Published: October 16, 2009 10:04 pm      

DAY: A look at history

I want to talk about the place where my dad and I both worked. It was called Continental Steel, and it truly was the backbone of this city of Kokomo.

It was a place where it was cold in some places and very hot in others. There were departments that you worked in where you could freeze on your back and burn up on your front. The people that worked there were a group of people from the North and South, East and West. Many of the old-timers came over from Ohio, Virginia and many countries around the world.

I remember one man who came to work there. He didn’t use gloves. He said he had always worked that way and his hands were very strong. He was Frank Martino, and he was a special person to work with. He later opened up his own eatery and did very well there.

Another man I knew was one just about everyone called “Dink”. He was a motor inspector, and many times his work took him to the overhead cranes, light towers and locomotive cranes. Many times he worked without gloves because they got in his way. He was a man who showed up early and was about the last one out at quitting time. He was a man who did not say much, but if he did, it was important enough to be heard by others.

That man was my dad and, later on, I started being known as “Little Dink”. That was a great compliment to me, as well as my dad.

People in the employment department named Roy, Herb, Bill and John, as well as Alice, were very good at what they did and they were respected by all who worked there. If you couldn’t get along with them, you couldn’t get along with anyone.

Warren, Scotty, Glascoe, Richard, in the stockyards, did their jobs well and were likable friends to have. Howard, Paul, Bill, France, Mike and Everett, in the melt shop, held their ends up at all times, and Continental was blessed to have them. Back in the yardmaster department, we had Kenny, Ed, Jack, Luther, Gerald and many others who through their jobs kept the mill going.

People in all departments did their jobs, whether they were union or supervisors. Up until the ’70s, that place was a family bonded together, putting out the best product possible. Our chain-link fence was the best on the market, and you could tell if it came from our plant just by tapping it with a metal piece and hear the ring sound. Our roofing and culvert stock was sold all over, and our nails were superior to all others. Our welded fab was sold for road projects all over, and you knew you had a quality product when it was made at Continental Steel.

What a great and wonderful group of workers and supervisors this company had. And add in the protection department and the medical department, and you had a dependable place to work.

It didn’t matter how cold or how hot it was, because you dressed for the type of work you did. Many times you wore several layers to keep warm and you did the same to keep cool. Extra clothes kept the cold out and the heat in. So for many years that place was on the up and up and a good place to feed your family.

That is until we were blindsided by a group that bought enough shares to take it over. Then after about five years, you could see the difference in the way men were treated both in union and in supervision. It seemed like no matter what you did, it was not enough. And if you knew something, you kept it to yourself or you would be given the door. It soon was not a great place, but you had to have a job.

On Oct. 20, we will have “The History of Continental Steel” at the Continental Ballroom, and I hope you can come see it. We are part of the history of Continental.

• Ray “Uncle Ray” Day is a weekly contributor to the Kokomo Tribune. Contact him at uncleray@earthlink.net

or 765-457-3819.