The Buys family, part of a larger Buys and Howe crew, has logged 100 combined years of service helping O&G move people, equipment, and projects forward. Bill Buys Sr. (retired in 2003) opened the door in 1963 as an operator, first on a dump trailer and later hauling equipment on a low bed. He joined O&G after the company acquired his previous employer, worked on his first assignment at Newfield Dam following the devastating 1955 floods, and later helped relocate the concrete plant from South Main to Bogue. When Sr. began, O&G operated just over 200 vehicles. Today, the fleet numbers in the thousands, a testament to both the company’s growth and the generations of employees who helped build it.
Bill “Junior” Buys joined O&G in 1990 at age 20, continuing a family tradition built on reputation, hard work, and trust. He started driving tri-axle dump trucks for the Mason Division, but once Bob Oneglia learned he had experience operating delivery boom trucks, Junior was quickly reassigned. Billy (Bill III) followed in 2000, beginning on the SoNo project, running a forklift. Today, he operates a rough terrain crane on the I-691/I-91 interchange project in Meriden.
By marriage, the Buys and Howes became one extended O&G family. Junior’s sister is married to Fred Howe, and Billy (III) and Spencer Howe are cousins. That connection remains visible today. On the Meriden interchange project, Billy operates a crane alongside Site Superintendent Fred Howe and Operator Spencer Howe, a reminder that the two families continue to build O&G’s story together.
The Buys approach works with a sense of humor and perspective. As they like to say, “Every day at O&G is an adventure.” One story that still gets laughs is the time Sonny Savanella insisted Junior ride with a mentor the first few times he pulled a trailer dump. The only mentor available? His dad. Junior still calls it “embarrassing,” but it’s a memory both father and son continue to share.
While the three Bills rarely worked on the same crew, their paths crossed often. One favorite memory came when Junior pulled into Billy’s I-91 Charter Oak job, parked beside his son’s truck, snapped a photo, and sent it along. It was a simple moment, but one that captured the pride of seeing another generation carry the family trade forward.
Service runs well beyond the jobsite. All three Bills have served the Harwinton Fire Department: Sr. as a past deputy chief, Junior as the current chief, and Billy as a lieutenant, continuing a tradition of service that stretches back another generation to Sr.’s father, a forest fire warden.
Whether on a jobsite, at the firehouse, or alongside their extended Howe family, the Buys have built a legacy centered on service, hard work, and showing up when people need them most. For the Buys family, the job has always been about more than moving equipment. It’s about carrying forward a tradition of pride, service, and family.
