Recollections: Jeannine Guillevin Wood, President 1975-1976
December 11, 2019
The best memory I keep from CEDA is the way that they accepted me when I came into the business. The welcome they gave to me, all of them men. (In those days there were not many women in business.) This welcome I will always remember. CEDA has played a very important role in my success.
One year our conference was in Hamilton, Ontario. Mr. Caouillette, our speaker, got lost and instead of going to Hamilton went to Toronto. I think that that was the longest cocktail hour that CEDA ever had… waiting for him to arrive. Certainly that night the head table and everyone were in good spirits.
In my early days the conventions were smaller, fewer people, and so those who were in attendance became close friends. A particular (and good) memory of those days is Freda LeGallais playing the piano and all of us gathering round to sing and enjoy ourselves.
Another important benefit that I gained from CEDA was to meet and get together at the conferences with different people from so many provinces. For many of us, it was and still is the only opportunity to see our counterparts in other regions. This annual opportunity is very special to the ladies who attend the conferences with their husbands. The conferences also provide the opportunity to visit many parts of Canada that our normal travels would not take us to. I have fond memories of my visits to Newfoundland, British Columbia and many places in between, all visited at the time of a CEDAQ conference.
And finally, a compliment to Leo Bokofsky. In my opinion, he, during his term as President opened more new doors, set more new directions, looked at wider horizons for us all, with the result that the strong association that we have today owes much to the leadership that he provided for us then.
Source: CEDA: Fifty Years of Service – An Historical Review of the Canadian Electrical Distributors Association, 1934 to 1984, Kerrwil Publications. Please feel free to reach out to us any time if you have great photos, historical anecdotes or perspectives. We would love to hear from you; linegoyette@kerrwil.com.
