When the old-time music was on, we used to take the earphones off the headset and put it in a pail or some other deep dish, and the sound would amplify so that the whole family could hear the music, otherwise just one person son could wear the headset.
Unfortunately, I remember very little of my father. He died when I was quite small, having contracted pneumonia after attending an auction sale. I do remember a few precious things about him that keep his memory close to my heart.
We also had a “Bomb Shelter”. The Government thought the Russians might Nuke us in the 1960’s. And of course, Cochrane, being what they thought was a primary target in Canada, had a Bomb Shelter at the Police Detachment. It was a big culvert buried in our back yard, another totally cool fort.
Times were hard back then; we kept a few chickens and there was always a big garden. Dad worked from 9 a.m. until 1 a.m. nearly every day. A shave was twenty-five cents and a haircut was fifty cents. Dance nights were always busy with men coming in from the country for haircuts, prior to going to the dances.
At the time the Scott Lake Service Station and Restaurant was the only place to get service or something to eat between Calgary and Canmore. It was welcomed by many including the Cochrane and Canmore RCMP who could now stop for a bite to eat and coffee on their long shifts patrolling this new highway.
As a family, they all had a love of the outdoors and fortunately the Cochrane area was handy for fishing, skiing, motorcycling, hunting, camping, and swimming.
Chub and his cousin Derek, both work for Lafarge, where their great-great-grandfather William Elder had helped build the first section of the cement plant.
Ranching has certainly changed in the last 50 to 60 years. It is not a profession for the timid as globalization of the world has made the agricultural industry one of the most competitive and stressful professions.
We were on a rural telephone line with fourteen neighbors; our ring was five longs. An emergency was announced by ten long rings. Then everyone would listen to find out what was the emergency. Often it was a grass fire.
On June 1, 1915, he signed up and took an oath to join the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in WWI. He lied about his age and stated he was born in 1890. He was five foot, four and a half inches tall, and weighed 149 pounds. Charles served with the #49 Canadian Infantry Battalion and was wounded once at Ypres, Belgium, and twice in France. The pay was fifteen dollars per month plus a field allowance of ten cents per day. He received an honourable discharge on June 4, 1918.
