Like so many, Geroge Surbuts, now 84, first went to work at Stillwater during his high school days when the mills provided after-school and summer employment for local teens.

In 1941, after graduation he took a full-time job as a 2d shift Baller Tender in the Colored Combing department. Shortly after, he transferred to a position as a clerk in the Top-Dye office but it wasn't long before he left to enlist in the military, serving in the Army Air Corps as a teletype operator.

In 1945, following the War, he returned to Stillwater and was employed in the Fulling Mill but soon moved up to the Design Department. This section developed new patterns and colors for the cloth being produced. Here George learned weaving, color matching and cloth lay-out.

The first photo shows George at work "cutting a blanket"- this was a sample section of cloth showing proposed colors and patterns. The various sections were cut out and sent to New York for buyers to select from. The photo is from the August 15, 1953 issue of Stillwater News.

As production steadily dwindled in the '60's and more and more operations moved down South where costs were lower, many local workers could see the "writing on the wall" and began to look around for other jobs. George had switched to an assistant electrician position as the end of the local Stillwater era approached and eventually he left to work for Electric Boat in Groton.

In the second photo taken during the demolition for the New Library this fall, George points out the last standing corner of the old Stillwater Laboratory building- that corner had been his office for almost 15 years.