we were really dirty guys.....

Growing up in Chilliwack....... 1958

We all needed work...all four of us.....Don McFarlane, Billy K, Don Reimer and I.....It was April 1958.....we decided to head out to Alberta or Saskatchewan...and see if we could find work on a pipeline somewhere out there....It was a tough goodbye for Bill...he was already married and S and I had been going steady for about 8 months and that was not easy either. Anyway we head out ....Bill has a really nice car...a 56 ford fairlane....so dependable travel was not a problem.....we had an old guitar and sort of sang our way back to Alberta......We stayed in cheapo motels and chased around southern Alberta with a little success...Pincer Creek, Drayton.......a few days work is all we could muster and we kept on hitting sites until we landed jobs in Estevan Saskatchewan....Billy worked with a bending machine.....Don Mcfarlane had a job on the doping crew....Don drove a little tractor and pulled a welder...I was a welders helper and ended up working on that same machine ...Hey ...that was pretty cool.....We were doing fine ......we stayed at a boarding house that belonged to a great lady...Mrs. Yonner.....She supported herself and her daughter by taking in about 8 or 10 guys and feeding us and doing our laundry....that was part of the deal.....She was a great old gal ( about 45)...and looked after her charges with the best care she could muster under those conditions.....We had beds in the basement...a bed and a dresser kind of partitioned off with sheets on wires...it was great......the food was unbelievable...what we missed in fancy was made up in the cooking.....breakfast and supper was something to behold....supper was a loaded table of roast beef...a turkey ...all the veggies...oh ya we had it made in that department....She also made lunches for everyone and always had something washed and clean for us.....the ironing was like a mountain of clothes piled up into a endless corner , that's what she did in her spare time.....there was one bathroom and the water was running steady......the guys hollering out their number for who was next.....the tub water turned the color of mud...it was so windy and dusty ....we were really dirty guys.....The car could be washed and the next morning a film of thick brown dust all over and inside it.......the dust got in everywhere.....but still all in all...we made the best of it and had a pretty good time living there..... I think it was 70 dollars a month.......
I dunno what got into Don Riemer and I....It got really windy......we had been going to work for about a week and sent home because it was to windy to work....even though we started at 2 in the morning to try and beat the weather. Anyway....we screwed up......after missing work for a week and not getting paid any show up time...we get all huffy and are gonna go to Ontario...there is work out there...ya sure.....The guys tried to persuade us to stay but being a couple of stoops we say , yup were goin to Ontario....So we hop a bus and away we go.....all we accomplished was to burn up our reserve money and have a long boring bus ride....thanks to Don's sense of humor we didn't go bonkers....We visited and stayed at Don's brothers place in Toronto...and my sister's in Petawawa, that was a good thing , but.....we tried hitchhiking to find Pipeline work but it was hopeless..and then we bussed.......finding a friendly jobsite was also hopeless.......it seemed like no one was interested in hiring anyone...you had to be connected...Gawd it was a terrible place.....we were used to the warm attitude of the west...that was a cultural shock to be in that people cold country....I could not get out fast enough....who needed that......So....we hop a bus with our tail between our legs and head home......It took about a month to cross Canada...that's what it seemed like......then after we got back to Chilliwack....Don gets a call..like right away...come back to Toronto ....there is a job for you....(Don's brother contacting Don)....I remember seeing him off and pitying him that long bus trip again...anyway...he went back for about a year.......he worked at Continental Can ltd...The Estivan job petterd out in a few weeks and Don M and Billy came home...

A flooky thing happened on the bus about the Regina area......A gal got on and sat in the front...I knew I had seen her somewhere and it dawned on me...Mirah, her name is Mirah.....I went up and sat with her and she was surprised and puzzled about who is this that was being so forward......I said, hey......... remember...Chilliwack....pause..."Oh the 3 Chilliwacks".......so we shook hands began to talk....
Anyway....Mirah was just heading to Vancouver after a trip completely around the world that she started in December 1956........Myself and 2 other Chilliwack boys (Mervin and Pete) were on our way to New Zealand and met her on the Oronsay (ship) when it departed Vancouver......She was travelling with another Gal (already back in Van.) We had all become part of a group that hung out together for over 2 weeks on board ship........We had made many contacts through that great bunch group and used them in our travels.

something was biting my leg

Growing up in Chilliwack............1955

Don Reimer and I sat in front left two rows in social studies class in grade 12...I found everything he did immensely funny and he felt the same way.....Mr. Foubileer was our teacher...I always thought he was kind of like a robot......a robot with egg on his tie.....he always had egg on his tie.. ..we used to howl about that....we could see what he had for breakfast.....and in a brown suit......it was hard to be serious in that class....and Fooby did not seem to notice.....just teach the lesson ...gaze out into the class.....like he had done a thousand times......needless to say our marks were not great......That is where we came to the idea to start the car hoppers club.....After school we always went to the Twin Peaks...that was part of a tradition established long before we were in grade 12......and kept up with every senior grade following....at 3:45 school was out......into the parking lot....Don had a 33 ford and my car was a 33 Chevrolet....they were both painted blue.....Don's dad had painted them both...I guess he had lots of blue, they both looked great........people would pile in till there was no more room.......we thought that a ride had to be worth something so we hatched out an idea for the Car Hoppers Club...we made cards up to that effect.....Honorary member.... etc.....it would appreciated if holder would contribute 10 cents towards the gas for a ride in this can... ....well the idea was great....but the results sucked...it worked at first but membership quickly dwindled......so we just had to whine and hope someone would cough up once in a while........the cafe was packed after school....kind of like "Happy Days".....the Wurlitzer could be played from the booths at the song selector.....5 cents for a song....6 for a quarter.....the selector had double sided pages that could be turned to look at the selections.....This was pre Elvis Presley times.......Johnny Ray was big with..... Little white cloud that cried.....and..... It's Cherry pink in apple blossom time....Silhouettes in the shade ......16 Tons.....Mr. Sandman.....we jived to big band music......the new music explosion came in 1956 when Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis , Johnny Cash and the Everly Brothers.... a whole bunch of people livened things up a little........anyway.......The Twin Peaks....coffee or a coke was 10 cents.....We usually didn't buy much more than that.....I guess money was tight...we could eat at home for free......we carried loose leaf binders in high school...our school world was kept in there...the subjects sectioned off..........Girls packed a Seagram's whiskey bag for their personal stuff if they could get one......it is a purple felt bag with yellow trim drawstrings......long plaid wrap around skirts with a huge silver safety pin in them were in style........also bobby sox and saddle shoes. If she was wearing a ring on a necklace she was "going steady". Guys wore trousers or jeans.....white corduroy pants were popular, V neck sweaters.......lots of plaid shirts. Guys wore shoes....runners were for Gym.
On night in the fall, Mervin borrowed his dad's car and he drove Russ and I to a basketball game ....we decided to go out for a smoke.....to the corridor between the high school and the Gym....It was one of those pitch black nights, you really could not see your hand in front of your face........We had been out for about 5 minutes.......I guess there was no tell tale burning butts by then and I was standing , minding my business waiting for these two guys to go back to the game.......all of a sudden something was biting my leg.....geez.....It was burning.......I slapped at it....a couple of times and "hey"...it was Mervin......he was standing 2 inches away from me and he was peeing all over my leg.....Hey....!#$%^#* look..*^%$!# at.....all ........over me ....O man..........Mervin had no idea.....but he caught on fast....and of course it was the funniest thing he had ever done....Russ was roaring.....oh gawd ...I guess it was funny....but I was not laughing .........I went and sat in it the car and waited ...after the game they came to the car with tears in their eyes......then they went to the Twin Peaks......I sulked and waited patiently in the car..... fuming ... ...then finally a ride home to a bath and clean pants......they thought that was pretty funny........they still do.

coffee break

we'll just toss a bit in there

Growing up in Chilliwack..............1952

14 years old...We live in a old house at the corner of Broadway and Yale Rd....The house has a large old basement with a big coal and wood furnace .....the wide pipes stuck out of it and reached out for various rooms in the house....it really was an ugly old brute....and it took up lots of room...the basement was a base ment for storage of stuff....preserves, coal ,wood and all the things the old place needed for its maintenance....it was a dark musty place.....there was a part of it that was dirt...there were a couple of pull cord lights and they were sorely needed to get light in there ,even on bright days....and there was stuff in there from past tenants...jars , old dishes, assorted tea cups , nick nacks, boards .....junk that might come in handy some day...That's the way old basements were for the most part. There was a sort of room at the back that I cleaned up and I used as stinky rumpus room...I think I even slept there a few times.....
Well, one rainy Fall day Mum asked me to go down and put some coal on the fire....okay,okay...I go down the stairs from the back porch and approach the beast, then I open the heavy door....Oh...It's out...the fire is out...hmmm...what would a good player do...whats this ?..in this jar...smells like coal oil...hey...I will get this puppy going......I stand on my tippy toes so I can peer in the opening better...yay....there is some red......I won't have to light it...ok...ok...we'll just toss a bit in there...toss, toss.....no........ ok a little more then....hmmm ....why won't it catch.....pause...wats goin on in there, as I stick my dum face closer to the hole................BANG...or BOOM would be more like it...jees it blew me backwards....Mum came running down the steps.... Gary.....what...... Yow its hot....I run by her and head up to the bathroom sink....ohh ,nice cool water......... ohh, that's goooooooooood...Mum is bumping into herself...but manages to get it together...she phones Dr. Patten and he says to come right to his office....meanwhile I pour on the water....I look in the mirror...gawd who is that dirty red faced baboon with no eyebrows .......we had great neighbors there and mum quickly got a car ride for us....Doc has his usual dry humor and made me sure that I knew exactly how stupid I was....Good ol Doc....he patched me up many times over 18 years...he put this wonderful white cream on my face...ooooooooooooo it felt so good...cool ,cool...the sting went away immediately....then out come the bandages ...he does me up like a mummy....complete with nose and eye holes...I don't care...it feels so good....Well you gotta wear that for two or 3 days kid... you will have fun explaining this to your pals....was he right...oh ya..Hey Scaley what happened to you?.Did you see Gus..he looks like a mummy.....I really should have a Darwin Award for that caper.........but luckily the burns were of a minor nature and my eyebrows grew back in a week or so...I don't know if that was a good lesson.......but it was a lesson.

Chilliwack news

Chilliwack news

Let's go to Elk Creek....

Charlie is on the left

Growing up in Chilliwack..........1951

It was spring...for the last few years I had spent a lot of my spare time fishing the creeks I could ride my bike to....some times I met a few other kids that liked to do the same thing...and had some enthusiastic fishing partners...One April day I was fishing for trout in the Little Chilliwack Creek near Prairie Central Road and .....I met Charlie Fowler, same grade, same school....for ever......He was alone and the creek wasn't giving up many trout that day...he said...Let's go to Elk Creek...well okay, where is that...just out to the end of Prairie Central Road.....hmm, yeah....I had a crapper of a bike that I used for my paper route ..it had a huge carrier and was front heavy....at was also fitted with an old rusty (pinching) seat....we got to the Semiault creek crossing on Prairie central road (about a mile)..where I had excellent luck...caught a few 12 inch trout ..then we headed on to Elk Creek....after about 7 or 8 miles of riding my old bike standing on the pedals..I was really ready for a stop......(I remember the ride ...owwtch...Charlie had a nice bike) well, we finally get to the Creek...wow, this is nice... a clear stream tumbles out of the mountains.. under the road bridge.....then through the farmland to Big Ditch Road....Charlie says we can fish all below this bridge...so we start in a big pool that has a man made wooden falls below it..I never did find out why that obstruction was built...We did not think any fish could make those falls but we gave it the pool a few casts...hey..I feel my line jerk ..I am tossing a spinner and a worm...the pool is deep...I see this flash then realize I am onto something that is not a small trout....I can see the fish twisting after he stopped my spinner...I hardly got time to faint and the fish came off....I was in shock....oh no....then the the big fish jumped 7 times...we counted....what a site....hopping around in this little pool....then silence...we go into a nutty conference about this event.....that was a Steelhead ....about 7 lbs......I had not caught one yet but I sure knew what they were......what was a Steelhead doing in this little creek...how did it jump up those falls...We try for a while longer and decide to fish below the falls....Right away I get a bite...It is a big trout about 15 inches...it looks suspiciously like a rainbow as well...then I caught a keeper Cutthroat trout....Well it's all in the bag for Chuck..he is havin a bad day....we head back and my trip is miserable.....what a crate....I had no Idea it was that far to Elk Creek...anyway ...........we stop again at that Semiault bridge....jees I catch a couple more.....this is crazy...( no catch and release in those days ...I kept em all.....)...Well..... that's it I guess...let's go home ...I can feel that Chuck is bummed out....we head home.....At airport rd....the Semiault Creek crosses the road again.....it has never been any good for fishing ...nobody fished there.....but we decide to try it.....I am fishing below the bridge.....it sucks....but I hear Charlie HOOP..and a splashing hollow sound coming from under the bridge...I put my rod down and rush to the top side of the bridge....Charlie comes up the bank holding probably the cleanest, brightest, large cutthroat trout I have ever seen in those creeks....what a beaut....(I wonder if he got a picture)....I don't know how big it was but it was a wonderful trout....and all of a sudden we got very smiley and babbly ...and Charlie had a great day...we have talked about that many times over the years.....one of those precious days that we will never forget..............I will send him this.....

Chuck and I seemed to be in the same room all through school. Chuck is on the left.

Andy Bathgate .......I've heard of him

Growing up in Chilliwack .............. 1963



When we were married we lived in Richmond....I worked in Vancouver for four years learning how to be a sign writer.
We lived in Richmond, and rented a nice 3 bedroom bungalow for ninety dollars a month.....ouch! that was a lot ....father-in-law shook his head when he heard that...it was ridiculous....but we were the younger, mindless, spender generation and had no regard for a buck..... we were married 3 years, Shelley was a baby and money was tight........on many, many weekends we headed for Chilliwack....back to the rural area...and out of that busy city. I quite often "snapped" a job (moonlighting) to make extra money for traveling to Chilliwack and to get a 1.00 pass for the Deas Island tunnel, which was a toll in those days. A trip to Vancouver Island was just a dream....but it came true for me when I met Jack Lewis.....He was a plywood pirate.....he sold plywood that was a bit off grade...The mill wants to dump this plywood in one spot and have it out of their system...the plywood had a few delaminates and bumps....but was great for the sign business as it could be cut up and the best taken out of it....That was a very reasonable deal for the sign shop....It was a sideline for him...he was a retired wheeler dealer in real estate .....this kept him busy.........anyway....we hit it off...we talked fishing every time he came to call...I guess he could tell that I was pretty keen for fishing Steelhead , eventually he said..... why don't you let me take you to my cabin near the "Little Qualicum" river on Vancouver Island.....Hey man...I'd like that, but I can't afford it ...yeah....wow....sounds so good but I can't......hey, hey, relax...don't worry about it , your my guest....it won't cost you anything......I want to show you this set up...yeah, but....hey, I have a cabin. ....on the river.....oh jees......sounds great ...I will get back to you tonight......I told my wife at supper of the offer.....What, no cost... yeah...just overnight....back Sunday evening...... maybe a few bucks...but he insists, he says its on me, umm him ......well...heck of a deal, you should go...yay......So, early Saturday morning...real early....we head to the ferry in Jack's nice pick up....I am feeling a little embarrassed about him paying my way.......he always had a cigar sticking out of his face.....hey, relax.....this is on me......"money is only good for what it buys you...otherwise it is just useless paper"....Jack always said that....so I did....relax.....I did that....lets go fishin...the ferry docks in Nanaimo, from there we motor up Island........about an hour and we get to the Little Qualicum river, turn left just passed the bridge and after a short drive up a gravel road...here is the "cabin"......hmm, it is a nice bungalow type house......He turned things on and got it ready to live in, then, let's go....further up the river......we bumped up the road and soon came to a official looking Keep Out gate.....he has a key....(he knows somebody)......we drive right to the top end where most fishers have to walk a few miles too...there were no other vehicles there...not a soul....we had it to ourselves. He parked the truck in a clearing , we got out and put on our waders and jackets etc. It was a nice mild, overcast March day, I could hear the river...it wasn't very far away.......I follow Jack along a trail....man I am syked .....the sweet smell of Cottonwood trees is in the breeze....geeze this is livin......I wasn't disappointed when we got to the river.....it was in sparkling clear condition . The river drains out of a lake only a mile above where we are, then rambles through mixed pasture and forested land.....our first job was to get across the river and get to the pasture land side of it. The river crossing area had a huge Cedar tree laying half way across the water and the end of it rested on gravel where the water was knee deep...a very convenient natural bridge.....just below that log jam the river settled into a nice pool and run of fishy looking water.
We work that pretty river hard for a few hours and are both rewarded with a Steelhead and lost a couple of others ......what a deal...and he is so good about it...offers me the best spots...and he lays back a while on all the pools before he starts to fish......how many guys will do that.......Jeez Jack , this is great......he was really enjoying me enjoying.....that was a great morning and we looked forward to a repeat the next day........ after we fished his favorite runs Jack looked at his watch and suggested we clean our fish and head for the Big Qualicum river, 6 miles up the highway ......yeah....the tide is starting in, I want to show you some cutthroat trout fishing......and he sure did....there was a log dump just up from the mouth of the river and for some reason the cutties liked that ...where the river came out of the forest into clear area and a deep run when the tide moved in.....the fishing was hot for about half an hour......we caught a few and missed a lot with the heavy duty steelhead gear....anyway that was fun and I tucked it away in my memory box for future trips to the Island.
We had a coffee at a handy cafe then headed for the cabin......
Jack was looking forward to the Hockey game at 5 o'clock..the Rangers were playing Boston......My son in law plays hockey.....Oh, that's cool.....I knew nothing about hockey........Where does he play.....PLAY...he plays here .....on TV.....yeah....really...wow....who does he play for........the New York Rangers.....yeah......Andy Bathgate.....who? Andy Bathgate .......I've heard of him, he is pretty good eh?.....and I go back and start to dry the dishes.....Jack is bug eyed watching the play...the cigar dancing back and forth in his mouth..... are you nuts....huh......don't you watch hockey....jees Jack .......hmm...I can see he is whacked out on this game....I guess it was a close score ......he said it's only weeks to the playoffs .....an yer drying dishes?...umm.....so I sat down and watched the game ....He went yahoo......so I went Yahoo.........I asked him brilliant questions ...like, who is that number 4 playing for Boston......he is pretty good eh........he must have thought I was hopeless......I got interested in Hockey 9 years later in 1972 ( the great Canada Russia series) and became an avid fan......only then I realized that having a son in law super star, was just about the biggest deal ever ......He said he would introduce me sometime when Andy was home.....It did not happen....the years flipped by.....moves took place.....I met him for the last time about 10 years later...It was on the Big Qualicum river......yep, we had a great talk.....then he faded out of my life, but always a really cool memory and a great learning experience.

out to the land of milk and honey

Growing up in Chilliwack...........1945


Mum told me a bit about the trip out to B.C., in 1936...some relatives and a lot of friends had pulled up and immigrated from Manitoba to B.C. where jobs, weather and coastal living were a great attraction....for most it was a very positive move....I don't know of anyone who wanted to move back....Dad had lost his legacy in a business that went sour in Carberry, Manitoba...he had worked and learned mechanics in Crystal City and Winnipeg....He bought a Dodge dealership and the main road was diverted around the city and of course he depended on traffic......bummer...but I for one am glad it happened because I always thought Chilliwack was a great place......when they lost just about everything they packed it up and drove on the better road through the states out to the land of milk and honey , I think it was November and Manitoba was cold.....Dad, Mum and Faye, my four year old sister ...... Mum told me that after a harrowing trip with all the flat tires those old vehicles had....they finally got to Seattle.....she said that was when they new it was a good thing....the weather was balmy, the mountains and ocean coastline were like a new world .....they had relatives in Rosedale and friends in Vancouver, providing a base to work from...I was born December 10, 1937 in Vancouver. Dad worked at Begg Motors then after a year, moved to and settled down in Chilliwack in the spring of 1938. They rented a house, or part of a house in one of the nice old homes on First avenue...close to Young St. on the south side....From there they moved to Reece avenue at the north end of Fletcher St. (I don't remember those places at all) Dad's first employment in Chilliwack was at Empress Motors across Princess Ave. from the Empress hotel. They kept close with the home friends ..the Besticks (they had Ace Tire shop located in "Chinatown"). Dad worked a bit there as well. Dads sister.... Alice, or "Aunt Ally" as we called her and Uncle Bob Johnston...cousins Willard, Joe, Tom, Lorne, Buck, Merva and Lila lived in Rosedale.....Buck's name was Roy ( after my dad).....they had a farm on Castleman road...Oh how I loved to go out there...and we did,often...My folks would let would stay there...the girls were young teenagers and treated me like a prince...I used to watch them get on the yellow school bus...as soon as they went in the door...they stepped on a moving platform and it took them to the back of the bus...at least that is what it looked like to me when all I could see was the body part going by the windows...I always slept upstairs ..and had to learn to use a pot that was kept under the bed...In season there were always pheasants and ducks hanging in the woodshed...the shed had the smell of wood and leather harnesses, a hard packed dirt floor, tools and implements hanging on the wall and a 2 foot round knotted chopping block with a million axe marks in it...I liked being in the woodshed and thinking about the stories it could tell.There was also a root cellar that fascinated me...I visited it many times....a mound in the ground...open the dirt covered door and a blast of musty smell would happen ...then look at all the stuff...home canned fruits, vegetables ...apples and fruit wrapped in newspaper....it was really cool....thats why they had it .....Aunt Ally would cook great Sunday feasts of chicken, ducks and pheasant...apple and lemon pie....and there would be 10 to12 people at the table... oh yeah .....heaps of potatoes and the best gravy ever....who never had bread and gravy at the end of the main meal....all the boys did...that was good enough for me. The Browns lived across the road...yes....Farmer Brown....he really did.....a guy in a car came and put mail in the mailbox....I think there was an outhouse...there must have been an outhouse, I'm not sure. I will add stuff to this later......I think there are some pictures somewhere...........ya there was an outhouse....and an old Eatons catalogue in it..... It was tricky slippery stuff. The old house was unpainted, the weathered siding was grayish...Uncle Willard played baseball, he was very good at it......We watched him play at the Rosedale Ball Park. Rosedale apparently had great ball teams in those days....I remember after supper, the men gathering in the front room and listening to them talk about everything...especially fishing and hunting......How could life get better than that.

but as we got older and girls became people

Growing up in Chilliwack......1950

1950


Cultus Lake was a big part of summer life in the our house....It was an annual thing, we stayed at the lake for 2 weeks in the summer...Mum loved it ...and was swimming every chance she had...dad wasn't much on that ..he proffered to rest and relax in any of his spare time...I remember him driving to Chilliwack to work in the morning...so I guess he usually left the fun stuff for us....Faye was a teenager, we passed at times, horsed around a little but were so into our own stuff, but I do remember a profitable little scam when those big teenage guys and girls were around...If I hung around long enough I could get paid to go away...what a deal....It worked practically every time...hey, 25c would buy a coke and cardboard dish of fries from the Pavilion...The Pavilion...I can remember what it smells like...the aroma of hot french fries, sun tan lotion, wet towels and all the other things connected with people having fun at the beach....In the early days of camping in a tent or our great RV dad made from the ice truck.......the Pavilion was a short run....a Wurlitzer in the covered outdoor area droned out music at 5 cents a pop..or 6 for a quarter......Frankie Lane was wailing "Mule Train" or "Flight of the Bumble Bee" by "Piano Roll Cook" was banging away......"I'm a Big Girl Now" seemed to be every third selection.....and " 5 Salted Peanuts".......I could hang around there for ages and watch the big teenagers....they fascinated me....
There were initials with hearts and arrows carved in the posts and railings.........hundreds and hundreds of them...eventually mine were in there as well....on Saturday night there was always a dance..they could dance right out to an opened screened off area ...O man, was that entertaining ...It was hard to leave and head home ....that is usually when the action started....but I saw more as I got older and stayed out and watched later, then eventually I was one of those people and not a kid looking in from the shadows.....In the daytime, summer people...most in bathing suits...milled all through the Pavilion...it was walk through.....the stools would usually all be taken and stand up ordering was sometimes 4 deep.....they made great milkshakes served in wax cardboard containers and they were fifteen cents at that time...chips, fifteen cents......... we carried a towel with all our stuff wrapped in it... ......like shoes and pants ... we never thought to have a soft case or satchel...I don't know why...it was always so awkward...the shoes falling out..etc....hmmm..I don't know what the girls used except for the little purple seagrams whiskey bags, the gals all seemed to one of them.........girls were not on the radar yet.......we could take a chance and leave our stuff the wharf...but it was packed with people at the tower area....that just would not work well...there was about four, five cent pin ball machines ....supposed to be 16 to play them but that was never enforced....there was some rods across the rafter ceiling in the outdoor area...when would I be big enough to jump and give a swing on them?......emerging from the Pavilion to the front area was paved and a welcome space after the crowding in the Pavilion ...then there was the skating rink..with a grass boulevard in front of it........they had afternoon skating and I remember taking that in often....but as we got older and girls became people...night skating was the order...every year there was always teenage girls with bootskates and short nifty skirts.....They would always be first in the line up....most people rented skates...clamp on skates....try and get a good pair....the guys working in the shack and the skate boys were all usually teenagers who lived at Cultus lake...the skate boys fitted your skates on with a strap from back over your instep, then winched the toe clamps with a skate key then put a strap around the toe of the shoe..there ya go....next? it always amazed me how fast they were and I wondered if I could do it.....or we could watch people skate from a bench seat surrounding the rink ..........on one side, cars could park and people could watch the show....There was always a hot shot skate cop at centre stage....The skate shack pumped out the same music, probably some since it was built in 1938........... All skate, boys only...girls only, couples only, trios only (2 boys and girl or 2 girls and a boy) then sometimes skate to lights off except for a colored wheel light that blew different shades across the concrete floor.....it was wonderful. A few years later we were old enough to drive our parents cars ...some of us bought crates of our own....We went through the same short wonderful years as the teenagers before us . I am sure anyone that went through that stage has fond memories of their apprenticship to adultry. We got some of our training at Cultus Lake.

missed....how could I miss that

Growing up in Chilliwack......1960

......I stopped for coffee at the old pavilion cafe and Earl Goodrick was sitting at one of the stools.....Hey, how are ya.....we talked fishing for a while , then decided to drive up river to an area called Sleepy Hollow........leave a car there and fish back to the coffee shop.....that seemed like a great idea....It was a pretty day in late February , high light overcast , the cottonwood trees were giving off that sweet spring fragrance ....a great day to be on the river......from the reports and the luck we were having it had been slow fishing the last few days but we figured if we covered a mile or so we might run into something........The river was in great shape ...a good strong flow and the water tinged green ....perfect color as our movements would not spook the fish as we walked and hunted....We fished carefully down to the Cooper run and that's where Earl said he had enough...I'm goin back to my car.......I've got better things to do ....this is a bust......okay....It is just as far down to my car as back so I kept on and moved down to a run we called Morrelli's hole....I didn't feel like quitting anyway...it was a great day and just a joy to be there......I'm thinking this looks okay and made a short cast into the top end....a six foot drift and my float rips under....its outta site....jerk.....o ya...its solid .....a buck about 6 lbs fly's outta the water, he is a real zipper.....after a bit I slide him on the beach.....My little black Labrador wants to get in on the act and I have to tell her to back off....... I'm thinking Earl......jeez you just missed it....I look around , not a soul about, except Earl just going out of site away up the river , this is great.............I dispatch and bleed the fish quickly to get back before the bite is off.........I cast to the same spot.....
sure enough , my float dives ......the gear comes out of the water and flings behind me....oh my....comes the buck fever a bit.........I bait up again and take the time to wrap a juicy bit on the hook with the barb well exposed behind a trace of orange wool.....mmmm try that ........next cast I was ready.... it drifts 15 ft. then down and up and down.....pull...geez, the float fly's back over my head again ....missed .....missed....how could I miss that.....well miss I do...and I just keep doing that ...and it does not matter where I throw it but I cannot hook that fish or a fish , it seems like the run is full of them......finally after that happening time and time again I connect .....after a typical scrap, a well hooked 10 lb. female comes to the beach..... I can't ever remember running into a fish or many fish that bit so aggressively.....wow that was quite a session.....I pack up my booty and walk back to the store.......Kal Bourne is at the door ....Jeez Gus.... Where did you get those....Kal .....I will take you back there ...I left it still hot...do you wanna go....you bet, okay...and in less than an hour I was watching Kal cast into the same slot.....but...you guessed it ...nothing....deadsville...ain't that the way.......Kal was looking at me sideways...no, no really...it was right here Kal.....I believe you but it sure went off, eh....yup, yup....well, we tried...I guess it would be to much to expect ......So I reckon I just put that down to experience......nevertheless quite a good day......I guess they were all good days.

his bait and gear flew past his ear

Lew 2006 holds trophy he won for jr. (16 and under) in about 1954

Lew January 2008

Jim Willis......... Lew Chater........ Derby 1955?

Growing up in Chilliwack.........1966

From 1938 until about 1967 the Vedder River Boxing Day Steelhead Derby was held at the Vedder Crossing Pavilion...it was a walking derby until about 1964 and then the use of cars was introduced because of the larger numbers of entrants. To win the Kingfish is a big deal...just to weigh a fish in is a big deal.....

The day before Christmas and Lew and I were out on the Vedder River having a good look at some of the fishing holes so we would know where to go on Derby Day......The annual Boxing Day Steelhead derby was being held in two days.....The river had been high and on a freshet, but it had turned colder and was now clearing up to almost perfect conditions. We had an excellent day and barbed five steelies ending the day with three nice fish, two of which came out of the area we pegged for derby day. At the end of the day we found choice water to go to on derby morning and were really confident if we got there at daylight our chances of weighing a fish in were really good...... So along comes derby morning , always an exciting time ....the entrants waiting at the store for the gun to go off just before daylight....lots of holiday best wishes and hi how are ya.... as most all our fishing aquaintances were there and visits with people not seen since last derby day.....It was a beautiful windless winter morning with a light snow falling. Hey there's Floyd and Ed ......friends that I had met when I worked in Vancouver for 4 years.....they are fishing pals and we had fished together many times......but Lew and I are teamed and ready and anxious to go to our preplanned fishing hole. Hi Floyed....Ed .....Merry Xmas etc. etc....Floyd says....hey, you guys.... where are you going?....gulp...uhh uhh....well we are goin down below I guess....eh Lew...down below.........Yeah I guess.......Well ,we'll go with you guys cuz we don't know where to go
..... Oh yeah...uummmm.....I look at Lew.......his eyes are just little slits....ummmmm....he blows air with pointy down lips...uuhhuh...We will follow you down......ya, swell.....so BANG the gun goes and we run to our cars and everyone is peeling out to get to their spots...I can't remember what was said in the car, we were thinking about position to say anything much. We knew we had just had our chances cut in half but what the heck..... So we drive down about a 3/4 mile and a short walk to the river.....Lew and I were bait fishing and ready to go....it was just a matter of get there and start casting and we did.......I went to the top end of this very short but fishy looking run and had a bite right away ....like a small fish might bite.....dipped the float then spit the bait out......buck fever started in and I made another short cast.......nothing this time but I heard a yelp and looked at Lew as he pulled up and his bait and gear flew past his ear and tangled in the bush behind him.....oh gawd Gus ...one just buried it and I missed him........
Just then Floyd arrived and he said ...hey this is a good looking spot ....then he cast out to where Lew was drifting .......his float went into the slot, then took a dive...."fish on".......a beaut nailed his spin and glow........wow.....can ya beat that......any steelhead fisherman can understand the "hey he is my friend but I hate him" feeling .....way to go says Ed ....ya whoopee......Lew is retrieving his hook out of the tree while doing a slow burn.....We move out of his way and watch him land a beautiful big buck Steelhead....Hey nothin to it , Floyd rushes off to weigh the fish in ...that is the name of the game ....weigh em in as soon as possible.....gee, that lucky nice guy.......Ed then joins in .......15 minutes go by....we are all watching our floats like radar...then....Eds pulls and he is into one.....what ...way to go Ed....So we reel in and watch Ed land a doe about 11 lbs....Away he goes to the weigh in with his prize......Now we are alone and I ask Lew if he is having any fun yet......we are talking to our floats by now.......Oh, here comes Floyd back......17 lbs 8 oz he sez...he is smilin...he is just smilin.........so how you guys doin.....I just passed "Toots"( Ed's nickname).....he had a nice one eh......o ya sure was.......Floyd makes a cast between us.....Jeez that's the biggest one so far, but there is lots of time ye.....his float just disappears in the current.....what....yep, he has another one on.......same story ....a darb about 12 lbs.......way to go Floyd.....I look at Lew and wonder if I look as frumpy as he does right now.......now Floyd has taken his second fish to the weigh in and the action is over but we stay with it and end our day with nothing landed.....the competition is over and we watch Floyd accept his trophy for the Kingfish.....quite an accomplishment.....and Ed picked up 4th or 5th heaviest......it was a day Lew and I talked about for many years..and still do.The best laid plans.........

The Saturday Matinee cost 15 cents......

Growing up in Chilliwack.........middle 40s

Being a kid in the 40s was a so different than now...there were no boogys that were going to bother anybody much...people were trusting, most people did not lock their doors...there was no such thing as drugs except for cigarettes and most kids took a crack at them sooner or later but for the most part, pranks ...accidents ...local events, obituaries made up the local news...kids had the freedom to roam at a younger age...especially in a small town like Chilliwack....Walking in town with a friend at 7- 8 years old to see the latest toys at the 15 cent store (Woolworth's) was okay...at least it was for us...we lived so close to town ...The Auction barn was 100 yards from 5 corners ....we had a look every Saturday....lots of animals...I was always badgering dad to get a pony...why couldn't we keep it in the yard....Cows were the main menu and it was facinating to watch and listen to the auctioneer running a bid...how did he do that?.....the slightest nod or hand movment put those farmers in the running....the way the calfs were hustled about was alarming but ...hey thats how they did it, let's get the show on the road. There was always dogs , cats and rabbits in a few cages......... they were for sale or to give away....we always had a good look at the pet cages.........then off to the "show". Movies were a big thing......they showed two to three features a week at the Strand theatre and Saturdays was kids day......The Saturday movie cost 15 cents at the time of my arrival to the matinee ...... a serial feature with the Lone Ranger or Lash Larue, maybe Hop a long Cassidy.....was shown with a movie.......the lineup was long....lots of kids....and the grumpy manager Claude Smith was there to hustle the kids around and keep order ...quite a job....parents got the afternoon off....Claude got us.... Jack Darling was always there WITH HIS MOTHER...they were rich....she went everywhere with the poor guy...he was scrubbed so clean he shone like a pot...I think he looked like you think he looked like.....a doofis little beanie hat....shorts....black shiny shoes....that's the guy...why couldn't she just let him be a kid...ah well.....They never had a confectionery inside the "show".....we could go across the street to Cadby's to buy treats......torpedoes and jaw breakers were the main fare...and no drinks allowed...that's where the crook in us came out ...we would buy these huge bottles of Kik Kola ... (it wasn't very good but there was lots of it) ....and very coolly pass the ticket taker with them under our jackets...when it went dark and all the kids started hollering....we would start in..."hey who has the nail" " you didn't forget it"..."naw shudup ..I got it...here"...........if you push a sharp nail into the top....it makes a hole quickly...that's how we drank the stuff...we were some sneaky guys...I often thought, why don't we use an opener...but I didn't say anything...I'm not sure if that was stupid. On the way home after the movie we always played out the serial and fought over who was going to be "Hoppy".
I probably seen every movie made in those days....mum and dad went to practically all of them...and Faye and I went too, except when she was 14 or so....then of course I went Saturday again...that's what we did...no TV...but a lots of 7 o'clock movies.....Roy Rogers was a movie for adults as well as kids...there would be a lineup to the Valley Laundry (a block long) to see him or any of the "better" flicks.
The first movie I remember seeing was "Bambi"......that was one great show and it was in color......only a few films were color in those days....Bambi was out for a few years by the time I seen it , probably its second release............it was made in 1939......another early color picture is "Gone with the wind".......A movie that that was a real thriller was "Abbott and Costello and the Haunted House" I had to have my light left on after that one.....oooww it vas veddy scaddy.

I could go fishing everyday

growing up in Chilliwack........1949

LAIDLAW...

What is Laidlaw?...well that is the name of a community five miles this side of Hope, B.C.


My cousin Joe Johnson...my Dad's sister's son.(I will talk more about the Johnston's later)......Joe and Irene lived in a little house in off the highway at Laidlaw...it was an acreage ...probably 20 acres..and much of it was an orchard....a hobby farm I guess...but Joe also worked as a tug boat operator on the Fraser River....his job was at Laidlaw...Joe was probably 30 then ....his wife's name is Irene...all these cousins were much older than me...there was an out house and coleman gas lights in the evening....around 8:30 the lamps would be lit....Irene would make a snack, maybe listen to the radio for a while..and to bed....because we got up at 6 o'clock....Staying there was like heaven to me ...the area was surrounded by woods and I was doted on by Iren and Joe ...Joe would supervise me shooting his 22..man could life get better...and he joined me fishing sometimes when he picked me up at Jones Creek after work....once we were just above the bridge and Joe caught a carp of all things. The water was tumbling fast there with anly a few small pockets behind rocks.....that is the only time in my life I seen a Carp in that type of glacier mountain river. They are more at home in ponds and our slough type rivers....
Joe had a terrible accident a few years before that and was shot out of an apple tree...Joe and a friend were hunting for a orchard raiding bear and he decided to pick a few apples...his hunting partner thought he was a bear and .......well, Joe had a wooden leg after that.....he packed that heavy thing around for many years.........too bad he could not have had today's technology ...Joe was a logboat operator....... his job was to pick up stray logs that floated down the Fraser river..... there was many of them in those days originating at the many logging operation up the Fraser river.....During the day they laid in wait near Laidlaw and nabbed the logs at night with searchlights on..........There are 2 creeks near there homestead...one west and one east... 2 miles either way...Jones Creek and Hunter Creek....in 1949 I stayed for a few weeks one summer...I could go fishing everyday..to whatever one of the creeks I decided....it didn't take long to get a ride.....hitchhiking with a fishing pole in hand....people just gave me a ride..sometimes tourists and they were interested to know where I was going fishing,....Wow it was fun....Hunter creek falls off the mountain...there are huge rocks and clear pools that had small eight to 10 inch rainbows in them...I had a extendible metal fly rod and a few fly hooks..I could dabble the fly in these pockets and behind rocks...the small trout would be fast to grab it...I found out later the fish were actually small steelhead that spend 1 to 2 years in fresh water before migrating to the ocean....I actually spotted a big steelhead in a shady rocky pool way on the top end of the fishing water...above that was just rocks and fast falling water ...nothing could swim there....end of the line...anyway...how this guy ever made it into this pool ..I guess in higher water...this was August .. it was a summer run Steelhead that entered the creek probably last June when the water was higher...when I appeared over the rocks, I seen him scoot on behind a dark rock like cave...just his tail slowly moving as he laid there well hidden from me...I went back every day and never could get a lure close enough to him..he was so well hidden....that fish was one scary big dude and I was afraid it might bite....I wondered if it would ever find a mate by the time spawning time came around...the upper creek area was like a miracle place.....there was a path with quaint woodsy walking bridges built on it..it was dark and cool with huge trees hiding the sun...the forest floor was padded with needles ....very little undergrowth...and that beautiful clear stream bubbling through that park like area...occasionally there would be tourists in there..looking at the caves that Hunter Creek was know for...yep huge caves probably used by people at one time...A great place to escape the heat..it was so shady and cool....yet hardly anyone came in to look...at least not at that time...There was a store out at the bridge...a store and cafe....an old lady with a parrot ran the place...the parrot could say "hello Bob".."hello Bob"....and that's all it said..."hello Bob"...in 1960 power lines went smack dab through the cave and creek area making it unrecognizable...if you go by that Creek have a look to the mountain side of the bridge and that's where it was....It was beautiful.....and when I was eleven it was mine.

We lived at this house when I bought my first car

Growing up in Chilliwack.....1955

This small house is a really nice place...in the first subdivision in Chilliwack (1947)...originally built for war veterans...it offered them really low mortgages and when the house was paid for a lot of the interest was returned...that was a perk if one was lucky enough to survive that war....some of the houses were sold and people gave up that excellent deal for one reason or another....mum and dad bought this place in 1953......I was 15.....that's also the first year we had a television set......a 19' black and white RCA.....a large aerial was needed and soon..by 1956 there were big TV antennas on just about every house...some of my friends had jobs installing antennas......a great way to make a buck ....and they needed 16-18 year olds to run around on those roofs.... It was very competitive .... a kid earned his pay......probably about 60 cents an hour....I didn't do that.....but I did set pins at the bowling alley........hmm........ there is another story.......We lived at this house when I bought my first car (I was 16 years old ) ....a 1933 Chevy........kind of like Archie's car in the comics only with a top....Don Reimer, a great pal, had a 34 ford...and his dad was a painter.....a house painter....he painted Don's car for him and had blue paint left over...he made me a gift of painting my car too.....robins egg blue with black fenders....hey - it looked great...I have no pictures (nuts..) wow, did those heaps look good....my old seventy five dollar car looked like a hundred dollars...I had worked on the construction of the Little Mountain School....the summer between grade 11 and 12...(1954)... I earned about 240 dollars...that was my first real job...about 15 teachers and students worked on it....that was probably the best summer work I could hope to have .. ....I was also elected to be the gopher who collected the money and bought the snacks for afternoon coffee break...At the last of the job I can remember so clearly packing all that stuff back from the store (Little Mountain Market) and admiring my car that was parked along side the road.....I loved that old crate...it was great just to sit in it....once a week I would pick up the used oil at Vance's Service Station (right at little mountain)...the motor was a little sloppy...it used plenty of oil, but the price was right...That old car barely made it up big hill going to Cultus Lake but it never failed to either...many 10 cent pieces were collected to put gas in that can....the brakes were bad though..mechanical brakes...I was lucky to get through that stage without an accident ....I had it most way through grade 12....then I bought a 36 Plymouth from a guy named Bruce Jay, for 100 bucks... we brush painted it at Vance's garage......the paint was ten dollars ....I remember that sure seemed expensive for paint......it was.....five of us painted it one night...primer grey..with pink fender skirts....what a transformation..that old car had looked pretty beat....but it had very few dents etc........it painted up like unbelievable...the flat charcoal primer hid so much sin...it looked great....we were all babbling that night of what a terrific job we had done....
Today, when I was taking this picture...I could see someone in the kitchen window....She came out and was quite concerned about me photographing her house...The young lady relaxed when I told her I lived there over 50 tears ago..she seemed very interested in the history of the neighborhood...She said she loved the house and the neighborhood and had been there 3 years...I told her of backing in to the neighbor's car across the road...I put a small dint in his door....He was not mad about it, actually he was in a pretty good mood...apparently he had just won 50,000 dollars on the Irish Sweep stakes.......(A horse race in Ireland famous for its world wide lottery)...well, that house was 11,000 dollars in those days.......so at that rate (at 300,000 now)...he won like, 2 million bucks.......he let me slide on the door dent.....it was my lucky day too.




the only thing much different at that house is a gravel driveway.....

her nose seemed a big issue.........

Growing up in Chilliwack..........1946

The summer before grade 6...Maxwell's moved into the Chilliwack Auto Court (now Southgate Shopping Centre) ......friends and shirt tail relatives of mum and dad from Manitoba...That is the start of a long friendship with Bill Maxwell...the only child of Ralph and Hattie...I came home from Jack Mcdermid's house to find a blond bushy haired kid shooting my bb gun...I was just kind of dumbstruck when mom came out on the porch and introduced me to Billy Maxwell...the Maxwell's were friends of theirs from Winnipeg and were staying next door at the Chilliwack Auto Court.... oh, okay that's cool....so we get into talking and he tells me about his friend Elmer Barkley in Winnipeg ....about his dog Trixi...and the trip out from Winnipeg and wow, look at the fruit trees in this yard....cherries ,pears, plumbs......he said he never seen anything like it.....then around the corner of the house comes a man...and he is mad.....he spots the BB gun and says...You are the ones....you shot through my window ...it just missed my wife's nose.....but..wha..I shot..no..umm....then Dad came out of the kitchen ...he knows this man.....Hello Ted.....it's our neighbor ...way behind us........Mr. Boyd... oh gawd........dad says "your window"?.....yes .....it broke the window and zipped by her nose.....her nose seemed a big issue......let's see that gun......WHACK.....dad busts my BB gun in half....there, that's the end of that.....Dad's glare suggested we appologize to Mr. Boyd.......... what an afternoon....there was more banter.....that'll teach em.....sorry Ted......ok ......jeez.....kids ....so Mr. Boyd leaves .....Dad and Ralph go back in the house...Dad is very p.o.d as the incident really embarrassed him.....I step off the porch and pick up the two mangled pieces of my air rifle.....I can hear them discussing the case in the kitchen....can I possible stick this together somehow...naw...it's had it.....but I put it away in the basement just in case of a miracle ........I don't remember what Bill and I said after that....just that they went home......later on that day I talked to dad about the "shooting" and that I thought there was something wrong with this picture....my BB gun is broken in half ....I never even had it in my hands......and that BB had to travel a long ways (it was a long ways) to go through the glass and zip by a nose........Well my old man was a pretty good guy...and certainly never mean or abusive to me...that day was probably as mad as I ever seen him get....but he knew he had arrested the wrong man....and he also knew Mr. Boyd fudged the story a bit...the nose thing...but what could he do.....hand the gun to me and kick Bills ass...nope...it had to be done that way........but it all worked out in the end and in a few weeks I had a brand new $7.95 Red Ryder Daisy air rifle given to me....I promised dad I would use it safley...... the old murder weapon was a plain daisy air rifle....So I guess in the long run as crappy as the whole day was I came out ok on the deal. Dad sure busted that air gun up good.

Six bottles would get us in to the Sat. matinee

Growing up in Chilliwack.......1946

A fair amount of change could be earned by collecting bottles ..of all kinds .....Gary Hogg and I learned this early in life and had a route picked out that yielded a good living ...especially after Saturday night.....we would take my wagon and cruise the alleys in town...and also learned of some of the better households....the beer bottles and pop bottles could be sold at Kenny's*.....(Orchard Park Service)...he sold Ice there as well ....hey, lots of ice boxes in those days..,.he had a blue truck with a metal lined box...I guess it was insulated....big white letters on the side ....ICE.....oh yeah...he sold lots of ice....The cabins at Cultus Lake were all ice boxes...great care had to be taken to keep stuff cool.....He was a huge tubby man...a guy that pops in my memory so vividly....I guess like a cartoon character...Fat and Jolly..always something friendly to say to his customers... his ruddy face and crewcut...bib overhauls..there was probably a guy like that in every town....the rate for beer bottles was twenty cents a dozen and pop bottles were two cents each...not bad...six bottles would get us into the Saturday matinee.....hey how long would that take....we had to go to the hardware stores to unload the whiskey bottles...all hard liquor bottles brought one cent and all were called ... whiskey bottles ....well, that was a lot harder sell ...we had to catch the hardware man when sales for turpentine were good....they poured the bottles from 45 gallon drums...we didn't have to clean the bottles....I guess they did.
One particular hot afternoon ...these two ragamuffins rolled into Marshall Wells Hardware with a full wagon load of whiskey bottles...a few people were in the store ...and who was at the counter checking something out.....my mother....hey Gary there's my mom......Hey Mom...Hi Mom.....I had no idea why she was all of a sudden 2 feet shorter and trying desperately to deal with her kid and a wagon full of whiskey bottles...well she was not stuck for words...she went on about how the kids collected..whiskey bottles....from....other places....they could make spending money getting these bottles at other peoples places....hey....right mom...and we proceeded to count out our booty for the man....He must have got a kick out of that...I heard the story years later and realized only then the bind we had put mum in....she only told that to close relatives and good friends.......

It was about this time that dad bought the truck box..yep the blue metal lined box that was on Kenny's truck....quite a surprise when he brought it home as a trailer ...hooked oh to the back of a our 38 dodge....wow...a camping trailer...mum painted the inside and dad mounted four folding beds..two on each side....all the stuff could be put under the bottom beds at night...o ya ..how cool is that...we had usually stayed in tents when we camped at the lake......well that trailer was something.......the campgrounds were right at main beach*...well..up to the left a bit..along the creek and over a bit....there was two cookhouses in there...framed open buildings with a roof...it was friendly ...everyone shared the wood stoves...the tents and the super trailer were parked wherever they fit okay.....swim and fish all day...could life be any better...there was always new kids to meet...the trailer worked great...dad would come up after work...I don't remember him staying on holidays....like for a week or two....he always went back and forth to work ....every year we camped somehow...tent, trailer or cabin...for at least two weeks....on Sat. night the action was at the pavilion...there was a dance and those big teenagers came from everywhere...we watched from a distance..wondering what that will be like in a few years.....in the meantime I am pretty sure I was having more fun than any kid on earth.




That main beach camping went on for a few more years then was all moved to Cultus park at the lake's south end, after that mum and dad rented a cabin every summer...we sure looked forward to that in the dreary days of winter.

The site of Orchard park service has always been very successful...especially in the fortys , fiftys and sixtys...there was something magic about that corner....it must have had the ying and yang good business sites are supposed to have.

do they feed the deer around here?

April 1952... Growing up in Chilliwack

I was 14, Terry ValJean,John Hall and I were at Val Roberton's place, on the location a car wash is now..Fletcher and Yale rd., I could hit with a stone it was so close to our home.....It was about 11: am and we are admiring Val,s Yellow Model A Ford coupe ...He had just turned 16 and bought this car he had saved for....It was a really neat coupe with a rumble seat...wow, we all envied him ......Somehow we got into a discussion on the Easter holidays...we were in school break.....Let's do something ........So we decided to go to Chilliwack Lake..... How fars that?.....you know, the Vedder River runs out of it....we can hike in.....it's a few miles........."we can use the emergency cabin" ......what cabin?....there is a small emergency cabin.......whoa...okay....but we have to hustle....what do you think we will need?..... Val said ,we gotta figure this out a bit, so we huddled and quickly decided who was going to bring the communal stuff .....like a pot, a pan, salt, pepper, butter, soap etc...... meet back here at 1:pm.....I remember running home, Hey Mom.......We're going to go to Chilliwack Lake...... grabbing a old packboard off the garage wall ( I had no idea where that dusty board came from but it was there) and I filled it with clothes ,food, matches,a few tin dishes, a pan, bacon, eggs... etc.........anything I could think of..... the others were doing the same......I even made sure we had a fishing rod and some tackle.....we made it...not that there was a schedule but we had to get going ...there was no road all the way to the lake in those days....the last 5 miles was a trail.... we had never been there before....and it was already one pm..... twenty five or thirty miles to drive......off we go, out to the Vedder Crossing and up the Chilliwack river road..Terry and I are in the rumble seat.....when we are grinding up the old mud hill 6 miles up the river (gawd It was a mean climb) we see three guys standing around a farm tractor that was sticking radiator first into a big stump....coming down the hill, half way they had lost control and headed for the edge (not good)....they caught the stump (the only thing on the hill that could have stopped them).... and now they had a problem...but better than a crash over the bank ...but a problem....We knew them...Johnny Edmonston , Chris Watson and Jerry Trojan....... they were returning home from the lake..... Jees you guys...how you gonna get outta that....well, they did not know and we could not help, so we asked them about the lake....They told us that the Ferguson brothers were at the lake and were staying in the emergency cabin.....ah well,.... we're goin anyway.....ok see you, good luck.....Yeah ,John said....we will get out somehow.....(I have no Idea how but they are not there now so they must have made it)....We carried on.....the road got pretty hairy but soon we parked at Middle Creek.... after walking a while we crossed the river on a log jam.....it was a good looking spot to fish and Terry and I took turns with the fishing rod ( he was nuts for fishing too)...we caught a couple of really decent trout, so we were excited about that.....a little further up the river we seen a steelhead in a side stream....it spooked and made the mistake of heading up the stream to shallower water...gees that must have been a sight...4 guys splashing and kiyiing around, trying to
catch this big 10 lb. trout...but it had too much water...and dodged us every time.....Terry had a hold of it for a second...but nope...it got away, and we all had a good laugh.....kids.....We are doing fine and the trail was easy to stay on....until it got dark and started to snow....we bumbled our way along and struck matches now and then to see where we were going, we knew we were going somewhere because we could see our tracks.......nobody had a flashlight...nobody even owned a flashlight...finally we reach the lake...we can see the emergency cabin off to the side of a couple regular cabins....we can see a lantern light and the Fergies through the window....We do our best to scare these guys with the scratching and making weird noises......but it didn't scare them at all and soon we were inside visiting and asking about the lay of the land......The emergency cabin is so tiny....no room at the Inn....so we go over and look at the one of the regular cabins ...hey, that one is a good size.....we decided it would be much better and warmer in there than out here...it was cold.
Terry had the door open in a few minutes.....ahhh home sweet home..we lit some candles ...there was a stove, I found some kindling.......and that was great when we got it fired up and nice and cozy....there was a couple of beds with mattress' ...perfect for these clever outdoorsmen....we sat around and enjoyed the warmth....it felt so good.....There were the necessities and it was great.... cupboards with a few dishes ..wash pan...well water...even some firewood.... The next day there was the missing knife caper...where did that knife go....it was John's pride and joy ... a neat leather handled hunting knife....we looked and looked...how could it disapear...Scales , you had it last.....yeah....well, I dunno....That evening we met a couple of bush rats camped on the beach....they were older and wiser...about eighteen ....we were talking about animals and such.......I reached in my pocket and pulled out some pellets I had been packing around with me...I picked them up on the trail hiking in to the lake....What are these? .....do they feed the deer around here? Nooo ...he looked at me kinda sidelike....he said.....that's deer shit...............O' boy ...I thought my pals would split....I even thought it was funny...oh gawd....embarrassing.......o man...
The second morning we are still looking for the knife.....I looked in the stove....yup.....there it was....it did not look like a hunting knife......just a black metal piece of a hunting knife......Scales did it.....Scales was and idiot.......Scales felt bad about it.......but Scales was still an idiot....I guess it went in with the kindling...........and the deer shit thing...this will not look good on my resume...
The property owners main cabin was realy neat.....Americans owned it....a hunting lodge etc.....They flew people in to the lake...the last day there, we inspected the place, it was very nice.....and it was open........when we returned to school we were hauled to the principals office. The police said some stuff was stolen out of it that week....I guess that is why it was wide open......... anyway, they found out we were there,.....that was scary....but we did not take anything...well not much....Terry took a fishing lure...a spinner............we were worried about using the cabin we stayed in, but no one said anything about that......that was a fun trip...the first away camping adventure, another part of growing up in Chilliwack.

"A pike" what?..a Jackfish its about 3 or

Growing up in Chilliwack....1944


Dad decided to go back to La Riviere.....A small town in South Manitoba..(that is the area he is from,10 miles or so from mum's town of Crystal City)....anyway he took Faye and I with him..wow very exciting...A TRAIN...2 days and 2 nights....the trains were something in those days...they carried lots of passengers.....a regular choo choo...steam engine...that time was probably close to the last of them...the cars were quite posh...thick upholstery, carpet floor.......they were comfortable passenger cars ...built to keep lots of travellers happy....Conductors....guys shouting " All Aboard"...Newsies (selling newspapers and treats) waving candy bars and comics books at the kids... the kids making life miserable for parents who did not respond...oh boy...Faye and I were excited that day....g'bye mum ...waving out the window , we could hear..CHUG...then another CHUG....then another, only faster..until it was full steam ahead and we were ripping up the track at 50 miles an hour...there goes Chilliwack...there goes fields and cows..there goes Rosedale...uncle, aunt and cousins live on a farm there...(Johnsons)..away we go...ok where do we sleep....oh, right here....ok, that works for me...don't even have to get undressed...some people had berths...that's kind of a tiny bedroom ..only lots of people in a car with compartments ...beds with curtains on them...they cost more...we stayed in our seats....they were just fine...cushioned..rent a pillow from the newsy...... 2 days later, educated to the ways of a train and lots of scenery stored in our heads, we reach Winnipeg..,,,.We stayed at relatives who drove us to La Riviere....(100 miles)...That's where I met Grama Legg (her remarried name)...she looked about 100 years old..... She had a hardware store in town...the hardware, cafe and bus stop was the town, only a block away to her house...There were lots of hills, trees, and a river...it was called the Pembina river...Grama liked to fish...and she took me fishing...that was so cool...she had an extra pole for me...we walked lots more than a few blocks to the river..through the nice countryside...I plastered her with questions because I was syked to go fishing...like bursting...this is where this whole fishing thing started...our poles were long bamboo canes..probably 14 feet...they had a line of pre determined length (braided nylon) tied to the hook...that was it....ok... she pulled out a jar of pickled minnows, took one out and showed me how to thread it on the hook...now....watch me cast she said...and held the pole back with the line dangling and some laying on the grass...ok gently just swing it out there..and away it goes..whoa..that's cool...ok my turn...oh man ..hey I did it..oh gawd this is cool...But think it. don't say it to loud...because "gawd" could get me a bar of soap in the mouth from that old gal..fishing is what she liked best after religion...I learned the soap thing on another occasion.....
Wow, we are fishing...The river is like, very slow, kind of a tea brown color,high bushy banks..except her fishing spot was grassy with no bush in the way for about 100 feet...well as luck would have it ...my fate was sealed when my pole jerked down and I hollered I got one....lord have mercy (Quietly)...this is oogly boogly time , look at him splash...Grama was excited....."Go back, go back, go back ..and I did..dragging the prize up onto the grass..Grama kicking at it to get it higher on the bank..oh boy that's a beauty..and she was excited too..a smile I will not forget..."A Pike" she said....what? ..a pike..a Jackfish...its 3 or 4 lbs ..it's a pike....oh this was better than she expected...apparently they rarely got em that big...oh gawd..oops..gosh.....I was going nuts......
Well a couple of happy fishers walked home that afternoon and we announced to everyone we had seen a great deed performed that day....My aunt did the cooking at Gramas home..She lived there...and I followed her all around the big kitchen while she prepared the great fish for supper....
I guess that was it for me...if all I ever had to do in my life was fish..that would be fine...and we could go fishing again tomorrow...


That Aunt Emma...just as lone tribute ...could make the best donuts in the world...and holes too..she just didn't make some, she made lots...a big brown crock full.

his face was so close to mine

Growing up in Chilliwack.....1945

My Grandmother....on Dads side...her name was Lydia....but I called her Grama....She lived in a town called La Raviere...I guess that means something in French...anyway that is in the general area in Manitoba that she raised 7 kids and a cousin...or maybe 8 kids and a cousin...my dad...Roy...was a twin...and he predeceased his sister (Beatrice) by hmm 6 years ?....Dad passed away in 1981 (born 1900 -July 12)...his name Roy Nelson Scales....I am not sure but I think that the twins were the youngest....my dad was a likable guy...he had the nickname of the "big scaler"...I guess this is going to be more about dad...I will do Grama later...He moved mum and my sister Faye to B.C. in 1936.....In 1934 or 35 he lost his family legacy in a garage venture that went bad...the Province decided to bypass the city of Carbury throwing a wrench into his Dodge dealership plans..... he then decided to move to B.C.in the Fall 1936, following relatives and friends that had immigrated earlier...They were in Vancouver for a short while...I was born there (1937)...then they moved to Chilliwack where he worked at Empress Service...it was located across from the Empress hotel on Princess Ave...... yes ...a likable, non violent guy...a little smaller than me ...we have the same hairdo...he loved his work....a mechanic with leanings toward the Dodge-Chrysler line...........When I was 4-7 years old we lived on Fletcher St. south...... In the summer a few times a week I would asked him for six cents for a popsicle...I would walk up a block from our house to Johnson Palmer Motors (where the Post Office is now )...... in through the big doors on the side and look for my dad...he was usually draped over a fender searching out a problem, a trouble light glowing (a light on the end of a cord..with a metal cage around it...)..there would be a cigarette sticking out of the centre of his mouth..with an ash on it that defied gravity....always long to the point of finally dropping off and then creating one more before the smoke was done....hello.. what do you want...( he had to jive me a bit before he gave in...) can I have six cents for a popsicle...?...hmmm looking me in the eye...wadda ya think I'm made of money?.....I can remember he bent down and stuck his face close to mine with a scowl on it...the other mechanics were watching...they always did..."why do you think I should give you six cents today"....he had me stumped...then for some reason...maybe because his face was so close to mine..I said..."because... you have a special nose"...well for some reason the place broke up...but I got my six cents..dad told mum..and she told everybody with a pulse...........Dad had some chickens in a pen at the back of the sawdust garage...they were called Speckled Hamburgs...kinda different..black with white spots..maybe white with black spots...the roosters were very regal..and had a big rose comb and long arcing tail feathers...they were very special to him...I can remember driving near Bellingham to buy the eggs. He borrowed a "setter".... a big brown chicken.......she set on the eggs until they hatched.....these cute little yellow chicks pecked there way out.....I waited and watched the whole procedure ....hey that was also pretty special.

they will put me in a room and ...

Growing up in Chilliwack........1943......#6

Oh man, the first day of school..fourth of september.....the very first day...jees and I'm so little...I would not be six until December....mum is pulling me up the steps and I am screaming " murder" please I don't wanna go"..." they will put me in a room and strap me with a whip"..."I don't wanna go.....please".........My sister Faye was in grade six.....she told me it is a terrible place...O ya...Mother had quite a time dragging me up those big steps (aside from class pictures that was one of the only time I can remember being on those steps).....they were huge...By the time it was for me to attend school......my sister had instilled in my head a picture of sheer horror...I was really scared to go.....but once I got through the shock of getting into a classroom...and watching my mother abandon me...I realized mabey this was not so bad.....the other kids seemed to be meeting their fate without much concern..... I completely forgot what my sister had told me and wow..this was a cool place....as I am writing this I can remember the smells of the classroom....there was always a touch of sweet from the mimeograph chemicals...the mixed food of bag lunches had an unmistakable odor (some kids had tin lunch kits with comic book characters on them) paste and art supplies had a scent of their own and I can't leave out the oil floors......all this stirred up by a the current crop of kids became the unmistakable odor of grade school.....Mrs. Anderson rang the bell every morning on those huge front steps...it was a big golden hand held bell like Santa Clause in front of the Liquor store had..aww bigger than his...you had to get past Mr. Manuel before that quit ringing or you would be late....There was a girls side and a boys side..that suited everyone just fine...but the girls got to own the front as well.....they had the big sidewalk in front of those big stairs to play hopscotch on..We could see them from a distance...no need to go to close ............you may be called a sissy..........the playground seemed huge...One of the fun things about school was playing marbles at recess and noon hour....we watched the bigger boys playing big ring ...a cool game you had to evolve into.....and take your lumps as a beginning player...marbles were big...oh, yep the marbles could be big or small..but the game of marbles was big...played seriously ...probably a valuable lesson in the give and take of life...Sidney Moorehouse brought a shoebox one day...he put a hole the top centre, slightly over regular marble size..."the idea ",he said ..."is to stand over the box and drop a marble ...aiming from your nose ...into the box...through the hole...if you did it you got paid 5 marbles plus your dropper"...wow that looked easy enough...but it wasn't easy....what a payoff for Sid...it brought out the gambling greed of most kid humans and he made a fortune...the next day there were lots of young entrepreneurs packing shoeboxes under their arms...so just like the real world it was over run with a good thing until it was a drag..and put away and forgotten...I only remember the boxes one season...............The grade ones and twos ran in bands ..there were small trees growing on the perimeter of the grounds...they had posts around them..a box like structure...they were our wagons and spaced perfect to run from one to another trying not to get hit by an arrow or shot off your horse...man that was fun...constant interruptions from teachers to stay off the chuckwagons did not deter us....there was a cherry tree in the property where Henderson's Funeral Parlor is...I don't think the cherries even got ripe before they were gone...that was the big guys territory..but they had to brave the possibility of a dead guy walking out of there and chasing them away. When Mrs. Anderson rang the bell, the busy grounds emptied quickly and there was always a dog or two sitting there patiently looking at the big steel door their pals had just vanished in.

imagination

Growing up in Chilliwack....1943

6 years old grade 1......1944.........Where we lived on Fletcher st. was only 60 seconds from school on a fast run...I could leave at three minutes to nine...and be at school before the Principal closed the big steel basement doors......Mr. Manuel, the principal, was always standing there dressed in a suit and tie..anyone after nine a.m. was late or tardy ... ....and they had to supply a note from their parents the next day....I don't remember ever being late... ..In fact didn't get into any serious trouble in grade school that I can remember..I only needed to look at the the strap and I knew I did not want to cross any teacher enough to deal with that....it was brought out on occassion. ..and it was weilded by great big male person......no thanks......although.....one day....I was in Grade 1....Miss Patriken was my teachers name ( I remember being in love with her...Wow she was something...) anyway...one morning Miss Patriken was teaching at the side board of the class...my seat was a middle side row seat...she glanced down and found cigarette butts on the floor... she was some concerned about that...and like, I was six years old....but, but they were my butts....I was arrested as a suspect in a crime ...My sister, Faye was in Grade six and she was requested to be at the trial ...I somehow had to explain the butts in my pocket and I was not doing a very good job of it....my sister bailed me out, and explained the situation to the judge...... kids like to play with war related toys ....boys anyway....A small plastic fighter plane could be bought at the Dime Store for 10 cents..they were pretty cool and replicas of the English Spitfire...I thought it was great fun to light the butts...(yeah the matches were the baddest thing about this story...) and stick them in the tail section of the plane..therefore flying em around by hand with a smoke trail behind ..and my imagination doing the best to create a terrific aerial dogfight...( hey ...TV was not invented yet )....
Well........ Faye convinced the teacher that this was the purpose of the cigarette butts...Miss Patriken was wary, but she bought it ....I was cleared........and I don't remember anymore coming of it....I was probably banned from playing with matches..they were wonderful things...the big kitchen matches....every house had lots of them..there was no thermostats or natural gas in those days...heating the home and cooking needed a match to start the process. Electric appliances came on stream after 1945.......if you needed a little heat you bought a blanket.
I can remember when the European war was over...Gary Hogg and I were in the yard playing...suddenly everyone was coming out of their houses shouting , laughing, hugging and kissing..I was swept up and swung around...whatever was happening must have been pretty good stuff...Dad ran home from the garage (maybe not ...I don't think I ever saw him run)....but it was a really happy occasion.....Gary and I were 7 years old.....after it quieted down Gary and I stayed in the yard and talked about this great day...

I had a couple of months of home schooling in grade one...I managed to catch every bug going..the Mumps, hooping cough...Scarletina...there was a stay away sign on the door.....I guess I got em all out of the way at once....