Los Banos Rotary Club History
Local Rotarians Talk Own Jobs

A somewhat different but interesting program was presented at the Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday by program chairman C. W. Bates, who asked five of the club members to talk for five minutes each on their own jobs – the work they do, their likes and dislikes.

First speaker was M. D. Wheat manager of the Los Banos district of the PG&E. Born in Missouri in 1893, Wheat came to California as a baseball player and after the season took a winter job with PG&E as a truck driver at $5 a day at Dinuba. By the spring he had decided to keep the job and play Sunday baseball with the Dinuba town team. He learned to climb power poles, took a turn at collecting, as service manager and as salesman, was assistant district manager and then came to Los Banos as manager. Most pleasant part of his work, he said, is the cooperation received from the people with whom he works, and the satisfaction of getting things done.
Manuel Calderon, local cleaning plant proprietor, born in 1892 at Tayma, Peru, took a somewhat different line of thought, with a brief resume of the cleaning business. Stating that the American public spend over a billion dollars a year on dry cleaning, Calderon explained that the preposes used in cleaning plants today are very technical, due to the great number of new fabrics, both natural and synthetic, with their different textures, weaves, dyes, finishes and decorative design which often prove a problem to the cleaner, and compels him to constantly keep abreast of new developments. Improved techniques enables the cleaning industry to do more and better work than ever before and keep prices down despite increasing wages, cost of equipment and cleaning materials. Requisites for a young man wishing to learn the trade, Calderon said, are exacting. He must be a willing worker, patient and understanding, have a great love for his fellow man and a great sense of duty and faith.

Wm. McCandless, local manager of the Coast Counties Gas and Electric Co., related he had been with the company for 10 years, mostly in the operations department. Happy with his position here, Bill said he most enjoys the process of construction and expansion of service, the opportunities to improve methods of operation, and public relations work. His pet peeve, he said, was the limitations on free time necessesitated by a comparatively small staff and the necessity of maintaining gas service 24 hours a day. Commenting on the opportunities in the business for young men, McCandless emphasized the general necessity for a high school education in business today, and emphasized that higher education is needed more today than ever before.

Joel Whitehurst, proprietor of the Whitehurst Funeral Chapel, said, he virtually grew up in his profession, taking over the business that his parents started here some 30 years ago. Describing his business as a specialized service agency, Joel said his personal like for the business comes from the opportunity it offers to help people in a time of personal sorrow and suffering, and make easier for them the ordeal of losing a loved one. Passing along a word of advice for young men who might be contemplating a career as mortician, Whitehurst emphasized that such persons should study the type of work and their personal qualifications before making a definite decision.
The fifth speaker was George Hutchins, local manager for the telephone company. A Missourian, born in 1917, Hutchins also settled in Dinuba, where as a boy he used to watch Mac Wheat play baseball. He went to work for the telephone company nine years ago as a coin collector; later advanced through a desk position in Fresno, then a collector, and came to Los Banos as manager two years ago. Briefly describing the company's activities here, Hutchins said the main task today is endeavoring to keep ahead of the growth of the community and that his toughest job is to tell potential customers that they cannot be accommodated. Hutchins praised the opportunities presented by the company to young men, and emphasized the advantages of a good educational background.

June 1, 1951

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