2 million people in Canada. Well done Honda!
Upon returning home from our tour Rick Schott, our coordinator for the day, wrote an email thanking Lisa, our tour guide, and received this email from her:
It was my pleasure Rick! Both groups were such a joy to show around. I think the afternoon group even had more questions than the first!! I hope everyone had a safe trip home and I hope to host your group again. Take care, Lisa
Between the morning and afternoon tours the group met at Kelly’s Kitchen in Alliston for a great meal and conversation.
Thanks to All the drivers for taking our members safely to and from Alliston. Cheers
Web Guy’s Note. In my opinion this trip was exceptional in every way and the finest tour we have experienced. It was certainly worth the time and effort to get to Alliston. Please note that Rick Schott wrote the above report and coordinated the outing. Our thanks are extended to him for all he did to make this a complete success.
April Dinner Meeting
Our dinner meeting on Tuesday, April 24th begin a social hour and then with business conducted by our President Alf Roth. Several members of the executive gave reports and/or spoke of upcoming events. All of these events may be viewed on our calendar or are conveniently listed on this webpage.
Prior to having our meal Rev. John Smith lead us in a moment of silence as we remembered all those who were involved in the tragedy which occurred on Yonge Street in Toronto. Following a blessing we enjoyed a meal of roast chicken with dressing and gravy, potatoes, carrots, and cole slaw tastefully prepared by our hosts, the members of the Hepworth/Shallow Lake Legion. This was followed by pie, coffee and tea. 88 hungry men enjoyed every last morsel.
Moving to a designated area for our presentation Ken Frook introduced Chuck Beaton who is a longtime and valued member of our club. Ken provided some interesting facts about Chuck of which most of us were not aware. Chuck then gave a wonderful description of life on the Great Lakes where his father, Horace Beaton, began his career as a 16 year old seeking work at the Owen Sound harbour. Through a long and very successful career Horace advanced to become one of the premier Captains employed by the Canada Steamship Lines. His stories are many and filled with excitement and sometimes horror and Chuck related them in his own dramatic style and with obvious emotion. It was a night we will remember for some time.
At the conclusion of his presentation Chuck was thanked by an old friend and club member, Bob Funston, a man who had worked closely with Chuck in refurbishing Chuck's beloved boat. It was a night well spent. Thank you, Chuck, for giving us insight into a remarkable life lived on the Great Lakes.
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