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Dave has worked in the geotechnical construction industry for over 25 years specializing in the construction of tiebacks, soil nails, micropiles and design build applications. Before coming to Northwest Cascade, he was the founder and owner of Subterra Construction, based in Vancouver, Washington. He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan and is a registered civil and structural engineer. SEATTLE POST INTELLIGENCER REPORTS ON HONEY BUCKET Featuring Brandon Gilbert PC-5 Brandon Gilbert pushes one of about 270 Honey Buckets at Seafair. (Saturday, August 2, 2008) At 5 a.m. last Sunday, as a light mist fell on the deserted grounds of Seattle Center, Brandon Gilbert stuck a suction hose deep into the Honey Bucket's innards and vacuumed out what remained of the Torchlight Parade. The estimated 300,000 people who'd lined Fourth Avenue downtown and the Center hours before were sound asleep. And it seemed to Gilbert like they'd made good use of the 65 portable toilets along the parade route that he and his crew now emptied and took away. "Ah, the smell of money," said Gilbert, 28, who has worked for Honey Bucket for eight years. No one thinks of Gilbert as part of Seafair. He's not a pirate, not on a float, not in a pageant or a triathlon. He doesn't jet across Lake Washington in a hydroplane. Gilbert just cleans up after the mess. This weekend, he'll be out again sucking out what thousands more people leave behind during the hydroplane races. For each toilet, it's the same procedure: Grab the hose attached to a tank on his flatbed truck, and stick it down the toilet. One after another, there's a rumbling like an idling motor. Long slurping sounds break the predawn silence. Then, for a rare occurrence in the American workplace, watch the crap flow uphill. This is the busy season in the portable toilet business. Sixty-hour weeks and all-night shifts after summer festivals, weddings and parades - all with people who have to go. Earlier, as he drove his truck toward Seattle Center from the company's yard in Sodo, Gilbert had passed other anonymous workers of the night - a street sweeper, a city hot paver laying new asphalt and another Honey Bucket worker with his 13-year- old daughter, Rachel. Scott Petersen, who has worked for Honey Bucket for 18 years and had just sucked dry six of them a little before 5 a.m., said he tries to find family time when he can. Roused from bed at their Roy home at 1 a.m. to watch her dad pick up portable toilets, Rachel said this was an adventure. "This is so exciting," she said. "I love being in the city and seeing all the big buildings." "When she's 16, maybe she'll be able to take some of the load off her dad," Petersen said. "I'll probably have to pay her, though. But there's a lot an Egg McMuffin will buy." A little later, Gilbert - who's about 5 feet 8 inches, played defensive line in high school football and still has the thick build – easily slides the 200-pound Honey Buckets onto the truck at Seattle Center. First, he moves a child-seat out of the way. Sometimes he brings his 6-year-old son, Skyler, Gilbert said. His wife comes, too, helping change the toilet paper. "She won't touch this," he said, pointing to the vacuum. That's the life this time of year, Gilbert said. Gilbert started working for Honey Bucket after he graduated high school in Tacoma and was in "limbo," he said, about what to do next. He's moved up the ranks and mainly does sales for the company now. But, this time of year, it's all hands on deck - the poop deck, so to speak. "You get used to the smell," he said, standing by the truck. "Now a septic tank smell is something different. This stuff here is fresh." It's not a glorious job, Gilbert acknowledged. At construction sites, "we're definitely at the bottom of the totem pole. You're definitely the Honey Bucket Guy; 'Get out of the way, Honey Bucket Guy.' " But there are times, he said, when the adrenalin is pumping. "We'll be driving to some event, this convoy of five trucks all filled with Honey Buckets, and it's like we're going to go kick some butt and save the day." They're Olympians after all. Honey Bucket had the contract to provide portable toilets at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. The company is a finalist to work the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, B.C. There's a saying at the company, Gilbert said. "We're number one at number two." P-I reporter Kery Murakami can be reached at 206-448-8131 or kerymurakami@seattlepi.com. © 1998-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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LOTS OF PRAISE FOR THE EVENT TEAMS From: Jeff Orswell [mailto:jeff@orswellevents.com] Hi Luann - hey, thank you, thank you, thank you for the help with the last minute order tonight. I called you at 3:45pm and there was a truck with 2 units at the event site at 4:15pm! Unbelievable! I have had outstanding service over the years with NW Cascade/Honeybucket with Scott Alexis for many years back in the day and Richard Stainbrook for a couple years, but this tops it all! You made us look very good and I appreciate it! Thank you very much again! Jeff Jeff Orswell Orswell Events, LLC Special Event Planning, Promotion & Production From: Shields, Edward R [mailto:edward.r.shields@boeing.com] Did you mail those T Shirts out? Not a big deal, but had planned to wear it when they arrived to set the honey buckets!! That aside, our Thanks to the staff and Marshall. Everything got set without me having to run around this year and all the servicing and pick up went great. It really makes the event much easier when things like this goes so well and we don't have to worry about them. Please let the staff and their bosses, Marshall and his boss know we appreciate their work and dedication. Ed Shields - Taste of Edmonds FAMILY LOVE OBSESSION FOR HONEY BUCKETMy name is Nora and I'm one of the lucky kids who was in the tour of the Puyallup Honey Bucket office in Puyallup. I've attached a short history of our Honey Bucket obsession, as well as the picture from the 2000 King County Fair. Thanks so much for everything. Every summer we fly to Seattle to visit our grandparents in Tukwila, and it's a tradition we've kept up every year since the Deegs moved away from Seattle in 1995. Some time in the late '90s (we're not sure exactly what year) we started a game of counting how many Honey Buckets we see as we drive through Seattle or go to different events. We started just as a way to keep ourselves occupied while driving around Seattle. Each summer we would get more and more excited to see Honey Buckets, and our highest count one year was over 200 Honey Buckets in the space of about 3 weeks. We have even started to assign different point values to different Honey Bucket products - for example, sinks are worth 2 points, Honey Bucket trucks are 5 extra points, etc. We will happily continue to keep a count every summer and spread the excitement about Honey Buckets. Thanks, Nora, David, Katie, Carl, and Lily Click on image below to see pics of family from 2000 to 2008 EVEN A MONARCH HAS GOTTA GO! Message from Event Participant at the Oregon Country Fair Bobbie, Here is a photo that someone took of me at the Oregon Country Fair. I think it is hysterical. Please contact me if you would like to use it in any way for marketing. If you do not think it is appropriate for marketing, please email it to your employees for a good laugh. Your company did a great job servicing the Fair! Sincerely, Tirey Counts
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