with purchasing deep in the

by K. Gebbie

Decisions! Decisions! A decision of the
year 1973 maybe - What Capilano
College needs now is a_ Purchasing
Department! The criteria on which this
decision was based no doubt lies hidden
in the secret annals of the College
Archives, but with the arrival of the New
Year in 1974 the idea became a reality.
At the same time Dave Brewer arrived
on the scene to fill the new role of
Purchasing Agent for Capilano College.
For good luck he brought with him a
survival kit packed with vim, vigor,
vitality, | enthusiasm, determination,
patience and a good sense of humour. As
time went on he persistently cherished
the motto "We shall overcome", and
proceeded cautiously to establish the
Purchasing Department per se.

The then existing Accounting
Department located in the Bursar's
Office on Premier Street was obliged to
squeeze over and make room for the new
Operation Purchasing. They shared this
cozy arrangement for some months until
Harbour House was made ready for this
new hive of industry about to join forces
with Printing and Central Stores
Receiving. At last - a home of its own
(not midst palaces and other places of
grandeur described in song) but deep in
the heart of dust, noise, trucks and Bio
bread. Still it was home and it wasn't all
that bad. There were windows, sunshine;
a stairway to the Mezzanine floor;
orphaned kittens to be fed in coffee
breaks and sometimes curled up "Miss
Mews" asleep in your "In" basket; dogs
too excited to make it to the washroom
on time; wondering wanderers seeking
the bread of life from Bio; and exuberant
children greeting Mommy - you name it.

heart of dust...

In spite of all this the Purchasing
Department thrived and was well fed on
stacks of Purchasing Requisitions and big
fat Purchase Orders. Patience and
courage, strength and vigor waxed and
waned, but there were odd moments of
spontaneous laughter. How do you fill a
requisition for Vanilla envelopes when
you only have Manilla? How come we're
ordering 1 Frog, 1 Spider, 1 Grasshoper
and 1 each of all their country cousins -
and from Uncle Sam to boot? What
happened to the "Buy in B.C." slogan?
(How did we know they were 'slides'.)
And then there's the Requisitions for 100
2's of No. A123's from ? to be delivered
tomorrow. Interesting challenges!

To cut a long ‘growing pains' story short,
the Purchasing Department has now
become the Department of Supplies and
Services with Headquarters on the
ground floor of the sophisticated "A"
Tower on Campus; has grown to employ a
staff of 7 including Central Stores
Receiving and the Minister of Transport
(Courier Service), and is engaged in
spending money like crazy. Out beyond
the blue and building "B" stands our
efficient and speedy Printing
Department with a staff of 2 and 1 on
the way (See Comp. 78268C). The
Bookstore, another branch of the
Department of Supplies & Services, is
planning to relate its own unique history.

The motto "We shall overcome" hangs in
the dark corridors of time past and is
whispered only on oceasion. Purchasing,
Supplies & Services, is alive and well. So
in 1978, on its 10th Anniversary, what
the College needs now is money, and
more money, and all our best wishes for
a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY. t=

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