Article 19 April/May 2009
It was always in the back of my mind--that one day I would write a book about my experience working in the ambulance, and the story of Crestline Coach.
So, after I retired in 2004, I began the task of organizing and scanning to my computer the thousands of photos, slides, negatives and brochures that we had accumulated over the years.
I'm pleased to report the finished product has now arrived! It's a hard cover book with 336 pages and 560 (mostly colour) photos.
Chapter 1 begins in 1967 and outlines my experiences working for Ray's Ambulance in Saskatoon, then Universal Ambulance in Calgary, and then with our own Crescent Ambulance Service in Saskatoon.
From there the book continues with the founding of Crestline Coach in 1975 and the evolution of our ambulances up to the year 2004. There's also a chapter about the hearses and limousines we used to build, the rescue trucks and specialty vehicles we manufactured, as well as the paratransit buses we sold. Chapters on our affiliated companies: Ambucraft in Edmonton, AB; Dynamic in Langley, BC; and Novacentre in Boucherville, QC are also included.
The most difficult task of writing the book was choosing which photos to include. The photos I like best are the ones where we are presenting keys to our customer who is standing in front of his brand new ambulance. The name of the book is Crestline: Building World Class Ambulances.
You can purchase it by mailing a cheque or money order for $60.00 plus $12.00 postage to Peter Adsten, 201 Lake Crescent, Saskatoon SK, S7H 3A1. Or, using PayPal you can make an online payment to peteradsten@shaw.ca
All proceeds from the sale of these books are donated to the Paramedic Association of Canada Benevolent Society.
Copyright 2009 Peter Adsten