Before his senior year in high school, Andre Lavoie worked maintenance for Squirrel Island. He graduated the following summer in 2006 and that was also the first year he was a "Truck Guy." During his two years working on the trucks (in 2006 and 2007) Andre worked with Ben Knapp and Tony Hack.
While growing up, Andre spent time every summer on Squirrel Island. He lived at his family's cottage on the South Shore while he worked for the Island. Since he worked "crew" first under the Island Manager Rob Hopkins, he was promoted to working on the trucks. Additionally, Andre recalls that, since they have to work together throughout the entire summer, the truck guy who has been working longer gets a say in choosing who they work with for the next summer.
As a part of the job, Andre delivered all the food to the Tea Shop throughout the summer. His favourite part of the job was the interaction with the islanders and the fact that he got to spend everyday with his friend. Andre stated, "It was ironic that the two youngest, strongest people on the Island get to have the truck." He additionally says, "There is a miniature economy on the Island, and we [the truck workers] were a small wheel to the part of the whole machine."
At the start of each season, Andre estimates that he worked about 30-40 hours per week. Besides the few deliveries, he did other tasks for Rob that included splitting wood and moving things to the burn pile. Andre and Ben Knapp used to move so much wood that Rob would tell them to slow down because all of it was piling up in front of his house. However, as the season picked up, he worked much more. Since this was a "service business" Andre was polite to all of the people so they were more likely to use the trucks for delivery. In return, they were usually polite to him. While working, Andre and Ben tried their best to be as fast as possible. They often used two separate trucks at the same time to cut down delivery time. Andre would also check the tide charts in correlation with Novelty arrivals. He knew that if it was going to be low tide at the time the boat arrived, it would be a rough day getting the bags up the steep ramp up to the dock.
Andre recalls that the truck workers, "Try to make everyday as humorous as possible." Night-life was important for the truck workers on the island and there were even slow days when he and Ben could make it to the beach or watch South Park for a while. However, there were often days when they would go with no breaks. Andre says that if he hadn't been working with one of his best friends, the days would have been too long. Andre also appreciated getting to work on a beautiful island. There was also a lot of "shenanigans" between the Island workers. They often teased each other over the radio and had nicknames for one another.
Throughout the summer, the truck workers would not have more than a day or two off. Andre recalls that they saved a lot of money each summer. To sum up his experience as a truck worker, Andre says, "I had the best time of my life out there. I wish I could do it again, although with less lifting!"
While growing up, Andre spent time every summer on Squirrel Island. He lived at his family's cottage on the South Shore while he worked for the Island. Since he worked "crew" first under the Island Manager Rob Hopkins, he was promoted to working on the trucks. Additionally, Andre recalls that, since they have to work together throughout the entire summer, the truck guy who has been working longer gets a say in choosing who they work with for the next summer.
As a part of the job, Andre delivered all the food to the Tea Shop throughout the summer. His favourite part of the job was the interaction with the islanders and the fact that he got to spend everyday with his friend. Andre stated, "It was ironic that the two youngest, strongest people on the Island get to have the truck." He additionally says, "There is a miniature economy on the Island, and we [the truck workers] were a small wheel to the part of the whole machine."
At the start of each season, Andre estimates that he worked about 30-40 hours per week. Besides the few deliveries, he did other tasks for Rob that included splitting wood and moving things to the burn pile. Andre and Ben Knapp used to move so much wood that Rob would tell them to slow down because all of it was piling up in front of his house. However, as the season picked up, he worked much more. Since this was a "service business" Andre was polite to all of the people so they were more likely to use the trucks for delivery. In return, they were usually polite to him. While working, Andre and Ben tried their best to be as fast as possible. They often used two separate trucks at the same time to cut down delivery time. Andre would also check the tide charts in correlation with Novelty arrivals. He knew that if it was going to be low tide at the time the boat arrived, it would be a rough day getting the bags up the steep ramp up to the dock.
Andre recalls that the truck workers, "Try to make everyday as humorous as possible." Night-life was important for the truck workers on the island and there were even slow days when he and Ben could make it to the beach or watch South Park for a while. However, there were often days when they would go with no breaks. Andre says that if he hadn't been working with one of his best friends, the days would have been too long. Andre also appreciated getting to work on a beautiful island. There was also a lot of "shenanigans" between the Island workers. They often teased each other over the radio and had nicknames for one another.
Throughout the summer, the truck workers would not have more than a day or two off. Andre recalls that they saved a lot of money each summer. To sum up his experience as a truck worker, Andre says, "I had the best time of my life out there. I wish I could do it again, although with less lifting!"