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A winning team just like The New Orleans Saints
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Original Homepage with
music and fun Smoke School Schedule Smoke School locations by states Register for Smoke School Fees Contact US What to bring to Smoke School Whitlow Smoke School Staff What are the requirements for passing the Smoke School certification test Weather Conditions for Smoke School Why is Whitlow Qualified to conduct Smoke Schools About us About our special training About Big George Private Onsite Smoke Schools Request a brochure and a box of chocolates Email this page to a friend Testimony- customer comments about us Enter your comments about Whitlow Smoke Schools FAQ Frequently Asked Questions How to prepare for state or federal environmental inspections How to choose a smoke school provider Download EPA Method 9 Form Instructions for Method 9 Form What is the secret to passing the test the first time Order Pocket Ringelmann Smoke Charts Order Smoke School Practice DVD Order Smoke School Classroom DVD Order a Boudreaux Level to determine vertical angle of stack height and distance Order other smoke school products State Smoke School Contracts When am I due certification What is a Whitlow Whitlow Photo Album Smoke School and Whitlow family stories Order Blue Bayou Days- The Summer of 61, a novel written by Big George Free Music Downloads Employment Opportunities Recipe for Southern Fried Catfish Cajun Gumbo Recipe Bring your family to smoke school Outside Environmental Links What happens if EPA writes you up Disclaimer 40 CFR Part 63 Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants |
Thank all of you for visiting our humble home web page on the World Wide Web and for allowing us to have the privilege of seeing your smiling face every 6 months at our 100 smoke school locations in 20 states. We love you and we need you. We
must be doing something right. A year after I took our smoke school
commercial in September 2001, a fellow from
Vulcan Materials Company
called me the week before Christmas and asked us to train his employees
at a plant outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I did a quick spot check on
the internet for the weather report and saw that the chill factor was
minus 37 and the ice was 2 feet thick on the ground. I said that he was going
to find someone else or wait until April. I am a Southern Boy from the
great warm state of Louisiana and I ain’t never been in cold weather
except for 2 weeks in October 1970 when Uncle Sam’s Air Force had the
gall to send me to Iceland to inspect the aircrew life support equipment
and catch the crews up on their life support training. I really had to
bundle up. It was so cold that if you forgot to wear your insulated
gloves, your hand would stick to the metal on the
EC-121 radar plane wing and just stay there until it was surgically
removed. When we took off to return to Sacramento, I looked out the
window of our EC-121 and the snowflakes were as big as tennis balls and
falling sideways at 65 miles an hour. I sat down in my chair by the
window and said my prayers. “Lord if you get me out of this, I will give
you everything I own.” When
we finally gained altitude, the Flight Engineer came to me and said
there is ice on the wing and we are in for some severe turbulence. The
plane bounced up and down like a yo yo. I said if I am going to die in
an airplane crash than I want to be sleeping. I climbed into the crew
bunk bed and did not wake up until we got to the
Bone Yard at Davis
Monthan Arizona. I will never forget that place with all the dead
airplanes on the ground and we blew out a tire on landing. I told
Vulcan they going to have to find someone else. I don’t belong to Uncle
Sam no more and I got my options. The guy said, “Big George, I heard you
are the biggest, baddest, and the bestest There ever was. Besides
that, nobody else wants to come up here either. You
are our last hope. Our certificates expired yesterday.” Reluctantly I
found my footlocker and dug my Air Force parka, insulated coveralls;
thermal underwear, and ski boots and we drove to Milwaukee. About
30 Vulcan Employees sat in a metal maintenance building with a large
diesel heater watching me blowing smoke through a rollup door. I brought 3
sets of plastic fuel lines that transport the diesel fuel from the tank
to the burner. I put the extras by the heater to keep them thawed out.
Sometimes the diesel froze in the plastic lines before I could get the
fuel flowing. Somehow we got through it and everyone passed. It payed
off. Today Vulcan is our largest
source of income. We train every Vulcan plant in Illinois, and Indiana.
We must be doing something right. Last week a Union Pacific Railroad Environmental Coordinator drove all the way from Denver Colorado to our home in West Monroe, Louisiana, because his counterparts in Arkansas said we were the best smoke school provider in the world. It humbles me to see hard working people like you take time from their busy schedule to fly to our schools from faraway places like Japan. Read what they have to say about Whitlow. Although the world economy has been struggling, we are growing consistently each year. We are growing because of a grain of faith like mustard seed, and because you are telling your friends about our great friendly customer service, attitude, dependability, and professionalism. We may not be rich or famous, but we are enjoying life and we are here for one reason, to serve you. Please check out our schedule and find a location near you. Private on site smoke schools are available for people who want to train at least 20 attendees. We take a lot of pride in what we do. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Welcome home. Roddy White, my grandfather once told me that you can’t look a gift mule in
the mouth. I suppose he knew what he was talking about, because he
started out as a mule skinner for the
Louisiana
Central Lumber Company
in Clarks, Louisiana about a hundred years ago, when he was just 16
years old. At his funeral a fellow told me that Roddy never met a mule
that he could not ride.
My momma always used to say that life was just
like a box of chocolates. You never know just what you are gonna get.
Momma also said you can’t judge a book by the cover. There has grown to
be a few companies out there on the internet who claim to be smoke
school providers. I know most of them and I can tell you that some of
them purchased their first rusted out smoke machine for $700 from
Fred
Sanford’s salvage yard. I have more time in the outhouse that these guys
have spent inside the gates of any industrial plant in America. I can
bet you 20 bucks that no other living employee of any smoke school
provider company has ever made a surprise midnight inspection of a
hazardous waste incinerator in their life. This is like hiring the new college football coach. “Well let’s see MR
Boudreaux. You
have never made a tackle. You have never got down low and ran into a guy
full blast and knocked the ball out of his hands. You have never taken a
snap from the center. You have never thrown a pass. You have never been
down on the 3-point stance and had someone step on your knuckles with
the cleats. You are hired. Start tomorrow. One huge problem with smoke
school providers is they forgot they are there to teach. Part of the
teaching, an important part, is how to take the certification test. They
simply assume that you already know how. And some of you actually think
you know how, but unless you have been to Whitlow, you have never been
taught the correct way to pass quickly and go home. They just go on as
fast as they can treating you like a herd of cows, read, read, read, so
they can get through as fast as they can, so you can fail and start all
over again. Some providers have enclosed operating booths for their
employees to work in air conditioned comfort. They cannot even see you
at all to make sure you are learning how to properly take the test. That
is not how my momma raised me. She raised me to treat others like the
good book says, like I wish others to treat me, with respect and
dignity. We have come to call it customer service.
The Whitlow Family 1944- Eloise, Artie JR, Mother Whit, My daddy George Wesley, Uncle Maurice
Somebody out their hand picked you to represent the company and come to
smoke school to learn all you can about compliance. Give it 110%. We
want let you down. Whitlow has 4 retired Louisiana DEQ inspectors on
staff. We know smoke school and we know all you need to learn about
environmental compliance. We have been there, done that, the whole 9
yards, and took a picture of it. Some of you want to save a few bucks and find the cheapest provider out there. Read the small print. Some providers add hidden charges like overtime. Several providers are sending you mail offering a very low introductory rate just to suck you in the door. Don't be fooled. Watch it buster. Some providers charge you a reduced rate if you pay in advance. This proves that they have zero experience walking for a mile in your shoes. I have either worked in a factory or been inspecting factories most of my 63 years. I know that you have certain procedures that you are required to follow. I know that you have to fill out a requisition and get a purchase order number. We do not penalize you for taking the time to do your job the way you are expected to. We charge the same regardless if you pay now or later. We love smoke school and we
want you to learn what you need to know and have fun doing it. Life is
too stressful already. We do our homework and evaluate the weather
conditions and set the stage for learning. We consider all the factors
to make the smoke easier to read. I have heard other providers brag that
not every one can read smoke. They boast that half the people taking the
test fail and this meets their quota. I have heard them say well if it
is to cloudy to see the smoke, let them take a good guess. I don't care
what the Jones's say, 3 days in a yard chair taking a test over and over
again is not fun. We consider all the factors like 3 stack distances away,
contrasting background, wind direction, sun to your back. We provide
shelter from rain, snow, and sun. We create a contrasting background so
you can read smoke on a cloudy day. The majority of you will pass the
test the very first attempt. We feel that if you do not pass in 3 runs,
then we failed to teach you how and we did not do our job correctly. We
teach you how, so please pay attention. Listen, do you want to know a
secret. Here is the secret
for passing the smoke school certification test the first time. We bring lots of bottled water and
soft drinks to keep you hydrated. We make you a fresh pot of coffee. We
bring donuts. We cook you a fine lunch. We are here for one reason and
that is to serve you and do it well. Don’t worry, be happy. Come to
Whitlow and bring a positive attitude.
Whitlow Enterprises has 30 years experience in smoke school and
environmental protection compliance inspection and enforcement. We are a
family owned and operated Disabled Veteran Small Business that strives
to provide stress free smoke school with customer service and lagniappe,
hot coffee, donuts, soft drinks, sodas, and home cooked lunches for your
convenience. We provide
nationwide visible emissions opacity training and certification. We are
based in West Monroe, Louisiana and Odon Indiana and provide 100
locations in 21 states.
Welcome home veterans. We are glad you are home. I remember coming home
after the Vietnam War. Nixon gave us all an early out. All of the
returning warriors saturated the job market. I had a new wife and a new
baby. I spent a year on unemployment and food stamps and eventually
re-enlisted back in the US Air Force, because there were not a lot of
jobs for life support technicians and parachute packers. Not one person
came back to complain that their parachute did not open. My return to
the Air Force led to my career change to environmental and eventually
smoke school. All things do indeed work together for good for those who
love the Lord. If you are a fellow veteran, you need a job, and are
willing to relocate to Northern Louisiana or Southern Indiana email me
smokeschool@yahoo.com subject job for a veteran and attach a resume
and I will see what we can do for you. Been there, done that- the whole
9 yards.
Drew Brees and the Saints Record Breaking win.
Whitlow Smoke School Nation is based in
West Monroe, Louisiana, and
conducts training with
Lagniappe, the Cajun word for something just a little bit extra
thrown in for good measure. We provide friendly customer service and a
down home positive attitude. We want to turn smoke school into a
pleasurable memory. Memories are made, they just don’t happen. We do our homework. We pick and choose training locations convenient to groups of industrial plants that need our services. Gas ain't 30 cents a gallon no more. Time is money. Email smokeschool@yahoo.com - Subject: to suggest a location. The convenient locations allow us to be up close and personal in our training, because we average about 30 people per location. We don't treat you like a herd of cows. Many people have been part of our extended family for 10 years or longer. Read what they have to say about is. You will develop friendships and working relationships with our crew, other industrial plant employees, and state and federal environmental inspectors who attend our training every 6 months. We have even had a wedding or two at smoke school. We are family owned and operated. Five of our staff members are retired Louisiana DEQ employees. We are the experts in environmental compliance. We do our homework. We select training locations that set the scene for the optimal conditions for reading the opacity of smoke. We strive to provide you with shelter from rain, snow, or the sun. We create a contrasting background so you can read opacity correctly during cloudy conditions. We take our time during the testing procedure. Before we start the testing, we give precise instructions on how to take the test and pass quickly. We observe you during practice tests and the real test to make sure you are demonstrating that you have learned the basic fundamentals, such as sun position, wind direction, distance from stack, observing the smoke at the densest part of the plume at the end of the smokestack, reading the background not the smoke, when to look at the smoke, and when to stop looking and mark your answer sheet. We use the original EPA answer sheet, where you just write your answer in the columns. If you have any questions at all, just stop us and ask. We want you to pass. Other smoke school providers measure the success of
their schools by the percentage that fails. I have heard them brag that
half the people failed the test. I have herd them say, "Let them just
guess if it is too cloudy to read the white smoke." I have heard
them say, "Not everybody can read smoke." Other providers forget that
the words "smoke school" indicates that training
is taking place. They don't train, they just test: read, read, read.
They want you to read as fast as you can so they can do about 10 test
runs a day. We like to
Get-R-Done in
less then 3 test runs, before your eyeballs get stressed out. We think
reading smoke can be as natural as falling off a log. I find myself
reading opacity of people burning leaves on the side of the road. If you
can't read opacity, then you have not been taught correctly. Some people
have been taking smoke school for 10 years and find it stressful because
they have not been taught how. We are proud to be the flip-flop, the opposite
side of the coin when it comes to smoke school providers. We are often
imitated but never duplicated. You will find cheaper providers, but your
daddy always said you get exactly what you pay for. My momma always
said, Life is like a box
of chocolates." Three days is a long time to spend in a yard chair
throwing clipboards in the air in the blazing sun. Time is money. God
threw away the mold when he created us. I don't even like the sound of
the word failure. Bring a positive attitude.
You can do this. This is
the way that Big George was raised. We do not like to leave a location
until all are certified.
Lets take a little break. You have just got to see this video. Click here to see Big George and the Phantom Amish Rooster.
Be well. Do good work. And stay in touch. And that's the news from Lake Whitlow B Gone.
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Number One in the USA Geaux Tigers