hahaha

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airport cafe

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Pie maker and waitress at the famous Chilliwack Airport Cafe enjoy their break on a beautiful late September day.

lunch at the river

Yesterday we took our lunch to the Vedder River.......what a gorgeous late September day....I reckon it went to 30 degrees today....the river is low , very clear and full of Pink Salmon....we could see hundreds of not thousands of "humpies" passing through the run we were at and heading on up through the shallows....every second year or "odd" year we are treated to this usually large run of salmon.....as you can see many fishers attepting to catch a few for the barbeque. Since the DFO opened them to sportsfishing a few years ago many new anglers have come on to the scene as they are rather easy to catch.

gags and a dreamer

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chilliwack airport cafe

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girls became people

Growing up in Chilliwack......the 50s

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.

A pot that was kept under the bed

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.


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