~The early May sun.shoné through the front window of Lars Widget’s home, Spring time
in the valley.seemied.a time'full of promise. But neither of the men in the sunny room, Lars .
or his son Jimmy, as‘mtich as they loved and understood Nature, really noticed. Instead, ; ~
Lars listened quietly as his son explained his dilemma with Widget Contracting. ©)
March 28, 1952. Jimmy Widget’s twentieth birthday. It was a difficult time...
<* Jimmy had been married almost two-years before, and that event had caused a little
* family strain, Jimmy’s older brother had died in a logging accident the summer before. .
His mother, as a result, was not well. Dying of a broken heart, his father had said. -
" Still, Jimmy’s twentieth birthday was a happy affair, much different than ©
that offered the average twenty-year-old. For that year, according to the family diary,
Lars gave his son a logging company. — 7 ; os ee
Well, “giving” his son a logging company is a bit of an exaggeration. Lars
didn’t really give Jimmy a company. In reality, all he did was sign the papers that .
made it possible for Jimmy to buy the equipment he needed to start his own company. .

Jimmy had simply taken advantage of the coincidence of dates and told «
everyone it was a birthday present. People in Terrace were appalled. “Spoiled |.”
brat,” they would say of the boy who had married at 18. “No wonder kids today °
aresoirresponsible” = =. | ee Be
But setting Jimmy up in business was a wise move by Lars, one.he ~~
and Jimmy had been discussing and planning for months. The big announce-
ment made by Alcan the year before heralded the birth of a new age. -
- More than economic growth, it was, according to Lars, the.
_. beginning of the greatest boom ever to be heard in the Kiti-
mat and Skeena valleys. er ne
And early in that “boom”, Jimmy Widget was. .
launched into the fray. With the backing of his father,
he was soon ready to take on almost any job. Logging
contracts from “stump to dump”, road building,.site .
clearing, even building a bridge or two... if they, ,
weren't too large. rn
Jimmy worked on clearing rights-of-way for _
the Kitimat highway and power line while Lars cut
ties and timbers for the CNR Kitimat spur. Both
men did well. Jimmy also helped clear the site for
the gravel pit in Kitimat that eventually provided
a firm base for everything from the port to the: |
plant to the homes. OT _
Following a few Alcan contracts,
Jimmy signed on with Ernie Sande and did
a little work for LH&K as well. Things went
well, business was great. Jimmy had fallers _
and skidders.in the Zymacord River valley,
and the trucks to haul the logs from the’ *
landingtothemill ~ ©. 8°

Abe poe