The holiday weekend is behind us but what a wonderful weekend it turned out to be. The Hwy. 35 was just loaded with holiday vehicles. There sure are some fancy ones all colours and sizes.
Sure kept the ferry busy. And the weather was just great for the first real holiday weekend. Someone clipped a deer not far from the hall corner. It was still in the ditch.
There were some beautiful boats heading out. Every year the boats seem to get bigger and better.
Water rising
The good news is Francois Lake is still on the rise. The lake was the lowest this spring as ever been recorded. Lots of folks were really worried about their water lines. There were more frozen water lines than ever before. This last winter set the record.
Looking back
My brother Peter and I have such wonderful memories of growing up there. Lots of stories keep coming to mind. He asked me if I remembered this prairie story and I did. We had bought a pretty buckskin saddle horse from a friend Rich Arnold. He was what was called a blackened buckskin and named Ginger. Peter was just 10 and he rode him to town. On the way home he had to cross the railway track about a mile from home. Ginger took off and Peter could not hold him so all he could do is hang on as he was going too fast to fall off.
Dad said shut the barn door and open the big front gate. As he was bareback Peter had slid almost to Gingers ears but he was still on. Pretty scary but this was a lesson as he could have been killed with a runaway horse like that. We changed the bit on Ginger and Peter rode him for years after. It must have been a good ride to remember it for over 70 years.
Grizzly bear
This is a grizzly story a lady told me some years ago now it gave her some thing to remember for a long time. She was cooking for a work crew on the Alaska highway.
After breakfast chores were finished she would take a walk behind the camp on the sidehill. It was beautiful to walk there. This one morning she went further than usual. As she was coming down the hill with the camp in sight a big grizzly was standing in front of her. She tried to go around but it stood in her way. Every time she walked toward camp it was there. The bear was bird dogging her. She was scared now as it was getting bolder all the time. At last luck came her way one of the crew had to come down to the camp for tools so this more or less saved her life.
Dandelion wine
No matter where you look you see dandelions, the yellow colour shows up all over. They are a sign that spring has come which is good news. I can see they can be a problem for folks with gardens and flower beds. They are hard to get rid of as they are tough. Every corner seems to have its share. Years ago lot’s of folks made dandelion wine. It was great stuff as it made a delicious drink. In fact if you kept it long enough it had a quite a kick to it.
Mrs. Bill Harrison Sr. was well known for her dandelion wine. I was driving school bus on the Southside and she was teaching school at Danskin so on my return run I would stop in to her cabin at Danskin and we would share some of her dandelion wine while waiting for the ferry to go home on.
I was driving the first big school bus on the Southside, a big old Reo with square cut gears and a motor too small for the size and weight of the bus. It also had a double reduction rear end and if you missed a shift you were in trouble and I learnt how to shift pretty quick after a scare or two.
The road to Uncha valley was so narrow the bus clipped the branches of the trees. I was driving for Wilton Barker until he could get his Class 1 and Ernie Carlson and I held the only Class 1 license to drive a school bus at that time. I enjoyed the run and I met so many wonderful folks during that month.
Major White was the school board sect. at the time. He was a great friend for many years. I am going back many years and I wonder if anyone still remembers that first bus run I made.
Looking back 70 years
During those old time years our home was a lodge and called the Beach House. Mr. and Mrs. Sugden had left the farm and were running a lodge there. She served meals and rented out rooms, it was a great place to visit and spend a holiday.
Their son Lawson was with them and was working for Sunset Hardware in Burns Lake. We had opened a garage where the Wagon Wheel drive is located. Elmer Mills from the lower mainland with his wife Dorothy were living in a cabin there. He brought in a Harley 45 and he started a motorcycle group as well as mechanic for our shop. Lawson bought Elmer’s motorcycle and rode to work in town. One of our worst winters came upon us and Lawson kept on riding his bike. He kept it in our store at night so it was warm in the morning.
We had some 40 below and Lawson never missed a day riding his machine, what a man and what a machine. It was a wonder he didn’t freeze to death. Lawson has passed away but for many years. When ever we would meet we would talk about that winter. The Sugden’s left the lodge and Jo and I made it our home for over 60 years. It was a great place to bring up our family. It leaves me with so many great memories and the love we shared for a lifetime.
Had such a nice visit today with my great friend Gloria Alexis from Southbank. We go back many years. She was born in the old hospital in town here with Dr. Holmes. Gloria raised seven daughters and will be a grandmother in October for the first time. Her family, the Peters, are well known in the Southside and I was a personal friend of her grandfathers which I look back on with great memories.
I will close out now with my usual God loves you and so do I.