By Tina Schuitema – Edmonton, Alta.
It was a hot Sunday afternoon in Regina. The wind was blowing and there were grasshoppers and potato bugs as usual. We were all lying on the living room floor, trying to keep cool, when there came a knock at the back door.
On answering it, there stood a young man looking travel weary, hungry, and lonely. “Do the Haymores live here?” he asked.
I called for my dad and soon we heard his voice announce, “Welcome. Welcome!” He ushered the young man into the living room. “This is Charlie from Calgary and he’ll be staying with us for awhile,” dad said.
Wow! Calgary, the home of The Stampede! We were immediately friends and soon Charlie was spinning yarns about the Calgary Stampede. He talked of how the cowboys roped the girls as they rode by in the big parade, and much more. Then, we were off to Banff, the Rockies, and Lake Louise as he told us of their beauty.
To make the visit even better, we cranked up the old gramophone dad bought for $5 at an auction sale. We had some records such as Springtime in the Rockies by the Billing Brothers and Wilf Carter singing Swiss Moonlight Lullaby.
Charlie knew a lot of cowboy songs and could even yodel a bit. My brother Sam pulled out and old mouth organ with some of the reeds blown, and tried to play it.
“You can’t play that thing,” Charlie said. He pulled out a Marine Band mouth organ and started to play. This fellow was no slouch on that mouth organ! We were spellbound.
Mother had a way of solving problems
Mother had ideas of her own. She knew Charlie would never find a job in Regina. No one had a job it seemed. She knew he could help around the house pulling the weeds and fetching water from the tap.
In those days, there was no sewer and water in our area because we lived on the edge of the city. Perhaps Charlie could even water the garden a bit, she thought. Mother even had him on the washboard helping with the weekly wash.
Charlie, Sam, and I would rather sing and play the mouth organ that do chores, so mother and her big ideas didn’t develop to her liking.
She seemed to have a way of solving all problems and to her delight, Uncle Shibley (a family friend we called ‘uncle’) soon arrived from Radville. He had the general store and always stopped by for a chat when in Regina.
Poor Charlie! Mother had him all packed up and into Uncle Shibley’s car before he realized what was happening. “You can help uncle at the store in exchange for your room and board,” she explained.
This had to be the saddest day of our lives as Sam and I stepped forward to say goodbye. As Charlie turned to go, he handed me his mouth organ with instructions on how to play his style. Sam and I did learn to play and in fact, I still often play, all these years later.
The winds of war were soon at hand and Charlie was one of the first to line up to serve his country. When it was all over, Charlie returned for a visit, minus a leg. He was married now with two cute little kids, and again, was looking for work.
