Hal Ostrander: (laughs) Well, Mr… Greg. No man can tell the future. We can, however, tell you our plans, or our intentions.
Greg Jouglard: Fair enough.
Hal Ostrander: Let me assure the local and general public that the Lovely Chocolate Company will keep on producing the high quality candies that America knows and has come to love. We are dedicated to keeping this company “in the family,” so to speak, and have no intentions of selling out to any foreign owners even though we will continue exporting our product overseas.
Greg Jouglard: Have there been any offers from foreign companies to buy you out?
Hal Ostrander: Heavens, yes! We receive offers all the time. It’s as though the world tries our product and loves it so much they wish to own the company! (laughs) But ownership is a matter of pride to us.
Greg Jouglard: How so, Mr. Ostrander?
Hal Ostrander: Our founder, Mr. Cornelius Lovely, was proud of the fact our company was conceived and built in America. Our product is American made, and shared with the world. He loved the country, and he loved his employees. He had loyalty and felt responsible for them; he didn’t want another company, or foreign company, taking over, firing and replacing Lovely employees, who had dedicated their lives to Lovely Chocolate, with their own people.
Greg Jouglard: Does the current leadership share Mr. Lovely’s commitment?
Hal Ostrander: We will try, yes. We are dedicated to that task.
Greg Jouglard: Can you tell us more about Mr. Lovely’s business philosophy, his views on the company?
Hal Ostrander: Well, Mr. Lovely liked to keep things to himself. He had to protect himself and withdrew from any familiarity even among his peers. I never really felt as though I knew him on a friendship level although I did trust him and felt obligated to him.
Greg Jouglard: Was he a Howard Hughes type? Withdrawn to the point of being isolated?
Hal Ostrander: No, not isolated. He just had to be careful. When a man is worth billions, everybody--family, friends, even the government--wants something from him! They knew who had funds and they all wanted, how should I put it, a piece of the pie. He had to protect himself, yes, but he wasn’t isolated.
Greg Jouglard: On the topic of money, do you know exactly how much he was worth?
Hal Ostrander: He was worth as much as the Lovely Chocolate Factory, which at the moment, is quite a lot. I can’t say exactly how much, since it fluctuates from day to day.
Greg Jouglard: We know the impact Mr. Lovely had on the local community. Why do you think he gave so much to the city, when he could have kept it all to himself, or in the family?
Hal Ostrander: Mr. Lovely had a strong faith and held firm to his Quaker roots. He comes from a school of philosophy that says the love of money is the root of all evil, that money itself is just a tool, like any other; like a hammer, saw, or drill, it can do good or evil; it all depends on how you use it. Mr. Lovely chose to do good and to share his good fortune. He felt this was a blessing from God, and as a blessing, a responsibility. Again, just as rain falls on the just and the unjust, the goodness of Mr. Lovely was shared and seen in the local community.
Greg Jouglard: Can you tell what all Mr. Lovely has done for the community?
Hal Ostrander: My assistant, Dr. Heinrich Bonhoffer, can tell more than I could. Let me direct you to him.
Greg Jouglard: Dr. Bonhoffer, can you give us any specifics?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: Yes, I can. Mr. Lovely gave land and funds to start up various public schools, did the same for the city hospital, and supported the home for orphans in the area. Since these organizations were of a public nature, there was no hiding his giving nature here, but Mr. Lovely also supported many good causes that never saw print in the newspaper. He didn’t like to draw attention to himself or his good fortune.
Greg Jouglard: Can you describe the current conditions of the Lovely Chocolate Factory?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: Things were in disarray for a short while, but there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. Mr. Lovely never chose a director to succeed him, and the board of directors felt that Mr. Ostrander, having the most experience in the business, would be the best leader in the interim.
Greg Jouglard: Does that mean that Miss Susan Lovely will inherit leadership of the Lovely Chocolate Company?
Hal Ostrander: Miss Lovely was named in the will and has been left the family fortune, so yes, it appears she will be the logical leader if she so chooses.
Greg Jouglard: Have you heard what her wishes are regarding this matter?
Hal Ostrander: No, I haven’t talked with Miss Lovely in the past few weeks. There has arisen a matter of missing funds regarding her inheritance.
Greg Jouglard: Yes, it’s estimated that $10 billion have been siphoned from her family estate. You don’t think there was any misappropriation of funds, do you?
Hal Ostrander: I cannot say; I am not privy to any inside information with finances, especially finances of such a magnitude.
Greg Jouglard: We did a little research on business leaders of the past, those who happened to be of the Quaker faith, and found that those who did quite well shared their wealth with the local community, as Mr. Lovely has done.
Hal Ostrander: Yes. We are proud of that.
Greg Jouglard: We also found that many of the same Quaker businessmen, when they retired or neared death, gave away all their wealth so that they would pass away without a penny, since they held that they came into this world with nothing and wished to exit in the same manner. Can you explain why Mr. Lovely didn’t do the same?
Hal Ostrander: I cannot speak for Mr. Lovely on this matter of faith; I can only attest how he helped the community while he was living. What he chose to do with his earthy fortune was entirely his own affair.
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: If I may, I believe I can shed some light on this question. Mr. Lovely seemed to have a fierce loyalty to his employees, many of whom are citizens in the local community. There have been times in the past when the economy has been good, and there have been other times when the economy has been not so good. Mr. Lovely, with his personal fortune, helped the business whenever the company’s monetary reserves became tight. He never laid off an employee although he had every right to. He knew his workers had families and felt that a happy worker was a productive worker. His goodness fostered loyalty among the workers, so he kept control of his personal finances up to the very end.
Greg Jouglard: Would Susan Lovely, as the Leader of Lovely Chocolates, do the same for the company?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: The Lovely Chocolate Company is doing quite well; the stock is up, and sales are good worldwide; Lovely Chocolate is in demand everywhere; hopefully the days of outside help are something of the past.
Greg Jouglard: Mr. Ostrander, why is there such a demand for your chocolates worldwide?
Hal Ostrander: Well, Greg, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like to brag, but… (chuckling) Lovely’s chocolates are quite simply the best in the world! When other chocolate companies put in ground chocolate, we put in the best chocolate available; when other companies put in sugar, we also put in the best there is; when other companies have milk chocolate, can you name any other company that owns its own cows? We do! We have the happiest, most contented cows available, many of which have won contests in stock shows, I might add. Heinrich, what am I forgetting?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: Another company has creamy chocolate; our chocolate is creamier; our competition has low-grade chocolate bars; we only have high-quality chocolate bars, but we also run a line of chocolates that the average citizen can afford. When our competition says its chocolate is sweet, we can say ours is sweeter. We put our high quality into all our different lines of chocolates; whenever something is added, strawberries, mints, raisins, walnuts, pecans, it’s all the best. Nothing else will do.
Greg Jouglard: You have a high standard for your chocolates; that much is obvious. Is there any truth to the rumor that your cho
colates, as good as they are, are addicting?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: We have done numerous studies on all of our chocolates and can verify that there is no truth at all to that rumor. I can say that our chocolates are as harmless as your mother’s homemade apple pie.
Hal Ostrander: There are even some health benefits to chocolate!
Greg Jouglard: Getting back to Susan Lovely, do you think that she would show an interest in her employees as much as Cornelius Lovely did?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: This is something I cannot speculate on; however, it is known that the Lovely family has always been supportive of the factory workers, truck drivers, engineers, administrators, secretaries, and so on. The Lovely family has a tradition of only good.
Greg Jouglard: And you hope that the tradition continues?
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: Oh yes, most definitely. After all, a happy worker is a productive worker.
Gregory Jouglard: Gentlemen, we are about out of time for this segment. Thanks to both of you for agreeing to appear on “KDBC Presents,” and best wishes in the future.
Hal Ostrander: Thank you, Greg.
Dr. Heinrich Von Bonhoffer: My pleasure.
At Home
At the house that night, David and Walter and I were sitting around the small kitchen/dining room table. We were talking over drinks and chips, about the events of the past few days, and about the dilemma of the Burke family situation.
“You mean the Ceraldi hyphen Burke family situation,” reminded Walter.
“Listen, fellows,” I said, “I think there’s a solution to the Burke family disaster.”
Walter said, “I don’t think there are any fixes for that marriage; when that marriage goes, there goes the family, split-split!”
“What do you have in mind?” asked David.
“Here’s what I was thinking,” I continued. “We’ve been concentrating on Dr. Franklin Burke. So far, we’ve failed. He’s still seeing his girlfriend behind Helen’s back. But what if we turned our attention to Susan Lovely?”
David spoke up, “We’ve already made one hit on her, thanks to Walter.” He looked in Walter’s direction. Walter just grinned. “We don’t want to bring any attention to ourselves; I’ve got to lay low.”
“I agree,” I said. “You’ll be out of this. This is a one-man job.”
“Then what are we doing here?” asked David.
“I needed some feedback. From people I trust.”
Walter and David looked at each other. “Okay, shoot!” they said simultaneously.
“Susan Lovely has just inherited a ton of cash money, which Walter has …
“…borrowed,” said Walter.
“Borrowed, for a short while. As soon as Franklin finds out about this, Miss Lovely may not be as attractive to him as he thought. But along with the cash went a lot of stock in the Lovely Chocolate Company, and she’s now the top shareholder.”
“So?” said David. “What are we supposed to do, steal her stock?”
“No, nothing like that. She carries the family name, the family business, and is closely tied to and associated with the Lovely Chocolate Company. My idea, given to me by a female counselor…”--I peered at Walter, who rolled his eyes-- “… is that one of us should go and speak with the board of directors and see if they can do any reasoning with Miss Lovely.”
“Reasoning with her about what?” asked David.
“Reasoning with her about doing what’s best for the company.”
“How does having a boyfriend have anything to do with the company?” asked Walter.
I tried to answer so as to convince him. “The Lovely Chocolate Company has presented itself as a family-friendly company; it has the image of wholesomeness and trust and loyalty. It is also known worldwide and does business with who knows how many countries all over the world, mostly western, European countries, and in the Americas. If it got out that Miss Lovely was seeing someone…”
“Not just someone, a married man,” chimed in David.
“A married man with children, four children,” added Walter. “Four beautiful children.”
“Yes. Wouldn’t a scandal like this cause ripples in the Lovely Family-Oriented Chocolate Company?” asked David.
“Maybe. Perhaps. Who knows how this would affect the company,” I said.
“It might make their stock fall,” said Walter. “Call me jaded, but I doubt that people really care about that anymore.”
“Maybe not here, not as much as they would, say, 50 years ago, but what about around the world?”
“Around the world?” asked David. “How would they find out?”
“I don’t know,” I said. Then, offering possible answers: “The internet, probably. Radio. Television. Newspapers. Magazines. The Lovely Chocolate Company is a huge business, and its name means something.”
“And you’re going to walk right in to the board of directors, and tell them that Susan Lovely has a boyfriend, just like that,” smirked David.
“Not just like that. Something like that.”
“I don’t think I’d like to be there when you do,” said Walter.
“Well, I was hoping you fellows could give me a little feedback, tell me what to expect.”
“Expect to be laughed out of the boardroom,” said Walter. “They wouldn’t care if she dated a moose!”
“A chocolate moose,” cracked David.
Walter and David laughed at this. I suppressed a smile, but still felt a little concerned.
I continued, “What I’m thinking is, if they see the issue, if they hear what I’m saying, they might, perhaps, suggest to Miss Lovely to drop her boyfriend, for the sake of the company if nothing else.”
“These are businessmen. Money talks; everything else walks. If you can’t convince them it’s about the money, they won’t hear you,” muttered David.
“I was afraid of that.” I rubbed my head. “Anyway, I needed some feedback, and I got it. Thanks, fellows.”
Walter spoke up, “You know, you might have a point here, Randall. They can get in touch with her faster than we could, they have access to her, and they also have business with her. You might be on the right path.”
“I gotta get home,” said David, rising from the table. “When were you planning on seeing this board of directors?”
“They are meeting tomorrow at 2 p.m. I thought the sooner the better.”
“Will they let you into their meeting? How did you get in?” David asked.
“I contacted the CEO, a Mr. Hal Ostrander. They’ll give me three minutes, at the very beginning.”
David said, “You mean to tell me a multi-billion dollar company just lets anybody off the street come into its board meetings and talk about anything under the sun?”
“Not just anything,” I said. “About what’s best for the company. I told Mr. Ostrander what I had to say would directly affect his company’s sales, and when he heard that, he decided to give me three minutes.”
David and Walter looked at each other. “You’d better speak quickly, then,” said David. “The more information, the better.”
“Yeah,” said Walter. “You’ll have to spill all like an auctioneer, and hope they can keep up!”
“I’ll do the best I can. Thanks for coming over.” David headed to the front door.
“Wish I could help you with this,” said Dave, opening the door. “I’ll be working tomorrow. What about you?”
“I’m going to take a long lunch.” David looked at me as though he didn’t believe me. “They’re kind of used to my irregular schedules. They know I don’t miss deadlines; that’s all they care about.”
“Yeah, well…,“ said Dave, “your face is going to be known, now.”
“I’ll have to deal with that.”
“Helen once caused you a lot of grief. If she could see what you’re doing for her…”
“Helen is a victim, now.” David looked at me. I continued, “She needs our help.”
We shook ha
nds, and he walked to his car and drove off. I shut the front door and went back to the kitchen table. Walter was still sitting, drinking from his cup, waiting for me to come back in.
“Well, you’ve got a big day tomorrow. You gonna tell that to Miss Karen Plan-ter?”
I stopped. “How did you know my counselor’s name?”
Walter grinned over the top of his cup.
“Why should I tell her?” I asked.
“You said she’d be the first to know.”
I looked at Walter. He was still smiling. “You son-of-a-gun,” I said.
“You’d better call her tomorrow before you go to the board meeting. It might help to have a counselor’s opinion on these things…”
“Maybe I’d better,” I said.
“… even if she is just a woman,” said Walter, suppressing his laughter in his drink.
The Big Day
All morning I worked, but my mind wasn’t on the job. At noon, I took off for the rest of the day. The bosses didn’t complain; they knew the job would get done, and before the deadline. Sometimes it’s good to not be paid by the hour, but by the project. It was feast and famine, but it also gave me time flexibility when I needed it. But most of the time, I was there in the office, like other 8-to-5 people, there at the drawing board, so the bosses, other engineers, and designers didn’t panic. It was good to be needed.
I headed over to the medical center where Miss Planter was employed. I’d have to talk with Phyllis the receptionist, and hopefully she’d let me see Miss Planter; it shouldn’t be a problem.
I entered the waiting area, but the receptionist was gone to lunch. I knocked on Miss Planter’s office. “Come in,” she said. I popped the door partially open, and said “Hi!”
She was with another patient, but it looked as though the patient was about to wrap up; a lady was in front of Miss Planter with her purse in hand and looked as though she was poised to go out the back door. “I’m sorry,” I said, “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
The Lovely Chocolate Mob Page 17
