Maidstone– When Brian Blanchette left the oil producer he had been working with to join Baytex nearly 20 years ago, he wasn’t alone.
“Everyone I worked with came over to Baytex, so I did, too,” said the health, safety and environment advisor for Baytex Energy Corp. in Saskatchewan on Feb. 21.
“Seven or eight came over. That was in 1998.”
He started out in the oilpatch working on a flushby unit for five years, operating oil wells and batteries for another producer.
Blanchette took a pay cut to come to Baytex. “I’ve never been happier,” he said.
Blanchette was born and raised in Maidstone.
“Dad was a farmer and a school caretaker. We moved into town in Grade 9,” he said.
Over the years he’s been involved in Maidstone minor hockey for about 10 years. He was a volunteer with the local fire department for 20 years. He also was part of the Silver Lake Regional Park board.
Blanchette golfs and fishes, and enjoys his cabin at the lake with his wife, Joanne.
