Robert Habetler, Facilities caretaker

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. And after finishing high school, I was accepted to study piano performance at the University of Brandon, but, at the last minute I decided that living out of a suitcase travelling Western Canada in a rock band would be more fun and still educational. Two years later, I applied to the Grant MacEwan college piano performance program in Edmonton where I studied jazz and fortunately ended up working with one of my instructors as the back-up organist/keyboard player for the Edmonton Oilers (it was Gretzky’s last year and they won the cup). After college I once again packed my suitcase, this time travelling with a country band for five years (Rock 'n' Horse). That led to being a part of some original Canadian radio/video material. I always look back and think it was probably not much different than the life of a junior hockey player without a 21-year-old age cap.  If you're not getting big league opportunities maybe it’s time to rethink your career decisions. Settling down with my wife Sandra in Lethbridge seemed like the right choice and it was. I also had an opportunity in town to work in music retail and that eventually ended with a position managing the Long & McQuade store, with a few other sales opportunities to follow. After 25 years in sales I had enough. I got an opportunity to work at the Lethbridge Country Club (grounds crew) and then an opportunity cleaning at ULethbridge came up. Change is good.

How long have you been at ULethbridge and what do you do here?
My position in caretaking is into year three and I can say I’ve seen about 90 per cent of this wonderful facility and really enjoy my co-workers.

What's the best part of your job?
The best part of my job has to be the people, co-workers, students and teachers. It’s exciting to see so much research is being placed into the arts, business and health sciences, and I might add health & safety, at ULethbridge.

Tell us about your involvement with the Old School band.
The Old School band has four members, with Jamie Kaufmann on drums and vocals and his brother Adrian on bass and vocals. Both were born and raised in Lethbridge and come from a musical family. Jamie studied music at Capilano University and played with Colin James. He now works at Logic Lumber. Adrian studied music at ULethbridge and now works as a porter at Chinook Regional Hospital. Doug Sokoloski, a retired RCMP officer, plays lead guitar and I drive the melody section on keys, vocals and guitar. Doug and I both hail from Prince Albert and all of us have played in professional country and rock bands since the 1980s. We had just finished our first full year of rehearsals and playing when Covid hit in March 2020. That sent us home for two years. We had a chance to play last New Year's Eve, so we took a stab at it to see how it felt. We've been going ever since and now the phone is ringing again.

I've learned that, with confidence, life can be complete searching and being passionate. This has helped me achieve my personal goals in life through music, with our band Old School and being married to Sandra for 30 years.