Workers of former Lodi giant reunite

Employees for Super Mold, the ‘Biggest Little Company in Lodi’ hold what could be their last reunion today

Former employees of Super Mold Corporation will meet at Richmaid Restaurant in Lodi today at 11 a.m., for what will most likely be the final reunion organized by Don Zavaterro and Jack Waggoner.

Known as the “Biggest Little Company in Lodi,” Super Mold manufactured molds for retreading tires from 1926 until 1976, according to a guide written by former employee Jim Beckman. At its peak in 1966, the company employed more than 500 men and women in Lodi with an annual payroll of approximately $3 million, and was the largest employer in the city at the time.

The last reunion, held on July 3, 1990, had 340 attendees, according to Zavaterro, who reported that only 25 former employees plan to attend this year. The guests will meet over lunch to reminisce over their days at the company and update one another on their lives since. Many of them have not seen each other in decades, such as Waggoner who moved to Hawaii in 1965.

“I’m looking forward to sharing old stories with old friends, I haven’t seen some in 50 years. It’ll be good to catch up, it will probably be the last chance we get,” said Waggoner.

Waggoner got his first job at Super Mold in 1957 after graduating from San Diego State University, working there until 1965 when he moved to Hawaii, where he continued to sell Lodi machinery all over the world.

He began his career as an expeditor before working his way up to run the order department and production control department.

“General Mills were the big guns in Lodi at the time, but we were just as big, building and shipping machinery all over the world. It was an impressive little company, and it was so exciting to be on the leading edge of technology. It was an incredible place to work, everybody pulled together,” said Waggoner.

Before the company was sold in 1976, Super Mold had plants in Australia, sold molds to the U.S. Army in Vietnam and sold at least 20 plants to Japan, according to Waggoner.

Zavaterro started working in the machining shop after leaving the U.S. Air Force in 1962, eventually becoming the Western regional sales manager until 1976.

“It was a good time, I made a lot of good friends and I’m looking forward to seeing some of them at the reunion, such as Jack Waggoner, who was sort of the instigator of this whole thing. I was traveling a lot for the last seven or eight years of my career there, so I haven’t even met some of the guests yet,” said Zavaterro.

Earl Haynes also worked at Super Mold from 1962 until 1976, machining as many as 16 recap tire molds in a single shift.

“It was a good place to work, slow and steady like any other machine shop. The bosses were good, as long as you did your job, nobody bothered you or asked for more production. It’ll be good to see some of the guys again,” said Haynes.