Take a step back in time to 1924 when George Stauble lived and worked at sawmills here in the Prince George area. George made a trip back to his home country of Switzerland just after the war in 1949. That is when he invited his nephew Art Stauble, and former 13 year veteran alderman for the City of Prince George, to return to Canada to work with him.
Art said, "That was the start of a completely new life for me, I had just finished my studies in Switzerland. I had just received my Doctorate in Law and I was ready to get started in my law career. Instead I decided to check out this place called Prince George. I came over on a visitor's visa which I managed to extend twice. After that the Government Agent said, 'No more extensions for you young man - you must go back to Switzerland and immigrate properly.' Prince George was completely different from what I was used to in Switzerland but it was a good transition for me, so that is what I did."
While on a home country visit, Art met Yvonne, (a school friend) they got married and raised two sons. Art is now 87 years old and they have been married for nearly 57 years.
Art worked in the sawmill business and lived in the camp until the business expanded to include a planer mill in town.
There have been many highlights in the life of Art Stauble and the one I chose to write about today is the fact that Art was elected alderman in 1974. He was a big part of the referendum that passed and in 1975 amalgamated the Hart Highway, College Heights, Haldi Road, Blackburn, Western Acres, Van Way, North Nechako and South Fort George areas officially as a part of the City of Prince George. Art recalls the days of the sometimes heated negotiations and the many meetings under the leadership of then Mayor, Harold Moffat and the not so easy decisions that had to be made to make Prince George the great city that it is today.
In 1960, and prior to the amalgamation, Art volunteered his time working with the Nechako Improvement District with the goals of a water system and a fire department for the area where he lived. It was a quiet and happy community; they wanted their own town, with the generally welcomed prospect of the pulp mills being a part of it; however the city had other ideas.
It was plain to see that over the many years Art has served Prince George well as chairman of the regional district, chairman of the hospital board and 13 years as an alderman. Art said, "I have seen many changes that included the development of the Parkwood Mall, the University and especially in the forest industry. The arrival of power from the Peace River was followed by the arrival of the pulp mill which put Prince George on the map."
Art remains interested and informed about municipal politics and he says, "Prince George is a great place to live."
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