Wayne and Melva Blood

More Big Hill Country 2009 Pg 299

Our story begins in 1938 when Sam and May Blood moved with their young family, Wayne and Pat, to Cochrane. The children attended school in Cochrane and most of the family still live here.

In 1960 Wayne Blood was working in Turner Valley for Royalite when he met Melva Porter. Melva had moved to Turner Valley as a teenager from Medicine Hat.

Wayne and Melva married and joined Sam and May Blood in a new adventure, south and west of Cochrane. Sam and May had just entered into a partnership with George and Gertrude (Gertie) Copithorne to open a garage, gas station and coffee shop at the top of the Scott Lake Hill on the new TransCanada Highway. This facility was built in 1960 and a very large house was moved out from Calgary and placed behind the Service Station.

Wayne and Melva lived in a mobile home on the site for several years and then they moved into the big house, which they shared with staff.

Because of the remote location of the Service Station and Coffee Shop it was difficult to convince workers to live that far away from the city and May advertised as far away as the Winnipeg Free Press for waitresses, cooks and mechanics. Applicants were varied, some didn’t work out and others became family friends and stay in touch to this day. Employees came from many nationalities and places and some went beyond the call of duty at times.

The Blood’s welcomed the trucking business and after a slow struggle up the Scott Lake hill, many of the truckers became regular customers in the coffee shop. There was a guest book for them to sign each time they stopped and after twenty visits they received a free meal. Other regulars included the Jumping Pound neighbours and many from the Morley Reserve.

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.

Wayne and Melva welcomed two daughters, Heather in 1961 and Brenda in 1964 while living at Scott Lake. Both girls could be found in their playpen in the kitchen or happily playing in the storage room while Melva helped out in the restaurant.

Wayne and Melva loved to curl and would often take Heather with them to Cochrane where she would sleep in her basket while they played the late draw. On other nights, friends were invited out for card parties, corn roasts around the campfire, or stories in the big teepee that Sam erected. Dances and parties in the Jumping Pound Hall were enjoyed with the neighbours in the community and the yearly Christmas Concert was a special occasion for the children, parents, and grandparents. Heather started school in Springbank and fondly remembers the first day Jim Copithorne’s bus picked her up at seven in the morning for her first long ride to school. Being first on the bus and last off was certainly a long day for a little girl. Melva was always insistent that the girls be kept “busy” and there were many trips to Calgary for piano, voice and Highland Dancing lessons. Melva was also an active member in All Saints Anglican Church, teaching Sunday school and playing the organ. Both Heather and Brenda would accompany her each Sunday to Cochrane and enjoy the camaraderie with the Edgelow, Harvie and Blackwell families to name a few. As the years went on and the TransCanada Highway became busier, the Government announced that they were twinning the highway from Calgary to Banff. This was a huge improvement given the difficulty many vehicles had climbing the hill, especially in winter. However that also meant that the eastbound traffic would have no access to the station, a situation that resulted in the decision to sell the station in 1969.

Melva, Wayne and the girls moved into Cochrane, first renting an apartment in the “East End” before moving to the newly developed area of Cochrane Heights, where they welcomed the birth of their son Ross in 1969. Heather moved from school in Springbank to Andrew Sibbald Elementary School. Brenda and Ross started school at Andrew Sibbald Elementary and the children continued on through Manachaban, and the High School in Cochrane.

They soon found a group of friends who all enjoyed playing pranks on each other or getting together at someone’s house or backyard for a weekend party. Pranks such as decorating vehicles or various articles and houses took place. Once even saw the neighbours all dress up as a motorcycle gang for Halloween, even though no one owned a motorcycle! In the summer it was not unusual to find a number of families heading out for a camping weekend of laughs, card games and water fights.

Wayne began working for Eagle at the Shell Jumping Pound Plant and then moved to Petrofina (currently PetroCanada) where he eventually became one of the Field Operators. He volunteered as a Scout Leader for

a number of years, coaching the boys to victory at the Annual Ice Stampede in Calgary. He was an enthusiastic member of the Lions Club in Cochrane and he and Melva were quite active in the Community enjoying curling and dances at the old Community Hall. Unfortunately, Wayne’s life was cut short when he passed away in September 1997 of a heart attack.

Melva stayed at home while Ross was young before returning to the Royal Bank where she spent the next twenty-three years at various branches filling in while others took vacations. She also renewed her commitment to Girl Guides, serving as Guide Captain and having the pleasure of watching many of the local girls grow up and become young women in the community. Melva still continues her association with the Girl Guides and was recently awarded her fifty year pin and a Life Membership in the organization.

Melva keeps busy volunteering for many of the fundraising casinos in the community, singing in two choirs, playing Bingo, and bowling. She is a Director on the Frank Wills’ Memorial Society and was recognized for her commitment to the community with a “Citizen of the Year” Award from the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce and more recently an “Integrity Award” from the Rotary Club. Melva continues to work at the local RCMP detachment as a Matron since 1988.

Heather continues to reside in Cochrane, taking after her Mom in some of her volunteer efforts. She sat on the Board of the Cochrane and District Chamber of Commerce and the 2nd Hooves of History Cattle Drive. She organized the Annual Cochrane Light Up for ten years and has been a member of the Calgary Downtown Attractions – Old Time Rigs Committee for ten years as well as the Stampede Rodeo Committee for 5 years.

Heather started working after High School in the Royal Bank- Brentwood Branch before heading into other careers in Accounting, Executive Assistant, Real Estate Assistant and Oil and Gas Land Administration. She even tried her hand at following in her father and grandfather’s footsteps when she took over the Turbo Gas Station (now Shell) at the bottom of the Big Hill in Cochrane. Deciding that she wanted to continue to travel Heather left the gas station business and joined West Jet Airlines as a Flight Attendant in 2002 where she continues to be employed today. When she is home, you’ll often find Heather enjoying her biggest passion in her life, having fun with her two Thoroughbred horses.

Brenda, after finishing her twelve years of school in Cochrane, continued her education at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology with her EMT-A diploma. She

then worked on the Cochrane Fire and Ambulance Department for several years while also working as a medical assistant and lab aid at the Coach Hill Medical Clinic.

In May of 1992, she gave birth to the first of her two children, a girl, Chelsea Lynne. What a Mother’s Day present! At this time she took a position with the Cochrane Medical Clinic and between work, playing baseball, parenting and the odd ambulance shift, her second bouncing bundle of joy arrived in August of 1995 a son, Gavin Maitland. The first grandchildren for Melva and Wayne. Can you say spoiled?

Shortly after the birth of Gavin, six months to be exact, Brenda and family moved lock, stock and barrel to the Town of Hinton. It is a very picturesque town where they reside to this date. Being away from Cochrane took a great deal of getting used to, but new friends soon developed. Brenda soon went back to work, part-time at the ambulance and the swimming pool. She worked, played baseball and started full-time taxi service (Mom can you drive me to ….)

In 2000, with both children in school, she realized it was time to go back to work full time. She accepted a position at the local swimming pool and worked as a Senior Lifeguard Instructor/Pool Operator for five years until leaving to work full time in the Oil and Gas Industry. She is currently employed as an EMT-A with Oilfield Medical Services and has been with them for three years as well as teaching First Aid and CPR courses and taking the odd shift at the pool when time allows. In her spare time, she continues to play baseball, take the kids on camping trips and spends a great deal of time driving the roads of North Central Alberta on the various trips that the kids have. Both of them are heavily involved in sports.

Chelsea is the goalie for the Hinton Junior Bulldogs Ringette Team as well as being involved in soccer, baseball, volleyball and badminton. She currently is in grade ten at Harry Collinge High School and is on the academic honor roll for excellence.

Gavin is also involved in sports and is a right winger on the Hinton Peewee “A” hockey team. He also plays baseball and enjoys riding motorbikes when he gets the chance. Gavin is currently in grade seven in Ecole Mountainview and excels in Phys.Ed.

They lead a busy life, they still manage the occasional trip back to see the family in Cochrane and look forward to the trips to the dam for ice fishing in the winter and quading in the summer.

Ross grew up enjoying life – rules were meant to be bent and everything was supposed to be fun. He took all his schooling in Cochrane and like lots of boys,

school wasn’t all that important, taking things apart and mechanics were always more interesting to him. Thanks to his Uncle Lorne and cousin Craig, Ross quickly developed a love for operating machinery and riding motorcycles in particular, Cross Country Racing. Ross did very well, placing first in many of the races he entered. There were many weekends when Wayne or Melva would pack up the motor home and head out to a race to cheer him on, returning with lots of memories and a stack of dirty muskeg-covered racing gear. Ross left Cochrane for a number of years to develop his heavy equipment skills in Northern Alberta on the oilrigs, returning in 1997. Ross loves to play baseball, go camping and travel. He works in the construction industry operating heavy equipment. He is currently residing in Calgary.