I, Marlyne Marie, was brought into this world on August 21, 1938 in the Red Cross House in Hudson Bay Junction by Dr. J.B. Silver. Mom told me that my teeth were slow in coming and she even took me to the good doctor to see what was the matter. He reassured her that I would have teeth -- just have patience! Sure enough at the age of thirteen months my first tooth appeared. I can imagine Mom's joy in knowing that I was normal.


My early childhood was spent playing with my closest friend and sister, Maxine. Being only a year and a week apart had its benefits. I do not remember living down east but stories have it that Maxine and I had a large number of dolls complete with a glass tea set and a sleigh. When we moved to Grandpa Alain's sawmill south of Veillardville, I can remember him promising Maxine and me a chew of his plug of tobacco if we could move the old steel tractor wheel which was frozen deep in the snow. Even though we were small our determination to get an honest chew prevailed as we got dressed in our warm woolies and scarves. We took our leather shoe lace and headed for the wheel. To this date I know we never moved the wheel but I honestly don't recall getting a chew either. Grandpa meant and kept his word. I remember a bit of the life in that bunkhouse where Mom cooked for the sawmill crew. We slept in a bunk that had a straw mattress. No doubt my fear of mice began around this time and has continued to the present time. One Christmas, years later, Maxine and I were given small penlight flashlights, a gift from Uncle Joe and Aunt Helen. We were so proud of them as we could investigate many things under the cover of darkness, which included doing a bit of reading without Mom and Dad knowing about it. It seems a mouse was making a nest out of tissue paper in the bottom of the container holding up the tree. After everyone had gone to bed and it was quiet, this mouse would do its work and make a funny noise. We never caught him in the act but he did jump on me while I was sleeping! Of course I screamed loudly and soon Mom came to see who had been killed and there I was, just scared silly and not wanting to go back to bed till she had checked the whole room for it. We never found him but, knowing that my Mom had checked the room, was all I needed. It seems that I have always been afraid of mice and yet I've been in many situations where mice were present -- stooking, making hay and camping.


I can still remember the day that the bulldozer cleared the land in front of our house and seeing Dad black as coal from pulling out the stumps and roots. As we grew older we did what work we could to help him. It seemed that Saturday was THE day to pick stones and, oh, how we hated that job of walking behind a slowly moving tractor and stoneboat or a trailer. Dad would place us evenly on each side and direct us as our eyes deliberately avoided seeing many stones. I can still hear him call, "Hey, there's one over there."


We appreciated help and especially when a Jaszan boy came out one Saturday. After Dad told him where a stone was (as if he didn't know) Dad proceeded to tell him that if this stone wasn't picked now it would be bigger next year. We knew full well how important it was to have clean fields for seeding, cultivating and combining, yet we also knew that stones wouldn't grow -- however we never told Dad!


It was not all work -- there was lots of fun riding on the tractor with Dad. He would tell us stories and talk about life in general or he'd sing some funny French songs. One very hot day we were driving home from the homestead and had a hired man with us who was complaining about having to work in the heat. Dad promised him a swim when we reached the water in the distance. We were all terribly disappointed as there was no water -- just a field of flax in bloom. It wasn't long till we were home and were all treated to one of Mom's ice cream cones. Now, that was a treat!


Most Saturdays we had an early supper, bathed and got all dressed up so we could go to town. That was a big event for most people. While Mom and Dad shopped we walked up and down the streets -- hoping to see school friends, cousins and have a peek at the boys, too. Many times we were given money to go to a show which cost 10¢ at that time. That was a lot of money in those days and I remember Dad gave us a nickel once...it was all he had to spare and so it meant us saving it till next Saturday, if we really wanted to see a movie.


During those years Mom was busy sewing for us. She could make blouses, dresses and coats faster and better than anyone I knew. We kids tried on and tried on and pranced in front of Dad for a word of approval many times. We girls must have had more clothes than whole families put together. I was always proud to wear my clothes as they were in style and colors were well suited to me. When I think back I wonder how Mom did it all -- looked after a big garden (complete with tons of raspberries), doing chores, baking, cooking, and still she had time to sew for all of us. She also understood what kids liked and, for one of our birthdays, treated Maxine and me to a banana split. We nearly split as it was so filling -- there was more for 40¢ then than now for $1.99.


I attended White Poplar School #4269 from grades one through eight and I remember having the following teachers: Ruth Kosher, Helen Howse, Arlene Carnahan and Mrs. Smith. A ride to school with Joyce and Heather May with their horse and buggy or cutter was fun for me and a relief to Mom knowing that I had made it both ways as two and a half miles was a long way for a six year old. I remember having good lunches as we could always trade with someone else for a variety. During the winter, our teachers used to heat a boiler of water on the stove and we'd bring jars of soup, cocoa, and pork and beans to heat up. What a treat! This was really living! Of course it also meant we could interrupt the teacher by asking permission to put our jar in the water to heat up. That excuse was used more than once. Something else I'll never forget was the outdoor biffy which seemed to be a mile away.


Christmas concerts and practicing go together very well. One year Miss Carnahan, a teacher who enjoyed sports of all kinds, decided that our school would learn to dance as well as do gymnastics for the concert. And so we did the Irish Jig, square dancing, and lots of tumbling which ended with a pyramid. Talk about fun!


During my grade eight, I was sick with mumps, chicken pox and measles one after the other. That year I wasn't in the concert. However, I attended it and wore a new taffeta dress which Mom had made while I was sick at home. I managed to pass my grade even though I had missed so much school.


I took my grade nine in Hudson Bay where I boarded with Grandma Strasser. That year I nearly failed and was not too disappointed when Mom and Dad announced that Maxine and I would be going to the convent in Zenon Park that fall. Zenon Park was 70 to 80 miles away and meant only coming home for Christmas and Easter holidays. After a while I didn't want to go home as I had a boyfriend and wanted to spend free time or holidays near him.


One Easter we came home on the train and it took hours and hours to go from Zenon Park to Veillardville. We stopped at every station and picked up everything, including cattle. Other times we stopped to wait for the snow plow because there was too much snow on the rails. The conductor and trainmen would tease Maxine and me about the engine running out of fuel. I doubt if we were really worried because we had enough lunch to feed the whole crew...the Sisters were very generous. When at last we arrived at Veillardville, the train stopped and we got off into 3 feet of fresh snow. We started to walk quickly as we were excited and happy to be nearly home. However, we soon slowed down because the snow was so deep. It didn't take us long to discover that the banks made by the snow plow was the best place to walk, as we were up high and the peaks were hard. We were warmly welcomed as everyone thought we wouldn't be coming home as it was getting late. We ate a warm breakfast and went to bed. Our arms were ever so tired from carrying those heavy suitcases. We hadn't learned to travel light.


I graduated from grade twelve in 1956 and, that summer, I worked at Sinclair Drugs in Hudson Bay and found it to be a great experience. Jo Soules and Sinc were very patient with and kind to me.


In the fall of 1956 I was off to Teachers College in Saskatoon where I boarded with Aunt Mae and Uncle Bernie and their family. After practice teaching at Aberdeen and Allan and completing numerous assignments, I received my teaching certificate. I taught in Ile a La Crosse in northern Saskatchewan. This is a beautiful small community at the tip of a peninsula. In those days the road was not very good and so most people flew in or took the road so far and boated across the small narrows to land. I was hired to teach but had not been assigned a class and when I got to this landing some of the other teachers were there waiting for the barge to take them across. There were 4 new teachers and 4 positions empty. We chose our class by drawing straws. Mine being the shortest, I was given grade one -- 26 little Native children. What a challenge and, yes, a disappointment too as I had not been prepared for grade one. However, I didn't mind too much as it was here that I met Adolf. A new hospital was being constructed and Adolf was the terrazzo floor finisher and a real good one, too.


Adolf was born April 22, 1938, in Salzburg, Austria to Franz Reindl and Theresia Dollberger. In his search for a better life Adolf came to Canada September 17, 1956. Our friendship developed into love and shortly after, we began to make wedding plans.


Adolf and I were married in Meadow Lake on May 24, 1958. Our witnesses were my sister, Maxine, and Benny Colasimone, a friend of Adolf's. Following a small lunch, we drove to Veillardville for a surprise wedding reception. I still have the red scribbler which was used as a guest register and gift book. I read it occasionally and reminisce about all those who signed it.


We moved to Saskatoon where Adolf sold pots and pans and did anything to make a living as he was laid off at the same time we were married. What a way to begin married life but, being young and in love, we didn't mind. However, Bob was born September 30 the same year and, with winter settling in and rent to be paid, it was necessary for one of us to find work. I answered an ad for a teaching position in the Muskeegan area (close to Prairie River) and much to my surprise I was hired. So once again I was teaching but it was different as I now had a country school, grades one to nine with sixteen children in all.


We lived in the one bedroom, two-room teacherage in the school yard, no power and no running water. When I look back I don't know how we did it as we'd gotten so accustomed to these luxuries and, with a baby, there was always diapers to wash and no place to hang them except on lines strung from wall to wall. Of course that meant you couldn't have company with diapers hanging over your head. But we did spend many evenings playing cards and visiting neighbors, John and Mary Belanko.


That spring I planted my first garden and was extremely proud of it, too, until Mom and Dad came for a Sunday visit and they discovered that all my onion tops had curls in them. Yes, I had planted them upside down. During the winter Adolf worked in the bush camp close to Muskeegan. Once spring arrived he was fortunate in getting farm work at Thode's farm south of Veillardville and, by then, school was over so we moved close to Mom and Dad's where we stayed till the end of August.


We were expecting our second child and were wondering if Adolf would ever get steady work to support our growing family. Luck was with us as he was called to Lynn Lake; however, that left me alone and it was only a short time until Geraldine would be born. Grandpa Alain helped me move our few belongings to a rented suite in Hudson Bay. Geraldine was born October 8, 1959; baptized at home by Father Dubois, who insisted that it was not right to baptize at home but he did say it was okay for royalty. So I proceeded to tell him to pretend she was our little Indian Princess, which she was and still is today. She was baptized!


Early in November we moved up north to Lynn Lake where we shared a house with a family whose mother was away and so I looked after their four children and our own two, which gave me six under six. Mind you, we now had running water. electricity and a warm house. Our first Christmas away from home was different -- especially when Adolf found the perfect tree from the bush which only had branches on three sides so he drilled holes and put branches in. It was always a challenge to find a tree with branches on all sides up there. But we never gave up.


Life in the North was great -- nice summers and long cold winters. It wasn't long till we had a lovely addition to our family when Louella was born on April 14, 1961 followed by Mark on September 13, 1962. They were all good babies and loved to travel. In the spring of 1963, Mom and Dad sold their farm and moved to B.C., so we planned to take our holidays and visit them. They had just moved there and were still in the midst of moving into their little house and, with our four children, it didn't help much but it was grand being all together once again. We slept upstairs where there was no trap door on the floor opening and two-year-old Louella fell down to the kitchen floor the first day we were there and again the morning we left. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt either time.


We loved the North but we didn't want to spend our whole life there and, with Bob now five years old, we decided that if we were to move south before the children started school we should do it now; so we sold our house and moved to our present home in Saskatoon in November 1963. Adolf saw that his family was well settled and then returned to Lynn Lake to work. In the meantime, I started to write to the Potash Company of America mine reminding them that Adolf would like to work for them. It took a while for results but it paid off and, in March 1965, Adolf was hired. The bosses knew him as they referred to him as their "Pen Pal." We didn't care as long as he had work close to home. He has been employed with PCA for over twenty years and loves his work. He started as shaft and bin man, then trained as hoist operator. Like Adolf says, "Where else can you read to your heart's content and still get paid, too?" With Adolf working steady, our life began to take on a sense of normalcy.


Once the children were in school, I had more free time. I was active with the Girl Guides, Home and School, and Catholic Women's League. There was committee work to assist with the cultural exchange trips to Quebec and likewise when Bob was in Track and Field. The years went by quickly and soon all the children had graduated from high school and slowly they started to venture out on their own.


The next five years our family started to grow. Bob was the first to marry, in October 1980, to his track and field sweetheart, Caren Rathie. Shortly after that, in May 1981, Geraldine married her sweetheart from Calgary, Brian Law. Then, in February 1983, our first grandson, Ryan, was born to Brian and Gerri. Then, in April 1984, Louella married her high school beau, Brad Sim. That same year, in the month of May, our second grandson, Jason, was born to Bob and Caren. Then, to finish the year off, our first granddaughter, Breanne, was born to Brian and Gerri. In July 1985, Mark married a Saskatoon girl, Keeran Reed. The following month, August, brought our second Reindl boy, Kyle, born to Bob and Caren.


It has been a wonderful life with a good and faithful husband and father along with four interesting and lively children who made me feel good about staying home and being a full-time mother -- something I have never regretted.


Our children have insisted that we, as a family, spend time together even though they have families of their own. We are deeply proud of them and hope they will continue this tradition with their own families. We have many hours of fun plus an opportunity to get to know and understand each other. My parents always enjoyed having family around or visiting them -- a value which is now being passed on.


Adolf and I are enjoying our middle years camping, travelling and visiting with our grand-children. We are home to anyone wishing to visit and look forward to these special times. Adolf still finds time for home renovations and painting when called upon, and hauling and splitting wood for our two fireplaces while I have taken on various positions with the C.W.L., the latest one being Diocesan President. We never seem to be bored as there is always something to be done at home or for someone else.


My name is Robert Lee Reindl. I am the eldest son of Marlyne and Adolf Reindl of Saskatoon. I was born on September 30, 1958 in Saskatoon.


I went to St. Paul's Elementary School, then to E.D. Feehan High School for one year. Then I transferred to City Park Collegiate where I grad-uated in 1976.


Unlike most other young teenagers, my life was full of travel and competitions as I was an international track runner.


I started track and field in 1974 with the Saskatoon Riversdale Track and Field Club. From then on, my life was exciting and very fulfilling. In 1977 I was the Canada Summer Games winner in the 800m. and also the Cana-dian Champion in the 800m.


From there I went to run in Europe, Los Angeles and, that winter, to Australia. Also, that year I was voted Saskatoon's Top Male Athlete of the Year.


Track is special to me for another reason as that is where I met my future wife, Caren Joan Rathie. She, too, was a runner and an interna-tional competitor. We travelled and ran together for many years and then, in February 1980, we got engaged and that year, on October 11, we were married.


From then on for two years I worked at Woolco and, in November 1983, I bought into a delivery business. My wife has been running a Family Daycare Home for the last five years.


Then the most beautiful happening took place on May 21, 1984 -- the birth of our first son, Jason Adam Louis Reindl . Our second son, Kyle Matthew , was born on August 8, 1985.


In July 1984 we purchased our first home at 217 Simon Fraser Crescent, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where we are currently residing, and Living Happily Ever After!


I was born to Adolf and Marlyne Reindl on October 8, 1959 in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. My name was so hard for Bob, my brother, to say that he just called me Dee-Dee. To this day my grandparents and some of the older neighbours in Mom and Dad's area still call me that.


I remember going up to Hudson Bay for many summers to stay at Uncle Rolland's farm and help out. But the first requirement of Uncle Rolland was that if we were going to cry when our parents left or during our stay, then we could pack our bags and leave with them. I learned how to pick rocks out of the summer fallow, pick up bales of hay and paint the barns.


In grade seven, we (our class and 84 others) made an exchange program down East to Hull, Quebec. We were gone twenty-one days and went by train and visited Montreal and Quebec City. It was very educational and exciting, being my first trip away from home. The following summer our family went on holidays down East and we toured the places that I had been to.


Our family went camping every year in either Saskatchewan or in parts of British Columbia. Our holidays were always filled with fun and good times!


I did lots of babysitting, house cleaning and one family in particular gave me the experience to do trial balancing of accounts which would later on help me in finding real work.


In grade ten I made a big trip by flying stand-by to Sydney, Nova Scotia, to babysit for Aunt Marcella and Uncle Richard. I toured with them through the Maritimes and went to Newfoundland with a friend that I met there. This trip helped me prepare for my future of living away from home and not feeling too homesick.


The following year I got my first job in a grocery store. I worked there for the summer months and was able to make my first big purchase of a pair of contact lenses (much to Mom and Dad's dislike). From here I went to work at the University Hospital. I worked as a Dietary Aide in the old Snack Bar and, as well, on the wards serving meals.


I dated quite a bit through the next couple of years and then I met my future husband, Brian Law. He was my escort to graduation in 1977 from City Park Collegiate.


Brian was born to Al and Jean Law of Calgary, Alberta. He lived in Calgary all of his life and played hockey. Brian went to school in Calgary until his 12th year when he attended Camrose Lutheran College in Camrose, Alberta. He was awarded a Hockey Scholarship to Princeton University in the United States. He made a trip down there to explore the campus, dormitories, and curricular agenda but, due to financial reasons, he was never able to go and pursue this scholarship. Brian worked summer jobs between hockey careers in the winter. He has travelled and played hockey in places such as: Czechoslovakia, Germany, Finland and the United States.


Brian played hockey for the Saskatoon Blades and stayed here until October 1977. He was traded to Calgary and, in December 1977, I landed a job at Eaton's in Calgary and moved within three days of Christmas.


In December 1979, Brian and I were engaged. We decided, in May of 1981, we would marry in Saskatoon at St. Paul's Cathedral. We moved back to Saskatoon in the same year as Brian got work with the Potash Company of America in December. I started working at the Ambulance Company and we later purchased our first home in the Confederation Park area.


On February 13, 1983, Dad's Mother's birthday, our first pride and joy, our son Ryan Alexander was born. He is still, to this day, the carbon copy of his dad in looks!


I continued to stay at home after Ryan was born. I worked part-time and did some babysitting for friends. Then on November 10, 1984, the first great-granddaughter and granddaughter, Breanne Jean Marie was born. She not only looks like her mom but also has the Reindl temper!


I am presently involved with our Neighbourhood Watch program, being the Area Co-ordinator for Confederation Park. I enjoy setting up meetings, doing presentations for our area and surrounding areas. This keeps me very busy. I am also working for a Temporary Secretarial Agency. I have picked up various skills such as word processing, computer work, Telex experience, etc.


We are going to be going on our first camping experience with our family this summer. We do enjoy the outdoors, sports of all kinds and just generally watching our children grow up. We invite anyone to drop by and see us as we always have room for company.


My glorious entrance into the world took place in the early morning of April 14, 1961 in the northern hospital at Lynn Lake, Manitoba. My mother tells me Dr. McMahon never made it to the hospital for my birth. He couldn't get out of his house and, after much pushing and shoving, he reached his car but found all the car doors were frozen over. During the night a light rain fell and then it froze. It looked like a skating rink everywhere.


Two events in my early life which I remember quite vividly are when I was confirmed at St. Paul's Cathedral and Oma (Dad's mother) was here from Austria to help celebrate but, before then, I made my First Communion in Vernon, B.C. with my grandparents, and Aunt Michelle and Uncle Joe. Our family was celebrating Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma. This was when I was in Grade two and later that spring I had a tonsillectomy.


I had lots of friends on the block. Two of them were Lori Webster and Merrilee Wilkins. Sometimes we didn't always see eye to eye. One day Lori and Merrilee were skipping across the street when Mom said, "Go outside and play with them." This was around Easter time and Lori had a lot of Easter eggs and Merrilee and I each wanted some. We played with Lori till the eggs were all gone and then so was Lori! We weren't very nice -- just kids.


We had lots of pets -- cat, turtle, fish, hamster, guinea pig and gerbils. Mom enjoyed (actually she disliked them) all our pets -- especially the furry ones! Sometimes they'd get out and we couldn't find them. We wouldn't tell her but when we heard a loud shriek we knew she'd found them.


In Grade seven, I was fortunate enough to take part in a student exchange program with French students from Hull, Quebec. It was the first real trip away from home and it was a terrific learning experience. While in Quebec we toured a number of places like the Parliament Buildings, Upper Canada Village and the War Memorial. At Mount Royal in Montreal we viewed the Miss Quebec Pageant. Once I returned home, my billet, Sylvia Dupuis, and her school class visited Saskatoon and area. It was a fun time as we had lots of things to do and see together.


During Grades six, seven and eight I was active with School Safety Patrol and was captain for two years. I enjoyed this and found it was a good excuse to get to school early and return home a bit later. I finished my Grade eight by having an appendectomy and thus managed to avoid writing all of my exams -- but I passed anyways.


I attended City Park High School for Grades nine, ten, eleven and twelve where I was involved by playing volleyball and basketball. I was also class House Representative and on the Student Representative Council so I was busy. It was here that I met my future husband, Brad Sim.


I had known Brad for a long time as Brad's older brother, Jay, played hockey with my brother, Bob. Brad and I would attend their games as spectators.


One night our family was preparing for bed -- Dad had just put out the lights and was walking upstairs -- when suddenly a marble came


shooting through my bedroom window. I screamed and ran for the door. After some investigating, we discovered the marble had come from across the back lane and been shot by an old man. We named him the "Marble Man". But that night I was so scared I slept on the floor beside Mom and Dad's bed. I was 16 years old! It took me a long time to get over that. We found marbles for a long time all over the yard. The Marble Man has since moved away and everyone is relieved.


During the later part of my Grade twelve, I landed my first job at McDonald's where I still work today. Oh, yes I do deserve a break! When I first started at McDonald's it was part-time and gradually I was promoted to Assistant Breakfast Co-ordinator. Approximately three years ago a new store opened north of our place and I was transferred and received a promotion to Breakfast Co-ordinator. Not long after I was made a Manager. My job keeps me busy but I enjoy it, especially when my friends and family come to see me working -- maybe it's because I promo their meals once in a while.


Brad and I were married April 28, 1984 in Saskatoon and, just previous to our wedding, we filled in thousands of entry forms for a contest to win $1,000.00 of new furniture. We couldn't believe it when I received a call to say we'd won! It was a grand beginning and much appreciated as we didn't have much furniture.


Brad was born in Saskatoon on October 16, 1961 and lived on a farm near Langham, Saskatchewan, for his first three years. After this time his family moved into Saskatoon where he attended public and high school. Brad enjoyed participating in sports, namely football, baseball and hockey which he still enjoys playing. He has had a number of jobs but at the present is a carpet layer for Reindl Flooring, my Uncle Frank's business.


We spend our spare time camping, playing cards, golfing, entertaining and gardening. At the moment my brother is our landlord and so we see some of our family quite often, which we like.


My name is Mark Anthony Reindl and I was born September 13, 1962 in a little out-of-the-way hospital in Lynn Lake, Manitoba. Where were you in '62? We lived in Lynn Lake till I was one and then our family made the big move to Saskatoon.


Being the youngest, my sister Louella and I were the best of buddies. We used to go and do everything together. One day we were playing house and the toys we wanted were upstairs, where we usually played, but Louella decided she wanted to have a tea party downstairs. I carried the chair and Louella was right behind me with the tea set. Well, my sister must have given me a little push because, before you knew it, I went tumbling down the stairs. Boy, did she get heck and there were no more tea parties downstairs.


When my sister would get too rough with me, I would go play with my neighbor across the street, Alison Wilkins. What a fox! We were only five or six but we played all kinds of games. One day I lost a tooth and went over to show Alison. Shortly after, I saw my Dad come home from work and I was really anxious to show him, too. I ran to the curb, looked one way and ran. Well, I didn't look the other way and so I didn't see the bus coming. Before I knew it I was under the bus, very scared and very shaken up. Dad took me straight to the hospital to get looked at. Lucky for me, nothing was wrong -- just a few cuts and bruises. Meanwhile, Louella was trying to tell Mom that I had been hit by a bus. Mom told her to stop kidding around. Mom really didn't believe Louella until Dad and I got home.


I went to St. Paul's school for eight years. I think when I was finished grade eight there were a lot of relieved teachers. They put up with us Reindl kids for many years, but look out -- Bob and Gerri's children are almost ready for grade one. My high school years were spent at City Park Collegiate Institute. I played football, soccer, wrestled and, yes, I even did a little track and field. However, I didn't push myself at that sport. I felt one track star was all we needed in our family.


During my grade nine I met Ab and Alice Southam who own and operate a meat store, Kava Meats, in our neighborhood. I used to spend lots of time visiting them. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, I was employed by them. It proved to be a great learning experience as I learned how to cut meat, make sausage, and how to drive.


In my eleventh grade at City Park, I was visiting with some of my friends in the gym. We were talking about the girls and who the new ones were. Well, one of the new ones just happened to walk in at that point. I later learned her name was Keeran Heather Reed and she had just moved to Saskatoon with her mother, father and sister from Richmond, B.C. One of my friends said Keeran was a little stuck up and so I said, "Maybe we should show her a Saskatoon welcome." I picked up the apple core from the floor and YES, I threw it at Keeran as she was studying in the balcony of the gym. What I guy I was! I missed her. Thank goodness or we probably wouldn't have met. I was always doing things like that but was a polite student with the teachers and my friends.


Summer holiday time seemed extra long when there was nothing to do, which didn't happen too often. I was fortunate in being able to work during three summers at the Coca-Cola plant, on the bottling line.


When I graduated from City Park in 1981, I didn't think I'd be back until my High School Reunion. One night I went to a party and met this good-looking blonde. Her name was Keeran Reed. Sound familiar? Guess what she did? She asked me to be her escort at her graduation. It must have been love at first sight when I threw that apple at her as we started to date.


Keeran was born March 10, 1964 in Edmonton, Alberta. First of all, you may be wondering where she got her name. Well, her mother lived in Ireland for seven years when she was young in a small mountain village called Keeran. I guess the name stuck with her mom.


Keeran's parents are Margaret and Don Reed.


Her sister is Kelly. The family has lived all across Canada and in every province. Her father works for the Bank of Nova Scotia and so they have been transferred all over. Her parents are presently living in Toronto, Ontario, where he is a Senior Vice-President for the bank.


Keeran is following in her dad's footsteps and is also working for the Bank of Nova Scotia, where she has been for nearly seven years. Presently, she is in the Consumer Credit Department. She attended the University of Saskatchewan for two years, taking one year of Arts and Science and one in nursing. At this time, she is taking night classes at the U. of S.


We dated for three and a half years before we decided to get married and, on July 27, 1985, we became husband and wife. We have bought and sold our first home and are planning on buying again in the fall of 1987. We also plan to start our family in the next year or so.


At the moment I am working at the Potash Company of America and have been there for six years with my Dad, who has been there twenty-two years. It's not a bad job and, if something comes along for me, my Dad and I will have to separate from our mining. In the fall of 1986, I got my hoisting papers just like Dad. It must be in the genes!


Keeran and I are very happy and look forward to growing old together. We hope we haven't bored you to tears with our story and hope you learned a little bit about ourselves.


I was born in the town of Tillsonburg, of the county of Oxford, Ontario on August 28, 1939. It was about midnight when the doctor arrived at Grandma Rachel Strasser's house on Rodgers Street and, by 1:00 a.m., he was ready to leave. I was the second child born to Louis and Clara (Lessard) Alain. Less than a month after my arrival, I was taken to St. Mary's in Tillsonburg. There I was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith by Reverend J.H. O'Neill with Joseph and Theresa Lessard, my mother's brother and sister, as my godparents. And so my life began.


Some of my early memories are of a hard-working father, a caring mother and tea parties with a sister. As she was just one year and one week older than I, it seemed as if she were made to order, both as playmate and friend. Together we played house, put on concerts and had our fights but, always, we were pals. The summer of 1942 my family moved back to Saskatchewan to farm at Veillardville.


My preschool years ended in illness, and again I was bothered in the primary grades, so there were various stays in hospitals -- Hudson Bay, Tisdale and The Pas. A few memories from this time stand out vividly; a little Eskimo girl's friendship and her courage in the face of tremendous suffering; "happy-go-Lester", a young boy from Veillardville -- both had been badly burned; and, back home, Dad's forbidding words uttered each winter over snow angels. A fresh snow fall in the middle of winter was always an invitation to fall backwards into an unmarked patch of the yard, sinking into the soft cushion of snow built up over many weeks. Then, with a sideways motion of our legs and arms, we each made our own distinct snow angel. We had to rise with care not to disturb the pattern. I missed making the snow angels but I understood; Dad was concerned and didn't wish me to risk another bout of illness.


Some pleasurable experiences which took place in the summer were my visits to Grandma and Grandpa Alain's for, once there, I would enjoy their lawn swing. In later years I learned that Uncle Rolland had built it while the younger Alains were still at home, probably in the early Thirties. It was a large swing which Rolland had built in his dad's hayloft. When it was finished, he had quite a time to get it out. Finally, he had to knock out one end of the barn. The swing was enjoyed by many of their grandchildren throughout the years and by the adults as well.


We also liked to swim in the summer -- on the really warm days -- but lived miles from a lake. However, we had a little creek which ran just back of our house. During our earlier years, we enjoyed many hours of fun in its cool waters. The creek even has its own name, Nonsuch River -- so titled on a Prairie River map, and discovered by Yvonne Alain when compiling the Veillardville history book, Valley Echoes . Other fun-filled times were the trips to Flin Flon where we spent a couple of weeks with our Marsollier and Menzies cousins, swam in Phantom Lake and enjoyed many bottles of Aunt Bertha's homemade root beer. A highlight of each summer was the special treat Mom gave to us. I believe it was her way of saying thank you to us for helping around the house, with the gardening, canning, and so forth. Marlyne and I, each in turn, were given a couple of afternoons to visit with our aunts, often arriving when they were in the middle of shelling peas or a similar task. We just pitched in; we didn't mind. Our chats were interesting, and we got to know them better. I came to treasure these annual summer visits, so I missed them when I took on a summer job away from home.


In the fall of 1953, Marlyne and I became boarders at Sacred Heart Convent at Zenon Park. With no high school offered at White Poplar, and school buses not yet established to travel to Hudson Bay, it meant that students needed to leave home to obtain their high school education. Besides, Mom and Dad wanted us to be schooled in our religion and to learn French.


The four years spent at Zenon were good ones. We met many girls from the western provinces with whom we forged friendships as we studied, played and prayed together. Memorable moments include tears in the Convent parlor when Mom and Dad left us each fall (later, I was to learn that in their compassion for the families, the Sisters also wept); Saturday bath times with the limit of one gallon of water per student -- Zenon had no water supply of its own; Sunday walks; kitchen duties for free piano lessons; and monthly outings to the Favreau home -- as delightful and welcome as Pauline and Rose-anne's special friendship. All were learning experiences.


Then, before I realized, it was June 1957, grade twelve departmentals and time to make decisions. I owe much to Marion Smith, Hughena McLean, Sisters Clare and Angelina -- all fine teachers -- who challenged me, instilled a love of reading and a thirst for knowledge, and who, no doubt, influenced me to consider a teaching career.


But I am getting ahead of myself. My senior high school years and the couple which followed held a variety of work experiences -- all in Saskatchewan. Marlyne and I had been employed at Tisdale Hospital a couple of summers; later we worked at Sinclair Drugs in Hudson Bay; I did some housework and worked in a hardware store. I shall always be grateful to these employers for giving me valuable work experience. Then, in my search of vocation, I entered the convent. Although my stay was brief, it offered valuable insight. Sandwiched in between were four months of teaching at Smokey Ridge. I was hired directly from grade twelve, as a Study Supervisor for grades one through nine. Correspondence courses were provided which I never used except for the one high school student. In these few months, I discovered the joy of teaching.


In the spring of 1959 I received my teaching certificate in Saskatoon from the Saskatchewan Teachers College. That fall, I began teaching grade one in Hudson Bay. Then, due to the kindness and patience of an old "pro", Mrs. McLeay, many mistakes were averted on my part, and my first year of teaching proved acceptable. Since Marlyne had taught at Ile La Crosse, I had entertained notions of teaching in the far North and, in particular, at Uranium City. Having met Lynne Bowen at S.T.C., I now shared my dream with her. We met in Prince Albert that Easter and I made my decision ... to join Lynne in the southcentral part of our province. A few months later, I was hired to fill the grade two and three teaching position recently vacated at Macrorie.


I took the train to Macrorie at the end of August and discovered the prairie. A far cry from the bush, the wandering creeks and the stillness of Veillardville, it nonetheless had its own unique attraction. That fall I fell in love with the beauty of the coulees and the hills that interrupt the long stretches of this wind-swept land.


The prairies held another attraction for me. Macrorie had little social life to offer the young folks apart from the Saturday night dances held weekly. So I went with Lynne. Shortly after our arrival, at that first dance, I noticed a young man dressed in cowboy attire ... from his smart-looking boots to his western string tie. Lynne introduced us, and that evening he took me home via the East-half -- as this parcel of his dad's land was commonly referred to. I'm not certain whether it was his cute smile, sense of humor and easy-going manner that attracted me or if it was the homey, comfortable feeling I experienced when we were together. It really didn't matter. Elliott Prentice had definitely made an impression on me. We dated during the best part of a year and, on Holy Thursday the following spring, we were engaged to be married. During Easter week, after borrowing his dad's car, we drove home to tell my folks and to discuss our wedding plans.


We were married on October 28, 1961 in St. Anthony's Catholic Church at Veillardville. Lynne (Bowen) and Norman Cooper, married two weeks previously, were our attendants, along with my sisters, Bernadette and Michelle, and my cousin, Lee Lessard. A brief honeymoon to Medicine Hat, Alberta, then home to our new house (24 x 26 feet) which Elliott, his father and brother Alvin had built just weeks before. That first night was spent at Mom and Dad Prentice's because our oil stove had gone out.


At that time, Mom and Dad Prentice had been married fifty years. Norman Elliott Prentice, better known as Norm, had been born February 13, 1894 in the county of Dufferin, east of Honeywood, Ontario. Mom Prentice, commonly called “Grandma”, had been born Ina Hunt on October 6, 1894 in Mulmur Township, county of Dufferin, Ontario. She and Norm had come to know each other while attending the same school and had been married on August 11, 1911 in Toronto, Ontario.


Norm first came West on a Harvest Excursion only a few days after their wedding. He returned to Toronto that fall to his young bride. The following spring of 1912, they came west together and settled in the Ardath district. In 1916 they moved to the Macrorie district, later settling on the Doc Harrison farm in 1934.


It was here that they remained and here that I first met them and their large family of fourteen children, of which Elliott was the youngest. He was born on April 11, 1938 in Outlook, Saskatchewan, and was named Charles Elliott. He took his twelve years of schooling at Macrorie after which he worked on the C.N.R. with the section crew for a couple of summers. Then he began to farm full time with his dad. They each had their own machinery and they worked well together.


During the first five years of our marriage, we were blessed with four healthy, beautiful children: Joseph Loren Elliott, Therese Adelle , Norman Blair and Cory Lee. They were good company for each other in spite of their occasional scraps.


A large part of our children’s lives centred around their Grandma and Grandpa living next door. Loren enjoyed T.V. and, at age 5, “Batman” was tops for him. Now, Grandpa Prentice enjoyed getting a rise out of Loren. All he needed to do was to tell him that if Popeye ate a bit of spinach, he could clean up on Batman. Blair was always our “live wire” and observant, too. One time, when he was not yet in school, he remarked after his bath that his hands were wrinkled and “just like old people’s.” Cory has always been good natured -- much like his Grandpa Prentice. But, as easy-going as Cory was, there was one thing he would not tolerate. Mysteriously, we discovered him sleeping on the floor one morning, only to learn later that our cat had moved in on him during the night. Through the years, Adelle provided the feminine influence and she has always been caring -- even as a little gal. One morning she had slipped over to visit her grandparents. As she watched Pop plug his one sore ear with cotton, she glanced out the window then, turning to him, she remarked, “Better plug the other one, too, Pop -- here come the boys!”


The four children kept us busy; some days I wondered if there would ever be an end to bottles and diapers. Then one day in the fall of ‘71 Cory boarded the school bus, and I was alone! But not for long. On September 26, 1973, Sean Allan was born. This time I wasn’t as busy -- having only one baby instead of a couple -- so I enjoyed Sean, at least, most days. He has been a gift of surprises through the years. He was lost several times as a preschooler, while we were shopping in the malls in Saskatoon, yet he always knew where he was, and would ask a clerk to help him find Mom and Dad.


Like every other young couple starting out with high hopes and great dreams, Elliott and I found that life is not always easy; some years hold more than their share of difficulties. Nineteen seventy-four was one such time. About 1:00 p.m. on a March afternoon, we received a call from the principal at our little school: “Your son has been hurt on the playground and we suspect he may have a broken leg.” We told him we’d be right down. When we arrived we found ten-year-old Blair lying on a snowbank, covered with jackets. There was a raw wind blowing from the west. We tried to shield our boy the best we could, and we chatted to bolster his spirits. The ambulance had been called but, unknown to us, had been on the hoist in the garage and would not arrive for almost an hour and a half. The ride into Outlook was very rough as the roads were heavy with a build-up of snow and, with a recent thaw, they were breaking up. There were many potholes. When we arrived, Blair was taken to X-ray where it was learned that he had suffered a comminuted fracture of his thigh bone. He would need to be in traction for some time. Blair’s stay in hospital lasted nine and a half weeks.


During this time Sean was hospitalized at University Hospital in Saskatoon. He was not able to tolerate milk, soya-based milk or beef broth. Some cereals also upset him. Then, because of an oversight and poor communication, Sean’s condition deteriorated severely. Acting on an uneasy premonition, I drove to Saskatoon to see how he was doing. His eyes were sunken, his breathing shallow. He was so weak that he could neither cry nor make any move- ment. He simply lay there. The nurse was chang-ing another soiled diaper. I asked her a couple of questions, then went to the nursing station and dialed our son's pediatrician and asked him, "What have you done to my baby?" He was in the ward within minutes. Sean's recovery began that day. I remained in Saskatoon to be with him, spending the nights at Marlyne's. The strain began to take its toll; I was hospitalized in Milden. That spring seeding was late due to the heavy snowfall and spring rains and, in a feeling of desperation, I telephoned Mom. Bless her! She never hesitated. That evening she was on the bus for Saskatchewan. She took over at home tend-ing to the children and the meals. Elliott was free to put in the crop and visit Blair evenings, while I concentrated on getting well. When I came home from hospital that last time, the sun was shining on a bowl of roses sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. Someone cared! And best of all was Elliott's news that both Sean and Blair were well on the road to recovery.


During the years when the children were young I needed an outlet and some outside inter-ests. When Loren was born, I had quit teaching except for a little substitute teaching so, in response to the need in 1967, I began a private kindergarten in Macrorie. I taught over a period of twelve years -- at first one morning a week, then twice a week. Later, I took some classes in ceramics, furniture upholstery and wood refinishing, the latter two from the local commu-nity college.


Living in any community carries its own duties and responsibilities. Our small village of Macrorie is no different. Our new arena, which was built in 1967, was constructed with local volunteer help. Yearly operating expenses are mostly met with income received through the rink kitchen. This means that the women and -- in recent years -- the men, too, must take a turn at working. The ladies are canvassed for pies, soup, chili and other things. Elliott has always been very active in the field of sports -- coaching, managing and as a participant. Working and playing together strengthens a community and the same is true of the Church. We belong to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Parish in Outlook where my greater interest and involve-ment, through the years, has been in the field of catechetics.


About the time Sean started school I began to consider resuming my education. This only lasted a couple of years, as I became involved in the


development of a volunteer program for the elderly, the handicapped and the shut-in. While the project has been challenging, it has given me a greater sense of fulfillment than any other work I have undertaken.


This fall of 1986 Elliott and I celebrated our Silver Wedding Anniversary. It was an oppor-tunity to reflect, to be thankful and to celebrate God's goodness to us not only through each other but also through the many others He has given to us over the years -- our five children, wee Bran-don and Brandi Rae, our families (Prentice and Alain) and many good friends. We have received much in the way of love, care, support and inspiration. With the years, we have been given a rainbow of memories to cherish.


(Our daughter, Adelle, shares her story and that of her brothers.)


Charles Elliott Prentice took the hand of Maxine Theresa Alain on October 28, 1961. Nine months later their first child, a baby boy, was born. This is the story of this child and of the other four children that followed.


Joseph Loren Elliott was born on July 28, 1962. Loren was quite an organized and tidy little boy -- much to Mother's joy. In later years he proved to be an A student. As time went on, he developed a love for sports, taking after his father.


Through the years he participated in many sports, some of his favorite being hockey, base- ball and golf. Today his work involves one of his favorite sports -- racquetball. After high school his first job was at a racquetball court in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Presently he manages House of Courts , a racquetball and fitness centre in Saskatoon. Loren also has a musical ear and played guitar for a number of years as a youth. He was active in the 4-H Club for five years.


Today Loren and Carol Anne Jacobson live in Saskatoon. Their tiny daughter, Brandi Rae, was born to them on May 17, 1986.


On August 17, 1963, I (Therese Adelle ) was born to Elliott and Maxine. I was a preemie and required more care during my first weeks.


As I grew up, I developed an interest in music and I took piano and accordion lessons. Dance was also a part of my youth. Mom and Dad were kept busy running to lessons and recitals. Like my brothers, I took my high school education in Outlook. In my senior years I found that I enjoyed writing so, in my spare time, I began to write short stories and poetry. Two years out of high school, I took a creative writing class and hope to pursue this interest in the future. I was actively involved in 4-H for six years and also enjoyed teaching religion classes for preschoolers for a year.


I began working part-time at the Outlook Printers in grade nine and continued there until graduation, at which time I pursued my career as a typesetter in Saskatoon. I have continued to work in various print shops through the years and am presently working at the Rosetown Eagle as an advertising sales rep. and a graphic arts designer.


Norman Blair , third child of Elliott and Maxine, was born on August 15, 1964. Blair was a child full of energy and action -- constantly on the go. As the years passed, he spent his energy on hockey, baseball and other sports through school such as soccer, football and golf. Today he follows his older brother's interest in racquetball and is a frequent visitor at Loren's club. Blair also was a 4-H member for a number of years.


Leaving school, he went first to Medicine Hat in search of work. While there, he worked for Medican, B-Law Construction, Medicine Hat Concrete, and the Hat Pipeline. Later he moved back home and worked for the C.N.R. for four months. When he was laid off, he went to Lake Louise where he worked at the Chateau for several months.


At the present time he is in Saskatoon, working at Primco, a large warehouse, where he has been since September of 1985.


Cory Lee was born on October 7, 1965. He was happy-go-lucky as a baby and has retained this quality. Cory evened up the score when it came to football and baseball "teams" in the backyard. He, too, was a 4-H member. He played baseball and hockey, switching from the latter to curl. He became Dad's right-hand man, playing third on the curling ice.


When the time came for decisions after high school, Cory chose to participate in the Katimavik program. This took him across Canada to three provinces where he spent three months in each of the following places: Gaspe, Quebec; Courtney, B.C.; and Petersborough, Ontario. Finishing his last rotation at the latter, he began working for a construction company. When he was laid off, he moved home. Then, before long, he was hired by the Patterson Grain Company which was building an elevator annex in Wolseley, Saskatchewan. Following this, Cory went to Slave Lake, Alberta, where he worked on the maintenance staff at the local hotel for six months. Home for a holiday, he went to see Blair in Saskatoon and was hired by Primco "on-the-spot". He is presently living in Saskatoon with Blair.


Sean Allan, the fifth and last child, was born on September 26, 1973. From five months of age, Sean had problems with allergies. Finding a suitable formula proved more difficult as time went on. After five weeks in University Hospital in Saskatoon, Elliott and Maxine brought their baby home much to the delight of three brothers and one sister ready to play mother. The whole family found much delight in little Sean, teaching him all kinds of wonderful things -- new words, games and to rough-house.


Sean was a quick, perceptive child. Helped along by four teenagers, some claimed Sean was wise beyond his years. He is now taking his grade eight at Macrorie Elementary School with the same teacher, Mr. Dean Corbett, as the rest of us had. Sean is active in the school band and won an award for Proficiency. He has proved himself a money-manager, saving his egg and pop-bottle money to purchase his own motorbike and part of his computer. He makes up some of his programs, combining studying and playing on the computer to make learning more fun.


Sean, like his brothers and father, enjoys his sports of baseball, hockey and golf. He has a keen interest in racquetball and is very happy when he can get to the city to play. Recently he has become interested in curling -- playing with Dad, the school team, and 4-H members.


Through our childhood, our Grandma and Grandpa Prentice played a very important and special role in our lives. I remember Grandma's big cookies fresh out of the oven and the line-up of little hands eagerly outstretched for these tasty favorites. Grandpa was a special storyteller and he could keep our interest for hours on end with his yarns. Each spring we would wait in excited anticipation for their return from Victoria, B.C. I remember how we used to count the days and, when they arrived, it was always a joyous occasion.


Visits from Grandma and Grandpa Alain were also held dear -- perhaps more so -- for the visits were few and far between as they lived far away.


Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving ... all the holidays were and still are happy family times, with everyone gathering together to share good food (Mom has always been a terrific cook) and lots of good fun! On many of these occasions, the Storebo and Reindl families are there to share in the festivities. My memories of childhood and growing up will always be happy ones -- the family picnics, the sport functions, the birthday parties and the summer vacations. Our parents have done much for us through the years to help us grow into caring, responsible adults. We shall always be grateful to them.


I was born in Hudson Bay Junction Union Hospital, April 5, 1944. I was baptized by Father Van Vynk at the Rectory on April 11. Hector Maynard and Grandma Strasser were in attendance as proxy godparents for Aunt Berthe and Uncle Paul Marsollier who resided in Flin Flon, Manitoba.


In 1948, at the age of four, I remember boarding a train for Saskatoon where I was to be a flower girl for my Aunt Mae Strasser's wedding. Since there was no station agent in Veillardville, we had to flag the train down. Aunt Mae was married on October 9th. (That date never rang a bell till my own wedding on the same date twenty-three years later - 1971.)


Two years later saw me starting school with four cousins: three of them Alains - Lorne, Simone and Lynn; and one Lessard - Susan.


What a year Miss Carnahan had with ten of us in grade one, and I was related to four of them! Of course, this was all in a one room school. That year, as part of the Christmas concert, we sang "Ten Little Indians".


For those of you who remember, Simone Alain and I went to school in a little cart pulled by her horse, Tony. My contribution was his feed which consisted of a bag of chopped oats or chop, as we called it. Tony was always so slow and pokey; Marlyne and Maxine would walk and get to school before us. However, one day a train went by just before we got to the crossing in Veillardville and it spooked Tony. Well, he reared and took off galloping with Simone and I in tow, yelling and screaming our heads off. Marlyne, who had been walking behind us, ran and helped calm Tony down, along with Arnold Sauer and a couple of other men who worked on the tracks. When we arrived at school, everyone mentioned how pale we looked.


I vividly recall a big snowstorm in February of that year. We had gone to school with Wayne Barry, a nephew of our neighbours, Ed and Lil Barry. Wayne was driving a horse which was pulling a stoneboat. Huge fluffy snowflakes were falling that morning. Coming home from school early, for the teacher dismissed us around 2:00 p.m. instead of the usual 3:30, we had to unhitch the stoneboat at Uncle Smokey's store and hoof it. As Maxine and I were the smallest, we got to ride horseback for half a mile. After that, the drifts got so deep the horse couldn't jump them so Wayne and Marlyne made Maxine get off the horse and I alone was left to ride. When we got to the last quarter of a mile, we abandoned the road and walked in Thrussell's field where the snow was still deep but at least hadn't drifted. It was quite a relief to make it home safe and sound. I remember thinking how brave Wayne, Marlyne and Maxine were to keep going. Being only six years old, I would have preferred to stop and rest for a while in the field. Only years later did I realize their wisdom and accuracy of judgment.


The winter I was nine years old, Mom paid for ten piano lessons for me as well as ten tap dancing lessons. I remember how much I enjoyed those lessons, especially the tap dancing ones. (I was able to pursue my music lessons when I was in grade nine as a trade-off for doing dishes in the kitchen of the boarding school I attended.) It must have been a real sacrifice for Mom to pay for those lessons. The first two weeks she told me to tap in the basement on the cement floor so Dad wouldn't know I was taking the lessons. I imag-ine Mom didn't want Dad to get upset over spending money in that fashion.


In May of that year, the day of the recital, I walked from White Poplar School to Hudson Bay. Dad was seeding and Mom couldn't drive the car. It was close to 90° F. and the five miles seemed like an eternity. I finally arrived at Grandma Strasser's home, dusty and perspiring. The first thing she did was put me in the tub for a warm bath. That was a real thrill because we didn't have running water, much less a built-in tub at home. I think Mom may have gotten a ride into town with Aunt Yvonne that night because she was there to see me perform.


One experience I would like to relive from my childhood is walking on the road in my bare feet while it was raining. We would sort of "skate" on the road and look at our funny tracks, all the while enjoying the feel of mud squishing through our toes. That was a really enjoyable experience. As our roads had no pavement, not even gravel on them, they were very smooth with only the odd little stone to scratch our feet.


We had a lot of snow one year and the spring run-off was particularly heavy. As the snow melted and the water drained into the creek, the latter became very swollen and began washing away the bridge near our home. One afternoon Mom couldn't find Bruce. Walking as far as the bridge, she panicked when she saw how much earth had been washed away beside the bridge. Fearing the worst, that Bruce had been swept away in the flood waters, she asked me to jump the crevasse and run to Uncle Rolland's, the distance of a mile, to see if Bruce might have gone there. I don't remember stopping once to walk. I just ran hoping and praying that I would find him. As I turned into Uncle Rolland's driveway, I could see Bruce sitting on the steps with Aunt Yvonne and Gordon Menzies looking through the pages of the new Eatons or Simpsons-Sears Spring and Summer catalogue. I remember feel-ing absolutely enraged at his calmness. Natu-rally, he had no idea I was so upset. Running back home, we made the dreadful error of run-ning one behind the other. Mom could only see one person so she was sure her worst fears were confirmed, yet she stayed by the bridge, waiting. You should have seen the look on her face when she finally made the two of us out. When we arrived at the bridge she instructed us to remove our boots and throw them across. Being lighter, we could then run and jump over the washed out


section which, by then, was two to two-and-a-half feet wide with water hissing and gushing rapidly through that section of the road. Being the younger of the two, Bruce threw his boots across first. His aim was poor and one of his boots landed in the angry water and was instantly washed downstream. That upset Mom but hav-ing Bruce back home safe and sound was better than the loss of one rubber boot.


Little traditions that remain in my mind were the Saturday evening bath – one after the other, beginning with the baby all the way up to Mom and Dad. As the water cooled with each suc-cessive bath, we added more hot water which had been heated on the woodstove. A treat of pop-corn or fudge always followed our bath in the winter. Grandpa Alain would walk to our place – three-quarters of a mile – to listen to the hockey game on the radio. He was hard of hearing so consequently the volume was turned up quite high. In the summer, we would polish everyone's shoes and have our bath just before supper. We would go to town right after. Sometimes we would peddle raspberries for 25¢ a basket. Other times, we would sell butter, eggs or cream. In those days, when we had too much cream, we would ship it to Prince Albert on the train in big cream cans. Then Mom would receive a small cheque in the mail later. That was her only income along with the berries, butter and egg money combined with the Family Allowance.


When in town on Saturday we would go to the locker plant and, with our own key, we would take out all the meat we would need for the following week. This, of course, preceded 1957, the year in which power came to our area.


My childhood was pretty uneventful except for the occasions when Dad would get me to peel green fence posts for 3¢ a post. The idea of earning money always spurred me on. Then, if that became too boring, Dad could always think of other chores needing to be done: cows to chase out of the wheat field, a fence to mend, grain to shovel or tools to pick up and put in the shed. Early on I had made up my mind to work outside with Dad rather than stay in the house doing housework with Mom. To this day, making meals is not one of my priorities. However, to reward us for all the hard work, I got to go to the Melfort Fair and the Saskatoon Exhibition once. When we went to Saskatoon Mom and Dad took Norbert Marsollier, my cousin, with us. I was nine or ten years old then. While in Saskatoon, Norbert took me to my first three-dimensional movie. What an experience that was, wearing those funny little glasses. I also recall visiting Mr. and Mrs. Henri Dinelle, family friends, who used to live on Uncle Rolland's farm.


Each year, at the end of June, for passing our grade Dad would present us with a new pair of leather gloves to make hay with. Our summers were spent picking wild strawberries - enough so Mom could can one hundred jars of wild straw berry jam every year. From 8 a.m. till 9 a.m. we would pick stones in the fields, then come home and make hay till suppertime. Then at night we picked stones from 8 till 9 p.m. Exhausted, we had no trouble going to sleep which was often to the sounds of frogs croaking or the beavers slap ping their tails on the water in the creek behind our house.


When any of the machinery broke down, Bruce and I would sometimes have to stay in a field and wait for Dad to come back. To fill in the time, we would build a lean-to, examine field mice nests or compare tans and muscle size. When Dad would come back from changing fields, from a repair or to pick us up from stook ing, he would examine what we had done. If it didn't meet his standards, we knew about it. One time we had stooked a big field and a powerful wind came and knocked over most of our stooks. I always said Bruce's stooks were the ones that fell down, not mine! Nevertheless, we both had to re-stook the field.


A special event most summers was to have our Marsollier and Menzies cousins arrive from Flin Flon, Manitoba, to visit. They were real city folk to us. The little contact we had with them in those days helped to keep family ties together. We picked names for Christmas gifts on both sides of the family and, to this day, I still remember the excitement of receiving a gift from a cousin who lived in the city, whether it be Hamilton or Flin Flon.


At the age of seven, Mom took Bernie and me to Flin Flon for Easter. Bernie was only two and a half years old and it was her first train ride. She stuttered when she talked and, when she woke up the next morning, she looked out the window. As the train sped by, she said in her little excited voice, "MMMommy, ttttthe tttttrees aaare rrrr running." Everyone in the coach started to laugh. While we were gone Dad couldn't find the Easter eggs Mom had hidden. In fact, she had hid them so well, it took a full two years to find them.


I made the trip to Flin Flon once more at the age of twelve with my cousin Simone. To help


with the burden of feeding us during our visit, Mom sent a shopping bag full of meat which I was instructed to leave between the cars on the train so it would stay frozen. I remember being embarrassed to ask the trainman if I could and he did not object.


A highlight of each year was the track and field sports day in Hudson Bay. Simone and I were almost always in the same races and jump ing contests: broad jump, high jump and hop step-and-jump. She was usually first and I was often second. Occasionally we got to advance to Porcupine Plains or Somme for another meet. But just going to Hudson Bay was a big thrill. White Poplar often won the prize for the best banner and school yell. One year when Mrs. L. Smith taught, the yell included some of the fol lowing words: "Busy Bees, Busy Bees; We are workers, never shirkers; Busy Bees, Busy Bees." We won first that year.


Another highpoint I should mention was the annual Christmas concert. Dad would come to school in early December and set up the stage which would remain till the Christmas holidays. Those concerts sported standing room only. They always held a kind of magical spell over me and culminated with the appearance of Santa Claus. One year, when Bernadette was a baby, Mom had her in her arms standing just behind Mr. Veillard who was on the short side. Bernie would drool on his bald head, put her pudgey hands in it and rub it all over his crown. Mom would get upset and try to stop her but Mr. Veillard said, "Let her be, it's keeping her quiet."


A favorite pastime Bruce and I had as chil dren was to play on one of Dad's old binders. There, nestled in an old spool of binder twine, we would often find robins' nests and, sometimes, even eggs. We also played in the old caboose and sometimes in the buggy under the trees behind the chicken coop. We were always fascinated by birds' nests, whether they were in the barn, in the rafters of the granaries or in the garage. On rainy days, Bruce and I would close the door to our bedroom and out would come the Monopoly game which would occupy us for hours.


One game I vividly recall playing as a child was Anti-Anti-I-Over. It was played by throw ing a ball over the house. One had to catch the ball and try to get to the other side of the house without being touched or tagged. It was usually played in teams. If you were tagged with the ball, you had to join forces with the other team. One day Bruce broke Mom and Dad's bedroom window. We all vowed not to tell who did it. Bernie suggested we go inside and pray that we wouldn't be punished.


Dad, I think, missed playing ball and one year, he bought Bruce a right-handed glove and a left-handed one for himself. He used to play catch with us when he had the time. When we got better at the sport, he eventually gave me his glove and Bruce and I played together.


I have some fond memories of Grandpa Alain. The job he held in his later years was that of watching out for fires from a high tower up north. He travelled to and from work in his old Model T Ford. He would toot his horn when he went past our place. It had a unique sound. On special occasions, he would let us ride in the rumble seat. Mom and Dad thought he was a little too permissive but we loved him for it. One day he took Simone, Lynn and Gabrielle to Ruby Lake for a swim. It was very hot that summer. He also asked me to go along but I had to make hay. Needless to say, I was jealous of those who got to go.


As I mentioned earlier, Grandpa was quite deaf in later years. Well, one day I was out in his car with him and the two of us nearly got hit by a train at the Veillardville crossing. Grandpa hadn't heard the whistle and I was telling him to stop but he kept on going. The train sped over the siding just seconds after we crossed it. Grandpa was always singing or humming. He always appeared to be in a good mood. He sang in the church choir with three of his children, Smokey, Rolland and Edithe.


Once a week after school I would wash Grandma Alain's kitchen floor. She would give me a big rubber pad inside a brown bag to put under my knees. This, I thought, was rather nifty as I didn't have such comfort while working at home. Lynn would invariably come over and the two of us would giggle and giggle as Grandma gave us our traditional glass of tomato juice to drink. She often kept me for supper those nights which was a real thrill for me.


At the age of thirteen, I left home to go to boarding school in Zenon Park, Saskatchewan, for grade nine. After grade ten, at the age of fifteen, I entered the Order of French Sisters who taught in Zenon Park: Les Soeurs de la Charité de Notre Dame D'Evron. While with the Sisters, I completed my high school and attended College St. Jean and the University of Alberta. I then taught at St. Thomas d'Aquin Elementary School in Edmonton for two years. After nine years with the Sisters, I decided it really was not my vocation and I left the Order in June 1968.


I continued teaching, this time at St. Nicholas and finished my Bachelor of Education at the University of Alberta in 1970. I then taught Music and Family Life at St. Nicholas and at St. Cecilia Junior High Schools. On October 9, 1971, I married Richard Sévigny. A year after our marriage we both returned to university to do the course work for our Masters degrees. It was a year neither of us will ever forget: taking the courses, struggling through statistics and exams together.


Richard is a native Edmontonian, born July 17, 1948, of French-Canadian ancestry. In high school he attended Holy Redeemer College with the Redemptorists and went to Winnipeg for his B.A. under their tutelage. He majored in Philosophy and Sociology. His parents, Arthur and Alice, still reside in Edmonton.


January 1, 1975, saw us move to Sydney, Nova Scotia, where we have resided ever since. In 1976, after a lot of hard work, I finally obtained a Masters degree in Science (M.Sc.) in Family Studies from the University of Alberta and Richard obtained his in 1978. For four years, the two of us worked as the Family Life Coordinator couple for Family Service of Eastern Nova Scotia. Richard worked by himself for a few years after I resigned; then in 1982 he was named Executive Director of the agency. That year I began to teach Music For Young Children in our home. Today I teach an average of thirty students a week from the ages of 3½ to 9, comprised of six or seven classes.


My other interests and activities have been with the C.W.L., Right to Life, and SERENA where, along with Richard, we teach other couples Natural Family Planning. For eight years we both taught Childbirth Education classes (Lamaze). I also taught French Immersion for two years here in Sydney.


We have been blessed with three boys: Paul René, born July 30, 1974; Camille Alain, born September 15, 1977; and Martin Thomas, who was adopted by us in March 1979, was born December 21, 1978. At the present time all three boys are involved in music, elocution, Beavers, Cubs, swimming, soccer, and hockey.


I was born in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, on November 12, 1946. Many things happened to me as a youngster – some events that I personally recall follow.


When I was quite young I would follow my father behind the plough in the field directly in front of our place. The plough was a regular two-bottom plough that my dad pulled behind the old McCormick and it had a big throw which would turn the dirt over. Because he didn't have enough power or speed, the furrow would fall right over and flop back. I remember getting caught in the furrow and losing my rubber boot.


Once, when I was between three and four years old, there was a huge snow storm when we were out in the cutter. The cutter was like a big motorhome except it was drawn by horses. It had a windshield and inside was a woodstove for heat, a vent, a table and a place to sit down. One Saturday, we were being pulled home from Veillardville which was about three-quarters of a mile away. To me it seemed like an eternity that we were in the cutter with the coal oil lantern swinging back and forth from the ceiling.


At about age four an incident that I remember more clearly than any other was getting my first pair of hockey gloves for Christmas. In those days Grandpa Alain used to come by and tease me about "Rocket" Richard. That pair of hockey gloves was a gift I was proud of for a long time.


An interesting experience happened to me in school, probably about Grade 5. I was able to take a joke as well as give one. One day my cousins and a few other school kids wrapped up a steel ball bearing, which was about three inches in diameter, with some white tape. I used to ride my bike to play scrub in the morning and, that morning, I hit the steel ball with the bat from a very close range – of course, it was their idea of a joke. Later in school, for about two hours after hitting this "ball", my hands were unable to hold a pen or pencil. My teacher wasn't too excited about that.


We used to plug gopher holes at school with broken bats and then flush out the gophers with the slop water from the school. This was part of school in those days.


In the winter time Rachelle, Bernie and I would hitch up my two dogs, Rusty and Pup, and they would pull us to school. I enjoyed those years. My dogs were great and I went everywhere with them. I probably shot as many as a hundred squirrels in winter. I never caught a mink though I always wanted to. I got quite a few weasels but squirrels were the big thing – you got about two bits a squirrel. There was never a moment when there was nothing to do. If you couldn't do something sensible, you could always do something irrational and I had a chance to do both at an early age.


On the farm just about every Saturday in the spring, when it got dry enough to go on the land, my dad would get us kids together and hook a stone boat up and we would have to go out and pick all the rocks that had bared themselves after the winter snow. They were easy to see and pick. Marcella and I and sometimes the other kids would run from the wagon or from the stone boat, left and right. Marlyne's husband, Adolf, had his turn picking rocks with us, too. We had some pretty entertaining days out there with Dad in the captain's seat pointing out the rocks for us to leap out and pick.


I was fairly mechanical and, with the help of my Uncle Rolland, I designed my first motorbike. It was an old Briggs & Stratton washing machine engine that was stuck on the side of the bike. I had it for two or three summers, that I can remember, and it was quite a sight to see.


When I was in Grade 8 or 9, I started going to the town school. The school was more than one room and had lots of teachers. That was the first year my Uncle Rolland drove the bus, and marked the change for me, from farm life to city life. It was a major change in my life, I feel, because life on the farm wasn't the same anymore after experiencing town life.


After a couple of years in town school, I didn't like school anymore and I struck off with a friend, a man we knew from Hudson Bay. His name was Leo Budnick, and he took me to Calgary. There I embarked on a career, that of a jockey. Half a year later I was fortunate enough to paddock a horse called Wood's Wish at the Queen's Play at Woodbine in Ontario. I rode many thoroughbreds and did come out of the starting gate. It was very eventful at the track. We had to go by train with the horses from Edmonton to Toronto. On one trip, on the second day, I was mucking the stables out and thought the only way to get rid of the stuff was to throw it out the train door - so I did! Well, what I didn't know was that the car right behind ours was the dining car. I guess it was a pretty shitty view!


I looked after a horse farm in Toronto and that led me to my second job which was working at a funeral home in Toronto called Lyonnete Funeral Parlor. There I would deliver flowers and wash the new cars - I didn't have much to do with the actual embalming of bodies.


I then came West. My parents had sold the farm and eventually moved to Golden, B.C. where Dad was working in a sawmill. I ran into my brother-in-law, Don Adrian, and some others who had already taken a welding course and they all suggested that I go to welding school in Kelowna and learn a trade. My cousin, Lloyd Alain, and I did go to welding school in Kelowna and took our welding papers and both joined the Iron Workers. Lloyd is currently working as an iron worker. I spent ten years in the field, putting up iron in Saskatchewan, Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Wyoming, California, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.


I then took up freestyle ski judging when the sport was very young. I took that sport from a very early age of freestyle skiing - in fact, I was involved in the third freestyle contest ever held. I started judging and worked my way up to be the general manager and chief organizer for Canada. This took about eight years of total dedication to the sport, seven months of each year. In the summer time I helped a couple of my buddies build homes. While I was doing the freestyle skiing, I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel to many European countries - Yugoslavia, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. I was even in Japan for ten days which was probably one of the highlights of my freestyle skiing career.


I then took up contracting full time and, with a partner, have been quite busy in the Vernon area building custom homes.


I married Gaila Kanester on November 8, 1986, in Vernon, B.C., having first met her and her two young daughters, Tiara and Hailey, back in 1983. We live in Vernon, B.C., and quite enjoy life here.


I was given my name by my godmother, Yvonne (Veillard) Alain. My mother wanted to call me Michelle but my dad refused so she used it as a middle name. Later she got her way - when her sixth daughter arrived, she named her Michelle.


I was born June 5, 1948, in Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan. I lived on the farm in Veillardville which was a great place. I don't remember many things from my childhood. Aside from the regular play and farm life, my life as a youngster never held much more excitement.


I went to White Poplar School till grade seven. My grade one teacher was Mrs. Lee, of whom I was very fond. My recollection in grade one was her asking if I could print my name and I said, "Yes." She asked me to then print it and I wouldn't because I knew she was a teacher and teachers knew everything, so she didn't need me to show her the spelling.


Grades two to six, I had Mrs. Marion Smith. She was a good teacher. Being in a one-room country school, we always seemed to be more interested in the other grades than the one we were in. I remember thinking how I couldn't wait to get big enough to take that Algebra. I used to see Marcella and Simone Alain, plus others, go to the blackboard and, out loud, would say, "Draw a line any length and mark it A and B" and continue on. I thought doing that was real important and it impressed me. We also had public speaking contests and I usually came out of our country school doing well and then always lost out in Hudson Bay when competing against all the rural areas. It really was an exciting thing! Another big highlight was our Christmas concerts. They were so well rehearsed and we patiently waited till the end of the evening for Santa's arrival. What a thrill! We got our orange, a few candies and a gift. We sometimes got to pick out of the Sears catalogue a first and second choice for a particular priced gift.


We rode to school in the winter on a toboggan pulled by our dogs, Pup and Rusty. We were two and a quarter miles away so we mainly took them; other times we'd walk, making little games along the way. We would either walk the railroad tracks, testing our balance on the rails, or seeing who could go the furthest without breaking through the crust of snow. In the spring came the excitement of walking along the highway to school because it would be dry for the last mile so we'd walk through the mud to what we referred to as "Menzies Corner." We had a pair of shoes hidden in the Anglican Church there so we would then get out of our boots and into shoes. Boy! After walking one and a quarter miles in gumbo, your boots were so heavy and our shoes felt like feathers. Needless to say, we were not supposed to be wearing shoes as the school yard was wet and we played out all the time.


In grade seven our little country school closed down, putting an end to a part of our heritage which today my children and many others have never experienced and never will. It was a school system in a sort of family atmosphere - all eight grades in one room.


The first day of school in Hudson Bay was a real eye opener! We rode a school bus driven by my Uncle Rolland Alain, my father's brother. He picked us up at the driveway and took us to a school consisting of many classrooms, teachers, etc. I attended my first day and on the second day I ended up being admitted into the hospital with Polio. That was in 1960, the year Saskatchewan had quite an outbreak of it. While in the hospital my younger sister, Michelle, came in with a broken leg. How she cried when they went to put her in the children's ward. Of course, that meant she was going to have to sleep in a crib. Well, she was a distance from my room but all I could hear was "I won't sleep in a crib because only babies do." They ended up pushing the crib in my room when I was out of isolation. Well, that settled a lot of crying. My grandfather, Henry Alain, had had a very severe stroke earlier in the year and was left in a wheelchair and under the hospital's care. I had not seen Grandpa since his stroke but loved him so. One day a nurse said we'd have a reunion with the three of us. Being only twelve years old, I was more than shocked when he'd call me by other people's names, and most definitely was not with us. It hurt me so much but I guess we learn much from all these experiences. I wasn't aware what strokes really were like.


I took grade nine at Zenon Park at the convent as a boarder. That seemed to have become a real tradition in our family. We went there for our high school. I wasn't fond of living in that type of surroundings and just at the age when a girl starts to get interested in "BOYS." Gee, stuck in a female dorm - well the Sisters just weren't going to give in to my reasoning. I really don't know who won those battles. If those walls could talk, we'd all laugh. We had lots of good times though, and I met some lovely friends. I spent the year there and then moved out to B.C. as my folks moved to Vernon in April of '63. So in June I left Saskatchewan for Vernon. This was the beginning of my many moves: I took grade ten in Vernon and grade eleven in Golden, B.C. and then decided, enough of school.


During my childhood we were raised on a farm. We had a lot of cattle, pigs, chickens, etc. The chores of feeding and cleaning pens never seemed too bad but we couldn't see why rock picking was never over. There were times when I'm sure I truly believed they grew from year to year. We had a stone boat which we loaded them on. Of course, we always fought to see who could drive the tractor because it sure was less work. We all got our share of it though. We hated picking rocks so much and one day we came across a groundhog. Boy, we unloaded the whole works throwing them at him! Needless to say, we had to reload it and probably never even hit the groundhog.


One day Bruce decided he was going to have a motor bike, so off a washing machine came a motor and gee, if the stupid thing wouldn't start half the time. We would push him, running as fast as we could, down a slight hill and once it started, of course, he'd wave and carry on his way as we'd walk back home cursing never to help him again. All that for the love of a brother!


In the winter time we used the dogs as our transportation to go everywhere. Sometimes we'd get them ready in the harness at the store or wherever we were and just as we'd go to step on the toboggan, they'd take off and go right home making us walk. Well, to say we'd be upset would be mild but we never gave up. We did become wiser, though, when preparing to leave with them.


Some of our favorite games in the spring were marbles and, of course, Hop Scotch - we always had lots of rubber bands from jars to use as our markers. In summer time we'd play in the creek behind the farm. Gee, we'd spend endless hours swimming in a hole or exploring a beaver's dam. I lost a couple pairs of boots in that creek and this one year I was warned it had best be the last time. Well, gee, if one didn't get stuck in the mud and I lost it. Mom made me wear two black rubbers to school, one with red around the top and across the toes and the other with white and, besides, they were different sizes. I was pretty embarrassed so I'd try to keep as much mud on them as possible. We never had phones in our homes but we had big gas tanks which were high on a stand;


we would climb on top and holler to our neighbors, "Theresa and Bobby Nicholls." Well, our voices carried loud and clear, probably even without the gas tank being high. They would mount theirs and we'd holler back and forth. They lived the closest to us, being only one quarter mile across a field.


We went to town Saturday afternoons in the winter and Saturday evenings in the summer after supper. We'd get our allowance and, boy, we were gone! We'd all have to meet, usually at Grandma Strasser's, after the stores closed. Mom and Dad and others would stop there for a coffee and a visit and we'd play during that time. Country living was just so very different from living in town. Kids from town used to love to come to the farm and we'd always want to trade them places. We never had television until late 1962, mainly because the reception was pretty poor. But I remember Uncle Smokey had a TV so I went and watched Princess Margaret's wedding on it. What a big event it was.


We had a skating rink on the farm so there was always things to do. We learned to skate pushing an old wooden kitchen chair.


Rachelle and I went to Lynn Lake, Manitoba, by train for Christmas 1960 to see my oldest sister, Marlyne, and her husband, Adolf, and family. I went alone the following year also. What a trip! I loved it! It sure was a cold place to live. One afternoon my dear nephew, Rob, and my niece, Geraldine, were supposedly having an afternoon nap but instead, they were biting my suitcase up! They were still pretty special to me even had they eaten it all up.


Well, in April of 1963 our farm was sold, bringing to an end a very special part of my life. My memories are so fond of those years and our many Christmas celebrations on the farm. We had a big auction sale and what was to be kept and what wasn't sold was loaded into a pickup truck to be driven by a neighbor and friend, Raymond Smith, to B.C. Dad, Mom, Joey and Michelle were taking the car and off they went. Rachelle stayed behind with me at the convent to finish her grade six before we joined them at the end of June. I stayed with Paulette Lamontagne that night as our place was "no more ours." My father believed our dogs would be better off left behind with the new people. They knew their surroundings and were now old dogs. Well, I forgot a skirt in the clothes chute at the house so, the next day, I went back to get it. While walking away, Pup started to follow and he would not stop. I will always see him with his tail between his legs as I had to get real mad to make him go back to an empty farm. He knew full well what happened and, oh, did I cry. He was a best friend to all us kids. Rachelle and I left Saskatchewan by Greyhound Bus at the end of June after a visit with Maxine, my sister, and her husband, Elliott, and baby, Loren. We were off to join up with our family who bought a place in Vernon and were building a new house. Rachelle and I fought so hard to stay awake so we could see the mountains. Well, my first opinion of B.C. was it was so pretty. The mountains were just great but after I saw the first weeping willow tree, I decided right there that it was like a plant that needed watering. To me, it was ugly and it took years of living around them to get to like them. It never took me long to decide B.C. was going to be special. I loved it there. I lived in Vernon one year and then Dad decided he'd go to work for awhile so he got a job in Golden at a sawmill and off we went. Our lifestyle changed again. We lived in a small trailer in the town which was right in the valley on the Rogers Pass. Golden was in very pretty country.


I met my future husband, Don Adrian, while living there and that was for the best. He was a welder by trade and in the construction field. In the fall of 1965, I moved to Kamloops so I could take a Hair Dressing course. I was engaged to be married by then and we commuted between the two places. I got my course and married Don in the spring of 1966. We then moved to Port Moody, B.C., and Don worked as a welder on and off Vancouver Island. We lived in Coquitlam for awhile, then in Burnaby, New Westminster, and finally bought a house in Coquitlam. During our coastal years, I tried my hand at many jobs. I practiced my hair dressing for a short time, then we bought a bakery. I worked in many factories: a food plant making Tang Juice Crystals, cake mixes, Freezees, Popsicles; a factory manufacturing chainsaw bars; a factory making plastic bags of every description; and I also worked in a welding shop in Vernon welding wrought iron railings. I enjoyed it all. We lived in Fort McMurray for two years where I babysat three- and four-year olds. I did not need to go outside the home to work for a change. We went back to Vernon, then for a couple of years Don worked at his trade as the work warranted. He worked with French Signs in Vernon while I worked in Housekeeping in the hospital. Well, as lovely as B.C. is, we couldn't get steady work so it was back to welding for Don and we moved to Alberta. We settled in Edmonton and have been here seven years. The construction has really dried up so two years ago we broke into the fast food industry. We are still at it and it's quite likely we will be for a long while. We definitely have moved lots and have been on the brunt end of many gypsy and vagabond jokes but, when you marry a construction worker, you better be prepared to move around as best as possible. We have truly enjoyed our moves and met people from all over. We've so very many friends in all these places. I soon learned that getting attached to a house was very silly. A house is only a shelter but a home is where your love is and what you make of it. We do hope to eventually return and make our home somewhere in B.C. We believe working at the various jobs and our liing in many places was an educational experience in itself. We have no regrets and would choose to do it all over again.


We were blessed with two lovely daughters, both were born in New Westminster, B.C. Our eldest is Kendall Louise . She was born in 1966 and recently she has been attending college in Toronto. Our other daughter, Shantell Monique , came along seven years later. She is attending Junior High here in Edmonton and longs for B.C. Both girls enjoy meeting new people and seeing so many places. They have much the same adventurous spirit in them as we have. I hope their addresses don't wreck everyone's book quite as much as ours did.


On September 18, 1966, I was born in New Westminster, B.C., but my parents were living in Port Moody. One of my fondest memories of living in Vancouver was receiving a free pass in my year end report card to attend the Pacific National Exhibition. Also, when living in Vancouver, it was a real treat to visit Grandma and Grandpa Alain in Vernon, B.C. because you knew that every morning you would receive caramel spread on toast. It was Grandpa's favorite. The biggest highlight of living in Vancouver was on August 28, 1973, when my sister Shantell was born.


I left Vancouver at the age of eight and moved to Vernon, B.C. for a short period of time and then on to Alberta for two years. Well, I guess Mom and Dad were homesick so off to the Okanagan we went again. By this time, I was twelve and decided to carry on the family tradition and join the Vernon Girls Trumpet Band. I played the cymbals just as my aunts (Michelle and Rachelle) had done.


Just short of my fourteenth birthday, Mom and Dad (the jet setters) decided it was time to move back to Edmonton, Alberta. While living there, I attended high school and worked part time at the Terrace Inn and Convention Inn. I'd have to say one of my fondest memories was meeting my friend, Graham Murray. We worked together for a short time until he and his family moved to Toronto, Ontario. Well, for the year and a half that I had left of high school, we corresponded back and forth. Being just a little too impatient, I decided I'd finish high school two credits short and work full time for a few months. Then, in March of 1984, I moved to Toronto and carried on working and completing my high school diploma. After living in Toronto a year, it was time to go back to school. I enrolled in a two-year Legal Secretarial program and have now completed my first year.


My name is Shantell Monique Adrian. My mother's name is Bernadette and my father's name is Donald. I have a sister named Kendall.


I was born in New Westminster, B.C. in 1973 on August 28th.


We did a lot of moving around until 1980 when we settled down in Edmonton, Alberta.


I have been in soccer for three years. I took a liking to bowling with a youth league for two years when we lived in Vernon, B.C. I took years of swimming lessons and now I am in the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets and I just love it.


I have three pets (my buddies). They are two rabbits and our budgie who is seven years old.


In the future, I would like to move to Vernon, B.C.


I was the fifth child born to Louis and Clara Alain and was named Rachelle Alma after my two grandmothers - Rachel (Strasser) and Alma (Alain). My twelve years on the farm bring back fond memories. I would have to think my greatest memories, however, have to be with the Christmas season ... going to Midnight Mass in Hudson Bay, Mom always forgetting something in the house and having to go back in. When we would get back from Mass we would have a lunch and our door to the front room would remain shut until after we had finished eating. Then, lo and behold! When we were finally able to go in Santa had already arrived! There were always needed necessities such as clothing and, usually, a new doll and/or a toy or games.


Growing up on a farm made for lots of work in the spring, summer and fall. I remember coming home from school, changing clothes and going out again to do the dreadful job of picking stones. I was always sure that Dad had a factory just making these stones for him, as they always appeared each and every spring. We also had haying to do but, being one of the younger children, I did not have as much work to do as the older ones had. Surprisingly, some of the things that come to mind when I think of the farm is not the work but rather other things such as: the root beer Mom made, picking strawberries for jam and eating, swimming in the dug-out, and learning how to skate on our creek with the help of a chair which I pushed in front of me.


I started school at White Poplar with Mrs. Smith as my teacher. I remember being so proud of myself that first year ranking first in my class. Mind you, there were only four of us but, at six years of age, that must have meant that I was really smart; I look back now and chuckle.


We used to have great Christmas concerts at the hall in Veillardville. Many, many hours were spent practising our lines for the big night which ended with Santa Claus' arrival. Treats were then given out.