Moving Metal

GIMBEL AND GOLF I n 1954 Reliance organized the first of its annual company-wide golf tournaments. The two-day event was usually hosted by the San Diego division and included golf, dinner, and fine camaraderie. It was open to any employee or Reliance family member and any friend of the company. Players typically included truck drivers, warehouse workers, plant managers, cus- tomers, suppliers, and other people who otherwise might never be seen together on a golf course. As a family-oriented company, Reliance encouraged participation and subsidized the cost. “It is a people business,” Senior Vice President Bill Sales commented, “and since our folks are the greatest resource that we have, we want them to relax and have a good time.” But to the competitive Bill Gimbel, the tournament was about more than having a good time. While playing with Kaiser District Manager George Novotny and Distributor Representative Bob Gregory, Gimbel hit a hole-in-one, winning $50 for the feat. At another tournament, Bralco’s contingent brought along two employees who had been on the professional golf circuit and Gimbel got frustrated when one of the pros, a young lady golfer, repeatedly drove the ball farther and more accurately than he did. Bralco Division Manager Mike Hubbart probably did not soothe his boss’s bruised ego very much when he told him, “We hire our salespeople by their handicaps.” “Mr. Gimbel never quite felt it fair that she should be able to start from women’s tees,” Hubbart later acknowledged. Gimbel continued to play in Reliance tournaments even after his Parkinson’s disease had reached an advanced stage. Georgina Gimbel drove him in a golf cart to within a few feet of his ball and then helped him walk over to it so that he could take a stroke. “The ball did not go very far,” Hubbart recalled, “but he was there trying,

determined that he was going to make it.” And he kept going— through every hole. “That was a long day of golf,” Hubbart said, “but nobody complained.”

Bill Gimbel with business associates (left to right) Dale Barrett, Bob Wolf, and Bert Yancey at an early Reliance Golf Tournament.

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