Born of Ice - Day in the life of an iceman

  We had a call today from a restaurant.  They were calling around getting a quote for ice.  I smiled as I listened to our office administrator answer the phone because there usually are no quotes needed for ice machine break down.  You have one choice and one choice only and that is Columbia Ice, for ice delivery Edmonton when you need ice.   I know when you search for ice delivery Edmonton, Arctic Glacier shows up but it is not always easy to get a big company to adjust what they are doing for a small business.  Most restaurants are small businesses.  I am not going to say Columbia Ice can always easily adjust.  Sometimes we don't have extra ice on the truck.  If we do and can we try our best.    This is not a knock on Arctic Glacier.  It is expensive to reroute a truck to deliver someone out of route. They fill their trucks full of ice, use route software, have every bag of ice allocated.  Having a truck just in ca...

 I have always lucked out in that my employers became strong male role models in my life. Men who become my friend, my mentor, people I grew to love and value like family. It was no different with Ernie Graveline. He probably should of fired me on multiple occasions, but he didn't, he stuck by me. A kind man, a good man, a husband, a father, an entrepreneur. It has only been a month or so since he passed. Prostate cancer took Ernie as it does so many. It wasn't his first fight with cancer.   Before Ernie passed I was able to sell Columbia Ice for him and his wife. New owners were great in the process of buying and very understanding. I will forever be thankful for that because selling a business is not easy. There are plenty of areas you can trip and fall out of a sale. The new owners have invested in growing the business by buying a new ice machine. Today we started the installation process. As I sit here l...

They call me the Master Iceman. I run Columbia Ice, A Uniquely Canadian Ice Company in Alberta.  Really the only Canadian owned option for packaged ice delivery in Alberta. Arctic Glacier Edmonton and Arctic Glacier ice in Calgary, the big American owned ice company, is the competition. Columbia Ice is a flea, trying to become a mouse, competing against the elephant, Arctic Glacier... as much a flea competes with an elephant.  I am my own boss for the most part.  There is an owner, Jake, he is cool to deal with. He looks like the Daredevil in the TV series. I am convinced by night, he fights crime. Would be rather cool if he did. He bought Columbia Ice a few months ago from Ernie Graveline who owned the company for the past 14 teen years. Transition has gone well, still tidying up loose ends which is to be expected when you sell a company. I have tried X, I have tried Youtube, Tiktok and Instagram as a way to communicate my story but I really dislike social medi...