ASPHALTopics | Summer 2014 | VOL 27 | NO3

MARCOM
MATTERS
by Abigail Wright Pereira
Marketing and Communications Director, OHMPA
The Big 4-0
The Philadelphia Flyers had won the Stanley Cup, a gallon
of gas cost 55 cents, bell-bottoms were in, President
Nixon was out, and a meeting of a small group of
Ontario’s asphalt producers at Toronto’s Constellation
Hotel would form what would become known as the
Ontario Hot Mix Producers Association. The year was
1974. One thing OHMPA and I have in common is that
we both got our start that year.
Those of us who have been around since 1974 or before
have all heard the clichés that go with the milestone
birthday – “Forty, now you’re like a vintage wine,”
“Look who’s over the hill,” and so on.
Unlike any anniversary before it
that ends with a zero, 40 signifies
the transition from youth to middle
age or maturity. I believe this is not
a time to bemoan aging, but rather
is a cause for celebration.
The forty-year mark held as much
significance in ancient times as it
does today. In both Jewish and
Muslim cultures a person wasn’t
considered fully mature until the
age of 40. In addition, forty years was a time period
designated to fulfill promises and oaths. According
to the Bible, Moses was 40 years old when he led the
Israelites out of Egypt, and they had to wait another
40 years to get to the “Promised Land.”
In some ways, the same applies to OHMPA. The
association began as a few asphalt producers who
set out to change the industry for the better. OHMPA’s
efforts over the past four decades have brought forth
several pivotal improvements including standardized
testing in all asphalt labs, the MTO asphalt cement price
index, and the Environmental Practices Guide, to name
a few. OHMPA has grown into some big shoes as it enters
its fourth decade as a fully staffed, internationally known
and respected association. Now fitting into those big
shoes, OHMPA is ready to take on bigger challenges
and opportunities that the future holds.
This decade has also unfolded as an exciting chapter
in my own life. A few weeks shy of my fortieth birthday,
I gave birth to my first child, Elijah. When he was four
weeks old, I fell into a fire pit at
a camp ground and broke my arm.
I wouldn’t advise anyone to break
a limb after childbirth. However,
after 40 years of life’s ups and
downs, I’m certain I am handling
it better than I would have 10 years
ago. As I sit here pecking out this
column with a brace on my right
arm that looks like something
out of RoboCop and listen to my
son being entertained by Little
Richard’s rendition of Tutti Frutti, I know that the best
is yet to come, and the same holds true for OHMPA.
Cheers to the big 4-0!
Abigail Wright Pereira is currently on maternity leave
from her position as Marketing and Communications
Director for OHMPA.
FALL 2014 9