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News
Saunders family to lead Mud Bowl parade
The parade has been sponsored since its inception in 1981 by Amoskeag Beverages LLC of Bow. Prizes are offered for first, second and runner-up in both the team and open class.
To register for the parade, email parade chair Molly Mullins by Sept. 2 at mollymullinsgreenwood@gmail.com.
The grand marshal award is named after late Mud Bowl chair Steve Eastman (1949-2008), who published the Mountain Ear newspaper from 1976-2005.
White Mountain Oil & Propane sponsored the town's Independence Day Parade this year, so it makes sense the Saunders will get to ride at the front of this year’s Mud Bowl parade in recognition of their community efforts.
Members of the family-owned business include former president and now company secretary/treasurer Glenn Saunders, 82, and his wife, Sonnie, of North Conway; and sons Kirk, 53, of North Conway (named president three years ago); and Vice President Mark Saunders, 56, of Wolfeboro. Kirk and Mark will represent the family in the parade. Mark said his wife Kelly and Kirk's daughter Sophie may join them.
Mark said: "We as kids used to go to Mud Bowl, as it was a traditional end-of-summer, beginning-of-school kind of thing. We loved it."
He added: "We're very happy to help with the event, and we're honored to represent our family and business as grand marshals."
The family was also awarded the MWV Economic Council’s Bob Morrell Award for civic entrepreneurship in 2021.
Kirk noted: “My grandparents Ben and Ethel founded the company in 1941, just after the Great Depression. Those were rugged times, and people like the Jean Fernandezes (former president of North Conway Bank) and others saw to it that my grandfather kept going in business.
"That knowledge instills in you the idea that when things are tight, and you have an opportunity to help out other individuals (like Bob Morrell did), it behooves you to do so,” he added.
According to Mark: "It's pretty neat to be part of the family's legacy of serving the community and customers and to be part of this great staff that we have who are so committed. Our business really is like a big family."
Their grandparents set a leading example of serving the community, with Ben serving on the North Conway Park Commission; as president of the North Conway Community Center; and the Lower Bartlett Cemetery Committee.
Ethel was a Cub Scout den mother and also served on the board of directors of the Memorial Hospital.
Ben and Ethel were Appalachian Mountain Club members and climbed all the 4,000-footers in New Hampshire. Ben had a love of aviation, learning to fly from White Mountain Airport owner and operator Wylie Apte Sr. in the 1940s.
Like them, their son Scott Saunders was instrumental in the success of many local organizations and served as president of Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce, Gibson Center and Rotary. Just 58, shortly after entering retirement, he died in 2001.
His brother Glenn serves on the advisory group to the Robert and Dorothy Goldberg Foundation; Henney Historical Fund; and the Pope Memorial Library. He is a former longtime board member of the Gibson Center for Senior Services.
At the suggestion of former Kennett Principal George T. Davidson, he co-founded the Kennett High Sports Hall of Fame with Sut Marshall and Lloyd Jones in 1990.
Sonnie (who is originally from Austria) met Glenn during an exchange program when Glenn studied in Europe. They became reacquainted after college in 1964 and married shortly thereafter.
Sonnie served as a teacher’s aide at John H. Fuller Elementary when their sons were young and later served as president of the North Conway Library. She is a member of the Mountain Garden Club.
Kirk serves on the National Petroleum and Gas Association’s standards and technology committee and on the research and development committee for the Propane Educational Research Council.
Mark is a director for the Propane Gas Association of New England and the Ideal Energy Cooperative Board of independents in the energy business.
The company's motto is, “Always there for you” — and despite the volatile ups and downs in the energy industry, they remain committed to fulfilling that promise to customers.
It goes back to the company's founding in 1941, when it delivered range oil to houses, farms and businesses around the region.
In 1949, White Mountain Oil built an office and showroom on South Main Street. It also entered the propane business. In the 1950s, the company’s current North Conway Village office and showroom were built.
In the late 1990s, the company installed a state-of-the-art propane and fuel-oil storage facility in Conway.
In the mid-2000s, the company completed the construction of a new propane storage plant in Campton. In 2014, the Saunders family opened a storefront/office in Lincoln.
In addition to the company's reputation for reliable service, for 38 of the past 40 years, it has held an annual Bratwurst Broil and Open House, traditionally in June and featuring Sonnie’s recipe for Austrian sausages They and their staff and customers look forward to its return when conditions permit.
CONWAY — White Mountain Oil & Propane announces that Shane McKinney has been appointed as new service manager
(October 31, 2018) McKinney has been with White Mountain Oil & Propane for 17 years in the role of service technician as well as serving as a salesman with the sales department.
In his new role as service manager, he will oversee the service crew and the delivery of mechanical service and installations to all White Mountain Oil & Propane customers.
McKinney, 46, holds a journeyman license for fuel oil in Maine as well as licenses for propane gas in both Maine and New Hampshire.
In addition, he is a member of the Mt. Washington Lodge of Free Masons No. 87 as a past officer and former president of the business corporation. McKinney also serves on the Department of Environmental Services Oil Fund Disbursement Board, appointed by Gov. Chris Sununu.
McKinney lives in Albany with his wife, Gina, and their son, Matthew. He has been involved in the community by volunteering, scholarship committees, and different political campaigns as an advisor and town chairman. He spent 15 years in the fire service as a call firefighter to the towns of Bartlett, Redstone and North Conway, retiring in 2004. He says it was a wonderful and rewarding part time career, helping people in need at unfortunate times in their lives.
McKinney says he is honored to have the support of White Mountain Oil & Propane and looks forward to continuing the company’s motto of “Always There for You” in his management style for his fellow employees as well as the customers he has served for many years.
Owned by the Saunders family, White Mountain Oil & Propane is a locally operated energy retailer serving northern New Hampshire and western Maine for three generations. White Mountain Oil & Propane delivers premium fuel oil products, propane gas, as well as heating service and installation from our base in the heart of the White Mountains.
White Mountain Oil future tech awarded scholarship
(July 2018) CONWAY — White Mountain Oil & Propane’s future Service Technician Matt Aaron Coolbroth has been awarded the prestigious Dave Nelsen Scholarship from the National Association of Oil & Energy Service Professionals.
Coolbroth received the $5,000 scholarship at the OESP Awards Banquet in May at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.
The scholarship will be used to pay his tuition at the N.H. School of Mechanical Trades in Hampton.
Coolbroth joined White Mountain Oil & Propane as an apprentice after graduating from Kennett High School in Conway. He is in the early stages of training to become an oil/propane service technician.
To become a New Hampshire licensed oil technician, Coolbroth will need 4,000 hours of appropriate field experience and the required certifications, while to become licensed as a gas service technician he will need a minimum of 2,000 field hours plus educational hours.
There’s a serious shortage of service people in the trades all over the U.S. Nationally, the current average age of an HVAC technician is 54 years old.
“In our company, almost half of our service technicians are over age 60, so we’re delighted to have Matt join our team,” explained Dana Jones, White Mountain Oil & Propane’s director of sales and marketing.
“We’re continually looking for technicians, and welcome the opportunity to have younger workers undertake their training while working with our seasoned technicians who are a great resource for them,” Jones said.
Jones said that often the mechanical trades are overlooked as a career choice. “Young people attending a four-year college can easily graduate with debt in the six figures — and no job,” Jones continued.
“In Matt, we have a young man who started with us after graduating from Kennett and who will, by the age of 21, have to potential to earn a good wage with benefits and will have a great opportunity for advancement. We couldn’t be prouder of him. OESP only awards three to five scholarships a year nationally, and we’re so pleased that he was awarded one.”
Jones added that he welcomes the opportunity to speak with young people who are interested in exploring what a career in the HVAC industry has to offer — or workers who are considering a career change. “This is a great industry — and a great company, and we’re definitely looking for the next generation to join us.”
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