Jack looked at her and threw up
Growing up in Chilliwack............1946
1946.........nearly 9 years old...we lived at School St. for some months by then.......Wendle Schindle lived across the road , Jack Mcdermid , on the corner , the Max Mcleod clan on Ontario street, then the Edwards family in a house behind Leo Edwards and Sons (it is still in business)...there were lots of kids in this neighborhood.....Faye and I have talked about all our homes and concluded that big house with the big veranda was the best of them all....
Wendle's folks were from Germany or thereabouts, part of a segment of people who escaped oppression in their homeland ....they did not speak English and Wendle was important as a interpreter and negotiator....I thought he was a pretty cool kid...this 10 year old who explained things to his parents....Jack Mcdermid and I played together at home but we did not know each other on the school grounds ...he was a grade ahead....kids huh...anyway, one Saturday we managed to scrape together 30 cents and buy a pack of cigarettes....oh ya..we were going to do some serious smoking...it was not hard to buy a pack because we often ran to the store for cigarettes for our parents...but we had to buy Mrs. Morran's brand....there is some humor there somewhere but it is kind of lost in the names...Jack had his dad's name and his mother had remarried....anyway we had the cigarettes.....Players plain....in a box...20 of them....So off we head for the pirates ships..........over Yale Road and down a block..........There was a big oval area where the electric tram line came into Chilliwack and made a loop....it took in where Salish park and the Rhombus hotel are now....that is where telephone poles were stored...there was piles and piles of them...they were pirate ships mostly....when a pole could be found that was sticking out a long way that was a bonus...it made a great springy bouncing device....Also there were always boxcars sitting idle....that was where we decided to smoke these things.......we got a new pack of Players and a lots of matches...(Kitchen matches were handy because they could be carried singly and struck anywhere).....so we are sitting in a boxcar and proceed to smoke the whole box of them...we could not risk carrying the leftovers....when there was 4 or 5 left we were smoked out....nothing like a smoke break to get that relaxed feeling.......Oh gawd we are pretty green even though we just puffed and blew ...but Jack being older had decided to inhale a few drags and really felt quite lousy....now its time for supper.....we fling the rest of the smokes into the back of the boxcar and head home home.....Mrs. Morran says "hello boys" ...as we walk in their back door ....Jack looked at her and threw up......swell.....now I will have to tell my mum now...jees.....I can remember these words coming from Jack's lips ...his hands, palms out towards his mom...."I confess mommy"..."I confess mommy" we have been smoking............I confess mommy? ........what the heck has he been smoking?.........."Well Gary...you have to go home and tell your mother."...oh umm ya okay....on my way across the road I'm thinking...should I try ,"I confess mommy".....I don't think so...I'll try.......Mum ...I've been smoking ...and Jack got sick but I didn't inhale.....and see how that works. Yeah sure....
We are upstairs in Jacks attic..Ron Snow , Jack and I.....these guys are 2 and 3 years older and much wiser.....Jack owns a bunch of plastic soldiers and we want to get them out past Mrs. Morran without any questions...mothers are pretty sharp and would suspect anything out of the ordinary...we don't want her to know about it because we have this great plan to burn them in a war game and she does not need to know about that or the matches.....okay.....Ron is the leader..lets sit down and think of a way to get these things outta here....we do that...sit.....and low and behold ...I say "out the window" I can't believe my craftiness...I was congratulated by the leader and we did just that...the whole operation was a success ...the soldiers melted with fire on every drip of burning plastic...the drops made a zipping noise as they fell to the next object below...it was a wonderful site.
About that time we had a real snowy winter ...it had piled up well..I guess there was a couple of feet...Mr. Bibby on Ontario street decided to tow a sleigh behind his car...oh was that so cool...soon he had a train of slieghs hooked on behind the car...there had to be 10 of them ..I don't know what could have been more fun than that ...very little traffic...and getting towed up and down the roads in our area...he was carefull and stopped whenever someone dumped.....honestly that was such fun ...at the first of that snowfall and hardly any traffic that old model a ford could cut through the snow like a tank....what started with a ride for his toddlers and wife turned into sleigh train ....it was only once because of the timing and traffic etc...but it was an event that was so much fun it is still so clear in my memory.
1946.........nearly 9 years old...we lived at School St. for some months by then.......Wendle Schindle lived across the road , Jack Mcdermid , on the corner , the Max Mcleod clan on Ontario street, then the Edwards family in a house behind Leo Edwards and Sons (it is still in business)...there were lots of kids in this neighborhood.....Faye and I have talked about all our homes and concluded that big house with the big veranda was the best of them all....
Wendle's folks were from Germany or thereabouts, part of a segment of people who escaped oppression in their homeland ....they did not speak English and Wendle was important as a interpreter and negotiator....I thought he was a pretty cool kid...this 10 year old who explained things to his parents....Jack Mcdermid and I played together at home but we did not know each other on the school grounds ...he was a grade ahead....kids huh...anyway, one Saturday we managed to scrape together 30 cents and buy a pack of cigarettes....oh ya..we were going to do some serious smoking...it was not hard to buy a pack because we often ran to the store for cigarettes for our parents...but we had to buy Mrs. Morran's brand....there is some humor there somewhere but it is kind of lost in the names...Jack had his dad's name and his mother had remarried....anyway we had the cigarettes.....Players plain....in a box...20 of them....So off we head for the pirates ships..........over Yale Road and down a block..........There was a big oval area where the electric tram line came into Chilliwack and made a loop....it took in where Salish park and the Rhombus hotel are now....that is where telephone poles were stored...there was piles and piles of them...they were pirate ships mostly....when a pole could be found that was sticking out a long way that was a bonus...it made a great springy bouncing device....Also there were always boxcars sitting idle....that was where we decided to smoke these things.......we got a new pack of Players and a lots of matches...(Kitchen matches were handy because they could be carried singly and struck anywhere).....so we are sitting in a boxcar and proceed to smoke the whole box of them...we could not risk carrying the leftovers....when there was 4 or 5 left we were smoked out....nothing like a smoke break to get that relaxed feeling.......Oh gawd we are pretty green even though we just puffed and blew ...but Jack being older had decided to inhale a few drags and really felt quite lousy....now its time for supper.....we fling the rest of the smokes into the back of the boxcar and head home home.....Mrs. Morran says "hello boys" ...as we walk in their back door ....Jack looked at her and threw up......swell.....now I will have to tell my mum now...jees.....I can remember these words coming from Jack's lips ...his hands, palms out towards his mom...."I confess mommy"..."I confess mommy" we have been smoking............I confess mommy? ........what the heck has he been smoking?.........."Well Gary...you have to go home and tell your mother."...oh umm ya okay....on my way across the road I'm thinking...should I try ,"I confess mommy".....I don't think so...I'll try.......Mum ...I've been smoking ...and Jack got sick but I didn't inhale.....and see how that works. Yeah sure....
We are upstairs in Jacks attic..Ron Snow , Jack and I.....these guys are 2 and 3 years older and much wiser.....Jack owns a bunch of plastic soldiers and we want to get them out past Mrs. Morran without any questions...mothers are pretty sharp and would suspect anything out of the ordinary...we don't want her to know about it because we have this great plan to burn them in a war game and she does not need to know about that or the matches.....okay.....Ron is the leader..lets sit down and think of a way to get these things outta here....we do that...sit.....and low and behold ...I say "out the window" I can't believe my craftiness...I was congratulated by the leader and we did just that...the whole operation was a success ...the soldiers melted with fire on every drip of burning plastic...the drops made a zipping noise as they fell to the next object below...it was a wonderful site.
About that time we had a real snowy winter ...it had piled up well..I guess there was a couple of feet...Mr. Bibby on Ontario street decided to tow a sleigh behind his car...oh was that so cool...soon he had a train of slieghs hooked on behind the car...there had to be 10 of them ..I don't know what could have been more fun than that ...very little traffic...and getting towed up and down the roads in our area...he was carefull and stopped whenever someone dumped.....honestly that was such fun ...at the first of that snowfall and hardly any traffic that old model a ford could cut through the snow like a tank....what started with a ride for his toddlers and wife turned into sleigh train ....it was only once because of the timing and traffic etc...but it was an event that was so much fun it is still so clear in my memory.
Labels: growing up in chilliwack
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