Over the past 18 months the nuclear heritage group (Society for the Preservation of Canada’s Nuclear Heritage Inc.) has collected a number of “beverage-related” artifacts. The most common are coffee mugs commemorating events such as the Restart of NRU, the 50th Anniversary of AECL or First Power at one of the CANDU generating stations.
We have also received a number of pewter beer steins given at retirement and engraved with the signatures of co-workers. A pair of these, one left-handed, the other right-handed, was donated by Mike Ward from the estate of Don Watson. They sport the signatures of J.L. Gray, W.B. Lewis, R. Hart, L.G. Elliott and several other nuclear pioneers. A novel beer stein was fashioned for and donated by Phil Simpson. He received it at his retirement from NPD. It was expertly manufactured using short sections of both a CANDU pressure tube and a calandria tube.
Last fall a relative of Deep River Councillor Will Fitton spotted a somewhat tarnished container at a garage sale in Ottawa with the AECL flying-A symbol on it. He purchased the item and forwarded it to Will who in turn donated it to the Society. A bit of elbow grease and silver polish revealed what appears to be a 24 cm tall wine chiller that was presented to Maurice Dubras in 1990, likely either on retirement or to commemorate 25 years of service.
Despite contacting a number of people who worked in the Ottawa operations of AECL, the Society has been unable to pinpoint where Maurice Dubras worked and what role he played in the nuclear heritage story. A search of the internet located a Maurice Dubras who participated in a Kanata theatre company, but again no information has been unearthed about his work life.
Jim Ungrin (613-584-3055, ungrinjr@gmail.com) would appreciate hearing from anyone who may have had professional or social dealings with Maurice and can shed some light on his work for AECL. The Society would also welcome further additions to our collection of “beverage-related” artifacts.