231 We married in 1979, had twin boys in 1981, and are still together today enjoying our sons and grandchildren along with the joy-filled memories of our years working in the company. I worked for Western States for a total of 26 years, and it was the best company I ever worked for. I worked for awesome, top-notch managers. Everyone, regardless of position, was good to me and my family. We had a lot of respect for one another. — Denise Wyckoff LONG TRIPS I think the shortest trip I ever took lasted two weeks. The longest trip was six weeks. I was sent to Hawaii to survey the industry, and visited every location, getting acquainted and surveying equipment. I had never been in a raw sugar factory before in my life. So I learned while on the job. After a promotion to general manager, I did the same thing in Australia. I drove from Brisbane north, visiting every sugar company at least once, and every pub at least once because the chap I was with formerly worked with the government water department, he knew every “watering hole” along the way. — Robert “Bob” Jones WSS IFFY While at Western States, I worked with Wes Flannery. Wes and I went through school and graduated together. In the 1980s, Hamilton had a festival called Ft. Hamilton Days. Each year the city of Hamilton had a raft race on the Great Miami River. Companies in the area would build boats and race to the finish line. The first year Western States built the "WSS Iffy." We named it that because it was “iffy” as to whether it would stay afloat during the race. As it turned out, it did stay afloat and we won first place both years. In addition to the WSS Iffy, the second year we also built another boat, "The Belle of Hamilton." The Belle had steam stacks, and it looked like a small river boat. We even had smoke bombs that we put in the smoke stacks for the smoke effect, and one of the smoke stacks actually caught fire. Donna Pugh worked in Engineering and was a very good seamstress. She made flags for the boats. Mike and I have those flags to this day and one of the first place plaques. Great memories! — Denise Wyckoff ONE FOR ALL, ALL FOR ONE There’s a sense of teamwork and collaboration between everyone here, regardless of your department or position. We work together to figure things out, respecting one another’s ideas. That’s always happened ever since I can remember. There's no separation between office and shop employees. They have always made me feel that I'm always welcome and important. — Eugene Radar GROWING UP AT WESTERN STATES I was hired in as a secretary at Western States at the very young age of 17 just out of high school (1953) and like many of us we literally “grew up” at Western States. Christmas was very special early on (50's and 60's), and we had lovely banquets at the Eaton Manor. For several years I brought in a portable record player and played Christmas music and our Sales Manager, Tony Stuhlreyer who had a wonderful voice, would sing along with the music. We had lots of good times sharing delicious food. I loved working at Western States. I handled a