Doctoring in Saudi Arabia 24 Barnstorming for Company and King 32 Arabian Son's Tales Ring ...

44 Pages·2014·29.95 MB·English

PLEASANT DAYS FALL 2014 THE MAGAZINE FTOHRE SMAAUGDAI ZAIRNAEM FCOOR RREETTIRIREEEDS WAROARMLDCWOINDSE THE MAGAZINE FOR RETIRED ARAMCONS
Asheville
CELEBRATION
0
1
INSIDE
Doctoring in Saudi Arabia 24
Barnstorming for Company and King 32
Arabian Son’s Tales Ring True 37
Sixtos Bloom in British Columbia 38
MORE REUNION NEWS
Europe 21, Saudi Arabia 23
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C O N T E N T S
DEPARTMENTS 2 MAIL CENTER 4 MOSAIC 40 IN MEMORIAM
1100 21

AAsshheevviillllee Euro Gatherings
Celebration Get Great Reviews
Around 350 retirees and UKAramcons and AOC’ers past and
family members turned present reunited in York in North
out in September to Yorkshire, England, and Voorschoten,
celebrate at a hotel with the Netherlands, in September and
a history nestled in the May. Among the 100-plus attendees
tree-bedecked Blue Ridge in York (top) were Ann Wingrove,
Mountains in Asheville, N.C. right, and Margo Rochefort. In
Jane Ray, left, poses on Holland, 160 guests turned out,
the balcony with Ted and including Patricia Cromberge,
Anne Seymour. Ted joined flanked by Gerry Kortekaas, right,
the company as Aramco and Robert van der Putten.
Schools media director in
1971, and Anne and Jane
taught in Dhahran. E
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Barnstorming for t3h2e OTTOM RIGHRK; BOTTOM
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Company...and the King OP LEFT AND T: ARTHUR CL
Twenty-one-year-old Bob Morgan was looking for adventure when TE (TM LEF
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he signed on with TWA to fly for Aramco in 1946, and that’s what PPOOTT
OB
he got. Here, the
aviator looks over a
model of the king’s
DC-3—known as
SA-R-1 (Saudi Arabian
2244
Royal 1)—in the
Hickory Aviation
Doctoring in Saudi Arabia Museum, not far from
his home in Granite
In 1959, Dr. Armand Gelpi joined Aramco’s Medical Dept. Falls, N.C. That plane
to “deal with diseases most often seen in the tropics, was just one of the
but in a setting that allowed access to the most modern royal and civilian
diagnostic and therapeutic facilities.” His family joined aircraft that he flew
him not long after that for what he calls “the best years during his story-filled
of our lives.” years in the kingdom.
Cover: “Play’s the Thing”: Dhahran Theatre Group members stage an
impromptu performance in honor of the 29th Annuitants Reunion on the
steps of the reunion venue in Asheville, N.C.
Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO PRESIDENT Nabeel Amudi
“ Pleasant Days,” is produced for annuitants, The Editor, Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah DIRECTOR, PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT Alma Kombargi
families and friends of Aramco, now Saudi Aramco Services Company and Aramco EDITOR Arthur Clark
Aramco, and its associated companies Overseas Company, P.O. Box 2106
by Aramco Services Company. Houston, TX 77252-2106 DESIGN Graphic Engine Design

FALL 2014. ISSN-1319-1512 [email protected]
71255araD2R1.indd 1 10/8/14 2:45 PM
23
Excitement
Rising for 2015
In-Kingdom
Reunion
“The word is out” about the Third Annuitants Reunion in Saudi
Arabia, set for March 9-18 next year, says Reunion Committee
Chairman Ali Baluchi. “We are starting to see lots of excitement as
people here think about their friends who left, returning.” For a taste
of what’s being planned, read on….
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OTTOM RIGH RIGHRK; BOTTOM BOTTOM Arabian Son's Tales Ring Tr3u7e
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SITE (TOP LEFT AND OM LEFT: ARTHUR CL Tihmai s m Blieafemrg aoesrr y ah a aymso uao nnkggns aAtcerkra mgforcoro wt eoinlflfigns pgur pisn tiognr. iDeBshu.at T hhhreae nslee, a wtvaeillenl sst,i c tmhkleae i pnmalyag neoysf
OT
PPOT with some “grown-up” stories, too, which make it an all-the-
OB
more-valuable read.
38
Sixtos Bloom in
British Columbia
Patrick and Lee Sixto put down roots in more ways than
one when they moved to their new home in a suburb of
Victoria, Canada, after a 13-year stay in Saudi Arabia.
Patrick cultivates prizewinning vegetables, while Lee conjures
up brilliant blossoms—and they both share berries with their
grandson, Jayden, who’s six.
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M A I L C E N T E R
Cyclists Mark Nice to See
Golden Anniversary ‘Homeboys’ Do Well
April 29, 2014 May 9, 2014
On May 12, Johanna and I are married Congratulations on another outstand-
50 years. WOW! We will celebrate this ing issue—every article was of interest
in Ocean City, N.J., with the kids and to me, especially the one on Indiana
I think the story [“King of the Road” Orr. I did not know for years that Terry
in the Spring 2014 issue] is a beautiful Orr had settled in central Texas, and
handout to the kids. never have been in touch with him
The bike story has been very well AAddrriiaannuuss VVeerrhhooeevveenn iiss flflaannkkeedd on hhiiss since he left Arabia, but it’s nice to see
received and I got lots of nice com- right by 1968 Tour de France winner one of the homeboys do as well as he
ments on it. Jan Jansen at the opening of a cycling has and is still doing....
In my hometown of Ulvenhout, the exhibition at the Paulus van The only pages I read with reluctance
Netherlands, there is a great “show” Daesdonck Museum in Ulvenhout. are the In Memoriams—so many of our
of old cyclists (the good oldie days), era moving on.
opened by 1968 Tour de France winner Mary Norton
Aramcons Filled
Mr. Jan Jansen. [email protected]
Adrianus Verhoeven Out ‘51 ACS
[email protected]
Football Team
May 5, 2014
I just received my copy of the Spring
Terry Orr poses
issue and saw the famous ACS
with his school
football picture…. It is probably the
bag at the
only time ACS had a football team, University of
although we never played against Texas, where he
anyone! There was no competition in started classes
Beirut at the time. for his third
If it wasn’t for the school’s Board- degree in 2013.
ing Department, there wouldn’t be a
team, as the BD made up the majority
of “players.” Book Note ‘Thanks’
Your article mentioned that myself
May 12, 2014
Adrianus and Johanna Verhoeven, and Jim Mandaville were two Aramco
My wife Aleksandra and I wish to
married 50 years in May, paused for a kids. However, the majority of those
express our sincere appreciation and
photo on a bike ride near Ulvenhout, down-line men were from Aramco:
Holland, this spring. thanks for the article about her book
Monroe Pastermack, Bennie Braun,
Ingrid Bergman and Her American
Jerry Smith, Alan McFadden, Harry
Relatives in the latest issue….
Bolton, Rich Howard and Jon Walker.
Remarkable Remark Many nice things were said about
I also read about the interest in
Aleksandra, about Ingrid Bergman and
May 5, 2014 sending Aramco Aviation pictures. In
about me. We are grateful to you that
I received the Spring 2014 issue of those days, Aramco would send three
the article appeared in Aramco’s very
Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah and found the planes to take the Aramco kids back
fine periodical that is always a pleasure
place where I was quoted regarding the to ACS each year. The first plane was
to receive and to read.
Saudi Aramco reunion in 2009. [“The all boys, the second one was all girls
Norman Boehm
changes we saw, especially in compari- and the third one was for anyone who
[email protected]
son with the 1970s, were tremendous. couldn’t get on the first two.
It was wonderful back then and it is The pilots called to these trips the
wonderful now.”] “Monster Run,” particularly the first Exploring Peru
Thanks for sending it! one with all fellows. It got quite messy
May 20, 2012
I really enjoyed reading about other at times and loud! Box lunches that
I am an Aramco retiree and…seek your
former Saudi Aramco employees, weren’t eaten were sometimes thrown
help in making contact with Ken and
many of whom I knew from my time around the plane.
Ruth Wright who are mentioned in the
in Saudi Arabia. Doug Brice
brief write-up “Wrights Explore Inca Wa-
Thomas Anderson [email protected]
ter Temple” in the Spring 2014 issue.
[email protected]

2 FALL 2014 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
71255araD3R1.indd 1 10/3/14 9:37 PM
M A I L C E N T E R
I too visited Ollantaytambo, Peru, Dutch Knight Shares It is also a very nice feeling to think
two years ago and I was fascinated that everyone recognizes the worth
Hofuf Art
enough to return to it during the same and importance of their work and
stay to take ppiiccttuurreess.. What drew me ability to make Aramco great! Won-
JJuullyy 1166,, 22001144
back was an [[II am] sending a derful people in a wonderful company!
item that ppiiccttuurree of a recent I am sending a photo of my children
seems sort ppaaiinnttiinngg I made Eugenia and Victoria, who celebrated
of impos- sshhoowwiinngg the their 18th-birthday debut in Duma-
sible based ooaassiiss of al-Hasa guete, Negros Oriental, the Philip-
on what the iinn Saudi Arabia, pines, on Aug. 29.
conventional wwhhiicchh I visited Victoria Stanisauskis
wisdom and wwhheenn I used to 308 Dalehurst Dr.
most evidence work for AOC in Henderson, NV 89074
seems to say The Hague.
about the An article Bill Rich Celebrates
technology about the larg-
of the people est bulb-flower 90 Years
Hofuf Camel Market
who build panorama paint-
September 22, 2014
many of the architectural structures ing of the world
throughout that region of the world. appeared in the Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah
In fact, I was so fascinated about issue of Spring 2006.
what I found that I never managed to I completed this panorama of 252
explore the water works themselves. square meters (2,713 sq. ft.) in 2008
The second visit, again with limited and was invested as a knight in the
time, I took pictures of the temple/altar Order of Oranje-Nassau by Her Majesty
area. There is a large…stone that had the Queen of the Netherlands.
one face partially finished, perfectly For more details see my website:
flat, with a knife-thin kerf into the www.vandenendepanorama.com.
remaining material. According to what
Leo van den Ende
we learn from Peruvian history, the
[email protected]
Aimara, Ketchua or Incas did not have NOTE: Leo van den Ende worked for
the tools and materials to saw stone AOC from 1972-1987, and traveled to Bill Rich celebrates 90 years
with blades as thin as it must have Dhahran four or five times to develop with his daughter Lisa.
been to start cutting that stone at the computer programs for the Purchas- I am forwarding this, in case the an-
top of the Ollantaytambo site. ing Store Stock Dept. He visited Hofuf nuitants magazine would like to men-
Peter W. Guenther once and stopped by the camel market tion “Happy Birthday” to my father,
16023 Park Center Dr. shown in his painting. “Since I’m 75 Bill Rich. He turned 90 on Sept. 17. He
Houston, TX 77059-4057 years of age now, I made it out of retired from Aramco in the 1980s as a
nostalgia,” he said. senior projects engineer…and he now
Enjoying the resides in Bastrop, Texas, near me.
By the way, Mr. Terry Orr, former
Twins Debut in
Magazines
mayor of Bastrop, attended Dad’s
the Philippines birthday party. We enjoyed your article
July 24, 2014
on Mr. Orr…whom we see in church
I continue to enjoy each issue of the
August 30, 2014
every week….
“Pleasant Days” and Aramco World, My children and I are always happy to
I forgot to mention I have a Petro-
and share them both with others here receive a copy of Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah.
leum Engineering degree, too. Grow-
who have never experienced the trav- It is a beautiful
ing up in Aramco definitely impacted
els and experiences that I and all the magazine to
my life, too.
other Brats have. treasure for it
Thank you for publishing these contains so many Lisa Hunter (DH’73)
great magazines; their value is different and in- [email protected]
truly inestimable. teresting stories
John N. Prante about the events
Box 999N36343 of the past and
Pinckneyville, IL 62274 the present. It Victoria and Eugenia Stanisauskis
is indeed an (left and right), are the twin
Aramco family daughters of the late Eugene
magazine. Stanisauskis and his wife Victoria.
3
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M O S A I C
SI Cover Girl ‘Incredible,’ Says AB’76 Grad
Rick Winward was no doubt disappoint- terms of her on-field
ed in July when the Arabian American performance, but her
Little League All-Stars lost in regional play in on- and off-field atti-
the Philippines, missing a trip to the World tude and demeanor,
Series in Williamsport, Pa. But any sadness too,” says Winward,
on the part of the 1976 Abqaiq School Taney Youth Baseball Rick Winward,
graduate was assuaged when the Philadel- Assn. (TYBA) vice Taney Youth
phia team with which he’s associated made president. Baseball Assn.
vice president,
it to the World Series—andSports Illustrat- “Being on the
is surrounded
ed featured its phenomenal pitcher, Mo’Ne cover ofSports Illus-
by players
Davis, on its Aug. 25 cover. tratedwas incredible. during a game
Davis, 13, of the Taney Little League I expect we’ll see her in Philadelphia.
Dragons made headlines when she notched on a Wheaties box,
a shutout win in Williamsport—the first girl and I’ve seen multiple inquiries about film since 2002 and became the vice president
to do so in series rights, too.” and a member of the Little League execu-
play. The Drag- Winward played Little League baseball tive committee in 2009.
ons finally fell to in Dhahran, “but I wasn’t very good,” he Winward says the city-center club’s
Chicago, which says. His late father Bud taught music in World Series play has generated support to
bowed to South Dhahran from 1966-1971, in Abqaiq from build the first field complex for the team—
Korea in the 1974-1976 and in Dhahran again from which, till now, has not had a home field.
championship. 1976-1984. His mother Janet lives in the Despite all the focus on the Taney
“It was Philadelphia suburbs. Dragons, Winward is still rooting for the
inspiring to see Winward lives in Philadelphia, where he Arabian American Little League team.
Mo’Ne do so was born and where he owns a real-estate “My boys and I watched the Aramco
well…not just in investment and development company. team play at the World series,” but were
He started coaching Taney when his never able to go to Williamsport “so we
Mo’Ne Davis, the Little League pitcher from
sons—both now in college—began playing would always watch on TV,” he says. “My
Philadelphia with an Aramco connection—
Pee Wee ball in the TYBA and then stuck kids always knew that the team from Saudi
through Rick Winward (AB’76)—hurled her
way onto cover of Sports Illustrated in August. around. He’s been a TYBA board member Arabia was my team.”
Yellowstone Veteran Wraps Up Season 4

Lou Spencer, who he retired as a Dhahran Spencer said
School teacher in 2007, completed his that the National Park
fourth three-month season at Yellowstone Service (NPS) was
National Park in Gardiner, Mont., on June established in 1916,
15. Spencer, who works as a volunteer for 44 years after Yellow-
the Yellowstone Assn., departed for home stone was established
in Signal Mountain, Tenn., after welcoming as the world’s first
a new crop of animals to the park. national park. He said
“The spring babies have arrived with he’s looking forward
the bison first and later will come the elk to 2016, when the
and pronghorn,” he wrote early in June. NPS will celebrate its
“The bears have emerged from their win- centennial in the park,
ter sleep and can be seen most days.” “with hopes that the
“Wolves are starting to retreat into current president will
the back country where they will den and be on hand for the
have their offspring,” he noted. Reintro- ceremony.”
duced in 1995 and 1996, there are now
more than 300 wolves in the Greater Yel-
lowstone Area and “even with legal hunt-
K
R
ing in the surrounding states, there is no A
Lou Spencer takes CL
danger of them becoming extinct again.” a break beside by a UR
H
Spencer has no plans to spend his late Yellowstone stream RT
A
winters and early springs anywhere else midway through his EFT:
than Yellowstone. fourth season at the M L
oldest U.S. National Park. TO
T
O
B
4 FALL 2014 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
71255araD4R1.indd 1 10/3/14 9:40 PM
Renfro Takes Paul Nance Honored at ‘Roads of Arabia’
Lecture to Canada Opening in Kansas City Museum
Former Aramco employee and Chev-
ron executive Hugh Renfro took his
lecture program about kingdom to a new
venue—Canada— this spring while con-
tinuing to speak in the United States.
“I generate program opportunities by
contacting organizations and familiarizing
them with my programs,” said Renfro,
who worked for Aramco from 1952 to
1967 and headed the Arabian Chevron
Oil Company in Saudi Arabia in 1975. He
was an executive producer of the 2010
IMAX film Arabia, shot in Saudi Arabia.
Since 2003, Renfro has delivered
around 200 programs about the kingdom
across the United States. His audiences
range from 20 to 200.
He spoke to around 90 students, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Mark Nance, right, represented his father
Paul, who was honored at the opening of the
including “a surprising number of Sau- (NAMA) in Kansas City, Mo., honored
“Roads of Arabia” exhibition in Kansas City,
dis,” at McGill University Medical School retiree and museum-pioneer Paul Nance Mo., in April. His is pictured with Prince Sultan
in Montreal in April, he said. for his work to introduce Saudi Arabia and ibn Salman, president of the Saudi Commission
“Several Saudis said that they appre- the wider Middle East to U.S. audiences for Tourism and Antiquities, who is flanked by
ciated the program as it served to explain on April 23 at the opening of the king- Alan Marsh (left) of the Nelson-Atkins Museum
board of trustees and Dr. Julian Zugazagoitia,
their history and culture—the explanation dom’s “Roads of Arabia” exhibition.
Nelson-Atkins director and CEO.
is sorely needed. That was very gratifying.” Shirley Bush Helzberg, chairperson of
In May, Renfro spoke to a small NAMA’s board of trustees, named Nance a Kansas City; it runs Oct. 24-Jan. 18 at The
group at the Naval War College in Mon- “distinguished honorary member” of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the
terrey, Calif., his third visit there. exhibition committee and said NAMA “is last stop in a five-city U.S. tour sponsored
There have been few negative com- one among many institutions and individuals by Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil.
ments after any of his talks. “Usually, touched directly by the impact of his gener- “Mr. Nance established one of the
audiences respond with a constructive osity.” Mark Nance represented his father, finest personal collections of art from the
‘We didn’t know that,’” he noted. He who did not attend due to health concerns. Middle East ever displayed in the United
said he fields “lots of questions” about Nance and his late wife Colleen States,” Helzberg said at the “Roads of
women in Saudi society and Saudi Ara- opened the Nance Museum of largely Arabia” opening. She said the collection
bia’s reaction to recent developments in Saudi artifacts in his hometown of Lone had sparked “a lively tradition of cultural
Iraq and Syria. Jack, Mo., in 1985, two years after he exchanges, vibrant international study
completed a 31-year career at Aramco. The programs and an overall awareness of the
Nances donated the museum’s artifacts value of Arab-U.S. relations.”
and library to the University of Central Mis- The Nance Museum displayed
souri (UCM) in Warrensburg in 2002. artifacts from the region and mounted
Prince Sultan ibn Salman, president traveling exhibitions, reaching a total of
of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and 1.5 million people over 16 years.
Antiquities, cut the ribbon for “Roads of UCM recently won a grant from the
Arabia” and later posed for a photo with Mid-America Arts Alliance for a three-year
Mark Nance—a former Aramco employee traveling exhibition of more than 50 arti-
himself. The exhibition closed July 6 in facts from the Nance Collection entitled
“Traditional Arts of the Bedouin.”
The exhibition is scheduled to launch
in June 2016. Information about hosting it
is available at [email protected] or http://
www.eusa.org/exhibit/Bedouin/description.
K
R
A
CL Paul Nance posed for a picture with students
R
U from Jiddah at the University of Central
H
ART “The King and I”—Hugh Renfro shows a Missouri’s “Saudi Arabia Day” in 2008. UCM
M LEFT: pa hteoato p oafr thyi mhes ehlef l(dse fcoorn nde wfrolym c rroigwhnt)e adt hina hs ocenloerb oraf ttehde tNhaen dcaey C eovlleercyt ifoanll asinndc et h1e9 99
TO King Sa‘ud in Riyadh in 1954. university’s links to the kingdom.
T
O
B
5
71255araD4R1.indd 2 10/8/14 2:47 PM
M O S A I C
Allen Marks Golden Anniversary
Suzanne Henry Allen cel-
ebrated the 50th anniver-
sary of her graduation from
nursing school at the University
of North Carolina (UNC) in
Chapel Hill in May. The daugh-
ter of Aramcons Gerard and
Kathleen Vandenborre said
transitioning to student life in
America was traumatic.
“When I arrived on
campus from Dhahran, I was
wearing homemade clothes, a
short desert haircut and Arab
sandals,” said Allen, who lives
in Savannah, Ga. “I was a
desert rat.”
Her father worked in
Saudi Arabia from 1950-1967,
first for the Saudi Government
Railroad, whose construction
was managed by Aramco,
and then for Aramco.
“He had to keep the
18-wheeler truck freezer work-
ing so engineers, geologists
Above: Suzanne Vandenborre Henry stood
and rig workers could eat and drink,” Allen Her dad is pictured leaning from the Budd
in the front row, fifth from right, with her
said. “My father had many stories to tell.” car in Aramco and Its World, Arabia and the graduating class at the University of North
One was about driving the first self- Middle East, the 1981 edition of the company Carolina School of Nursing in 1964. Below:
propelled Budd car between Riyadh and Dam- handbook. At Aramco, his jobs included every- She appeared front row left, in the photo
mam on the new railroad in 1951. “Everyone thing from keeping exploration camps cool to of the class’s 50th anniversary in May.
onboard had to get out and shovel the sand installing air-conditioning in royal palaces.
off the tracks…” to make the trip a success, Allen’s mother worked part-time as a
she said. nurse in at the Dhahran Health Center. Her
sons have followed in their mother’s and
grandmother’s footsteps: Gerard is a Duke
University urologist who teaches around the
world and Matthew is a Baylor University
neurosurgeon.
Suzanne Vandenborre, right, and her
sister Carol smiled for a photo in 1959
at the American Community School in
Beirut, where Suzanne was a senior and
Carol was a sophomore.
Jungers Joins Investment Advisory Board
Frank Jungers, former president and CEO of Aramco, announced Aug. 6 that he has
joined Common Sense Investment Management (CSIM), LLC, an independent, pri-
vately held investment manager, as an advisory board member. CSIM is based in Portland,
Ore., where Jungers lives with his wife Julie.
Jungers has served as a director on the boards of public companies including The
AES Corporation; Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette; Georgia-Pacific Corporation; Horizon
Lines; and Thermo Electron. He is currently a director of ESCO Corporation and Pacific
Star Communications. He was also chairman of the board of the Oregon Health Sciences
University Foundation.
6 FALL 2014 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
71255araD4R1.indd 3 10/3/14 9:40 PM
Former Abqaiq resident Pete Ballard won a achievement” at Aramco
new accolade in March when U.S. Sen. Joe was teaching “the first
Manchin III hailed the artist, costume designer, class of 13 students
fashion-doll creator and educator “as a truly who went out of the
remarkable West Virginian who is known kingdom to American U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin III celebrated with
throughout the Mountain State and far past universities.” They maintained a “B” aver- Pete Ballard at a luncheon in his honor in
our borders” in the Congressional Record. age in English during their first semester, Peterstown, W. Va., in August, after praising
him in the Congressional Record.
Ballard, 84, who lives in Peterstown, which is “tough for American students and
W. Va., is well known for his still-life paint- unheard of for foreigners,” he noted. propensities steered him far beyond
ings and his fashion dolls—both now in Ballard also loved humanitarian work. just a career in education, leading him
museum collections. He’s painstakingly In the early 1960s, he looked up King Hus- to partake in many more professional
clothed his three- to five-foot dolls in cos- sain of Jordan to deliver clothing that had ventures.… Pete’s passion for the arts and
tumes that highlight 18th- through early been collected in a drive in Abqaiq for an creativity knows no bounds.”
20th-century couture, using design skills orphanage in Jerusalem. When Jordanian Ballard’s paintings are in institutions
he honed making theater outfits for the Customs officials tried to collect duty for including The Butler Institute of American
Abqaiq Players. the items, Ballard took a taxi to the king’s Art in Youngstown, Ohio, with those of
Ballard joined Aramco as an English palace and found the monarch—whom John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Edward
teacher at the Abqaiq Industrial Training he’d met earlier while painting on the Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.
Center in 1959 and stayed until 1967. Mount of Olives—explained the situation “Despite his astounding success,”
He also taught in Vietnam, China and and got things sorted out. Manchin said, “Pete has never collected a
the United States. He retired to Peters- King Hussein “was an extraordinary dime for his work. After spending 12 hours
town in 1995. man,” he said. a day, seven days a week on each piece of
Concord University in Athens, W. Va., Manchin and his wife Gayle have art, he…donates every painting to charity
praised its 1953 graduate in its Summer known Ballard for a long time. In 2007, or to art galleries.”
2014 alumni magazine, noting that he when he was governor of West Virginia, Gayle Manchin joined townspeople
received an Outstanding Educators in Manchin named him a Distinguished West at a restaurant in Peterstown on April 7
America award in 1972 and the Order Virginian. to fête Ballard for the citation. In August,
of Arts and Historical Letters from West In the Congressional Record cita- Manchin himself dropped by Peterstown
Virginia in 2006. tion, addressed to the President, Man- to have lunch with Ballard “and 40 to 50
Ballard loved working with stu- chin noted that Ballard started out as a cheering guests,” the local Bluefield Daily
dents. In 2008, he said his “proudest teacher, but “it wasn’t long before Pete’s Telegraph reported.
Wrights’ Work to Appear in American Indian Exhibition
Ken and Ruth Wright, who around Machu Picchu” for an eponymous
worked for Aramco in the exhibition book by the Smithsonian and
1950s, will be publishing a book they are writing a chapter for a book about
and contributing to two more to Inka engineering that the American Society
complement the Smithsonian Insti- of Civil Engineers is preparing.
tution’s exhibition “The Great Inka The Wrights’ book, about their work
Road: Engineering and Empire” at Ollantaytambo in Peru’s Sacred Valley,
that debuts in Washington, D.C., is titled Inkaminsana: Engineering an Inka
next summer. The two-year show Water Temple.
will open June 26, 2015, at the The Wrights have been working to
National Museum of the Ameri- uncover the secrets of water-engineering
Ken and Ruth Wright stand in front of Inkaminsana’s can Indian. systems in Inka cities in Peru since 1994 and
Sacred Rock in Peru with their grandson Mason The Wrights have written have won numerous awards for their stud-
Lacy, who helped them do research on the mountain
a chapter entitled “Inka Trails ies and publications.
water-supply system there.
7
71255araD4R1.indd 4 10/8/14 2:48 PM
M O S A I C
Amin Garners New Image Awards Abqaiq ‘Daughter’
Completes MS Studies
Shaikh Amin, former Aramco chief “I set up my camera on a tripod and
photographer, added two prizes to took many shots with very good results,” Sumbul Q. Khan, daughter of Mr. and
his collection of photo honors in March, Amin said. “They offered me a sample of Mrs. Qamar A. Khan, earned an MS
winning silver awards at Delaware Valley brown sugar and it was warm and tasty.” degree in engineering-technology man-
Council of Camera Clubs (DVCCC) Photo The DVCCC covers southeastern agement last December at Western Ken-
Travel Circuit salons. Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and tucky University in Bowling Green, where
He won ribbons for a picture titled Delaware. It is associated with the Photo- she won the 2013-2014 Outstanding
“Brown Sugar in the Making” that he shot graphic Society of America, of which Amin Graduate Award. Her father retired from
near Peshawar, Pakistan. Brown sugar is is a longtime member. the Southern Area Community Services
traditionally made in cottage industries in Amin, 87, joined Aramco in 1948 and Dept. in 2012 after a 35-year career.
Pakistan by boiling the juice of crushed sugar became a Photo Unit employee in 1964. He Born and raised Abqaiq, she earned
cane in large pans. retired in 1994, but continued to shoot for a BS degree in chemical engineering at
as a consultant for several years after that. the American University of Sharjah in
2006. She is now a quality engineer
at a plastics firm in Franklin, Ky.
SAEEA Welcomes 1st
Lady Member; Marks
Anniversary No. 4
The Saudi Aramco Ex-Employees Assn.
(SAEEA) welcomed Fakhra Begum as
the group’s first female member at its
10th gathering in Karachi, Pakistan, on
May 18. She joined Aramco in 1976 and
left in 1984 after holding clerical posi-
tions in several departments.
The reunion drew 113 guests, almost
A worker tends a pan of boiling cane juice in Shaikh Amin’s prizewinning photo “Brown Sugar in
the Making,” shot in Peshawar, Pakistan. double the number that attended the
group’s initial gathering in October 2010.
SAEEA celebrated its fourth anni-
SAFEA Holds 112th Gathering in Lahore versary with a picnic at the Karachi Farm
House on Aug. 10 for 145 guests.
“Attendees met with their old bud-
dies” and enjoyed both reunions, said
Iqbal Ahmed Khan, SAEEA vice presi-
dent. Five new members joined in May
and three more signed on in August.
The Saudi Aramco Former Employees Assn. held its 112th get-together in Lahore, Pakistan,
on March 23. Forty-two members gathered to meet old friends and celebrate Pakistan Day, SAEEA officers posed for a photo at the
welcoming three new members. Seated l-r are: Shaikh Amin, M. Saud Jamil, Haji Faisal Hanif, group’s August anniversary. Standing from K
R
Ch. Imtiaz Ahmed, Haroon Rashid Butt, Syed Naushad Yousif Shah, Muhammad Rizwan and Haji left are: Shafiq A. Khan, joint secretary; Iqbal CLA
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8 FALL 2014 Al~Ayyam Al~Jamilah
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