2018 RETA Breeze Jan-Feb.indd

RETAHistory: 1919 Convention through the 1920 Operations

Then, as now, the RETA year begins with Conference. As in almost all of the years of RETA/ NAPRAE, 1920 was an interesting year. The organization was continuing to grow. 7 Chapters were in operation. Most were in the central region of the country. Chapters: Oklahoma Chapter #1, was meeting two nights per month on 1st street in Oklahoma City. Theodor Oderman served as Chapter President while A.R. Mitchell served as Vice President. O.K. Corken served as both Chapter Secretary and Treasurer. This was somewhat common in the early days of the organization. Della Hallmark had the role of Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. Della was from the large Hallmark Family of Oklahoma. M.A. Parsons was the Sergeant at Arms. The Kansas City Chapter, having been formed in 1919, was also active. Though meeting only one night per month, F.E. McDowell was serving a term as President. John Hanson served as Vice- President while B.J. Schmidt was serving as both Secretary and Treasurer. T.H. Hays was the Sergeant at Arms. Shreveport was the home of Louisiana Chapter #1. W.H. Phelps served as President while D.S. Brown assisted as Vice President. It is worth noting that this D.S. Brown is not David Brown. They are sometimes confused by historians. The by Vern Sanderson RAI, CIRO, Level A 2018 RETA National Treasurer Wagner-Meinert LLC

as Vice President, W.F. Roberson as Secretary Treasurer and J.E. Lawrence as Corresponding Secretary. Interestingly there was no Sergeant at Arms. Records from the Chicago Chapter are somewhat confusing. All officers were listed as “temporary”. Carl E. Loker as President, H.T. Whyte as Vice-President, Edward H. Fox served as Secretary Treasurer and Chas Nelson was the Sergeant at Arms. Committees & Boards: Then as now one of the strongest Boards (committees) was the “Educational and Examining Board”. J.E. Porter was Chairman of the Committee and while H.T. Whyte, and F.H. Ladd helped set the organizational standard for education and certification. The Publicity Committee was charged with getting the word out and expanding the organization. The Committee was an all-star cast. Members included WilliamMcCandlish, P.R. Cooper, and Martin Boyle who worked for Marris and Company. Charles Chapman of the Detroit Cold Storage Company also served on the Committee. The Detroit Cold Storage Company was an instrumental player in the storage of goods shipped through the great lakes. The Chairman of the Publicity Committee was non-other than Edward Fox, the Editor of Ice and Refrigeration Illustration, a publication of Nickerson and Collins. At this point it is probably worth noting the difference in governance between

famous David Brown worked from the Detroit, Michigan area. It is not known if they were related. The Secretary/ Treasurer was R.H. Bridges and C.E. Freeman was the Sergeant at Arms. The Atlanta Chapter was meeting monthly. A.I. Drake was serving as President, C.T. Baker served as Vice President, J.W. Yopp served as Secretary Treasurer, and B.F. Ritter was Sergeant at Arms. The Memphis Chapter met twice per month on Tuesday nights. William Fitzgerald was the serving President, Chas. Stanton was Vice President, David R. Williams was Secretary Treasurer and Peter Anderson was Sergeant at Arms. Texas Chapter #1, Dallas met twice per month and on Friday Nights. E.B. Wright served as Chapter President, H.C. Yates Norman Register “Father” of the National Association Practical Refrigerating Engineers

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