Chilliwack

click pix for full size

Chilliwack, British Columbia is a city of 70,000 located 60 miles inland from Vancouver, in the Fraser valley on the banks of that same famous salmon river. Snow capped mountains, the Vedder River and Cultus Lake are some of a few things that enhance this rural agricltural area......less expensive housing and outdoor activities as well as proximity to the city contribute to this areas fast growth.

redneck hot tub

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

Kids right now, are brought into a world of amazing daily changes in technology...they accept it and they are part of it....when we were kids, changes came ...but not so fast....there was lots of time to absorb these amazing events and they were a big deal...a really big deal....can my grandkids know how wonderful the first television was.....It was fantastic......Radio just started to become part of some peoples lives after the first world war ....So it had only been public broadcasting since 1920 and steady improving until and through my school days. The intent listening when the news broadcasts were on during the second war after 1939.....button yer lip when those broadcasts were on and my dad was listening...so intent, the lines of concern frozen on his face....I knew when things were bad or good for us by watching his reaction.....the picture news was in the newspaper or a few days after the events the newsreels were shown at all the theatres.....attendance was usually a pretty full house.......at the Saturday matinee when the news was on, the kids would roar with approval when our troops and planes were on screen....boos and catcalls , kids standing , fists shaking would greet any pictures of the bad guys....it was great fun. Matinee kids were very vocal with their criticism of the movie, a love scene could be counted on for groans and moans, and boys blowing on their arms (try it).......... back to the radio.....kinda like TV , but the pictures were in your mind......Sunday was a big radio day....most of the shows were 1/2 hour.........early in the afternoon we could listen to Henry Aldrich, Our Miss Brooks, Amos and Andy, Innersangtom....the squeaking door..........oh, just lots of them ...some I cannot recall..........but as the night drew on the biggies came ..........The Whistler (I know many strange things for I walk by night) hey... that was scary!....Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd...Jack Benny......then the Red Skelton Show....what a night of entertainment....you did not need a good seat..just a comfortable seat....the floor with a pillow was great....lie back and listen ......images in your mind ......about eight o'clock...mum would make a snack....in the oven ....broil cheese on toast...salted..o ya......
In 1952 Ralph Maxwell bought a 19 1nch TV....ooww they were expensive...400 bucks at that time....I have to guess but 1.40 an hr. would be a Carpenters wage in those days....anyway Mr. Maxwell bought a TV......they lived on McNaught Road , just out of town......their son, Bill was my pal.....I remember Winter and watching that first TV ......East wind , snow , ride the Chilliwack bus there...stay overnight....school closed, windy ,cold , crunchy winter.
The shows were few and the black and white reception was so snowy........there were two channels, one from Vancouver and one from Bellingham..... they were both bad....but we thought they were great....We could watch wrestling and wrestling (Bill's dad loved wrestling).....Howdy Doody.......Eddy Arnold ....( Bills mom was nuts for Eddy Arnold) and Test Pattern.....and old westerns ....Roy Rogers and Hop Along Cassidy....What name huh.....hop a long...and that was serious, not a comedy......Soon there were TV antennas all across Chilliwack....my what a tangled looking mess...they were really quite ugly, these aluminum poles and racks, every house had one ..........a good aerial was needed to get reception ...the bigger the better......images were accompanied with ghosts ..an annoying distortion but we got used to it....just having a picture to look at was amazing....TV reception slowly got better..remotes were not invented...I remember viewing dad's butt most of the time as he was constantly adjusting the reception , we all protested with..."thats okay".."good enuff" .... The aerials stayed a long time, just part of the scenery ...In the late 60s and through the 70s most people went to the color TV as it came down in price... Cable and satellite saved us from those eye polluting aerials. Their must be a zillion miles of aluminum pipe put in to landfills.

it's a maze ing

ol swimmin hole

click pix for full size

The Fishing in Chilliwack is fantastic

click on picture for full size

har de har

we swam there ...water bugs and all

Cherry Carnival Parade 1947



Growing up in Chilliwack

There were places and things in Chilliwack that came and left over the tears......The hot dog stand at Christies was a going concern until I was 7 or 8 years old..... ......the big attraction was foot long hot dogs...for some reason that ceased and the octagon shaped stand could be seen for many years in a vacant lot at Cottonwood corners........it was here Yale road split with one road to the west and the other to Cultus and Yarrow.....The Trans Canada Highway until 1959-60 was from the west on old Yale...right through Chilliwack.....There were long line ups at the 5 corners on weekends and holidays...traffic lights were not installed at 5 corners until about 1952......A favorite pastime of ours was sitting at a bench at Christianson's Little Mountain Market and checking out the models of cars as they passed heading for Vancouver....forget about a Motor home...they did not exist around here until about 1956...I seen my first one at Butchart Motors in 1957....it was a class A.....The roller rink in Chilliwack was a pastime for a while..I remember it in 1951.....The old Strand theatre was remolded and replaced with a wood floor roller rink....they rented boot skates...it was a fun place to go....there was a balcony upstairs that people could watch the skaters...A small cafe was out front ...fit in to the area where the theatre wicket had been.....I can remember Dean Martin singing "Crying in the Chapel" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".....being played on the Wurlitzer.....the cafe was sitting on the same space that Claude Smith used to keep the kids in order at the start of the long lineup into the Saturday matinee...hey but that was in the old days.......There was also a Roller rink at Yale Rd. West about where Ronas is now...I never skated on that one..it was called "Joes Roller rink".
There was a park with a fenced swimming pool in it at Wellington and Hodgins... ....it was there through the 40s.....man it was crowded and not real clean....but we swam there ...water bugs and all...there was also a crappy restroom but I did not have to change there ..I could just run home....Some of the big teenagers lifeguarded there.....the rest of that large area was a grassy shady park....Every first of July there was a Cherry Carnival.....the crowds to watch the parade were huge...people on top of buildings ...sticking out windows...it was really a popular event with a Cherry Carnival Queen Pageant leading the program........Then there were events and a midway at the fair grounds.....the Fall fair was not that far away...in August...and it was always a big deal....Hey no TV I guess......we went through our money fast at the midways...those buckets that picked up packages of nickels and the Tilt a Whirl cost me my fortune...but not the Ferris Wheel .........no way ........I spent all my time looking at the little delay that connect the seats to the frame..it slides back and forth....seems like another quarter of an inch and ....no thanks...I'll pass...."Nummy" (Bill) felt the same about the ride that spins ...oh yeah...the Octopus....he threw up on it............The same old woman was working at the buckets every year.... She looked like a genuine Witch from a Walt Disney Movie....I wondered if she remembered us ....she was always there.....Bill said the same thing......that old bag is here every year.......
The buckets...I don't know what this stand was called but it was at least 12 glassed boxes in a circle...the old woman worked from the centre tending the machines and giving out change....insert a nickel and try and maneuver that digger bucket over a cellophane wrapped package of nickels.....the whole box was full of nickels....with these packages here and there.....we were like old ladies in Reno......watch her like a hawk and try to get to the machine she just reloaded....if she got careless and left a pack sticking out a little..............in hindsight she was never careless...those were meant to be won.....and the cries of delight from the big winner ....only urging others to jam more nickels in.....but all the same we were convinced that we could beat her .....
Maxwell and I spent a lot of time looking for money ...around the midway events....we could usually find some change if we looked hard enough,especially in the evening when there were more guys with their gals........we went to the Freak show once.......they wanted us to join.......bong ,,,,kidding.......but I really do remember going once....and I bought the smallest Bible in the world ...it was two bits .......hhmmm ....I think I was had. We always looked through the animal barns at least once but attended the midway everyday....there was lots of wandering to do...we were loose as a goose.....we never ever went to the fair with our parents...not after 8 or 9 years old anyway....sometime there were street dances downtown....they would close off the area at Bretts garage...all of princess ave and Bretts property was used.....the men would play gambling games...with dice and wheels...There was a band ...they played loudly and people danced...it was fun to run around there.....Bill lived on McNaught Rd but he would always stay over when we went to events like this.....Hartley's Bowling Alley was another place....mum and dad took me bowling at first........later on us kids were at the alley a lot.....and I set pins at 14 and 15...yrs old...The main thing setting pins was NOT to get Wilf Edwards throwing on your alley....the rest of the Edwards family ..okay....but If Wilf was there we had to stand out of our centre seats and up behind ...away from the flying pins.....we could make about 2.20 a night.....after bowling leagues had finished we would tally up....and Mr. Hartley would pay us our 5 cents a line.....Then over to the Peaks for a whack at chocolate cake and soft ice cream...what could be better than that.....sometimes we would bowl a line and set for each other.....Later on it was the Pool Hall...at 17 and 18 that was a second home.....It was directly across from the Paramount....Pete Toms owned the pool room ....most of us borrowed a few bucks off him at one time or another...the old guy carried a roll that would choke a horse....when the movies got out he would always call them the Flicks. I went fishing with Pete a few times....He used to eat about 8 pieces of toast for breakfast....and a cup of instant coffee. I dunno why I remember that.

happy easter

we were gonna be there all night

Growing up in Chilliwack.................1948

Grade two......I'm an old pro now....all of us grade twos are.....a year under our belts and well adjusted to the grade school life.....the morning routine was old hat now.......Miss Anderson rung the bell outside on the school stairs ...the basement doors slammed shut ...usually there was some kid on a frantic run across the grounds or whacking a bicycle into the bike stands and trying to make the big doors before Mr. Manuel closed them....All the boys in the basement quickly got into their class lines...twelve rows, 6 on each side ....2 classes of all grades up to six. A pause....it's quiet ..... making sure everyone was orderly ...Mr. Manuel standing between the six rows........then Miss Anderson started pounding on the piano keys ...sounds of a loud marching song drifted down the stairs .........and we began our daily trek upstairs to our classrooms....tromp , tromp, loudly on the stairs.. ..the grade ones first ......out they go, followed by the next class , then the twos and soforth......this always led to lots off goofing off...you can imagine the shenanigans well over a hundred grade school boys would pull off on that march...............That routine was a tradition in Chilliwack Central School when there was a girls side and a boys side ...of course the same event was happening on the girls side...I am not sure if they still do that today.....The school was completed in 1929 and students are still using the same hallowed halls...not much has changed.....just general maintenance....in the first year I attended there was a class of grade sevens in a room in the basement.........
I lived only 2 short blocks away........If I rode my bike or walked it was only a minute to the school grounds....so, I went home for lunch every day.....Dad worked only a block away and he was home for lunch as well......on occasion when I took my lunch it was always an event.... eating with some classmates , trading sandwiches and doing the noon hour thing was very occasional and very new to me....It sure gave a long time to play in the grounds or in the basement when the weather was bad. Marbles was king of games in those days.....the east side of the grounds were used.....grade twos had to be careful learning their skills...the older boys were very good at it so one had better play with his own...and keep his marbles.....A unique game was invented by throwing a marble at the hard wall and bouncing back to a line in the dirt.....there was no name for it , but it was played a lot.......Big Ring, Little Ring, Chase and Pot were common game names. Trading comic books , everyone traded comics.......a bit of that on the grounds but mostly by appointment....take a whack of books to a clients home and trade away......we also had big little books .........most of the main comics but special to Don Winslow of the Navy and others that were only in big little books.........in the corner of the pages there was a moving picture that could be watched when the pages were flipped..big little books were black and white comics. Model airplanes were big with kids, they could be constructed with balsa wood frames and covered with colored paper using airplane glue....some were very elaborate...I was in awe of the bigger boys efforts.....an wound elastic band and propeller was installed on some of them......but crashing was a drag, they were fragile and broke up.....We often bought 10 cent balsa wood gliders and played for hours with them.... Balsa wood models were handled by the sport shops........a cheap bag of balsa wood....assorted sizes (factory cutoffs) supplied hours of fun. That was my favorite.
We did not have bubblegum yet....we heard about it....but we never had it...bubblegum did not appear until well after the war was over....I can remember the first time I had it.....I was at Earl Goodrich's place ....he gave me a piece ....I think he got it from the States.......it had a wrapper with some black and white comics on it......you chewed a pink block of it .....hey......this is great........Earl already knew how....he showed me how to form it on my tongue...we were both blowing bubbles in no time......how cool is that.
My teacher in grade two was Miss Barrett........she was a real disciplinarian.....and could yell louder than any teacher I ever had......one fine day one of the kids made a rude noise while the class was in a lesson....it was towards the end of the day (why do I remember this?...I dunno) and the culprit had to own up or no one could go home....well we sat, and we sat...it seemed like an eternity...I really thought we were gonna be there all night.....so I got up ...and walked to those mean eyes and said "I did it".....she softened ...actual smile marks came to her eyes and she said "but you didn't really ,did you Gary........" umm...no mam".......Okay, you can get your coat and go home.....what..what....I thought as I went to the cloakroom......all the others were sitting there, eyes ahead....I had no idea things could come out this well....She eventually freed them all.....I was playing on the cellar door at the Baptist church when Simona Hopkins passed by , she told me of staying in another while, until she admitted she had done it....I thought she would get a terrible punishment but, Simona said she let everyone go including her when she owned up....I guess Miss Barrett's bark was worse than her bite.
On the way home there was a chestnut tree.....when they fell to the ground the green casing broke and exposed these beautiful big chestnuts.....kids tended to head to school a little early to pick up as many as possible...they were shiny and felt good in your hands...I always managed to get a few of them....If they were cut in half the meat looked delicious, but we were warned off it and afraid to try it....a few years later we used them to make pipes and smoked corn silk.....that should have had a warning label...gawd awful stuff. The school grounds were huge and the ball diamonds monsterous...that's what I remember thinking...I drive by the grounds once in a while now and my memory jogs back to those early school days .....The old school still is going full tilt and looks as good as it did in 1945.... it is even the same color...but the ball diamonds are much smaller than when I was eight years old.

View the robot video at the top of the page at.......... http://www.popsci.com:80/military-aviation-space/article/2008-03/darpas-amazing-robot-pack-mule-keeps-its-balance-ice

It is fantastic!

Yes, it was a very tense, scary time

On October 22, 1962, John F. Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine (blockade) of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles to Cuba. The two leaders of the world's greatest nuclear superpowers stared each other down for SEVEN days - until Khrushchev blinked. On October 28, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy's demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles. After teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief.



Our daughter was born on the 19th of Oct. 1962.......My wife was kept in the New Westminster St. Mary's Hospital for 10 days. Yes, it was a very tense, scary time.....When I was at the hospital on the evening of the 22. of Oct. there was a very somber atmosphere ....... We were holding hands ...She said the first words between us,"It just isn't fair is it".......It seemed so unreal that this could be happening.....Nuclear war , cities evaporating......Canada between the two countries trying to annihilate one another......but it was true ....we were living with those feelings.....at work earlier that day at the Sign shop on Kingsway , everyone went through the motions.....one of our familiar customers, a guy from Europe ,who had been through WW2 shook my hand in a reassuring way...but as if to say "nice knowing ya....We were in the city.....I wanted for us to be in Chilliwack, maybe we would stand a better chance there....Our minds were constantly churning , what to do.......It was like that for seven days......She was still in the hospital when the stalemate was finally over....We could go on with our lives and our new baby.......relief.....can you imagine.......and some said, aww they would never do that....hmm........ I am so glad we never had to find out......We lived in New Westminster at the time, in a basement suite.....Our landlords lived in the house......I was partnership with 3 others at a Sign shop on Kingsway. My wife had worked for an Optical Co. We had a 53 Dodge and went to Chilliwack just about every weekend. We had a dog named Pepper.....I am thankfully ending this little story on a much lighter note than the start..

I am in with fish

Growing up in Chilliwack...............Cultus Lake.........1943


Mum had me learning to swim by the time I was 5 ...I can certainly remember my early lesson ( chasing the Minnows and the water over my head )...anyway....Mum and I were at the boathouse at Cultus lake....there was a chain of logs creating a big swimming area with a floating 3 meter tower and slide out in the lake from the logs....I was in the water at the little kids shallow end ,Mum was sitting on the wharf ,watching and enjoying the afternoon.....lots of people and the loud sounds of kids swimming and shrieking...I did not want to go in the water even with mum sitting there...I guess I protested loudly but after I was set in one foot of water, I discovered minnows swimming by...wow...what's this....I am in with fish......Hey, what cool little critters...Mum could enjoy the day with her pals and I could watch these facinating little creatures ...but those rascals would not stay in one place so I had to follow them...well....I guess I followed them out over my head..and this I can remember ...Mum hollering when I bobbed to the top and then me looking at the distorted light above the surface over my head ..I was taking on water in my nose and mouth ....the next thing I knew I was being picked up by strong arms and carried, gasping and coughing back to my grateful mother.. .. My resuer had seen Mum calling to me to come back and made a dive off the pier getting to me before any damage was done...I was scared silly and hollered blue murder........Mum thanked and double thanked that young man... Then I sat there huddled close to mum while a few ladies gathered and talked , pointed fingers out and at me....big eyes peering down close to my face....smiling red lips and teeth saying how lucky I was....my hair going one way ..then the other....I just buried under mum's arm even further....after a while things calmed down and she suggested I go in the water again....I protested at first but then decided that was okay.....I headed back but kept my minnow hunting to shallow water.............A lesson of life I suppose...


Before the new wharf with the 10 meter tower was built....about 1950.....there was just a rectangle string of logs attached to the wharf at the boathouse.....there was a slide and dive board floating out from the logs....beginning swimmers spent lots of time agonizing on whether to swim out there or not...it was always an achievement with bragging rights when it was accomplished..I was only swimming to it a short while..then the new wharves were built....and they were and still are really something......to this day I have never seen a better wharf set up for the public ....In my growing up days their was wonderful 10 meter tower and slide, with platforms at 3,5 and 10 meters and a diving board at 3 meters....it was a great bit of a competition for everyone to master diving or jumping at these heights...Cultus was/is a jewel....we were fortunate to have it as our playground.

we slowly yarded him over the logs

Chilliwack Airport 1949

Growing up in Chilliwack.......................1949


Mum and dad had friends that lived and worked on site at the 20 mile logging camp on Harrison Lake....There name was Seyward...and their son was bugged by the fact there was no one to play with ...no other kids...sooo..Dad made arrangements and I flew to Seyward's place on a CB...that is a float and land plane with one prop that faces backwards....The operator was Ray Wells...from the famous old pioneer family in Chilliwack....that was very cool...I was 12 ...my first plane ride...and we landed on the water...a four passenger plane but there was only the two of us (both ways)....Tommy and his folks welcomed me and took me to their home, a large cabiny type place right close to the dock........I was really gung ho on this new adventure...all the water traffic tied up just down in front of their house........ a big supply-passenger boat came in every few days...the coolest thing was that wharf......I could fish off that..and I taught Tommy how to catch squaw fish...I had experience at that from Cultus lake ....The Lake was too cold even in the summer to swim in...but we dunked near shore to cool off...There was another boy that made friends with us...Big guy....he was 16 years old and he worked in the cook house...there were a couple of logs against the dock one morning and big guy decided he was going to walk on them and roll one like a pro....not a good idea...he found some cork boots and proceeded to demonstrate his skill to Tom and I...he stepped on one and then on to the outside log ...then splash -in the drink...guess what.... he couldn't swim..I could not believe what I was hearing as he garbled and gluged the words HELP...I laid across the two logs (lucky they were close together) I grabbed big guys flailing hand , pulling his arm to the outside log...he calmed down then with Tommy behind me we slowly yarded him over the logs and finally he got his body into it crawled up on the wharf ....nobody knew about the incident and we all kept our mouths shut because we didn't want to get big guy fired...big guy did a pretty dumb thing. We were worried about Tom saying something ..but he was okay...so it never happened...I reckon this is the first time that story came out...I had forgotten until this journal idea came up..
After a couple of weeks I was very homesick...The CB came in on one of its rounds and Mr. Wells said..."hey do you wanna go home"....I just turned and ran up to the house and got my stuff ..said goodbye thanks a lot and off we went...then a very memorable thing happened...Mr. Wells said...do you want to fly this airplane...What..ME...sure ..okay.....the control is in front of you ..grab a hold...wow, I'm going to fly a plane?...going in a straight line was pretty easy...nevertheless there is a reaction every time the control is moved slightly and it was a really cool thing for this twelve year old to do... he let me have the controls until we got site of the airport area.......when we got home I could leap buildings in a single bound *



for the very young....Leap buildings in a single bound...Faster than a speeding bullet...Look up in the air...its..............

dog gone

why would Walt do that

Growing up in Chilliwack


1977...... I joined the fire dept....as a volunteer....ouch , those 5 years flitted by in a hurry.....but it was good .....it was a social club as well as a fire fighting service....never knew when the pager would go....but when it went it was amazing how fast things came together....I live only a few minutes away from the hall and I would really have to go to catch a truck.......they were usually gone by the time I got to the hall, and then the volunteers drove to the site.....it certainly worked well at that time...there were only a few hired firefighters......our fearless leader was Bob Butchart......he always seemed to be wound up......like the captain on McHale's Navy.........I was green as grass.....I still had to learn all the "stuff"...there was a practice every Monday night.....the first practice I attended we went to an old folks home.....I was in the front seat of the pumper with Walt-------- and Jerry----- ....it is a practice fire drill for the old folks as well, and most of them were outside on the grounds.....we were parked in the middle of them, the Chief was in front of the truck...I didn't know much about the fire business, but I looked cute in my outfit...... there is siren button on the floor on my side...I did not know that....your right....I had my foot on it...I did not know where the terrible shrieking noise was coming from...our truck? why would Walt do that...that's stupid......then Jerry pushed me off the button...oh gawd......the people are freaked and Bob is doing the I don't know dance in front of the truck.....waving his arms and trying to get us to shut the truck up.........was I embarrassed......o ya....I felt 2 inches tall.....That siren button is one of the first things I learned about as a volunteer.....The socializing part was good.....we had a good full size pool table...a shuffleboard ....a great kitchen and main hall....dances , curling day, Friday night at the hall.....lots of card games after practice...a Coho derby....and we fought fires too...some of them were pretty mean...a barn fire is always heavy duty....I only remember attending fires in average good homes once or twice in a year....the fires were in places that looked like they could catch fire.....at that time the coffee and lunch stops were at the --------, Dog and Suds......Enter the back door and grab a seat on the freezer or a milk carton.......and Joan would bring the coffee back.....Ken was usually there, and lots of others to numerous to name them all.....We always did a fishing and weather report ....Ken and Joan made it a really friendly place to go........she always made sure we got a good deal on the grub...and that was appreciated...best Hamburgers anywhere.......can it be so many years ago ...so quickly.....One day when Doc Newby (dentist) was in the back...straddling a garbage can and devouring one of those super burgers.....he was busy, busy chomping on the thing while Ken and I were talking to him.......He had ketchup on his mouth, nose ,cheeks , everywhere..... I looked at him at a pause in the conversation...Doc...have you been working on your own teeth....o boy....that caught Ken's funny bone...I thought he would blow a gasket.....jeez ...that was funny....it went over Doc,s head.....he did not know what the commotion was about and just kept on chomping......I was laughing at Ken laughing....it gets like that sometimes.
Jerry and Diane --------- lived in Chilliwack then....Jerry and I spent a lot of time together....lots of hunting and fishing.....sometimes we went duck hunting just out in the fields east of the house.....the was no paved road in those days.....our road.........was a nice quiet dead end......This particular November day it was windy....not cold ...but windy.....we had the decoys out and were patiently waiting for some dumb ones.......not much doing...they were lots flying, but not in our field....then finally we spot 5 birds...they are coming in fast..and right to the decoys......o boy......they are right in front of us....no fooling around they want to meet these ducks they can see...they flare,..... set.......and start down.....We stand up blazing...easy shots...bang bang...bang bang.....bang bang....what a commotion......6 ejected shells are flying........all five ducks (we could see the whites of their eyes)....were flapping and getting themselves into reverse...yep all five...they all turned and flew away......We dumly looked at them leaving ...... then yelled after them.....AND DON'T COME BACK........

......we never hit one..and they were like barn doors....not one......the great hunters.....that became a classic..."and don't come back".........

are you the Warwick that knew Gus

Don Warwick Gus

to Kiwi in Opotiki
Warwick------------
Beaumont Lawrence
Phone ------------------

Hey Gord.......... would you have any idea what this address means ....it is in New Zealand somewhere .....I asked for people finder for this guys info ...and this is what came up...... I met him in Timaru ......he came to Canada......he left a whack of pictures at my parents home....I just stumbled into them ..not my parents....the pictures............and I thought if he was still kicking he would love to see them....this is the address.......... --------------------------------------

----------------------Beaumont Lawrence

but it does not make sense to me....is there a town called Beaumont Lawrence? or ...........I dunno..
thanks Gus

----- Original Message ----- From: Gordon To: Gus
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2007 2:35 AMSubject: Warwick -----------

Hi Gus……..great news…..I have been talking to Warwick tonight I phoned him, and left a message on his answer phone, wondering “ are you the Warwick -----------, that knew Gus ---------, whom you met in Timaru, back in the 1950’s, and subsequently, went to Chilliwack in BC Canada and stayed at the --------- home ?” The phone rang about 8:15 pm and this voice said I got this message to ring you about Gus in Chilliwack……. And I said are you the right person !!!! and he said I sure am !!!!!! how about that Gus after all these years This fella was overwhelmed…..it was so good to hook up with him, after trying to catch up with him about a year ago ????? I saw that phone number on your Email to me, so I went into our White Pages, and the info that came up was the same as you had, he said to me that he left Timaru back in 1959, so no wonder I couldn’d find him before. He was saying he is blind, but he took this phone number of yours which I found in the Canada White Pages ---------…….and your addy -----------way etc. If your phone number is wrong, you could phone him on ---------------- His addy is -----------------
Beaumont,
Lawrence….Clutha District
South Island . NZ
NZ time is 20 hours ahead of your time in BC

Warwick said he often thinks…"I wonder what happened to Gus"
Warwick is not on the Internet, but he said he has friends etc who are….You have no idea how this phone call to him has made my day, it was special. Any thing I can help with, let me know…cheers Gus…..Gordon. 2 days later..............GORD That was great...I just got off the phone....Everything clicked okay...I have been talking to Warwick for half an hour....O my god....so much water....two whole lifetimes.........we reminisced about the times .....That was so good..Thank you so much for your help......The man is not that bad in the blind department....he does not drive .....his sight is impaired but he can see ok with big glasses and he will be able to see his pictures when I send them....names came back that I had forgotten...I was just going with Shirley when he was here...yeh...that was great...I will be able to communicate on line when he gives my email to his son..and a friend that lives close.....he lives in the sticks ....and loves it....I looked on Google.....there is just rural rural areas there.... ok thanks again...Gus

you have to stay here

Growing up in Chilliwack....New Zealand 1957

In middle April, Mervin and I had hitch hiked from Wellington to Timaru....it was about 2 pm and we were in a pool room dining on a meat pie and a coke.....we usually headed for a pool room in most towns....that was a great way to meet people and get information....they also had food in most of them...usually there was a pub very nearby.......Find a poolroom and there would be an adventure by the end of the day....So we are shooting a game and I notice a guy looking at us...he seemed to be unsure and anxious..... then he came over to us and said are you two from Canada....I don't know what gave us away that easy....accent I guess (kiwis usually guessed American) when we told him ...Hey great...I'm going to Canada soon..He introduced himself as Warwick----...Well, right away we had formed a mini friendship.....Where are you going...... What are you ...and so on....you have to stay here ...there is so much I want to talk to you about...and so we did....he got on the phone...talked a while, then told us we have a place to stay...at Graham Edwin's place.....he can put you up....Graham was a radio announcer (apparently he went on to great things in Australia).......okay we can play another while and then walk over.....that was super. We had a great time...stayed at Graham"s and met some of Warwick"s friends....He even interviewed us for a local radio show featuring things of interest in Timaru...That was pretty cool...We were a thing of interest....I remember giving a pretty stupid answer that Mervin gave me a hard time for after the show...
In a few days Jim and Peter drove into town.....That was the plan ...to meet somewhere in South Island...They had driven down from Auckland...Jim had a 56 Nash rambler and it was considered as a very flash car...We had met Jim in Auckland (another story...another novel)....Warwick found a place for them to stay as well, they were bunked up at Don's.....another radio friend's place.....The freight ships came and went in Timaru...there were jobs to be had at the wharf.....It was called "Seagulling"..hey... that sounded okay...after a few mornings of hanging out in a lineup of men we were picked...like you you ...you ..and you....I looked pleadingly at the foreman...we all did...finally we all were picked after a few days.....what a great job......in the hold, loading wool...and other sheep related cargo....mostly wool though...jump in the fray in relays...pull a few bundles and ...ok...rest....what a deal.....it was fun working with those guys and being overworked was the last thing to worry about.....on the crew I was with they called me Buckley ...that was because of a radio add that claimed Bucklies Canadiall Cough Syrup was the best medicine going....Gawd its blinkin awful stuff.....put the bottle on the dresser and you are afraid to cough...ok..after a great time in Timaru ...we all leave in Jim's car...next stop...Dunedin.....and lots of adventures.....finally were back in Auckland and it is time to think about leaving......Pete is going to stay for a while yet......and we book passage for Australia....whoa....after a few days we do some serious thinking (we did that this one time) and decided not a good Idea....it will take to long to earn and save the money to buy a ticket home....Mervin has a serious girlfriend at home...and I did not want to stay away another year....so we decided to come home before dipping into that reserve we both had put away.....so we came home in June...in time for summer and a great summer it was......in October ,Warwick came to Chilliwack and stayed on into 1958......

August 2007.........50 years go by

......Jim is gone , Graham the announcer has passed on......I decide to try and find the whereabouts of Warrick ------.....I had looked a year ago and asked an email friend in Opotiki New Zealand for help.....nothing......nadda.....a few days ago I try a New Zealand people finder and Warwick ----- jumps out at me....I was looking for a "Warrick" ...rong spelling ....hey wot the heck I will again ask Gordon in Opotiki if he has heard of the address that I found....following is the rundown on trying to find Warwick....................

continued

"get a tourniquet"

I was about 7 pm, we just drove in to the Chilliwack Garbage dump site....located out at Wolfe Road...there had been no one there for a while, the sun was just going down. The rats had not been disturbed for a while and were scurrying for cover....Whoa, look at em, they are all over the place ...we got out of Gordon's old 33 Chevrolet 4 door and took up our 22s . Mervin , Gordon and I....we were gonna shoot us some rats.....we have flash lights taped to the gun barrels ...when it gets dark the rats pink eyes light up like a neon....oh ya......that's was lots of fun......Gordon and I head in to the thick of it .....Mervin is back a bit....the rats had all hidden by then but as Gord and I were passing a old scrap of sheet tin , a rat made a noise under it....aah haa....hey Gord, if I will move the tin maybe you can you nail the bugger, ........So that I did...very carefully lifting it with my gun barrel.....hey....the rat ran out and right over Gordon's toes...Yipes...he swings the barrel down at the same time ...I think I heard ...bang.. YOICKS.....as he pulled the trigger and the bullet went in his foot.....the next thing a gumboot was kicked high in the air and Gord was hopping and hollering.... "the rat got away"....naw...he was yelling "get a tourniquet"......oh man....we did not know how bad it was and were scared silly....Gord jumped in the back seat and we got his foot up ...I was looking at it expecting it to be blown half off....Mervin was trying to start that stubborn old car...It was going eeern....eeern....eeern ....try again...ern ern it finally caught.....get a tourniquet....get a ...but I looked and there was a red mark on the top of his foot and this little spot on the bottom with a few drops of blood coming from it....It went clean through....hey, that doesn't look so bad.....and off to the hospital we go......it turned out it was quite bad for Gordon.....the bullet caught some bone on the way through and he had to deal with a cast for about 6 weeks....I guess that would be considered a gunshot wound...we expected some flack about that but there was nothing said ...... Merv and I went back to get his boot but it was gone....I wonder who needs one boot?....I guess explaining the cast and crutches was a bit embarrassing for a while...but it was soon another memory .....Gord and I still talk of the incident once in a while.


Dr. Barton was a veterinarian....his wife was a great lady named Bunny......The 3 kids were Jim,Ted and Alice May....they were about 2 years apart ..... Jim being the the oldest ......Barton's was a very special place.....a second home.....for a few years....grades 10,11 and 12 we would go to Bartons ...Mervin , Russ and I ( all in the same grade)......Russ lived directly behind their place across the alley .........Doc was a country veterinarian.....his job took him to farms all over the valley and to the experimental farms in B.C. He also had a building directly behind the house.......the office.....the hospital .....that's where he doctored the small animals....He never gave a bill to a kid....Doc let a lot of bills slide...it was not a money making empire for him....he was just a heck of a guy.
All of us boys had great experiences going with Doc on his rounds......as we turned 16 and got drivers licences we could chauffer him....... Doc's Chevrolet car was new and we all loved to drive it. .......we helped assisting births of animals, milk fever, operating for metal in cows stomachs, de horning, just lots of things....once when he was sewing up a cow he had taken some wire out of, he threw a little piece to the cat...I thought that was hilarious. Did you ever see a newborn lamb struggling to stand up minutes after delivery?...wow, that is something.... On a few occassions,Ted and I would persuade him to stop for a few hours fishing.... Jim had a shop in the basement ...he could be found there most of the time....always had a project going and all of the tools to do it with.....Ted was a few years younger and loved to fish.....I had an old 33 Chev car when I was 16...and we fished together a lot...We would drive to the drainage creeks in the Yarrow and Sumas Prairie area...there was a fine run of Cutthroat Trout in the Spring..........Doc had some great stories and advice....his favorite was ...Whatever you decide to do....do it well.... In 1957 I was in Merritt B.C. working on the gas line. I got a phone call from my mother....she told me Doc had drown in a fishing accident while at the Tranquille Experimental Farm at Kamloops lake...."Old Doc" was 54 years old.

library