‘I pawed great handfuls of packed gumbo mud’
By J. Alvin Speers – Calgary, Alta. During the summer of 1959, my dad accompanied me on a holiday trip return to the West. Single at the time, I was living at my parents’ home [continue…]
By J. Alvin Speers – Calgary, Alta. During the summer of 1959, my dad accompanied me on a holiday trip return to the West. Single at the time, I was living at my parents’ home [continue…]
By John Martens – Oliver, B.C. The stubble fields in the farming area between Winnipegosis and Fork River, Man., were a sea of mud the spring of 1937. Dirty remnants of snowbanks remained in the [continue…]
By Ruth Towill – Fort MacLeod, Alta. It was going to be a busy morning as I planned my day: vacuum the house, do the laundry, make lunch for my family, as well as getting [continue…]
By Mary Brown – Gull Lake, Sask. Springtime on the farm back in the ‘50s and ‘60s was a busy time for everyone. One day, my husband needed a hand to move some machinery from one [continue…]
By Syl Kulyk – Saskatoon, Sask. Growing up on a farm 10 miles west of Wakaw, Sask., in the district of Sokal had advantages and disadvantages. We learned to adapt and make things work. Baking [continue…]
By Peter Wall – Sicamous, B.C. We lived on a homestead near Macdowall, 30 km southwest of Prince Albert, Sask. My dad and his siblings were spread about the district and cooperated with one another over [continue…]
By Kathleen Smart – Wetaskiwin, Alta. As I tossed the second load of wet clothes into my electric clothes dryer on a cold winter morning, I remembered helping mother with her washing all those years ago. Washdays [continue…]
By Myrtle (Orsen) Matthews – Sedgewick, Alta. Growing up on our farm in Sunny Valley district in Saskatchewan, farm horses were a big part of our lives. Bing and Bang were our dad’s pride and [continue…]
By Scotty Wells – Scarborough, Ont. I was born on a rented farm six miles southeast of Rapid City, Man., in 1930. In April 1937, dad managed to buy a bank-foreclosed farm two miles southeast of [continue…]
By Anne Cott – Winnipeg, Man. I boarded the train in the small community of Eldersley, Sask. in late August, 1947 and headed for Dawson City, YT., to teach Grades 5 and 6. The train would [continue…]
By Fred Tarnasky – Medicine Hat, Alta. I was born in a farmhouse in Bessarabia, Russia in 1939. My father was born in 1908 and my mother in 1914. I was the firstborn to my parents [continue…]
By Dorothy (Corey) Nichol-Hack – Oliver, B.C. I will remember my 13th birthday forever. It was the year mom bought me a pair of secondhand figure skates. The three neighbour boys, my brother, and I [continue…]
By Naden Hewko – Macklin, Sask. When my parents immigrated to Canada from Western Ukraine, they brought their traditions with them, including their observance of religious holidays like Christmas and Easter. I remember Easter was the [continue…]
By Kay Parley – Regina, Sask. We moved to Regina in 1938 and I entered Grade 10. As a newcomer, my mother advised me to look for someone who seemed to be alone and talk to [continue…]
By Gordon McMann – Campbell River, B.C. The pool hall was considered to be a den of iniquity when I grew up. Looking back on it now, many decades later, that seems a bit unfair. Most [continue…]
By Olga (Lukawesky) Hrycun – Penticton, B.C. My first posting as a teacher in Alberta was in 1942 at Hollow Lake School. The school was one mile west of the post office and 10 miles north [continue…]
By Mickey Death – Lethbridge, Alta. My dad, Joe Graw, met the spirited Calgary city girl, Eleanor Barry, at his sister’s and her brother’s wedding. It was love at first sight and they were married after [continue…]
By Marie Siemens – Nanaimo, B.C. “Behind every successful seamstress lies a mountain of scraps,” so read a declaration sitting on the checkout counter of a fabric store I visited several years ago. Immediately I wished [continue…]
By Sue Frissell – Wainwright, Alta. Good advice came from my grandpa back in the early 1940s, while we were living in the country near Windsor, Ontario. One summer afternoon had been very sultry, the [continue…]
By Madeline Kallio – Kanata, Ont. A number of companies that sold baking items also offered free cookbooks once upon a time. My mother’s kitchen always had a Red Rose cookbook. Knox offered a free [continue…]
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