Shaun Newman Podcast - #772 - Alfred Wayne Fleming

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

Alfred is a farmer who lives near Irma, AB. We discuss his life and his journey with faith. Cornerstone Forum ‘25 https://www.showpass.com/cornerstone25/ Contribute to the new SNP Studio E-transfer here: [e-mail] Get your voice heard: Text Shaun 587-217-8500 Substack:https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcast Silver Gold Bull Links: Website: https://silvergoldbull.ca/ Email: [e-mail] Text Grahame: [phone]

This is Viva Fry. I'm Dr. Peter McCullough. This is Tom Lomago. This is Chuck Pradnik. This is Alex Krenner. Hey, this is Brad Wall. This is J.P. Sears. Hi, this is Frank Paredi.

This is Tammy Peterson. This is Danielle Smith. This is James Lindsay. Hey, this is Brett Kessel, and you're listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks. Happy Thursday. How's everybody doing today? I don't know if I said it on the first yesterday.

But happy New Year. Happy New Year. 2025 is here. And with that being said, Ed, precious metals. Precious metals can be thought of as the ultimate insurance policy against economic uncertainty and government incompetence with deficit spending and fiscal irresponsibility unlikely to end anytime soon.

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a generic silver round. Just text or email Graham for some details down in the show notes. He'll get you squared away. McGowan professional chartered accountants. Yes, we're talking about Chris McGowan. Of course, this past year she ran and became a board trustee of the Northwest School Division.

She also, in the daytime, when she's not fighting crime and saving the world, offers accounting and bookkeeping, business consulting and training, financial planning, and tax planning. And, you know, She's always looking for good people. So if you know of somebody out there that is a good person that could fit good person,

a talented person is probably the better word, plus a good person, that could fit McGowan CPA, maybe direct them that way. For all your information, for more information, go to McGowan CPA. C.A. The Cornerstone Forum, well, 2025. It's heading this year in months May 10th. That isn't that far away anymore. to WinSport in Calgary

and Martin Armstrong was the big news over New Year's to Christmas confirmed going to be in person, live in person. So the CEO of Armstrong Economics is going to be there. Tom Luongo of Gold, Goats and Guns, of course he's going to be followed and turned by

Alex Criner, Kramer, Kramer Analytics. So those two are reprising their roles on the stage. It's going to be a lot of fun. Chuck Prodnick, I think, well, a very popular, popular guest here on the SMP, you know, retired from the Canadian military.

I got a lot of respect for Chuck Brannock. Got newcomers, Kaelin Ford, founder of Alberta Classic Classical Academy. Chase Barber, the founder of Edison Motors, Matt Erritt, the Untold History of Canada Books series. You got Ben Perrin, host of BTC Sessions, Rod Giltaka, the CEO of Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, and we got a couple others in the works as well. We got guest hosts this year. Chris Sims coming back from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

and Tom Bodrovics from Palisade Gold Radio. He's going to be new and on stage as well. The big news this week is you can go by their tables. Everybody's been waiting for that. So if you want to sit with Tom Luongo, if you want to go by the table with Alex Criner, now is your time. These were a hot commodity last year.

They went awfully quick. So if you've been waiting for that, they are available now. And there's going to be more details unfolding here in the next couple of weeks as we get square away, the hotel, which has been just a saga, but it's coming to an end, I think. And then details on the trade show. So if you're a business wanting to come and showcase some of what you do,

that's going to be coming up here right away. There's going to be a way to learn all about it. Now, the other big news this coming next week, I guess, is we're starting the building of the new podcast studio. So that has been something I've been talking a little bit about here and there. On the year in review, we talked about it a bit more. Basically, I want you to be a part of it. You know, like the journey of this podcast has had all of you along for the ride.

And so there's many ways you can be a part of it. If you're, you know, a skilled, you know, you're an electrician, you're a carpenter, you get the point. We need that. If you just want to be, you know, me, I'm a good labor. I can put a nail in something. I'm usually better at tearing things out. I can use that too. Another way is companies have been like, well, listen, you're going to need some materials.

So like, you know, when it comes to, you know, electrical stuff, Drew McKay, for instance, AMC electrical. It's just like, well, we'll supply the stuff in order to make sure that you can have the proper, you know, lighting, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, when it comes to running the lines and everything else. Or the simple other way is money. You can just e-transfer. that's down in the show notes. And what you get for it is, I guess, I think it's value for value. I want you to be a part of it, which means, you know, like you see yourself a part of the S&P. So I'm building a wall in the new studio. It's going to be a big SMP and then all the people who've been contributors or, I kind of think of the word. Maybe you guys can help with the

word. I think of contributor, but that doesn't sound right. Either way, it doesn't matter. Your company logo, your name, you get it. I kind of learned this from. from my first deal I ever made with Carly Clawson and Windsor Plywood. I went in and got him to, I need a table for the studio. And he's like, well, you know, what do I get out of it? And I'm like, well, if I ever quit podcast, then you can have the table back. Now, I don't think anybody's going to want a piece of glass with an SMP logo and their name on it. Who knows? Maybe they will.

But certainly, you know, on flip side is if I continue to do this, which I hope I do, your name will be there for, you know, the long, the duration of the SMP. I'm going to build a wall that's going to be something to remember, and I hope whenever I bring in the different names of guests, that they'll be able to look up and see and be like, who are all these people like, well, this is, this is home. These are the people who've been along for the ride. And if that's one of you, I've already got a few.

Louis Stang, Kevin Damon, Tom Ikeert, they've all. the e-transfered. So my hat's off to you fine gentlemen for coming along for the ride. And I can't, I honestly, I can't wait for this new studio. It'll be done. Danree paving, guardian plumbing

and heating, AMC electrical, Noble floor coverings, renegade acres, T-Bar-1 trucking, Genix. There's a whole bunch of companies. So if you're a company and you're like, oh, we could get involved. There's some creative ways. And I'll be unfolding this, you know, after talking with Ken on the year in review, I feel like there's probably a little bit

more I have to lay out so that everybody can get a better picture. But I guess it's a value for value idea. And I just want you to be a part of the ride. You've all been a part of the ride for a very long time. And I think this is a way to, I don't know, kind of cement it in for the next, however many years we go. And so if you want to see what is happening with the studio, subscribe to Substack. It's free.

And we'll be posting pictures and different things there as we go along. It's going to be a ton of fun, and I hope you'll come along for the ride. Now, if you're listening or watching on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, Rumble, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, share with a friend. If you're watching on X, yes, I'm staring at you, then how about a retweet? Let's get through some of these barriers that are certainly up against all of us. And if you're on Facebook, share with a friend or share on your, you know, just share it. Okay, let's get on to that tail? Oh, wait, before I get to the tail of the tape, people will remember.

one, probably wondering, who is this guy? I got asked to do a, uh, a legacy interview on him. And I came in, sat down, and, uh, I was like, we started talking and at the end, you're going to hear it, but I'm like, that was something. And I sat and thought about it for like two months. I'm like, should I just ask him if I can release it. I should just ask him if I can release it. I'm going to ask him if I can release it. So finally, I'm like, I'm just going to ask him if I can release it. So I asked his daughter, and then I asked him, and, well, now you get to hear it. But this was a legacy interview I did, and I just enjoyed the conversation to the point where I'm finally like, you know, I enjoy all the legacy interview conversations. I should point that out, you know, and maybe part of the thing about doing a legacy interview would be, hey, is there an opportunity to release it on the podcast?

Because they've been, they've been spectacular. but, you know, I sat in this one in studio, and at the end I was just like, what the heck happened there? I don't know. Maybe you'll hear the same thing. Maybe it's just for me. Who knows? Let's get on to that tale of the tape. He's a husband, father, community pillar.

I'm talking about Alfred Wayne Fleming. So buckle up. Here we go. Awkward. Almost uncomfortable. I was kind of like, this is weird. And yet, I look back on it. And I'm like, that was a really important moment.

You know, a pretty cool moment. And to get him in here and allow him to sit and chat and tell his story was, uh... Well, you know, that was all planned. You think? But you realize it or not, the more you look back at, the more there's to see and the more you see his hand in it. Yeah. I found that especially, you know, it's just the things that happened to get me to that point. I mean, it was all a matter of a buildup over the years, you know.

and you go through life and all of a sudden you don't realize there's got to be more to it in this and that's how it turned out for me but to get here but you know and I look back at some of my family members and my my grandparents my parents and what they went through I mean granddad and granny homesteaded where I live now in 1910 so you can see imagine and what that was like back then compared to what it is now yeah and came here with nothing and made a go of it. I was quite a deal how they homesteaded. I mean,

granddad and granny came to Canada in 194 and they settled in Toronto. They'd been there for a while and then Granny was expecting and of course, you know, a new country, trusted old doctor, went back home to Ireland. There was a terrible rough voyage

and she got back, I think it was, they were seven days on the ship or something, a rough season, she was sick to holy, and ended up and lost the baby. It was a little girl named, they called them Mary, but that was still born. So, you know, that was a change in direction of the family kind of deal. And then when she came back and Dad was born in 197, she was going to go back over to Ireland again, and Dad said, no, there's doctors in. And our granddad said there's doctors in Toronto. And so dad was born there.

And then he, Granny and him, I believe it was about 19, 8 or 10. He would have been about just not over two years old and they got dramatic fever and nearly died both of them. And Granny, you know, because of that, she had no more children. and dad had suffered right down to the end. He had terrible rheumatic fever.

And right when they last, and the doctor said, you know, that was caused by that high fever as a child. Because none of our family members are, they still have everything was functioning. But that was, but all the homestead and granddad was, he was a carpenter by trade,

but he'd come over here and then he got a job where he was, and he was working down at the docks. And I think that would have been, spring of 1910 or somewhere in there and he got in a disagreement with the foreman the foreman was an Englishman and Granddad was Irish and he called him a Mick and Granddad took offense to that and so he gave him a swat and he was unemployed so he be telegraphed or whatever he got a hold he had two brothers that were working they were in Calgary and it was Archie and Hugh

And he got a hold of them and they'd come from a farm in Ireland and he said, well, how about getting some homestead quarters? So they'd come up to where Hugh and Archie came up to where we are now and they filed on three quarters. And the ones, they filed on one for Granddad,

the one I'm on, and they filed on one for Hugh and one for Archie. Well then Hugh, he decided, And he went back, he owned the stores down, a business in Calgary. And he went back, and he was staying there. So, but he had another brother, John, in Ireland, and things were over there were tough. And so he came over and took that quarter. And Archie, in the meantime, he'd gone out to BC, just to see,

Sredding Golden Calgary. He went out to BC, and he got out on the island. And then he sent a telegram or notice back to him that, you know, I'm staying here. He said, you don't live in Alberta. You just exist out there. It's because he was like that Irish, you know, Ireland weather was closer to Vancouver Island and what he was used to out here. So they dropped the one quarter, but anyhow, that's how it all started was to get here. And then my mother's folks, they came over in 1919, I believe it was. And that was from England. And he was, they gave a script like he'd been World War I. And they had a script

quarter and they come here and they came here with a script quarter so they got given land for fighting in World War one yes that was some of all the soldiers were paid for for I don't know if I knew that army script quarter yeah there's quite a bit of it went on and you know of course it was free land well it wasn't free I mean there was there was work ahead of them and they came over and they were really dirt poor and uh well you think if you think back to come from Britain, let's say, you're going to be a landowner. That sounds like something. Yeah.

And then to come here and see it and deal with minus 40 weather, actually I interviewed a 99-year-old a couple weeks ago. Yeah. And he remembers minus 66. And you go, hmm, maybe being back over in Ireland doesn't sound so bad that. It sounds so bad. Yeah, yeah, it was different. We did see some cold weather too.

time. Last winter was some real cold ones too, but yeah, that was quite a deal to get here. We take that for granted what they went through to get here. I mean, they went through some tough times. Dad always talked about, and he would only met about 12 years old. They said, 1918, 1919. He said that was the worst year. That was worse than anything they'd seen in the 30s because the people had gone in and up until that time you know the cows free range and cattle free range and out in the winter time and they didn't really put up a lot of feed and the winter of 18 and night it was a terrible winter and they'd gone into it and no feed and they said most the neighbors i know our neighbors that uh to the north they went we own we have the land now dad the granddad bought it off

them but mitchells and they went into the winter with a hundred and seventeen head of cattle and they came out the other end, I think it was four or five. It all died from starvation. And granddad, I don't think they lost too many, but he'd rigged up when it got into March, you know, and he rigged up an old sleigh and he put a

kind of a V plow on the side of it, you know, went across some hilltops and rushed off some prairie wolves so the cows could eat some. But you remember they went, he went up and then he went up to at Manville. That was the town

at that time was where they did most of the business. I went up to Mavu, and the carloads of feed were coming in from Saskatchewan, and square bales on a, and they went up there, and I don't know how money was lined up, but anyway, he spent all the up there and come home with three bales. And so that's, I think he did that before they did the thing to clean off the snow because they knew they had to do something. And the neighbor, Bill Matthews, the last month, he ran around to all the sluze and cut the sapling red willows, and he got their cows around red willows.

We don't, you know, you can't even fathom stuff like that right now. But yeah, so it was a journey to get here. Do you think, you know, do you ever think, you know, when you look at the world today, because you would have lived through the 80s and the high interest rates and all those things. And I love to hear your thoughts on it. But you look at where we're sitting right now, October 24th, 2024, and you look at where we're heading into. And it feels, actually, I shouldn't say it feels. to me it resembles as a younger man what i don't know the 80s certainly the stories i've been told

about it weren't great you look at how much money the government spent and inflation and on and on and the housing crisis and all these different things do you see like hard days ahead i believe we're yes i do i mean we're kind of sleepwalking here right now i think there's everything we're taking so much for granted and just I don't have to go back that far I mean just what the world has done in the last 10 years or 15 years I mean where we gone and and just the cost of everything like you go buy a combine now or a tractor and it isn't that many years ago the guy sold out the farm he got a million dollars said he was done he was big a wrecks for life not cost you that to buy a new combine or a tractor at all it's uh I I I I don't know I'm no profit, but it sure does. I think there's a lot of coldness out there, I find, just ignoring what's truly happening.

You know, I think between Canada, the United States, and World War II, Canada lost 45,000 soldiers. The United States was a little over 300,000 soldiers, they lost. Well, I believe this war in Ukraine is taking close to three-quarters of a million and it barely makes their eyebrows go up. And it's a, and I don't know, the value we seem to put on life is your drop. To me, you know, some of the things you see go on that normal migrawny and granddad would just be shaking her head.

and what whoever thought we'd be seeing now and a child's life worked nothing. Absolutely thrown out that garbage. And that's what kind of stuff is you can't get used to that. And if you do, there's something wrong, to my mind. But to get here financially, I don't know.

I mean, we've just, we've never handled so many dollars. But they go faster than they ever used to. They give you calluses trying to get rid of them. And you go through, you know, the 80s, we will come into the 80s. You come through the 70s. And then a quarter of land at the beginning of the 70s, about 1970 to 1980, went up. Probably the value went up close to 10 times. It was really insane.

And the poor people that sold out in the first part of the 70s and thinking they had or made, And, well, by the end of the 70s, they were out working and find the job and nothing to show for what they'd done. And some of them had on farms for, you know, 50 years and a cellar out and retire, and they ended up scratching to make the end. And, yeah, the interest rates, those were killers. You know, we paid 20 some percent of interest on, and I think it was 18 and three quarters was our highest machinery. one but if you if you went behind on a bill anywhere i mean it was crazy amount of money and interest you paid but same token the machinery wasn't worth quite that much but but yeah costs and the way of farming was really changed through the 80s and up into the 90s you know we went from everything was black

and dust was rolling to now it's no till and spray and you rely on chemicals so much to do this and that So yeah, it was different times. We were, Judy and I were married in 1970. We seemed I bought a quarter of land for $8,000. And there was some of the best quarters land around there. We're selling for 12, 13, maybe 15. And look at the knowledge. A million plus.

Is it worth more? No, I think the dollar is worth less. That's the biggest thing. If you ever dreamt you're going to get and buy a tricked-up pickup truck for close to 100 grand. My first one, well, the dad bought one, and I got my driver's license. I think it was 17. It was a 1968 Ford Ranger pickup truck. It was $3,200.

It had a chrome package on it, too. No air conditioner, nothing like that. But, you know, if you got a real trick-to-in-one, it was a bull. six. That's quite a difference from now. Yeah. What year did you take over the farm? Like start actually worrying about things? Yeah, well I, uh, what worry? I, I was, uh, I completed grade 10 and then come home. I was, I guess I was a spring of 67. I was 16 and I let him come home full time and it was uh so 19606 it was 1967 the spring of 67 when it was march of 67 when a teacher pulled me aside and said you know they'd be better off for everybody involved if you weren't here

so but i uh they said yeah she said more than that but anyway and i got down numbers a couple weeks left in school and they'd pulled me aside they weren't going to let me write my final exam so and I said well that's not right so kind of had to make an unwritten and promise that I wouldn't return you realize you realize you're the second man of your generation to tell me that that the teachers teachers literally said you probably better off if you didn't come back yeah can you imagine if a teacher said that today they'd be out of a job yeah they'd be out of a job and then some probably yeah yeah it's uh but you're not No, at that time, in like the small schools,

and the little school in Irma, we had over 400 students in there one time back in that days because they were lots of kids, but they aimed for the ones that were taking matriculation and going on to university and the ones that were just, well, there's an exact quote, was where you're just going to farm anyway. So, and I was, and I didn't disagree with them. And it was a big relief when I walked out that door that the Anginstores. remember that. So that was, but yeah, you're right, it's different.

Look at the some of the stuff that kids can do in school now and a man. We had a thing back then they called the strap. And that was a real fun experience, but you listened, you know. You didn't, depending on what time of day it was, but you didn't pick up a pen for the rest of the day because your hands were shaking so bad. And went through that a few times. But anyway. What would you have to do to get the strap?

Like, as a kid, what did you do to tick the teacher off that much to get the strap? Well, the one out of Elberton and Mrs. Armagedger's teacher there. And I'm a lot of it because I'd been horsing her own. And I was told that you can't use the washrooms in school. There's some still out door buffies there. So I was sentenced to two weeks out there. and it was just about the last day of that two weeks and I walked by and then the door was open

in the bathroom and the guys were in there and were you can't put your fist through a window without getting caught, eh? Well, that's baloney and I walked in and just boomed through the window and turned around looking there was Mrs. Arvichit's standing right there said yeah we had an appointment right after dinner so 10 on each hand

she could swing it pretty good too. The one, the one, we had a teacher in Irma. He was a good teacher and liked them still. And he taught our kids afterwards, and Charlie Allen was his name. And somehow got in a kafel and,

and this was one that I didn't, I wasn't involved in, but somehow they, you know, once you got the name, so they just threw me in for a bonus and there was three other guys, four other guys there. And they were kind of, neither one of none of them had had a strap before.

And Mr. Gunn was the principal, and we were all going to get five on each hand. And I listened to them, they're laughing, and they're making those jokes about this and thinking, this is something like, hmm, you guys have never had this. So anyhow, the first one up was a fellow George Webb. And they'd kind of make, whoever was that first up, and put your hand out. And just as it was going to hit you, pull it back. Well, that's exactly what he did. And the strap came down and hit Mr. Gun on the leg.

And he said, you boys, you just wait here. Mr. Allen or Mr. Allen was our vice principal. He was about six foot one. And he vibrated when he got mad. And he comes through that door. And I'm thinking, boys, you're going to find out now. And we all got ten on each man. And I never forgot that one.

Never forgot that one. What would your parents say when you came home and you'd been strapped? She said what happened to school? Happened to school. Take your medicine. You know, you don't hear, you know, in today's world, we don't hear many of those stories. They don't get to the top of the news list, if you would. Yeah.

Yeah, you're right. But it kept everything calm. I mean, you knew that was there, the baby. And the trip to office was. a joy trip. So, yeah, that was school, country school. And then I spent, well, I was held back after grade six at Albert. So I got an extra year out in the country school.

Went through grade six and then they, it was up. When I first started there, it was up to grade 10 out in that country school, where you or the Albert. And there was four classrooms there. And it was a bustle. There was 100. 10 students or something like that out in that little school. And then it kept, it was a grade eight there, my first year of grade six, and it was

up to grade eight. And the end, of course, you're three classes in one room, and my best friend was in grade seven. I think I spent more, I'm pretty sure if they'd give me the test for grade seven, I'd have done better than I did for grade six. But anyhow, got through that, and then the next. year that was when Mrs. Armage taught the next year and we still she's a great lady and it was a privilege to have her as a teacher but she set me straight a little bit so yeah but

school was different then and uh the traveling when the ball was out in that country school and we had couple of ball times and that's what we were we wanted to play ball that was our there was no pool hall to go to at noon hour and that's nothing it was uh it was a different you could see home from there it was all right for me i think uh those are some of the best years or good years i don't know they're best or not but just they were good years left memories and uh probably left memories of some school friends and that young boy he was in my class and was gorty savage was his name and uh he had muscular dystrophy and you know you couldn't figure out why he wasn't playing the rest was but we played lots set out and sandpile him playing brought tractors from home and sitting there playing

but he was good bad enough and he didn't quite complete grade three and he was too crippling and he was too crippling and He was 16 when he died. And the other one that one I said was a good friend. He wasn't agreed ahead of me. Well, that was Marvin Crows. And he'd gone on to my last year at Albert, and he'd gone on to school in Irma in the grade eight. And of course, that was back when them little Honda 50 mopeds, you know, motorbikes.

And he had his learners permit, and he got one of them. and he were joined, and him and some friends went down to the Battle River by Fabian there, and he got tangled up in the river and drowned, and he was 14 years old. So that was two pretty good friends that left him work.

And I look back now. And there's a story with them, too. I mean, I think I will see him again. As long as you do, I talked to Gordon Savage's, I talked to his mother, and she told me the story of that one. And she said the night they found out about him having muscular dystrophy. My brother-in-law was principal at Albert the time, and he was the one, this isn't right or something wrong here. So he went, and they were kind of mad and indignant, but then they got a check, yeah, no.

And anyway, she said, and then she said, and I kept them home, and she schooled them. But the night they found out about him or that day or right in there, they were Catholic, and the Catholic priest came out to the house to visit them, and he sat them down on the kitchen table, and he said, you know, you need to be born again. And she said, you know, we prayed and asked Jesus in our hearts right there, and said, everything changed. And she said, and I made sure he knew Jesus before he died. And she said, that changed everything right there. And then years later, they had another little boy.

They had a big family. And their last one was David and been therein that he didn't have muscular dystrophy too. And she said, I didn't let him go to school. She said, when we found that out, she said, I want to save her. every moment of it. And she kept him home and she taught him at home. And but she said, and he was smart. He taught himself to read and write and everything.

And she said, but he could do the, she told the story about his older brother Cecil was working on the car out in the front of the house. And he had the manual on the kitchen table and David's in there and he's reading over this thing and he's in his teens but then and he and Cecil comes in and he said well you know you gotta do this

and Cecil left him well you know you never even been around a vehicle and he must around there and then his mom was telling me this and seen and Cecil fussed around that for a half an hour and finally he went out what'd you say I had to do when he went back out there and the thing started so just just a real

but she said one day She said he was coming through, of course that wasn't before satellite. There was just a couple of channels. And there was someone going through the channels in the TV, and he come across, and he sat for half an hour and listened to Billy Graham. And the end of that, he keeps his heart to trick. And I said, that's now you see so part of the planet. You know, if your family's listening to this,

and we've got to, I've been enjoying this. But where we started off, as I asked if you knew who I was, and you said you'd listen to one interview, and you could remember whose man's testimony was, and I started, you know, my head, I'm like, it's got to be like one of three. And it was Harold Stephan. And, you know, one of the questions that I'd thrown out, and I don't know if you'd read through them all, but one of them was on, you know, God, and whether or not faith is a part of your life and what your thoughts are on that. And obviously, from where we've gotten to, I would say, yes, indeed, it is, quite a large part.

It is now. You know, you go in a grocery store and you check out the produce and you look for that best before date. Well, I have a best after date. It was 18 years ago this month on 10th of October 2006. And we'd had a battle that summer. We had my daughter Ron.

This boy, will. was diagnosed with cancer. And I believe we got the word of that. My mother died in March, 13th of March, 2004. I believe it was a 13th of March, 2006, that Ron and Rob come and said, well, we knew we had a tumor and I'd got the word, and it was cancer. And so then there was a battle all that summer, you know,

ins and out, but you know, we looked back and there was some tremendous things pulling on me at that time. And I know it was him. And I guess to relate back to that, I got to go back a little

further because when I was in grade 5 at Albert and Mr. Masson came out from Irwin with the Gideon Bibles and gave us a good name and told us. But back then it wasn't just sneak in the door, maybe give him at a lunchtime or something. And he taught us the whole class. And before he'd left, and I was, wow.

And I'd actually, that night, and I'd asked him into my heart. But, you know, things get in the road, and I was preoccupied, I guess, being the clown of the class, and got into an argument in grade eight, they started teaching, well, they were teaching it before, are we yet there, but the evolution thing, huh? Well, I really liked science. And then I said, well, the scientist said, that's what's got to be. And I remember I got in an argument with a fellow in our class.

And I, because I was basically the one on that side. And it was, I liked to argue. Anyhow, we argued, and finally for after a while, and his name was George Crabb. He said, Fleming? He said, you can believe what you want, but I ain't related, no dang ape. He said, I'm made fearfully and wonderfully in the image of God. Never forgot that. When he graduated in 69, my wife, Judy, was Jesus in grade 12,

and together with him and us. We were together in class. And that summer, he stopped on Highway 17 out here to help a lady change a tire and got struck down the vehicle go by and hit them. And I never, I thought of that. Wow. We know that the day that light came on for me,

I thought, George, you were right. So, yeah. So anyhow, we went through that all summer and through that summer, but there was some, you said, there was tremendous things pulling on you. What do you mean by that? Well, I think, you know, up until that time, The farm was number one.

And you know, I are going to do this. There's more work tomorrow when I get her done and get her done, get her done, get her done. And then all of a sudden, when we got that diagnosis, hey, what's going on? Life doesn't just go on. There's something got to be going on. The night we got that word, I slept on an easy chair downstairs because my back was bothered me. Sometimes you do dumb things on the farm, you know, and I have sore back. And I was sitting there.

And I was sleeping, sleeping. And that was about two in the morning. I don't know for sure, but it was two in the morning. And my mother's voice came to me, this clear spell. She said, don't worry healthy. I will look after that little boy. And it startled me so much. I jumped up and I even turned on the light.

Look around the room, see where they're, she was. was there. And she, you know, she was gone for two years. And then after that, I couldn't tell anybody because he's not going to make. So that was really pulling up my heart. And then, but I have a, my daughter and Lawn, her and Rhonda, they took, because Will when he first started, he didn't have balance, and he lost his balance. He was, he was, he was walking when he was not even 11 months old. They walking in all of a sudden he couldn't walk, and that's what triggered him on to do it,

but they got in the hospital, and they got the tumor to shrink, and he got his balance back, and he got to come home for, I think it was two or three weeks, and it was probably one of the most wonderful two or three weeks, you could ever imagine.

But Rhonda and Lindsay and the kids went over to Camp Lake, and Lindsay's little girl was just a little bit older than Will, And she said, anyhow, Iowa didn't go over with them. But I remember coming home, and Rhonda said to me, it was just weird dad, you should have been there. She said, those two kids just wouldn't let go with each other.

They were hugging, and so. And they did get a picture. It was the one that Lindsay's little girl, well, there's a razor name, and she'd run up from the beach, and she'd turn and look back, well, Wilk, why? He couldn't run anymore.

He couldn't walk. And he was coming up. When she went and run him back down there and took him by the hand, let him up for hot dogs. And just, there was something going on. There was something going on there. And then, you had the hospital time.

And, you know, you're going through all that. And then there was some things happened in there. and that you just, I look back now, and I know, is there, you're sitting in there after the home stairs and the news was bad, and there were the whole families, both sides of families are gathered on this one table in the cafeteria. And just, of course, you know, everybody's teared up and this is, and there's a young girl, I presume, she was a nursing student, come over, and she just said, you know, she had, you looked like you need some love and she said a little brooch of a dove on the table and she turned

and walked away and I think well you know we're up there all summer nursings do well bum him here again ever saw her again and I remember that and uh you know something's there's a lot bigger things going on in life than we can never imagine but when the things when things when went the way they went. And I remember we walked out of there that morning and there was the doctor that had been, and he was a good young doctor and he was, they were bound to sure they had everything. And he was standing off the side and I think he was kind of scared to even come over to talk to us. And I said, I went over to him and I said, you know, yeah, you see, there's a lot bigger things going on than we can see. And I remember turning, but I was, and I

turned him out and I said, where the heck did that come from? Why did I say that? And the same and said to the funeral and then Pastor Howard and we come out of there and then went over and shook his hand and said, you know, it's not Will hurting now. And I'm thinking where did that come from? But there's a few things, but there was one thing happened between the time that Will passed and before and we were still farming, you know, you're out in the combine. It was three days after and out in the combine and we were working on land over east of us. We had two combine and Judy was one on another. And in that afternoon we were picking up bees, which can be a pain and they were, but going

along and I started to get a pain in my head. It wasn't a headache, it was just a pain. And we worked there until about, I think it was about six o'clock night, and I couldn't take it anymore. So I radio and Julius, and I, you've had enough of this one, and we can go home. And it was right there, just a powerful pain. And we got out of the car, and I said, you got to drive, I can't drive. And we got halfway home, and it was gone, just like that.

And that's where he's, he showed me how much pain the boy was going through. He's not gone, he just took the pain away, and he took him home. that's my honest to God belief. And so it was a month and three days later, after all the dust was kind of settling. And you're living like, it's another day, it's another day. And it was a tough fall. We hadn't heard. We didn't have much gone by and done.

This was here on into a... October and it didn't have much combining done it. And it was wet and I was working on a auger for the green dryer to take grain away from the dryer because we were sitting, as soon as you're going, we're going to be drying. I was fighting that on the shop floor and I'd come in for dinner and I went, walk back over to the shop after dinner and I sat down and I was just sitting there and I was just overwhelmed

And I sat down on a pale and I said I had my elbows on my knees, my head and my hands. And I was weeping. And I just, I said, there's got to be more to life than this. There has to be more to life than this. And honestly, it was just that sudden than there was. The spirit filled me. And I was just, I had no idea what was happened to me. Absolutely what is going on.

And then you get to know. I shouldn't feel this good. What's going on? And I had no idea what had just happened. So I'm up walking around the shop, and I think I've got God, but I don't know. But who is it? Who is it? Even the cross, the thought of Allah crossbook, who's God?

Who's God? And finally, I walked up to the radio and rushed the dust off it because it had been sat tuned to see. until they got built the shop. And I brushed it off and I'd stumbled across this channel over the years and he had run out

with them to see JCA and at that time they were they were playing, they were Southern Gospel music as what they played at that time. So I turned it on to that and it was I know it was 2 o'clock because at that time they did a little news blur

but they did it before the hour and the news hour was just finished up And I'm to stand there and I just on come this song. And it was a young, the three bridges sing the song now. And it's called In the Valley, There's a Rock. And it goes in the valley, there's a rock. And the rock is Jesus. And then I knew at that moment, I just met Jesus.

So that was, I guess that's basically. the journey to get to there but there's been quite a journey since and I know I'm brushed over stuff pretty quick but it's uh don't don't uh I'm just curious this is the song that that's the song do you ever wonder you know I'm one of the things that I struggle with with doing these family I don't know chats Yeah. Is I'm like, you get entered into my brain, and I sit across from you. And I go, is this for your family?

Is this for me? I have no idea. Maybe it's for all of us. But I wonder, how can we be so blind to what's going on? You know, because you talk about 2006. By that time, you're 56 years old. Yeah. You figure that out, eh?

You're right. You're right. And I thought was one of the biggest shocks. And I had, you know, and I had guys tell me. me and well he'd lead me certain place and you'd sit down and you'd talk with somebody that you didn't know you needed to talk to did that at an ermidaze and I ended up sitting by a fellow from right around there than I'd known for years and then John I told him he's he looks at me like and he was a pastor and he said that's a miracle he said that's a miracle I said I know it is

And he's just, I don't know. I think the further down you go the harder, when he hits you, it's the hardest one. You know, I see some people, you know, they've known them all along or whatever in him. But when he hit me, wow, I just, it was a euphoria that I can't even put into words. It's funny.

I don't mean to interject on, you know, this conversation. So forgive me to your family, for, for, because what I'd like to try and do is I like to let you just, you know, but I'm sitting here and I'm like, but I get it. I mean, I've had that similar thing happened in my life. That's why I've changed my tune on the podcast. It's why like a guy where, you know, Harold Stephan comes on and starts talking about me and an angel.

I'm like, man, that's crazy in the best possible way. Yeah. You know, you see all the insanity of the world. But then you hear stories like that and you're like, but there's the beauty in it. If you just open your eyes, you'll start to see it. You know, I picked up a homeless guy. This is, oh, it was this winter. It was one of that stretch where it was about minus 40.

Yeah. And we have a group that meets at 5 a.m. on Thursdays. And he was in a place that made no sense. And I was having an argument with, at least I think I was having an argument with God. I'm sure he was just chuckling at me. But I was really struggling. I was reading the Bible. And I don't remember why I was so irritated with the book.

but one of the things that friends other men had been sending me is don't be fearful there's nothing to fear don't be fearful and so anyways i was i was driving and i was reading which you shouldn't do folks i was reading the text about fear and falling and driving and so i started to pray so i was praying about it and here's this homeless guy out on the refinery road for 50 in the morning it is minus like i mean minus 40 something and he was doing this like death drug-induced spiral in the middle of that road. Like if I didn't have, you know, if I'd read the text two minutes or two minutes later,

probably would have ran them over it. It just didn't make any sense. Yeah. So I drove by them and, uh, and I'm not picking them up. I could hear the voice. You know, you should pick him up.

No, I'm not picking them up. You should pick them up. I'm not picking them up. But at the same time, I was letting off the gas and I was slowing down. He's going, if you don't pick him up, he's going to die. So I went back and, you know, in my brain,

him going just don't let him chop my head off or something you know like that'd be a really crappy way to go you know it's almost funny to think about and he got in and he was very thankful he couldn't open his eyes his eyes were just shut he was just I don't know where he was and I took him in the hospital um and before he got out I was I was telling him I'm like I was arguing with God about you I didn't want to pick you up I just said you know poop it I'll just tell him what I was thinking about and he had and I wish you know I say this every time I wish I would wrote it down it was the most profound thing yeah I mean weeping by the time I got him to the hospital. And I said, dude, I don't know if me picking you up was for you or for me.

Yeah. Right? I thought it was, I was doing you the favor. I think now you've just, you know, and I'm like, nobody knows who the guy was. Now he's a homeless guy. I assume he was a homeless guy. I don't think he was an angel, folks. I don't.

I just, at the same time, it's one of those experiences where you're like sitting here. I'm sitting here with, you know, to your family. I'm sitting here in this chat. And I'm going, what is going on? Because I walked in, I got my list of things. And then you start rattling off. and I'm like, holy moly. And yet, I look at the world

and I'm like, if you just open up your eye, you have no idea what every day could be because those possibilities are sitting just everywhere. I was just at OJ's in town the other day. And I've been trying to get a new studio. Now, it's a long story, which I won't bore your family with.

And just a couple of things happened, almost like, boom, boom. I'm like, how is this? So I was going to the bathroom. I was just pray, you know? Thank you. Because you're working at all times, and I don't even realize it. Sometimes I've got to open my eyes to see it.

Yeah, not the truth. You know, sometimes you just get going, you know, you get so busy. I hate it right now. I'm busy. I don't like that word. Because I know what it's doing, you know? Like I was told once upon a time, I get your thoughts on this. When the devil can't get you, he makes you busy.

He distracts you, pulls you away from the things in life that really truly matter. And I feel it right now. And I don't know how to slow down the train. It's really bugging me. Yeah. Maybe I'll lean on you. What do you advice do you have? Well, you know, that's, that's, that is a tough one.

That is a tough one. And I fight that still, you know, because there's, the farm, there's always something to do, always something to do. And, and you just, uh, you try to make, keep your priorities right. And, uh, but when the thing is ready to go on the farm and has to go, you know, whether it's seating or whatever. And that's when it's time. And actually, you know, it ends up and you kind of dread winter, but there's more peace in the wintertime.

You chance to go watch kids play hockey and you aren't rushing home because this has to be done. But yeah, no, that is about any of your right. I don't think we've ever had this many squirrels in our lives as we do right now. You're looking here and looking there and everybody's got your iPhone

and that was something. I used to go to the field, and I didn't even wear a watch, you know. You ever listen to the radio maybe, or you just get out and look at the sun. Or if you got hungry, it must be dinner time. But anyway, now you get 15 minutes, 15 feet from the door. Oh, I forgot my phone, and back you go. And that's really changed. But, yeah, it has its upsides, too.

Like, look what you just pulled up. Like, you blew me away with that. I mean, you just bang, just like that. you had that song on there. Well, you've, you've given that hopefully to your kids and your grandkids and everybody else, but you've given it to me too because I'd never heard that song before. I think it's a very powerful song, very powerful message. Yeah, it said exactly what I was looking for.

Yeah. This is who you're looking for. This is, he's the one. So, yeah, no, I had, you know, I had, you know, I spent a lot of years coaching hockey and that and I enjoyed that very much. You get time to spend time with kids. I think, you know, I look back now and when I get into coaching, and that little speech that that teacher gave me, that helped my coaching.

Because I come out of that, and I look, want to get into coaching, and I said, I never teach a kid like that, ever. And I tried to coach that I didn't play favorites. Everybody got a turn. And I figured if it wasn't good enough to get on the ice, you weren't running your practice, it was right. And I had, so I looked and I tried to practice the best of good, and we had some pretty good teams. But that was the key, I think they became teams.

And that's huge. You know, you get that individualism out of there, and everybody's looking out for the guy beside him instead of himself. And that made huge difference. And, well, Nancy, the one that pulled this on me. She was a big part of that And I know we we had our midget team And we ended up, we hosted midgets in Irma at that time And we were hosts

So we didn't, I mean, we didn't win to get in there either We were hosts and we got in there And we ended up, we won the silver medal We lost out to the team in the last bit But it was a close game, good game It could have went either way So in the only year we have, we weren't a real we didn't have big numbers.

We were just under enough to get there. But the camaraderie, that team, they just jelled, just jelled. And that was gratifying. And I had some other teams that are coached, you know. But when they get up to that age, you know, if you're in a midget age or you 18, if you figured it out then, it's good to be an Indian.

You've got her figured, yeah. You mean, the little guys are used to mom run. and in between periods with a soda pop or something. You know, no, no, no, no. You can't do that. But, yeah, that was probably the biggest thing is teaching the kids to play as a team, play as a team.

And everybody, your ability to play the game has nothing to do with your ability to enjoy it. Because I'm proof of that. Because I have stone hands. and limited ability, but I loved the game. So that was probably one of the highlights, and I'm very fortunate at the time we had, we had five kids in the hockey and ring at the same time.

So that was a lot of this, but back then, I mean, even as far as Chauvin, that was a big deal. No, I think this weekend I have a grandson is going, he played. with Gage plays with Cairns squad boy and plays with polar kings and they're in Grand Prairie this weekend and they have two games in Grand Prairie and one at Flair. That's a big weekend one. They're taking a bus up but we would never thought of it back in those days

driving this much for and the cost of hockey and that cost everything's going on up but I mean more power to them more power to them and uh They love the game, so they can play it as team members. And then I have no, any of my kids are selfish on the ice, and that's a big thing. Assist is as good as a goal. They're block shots as good as a save. And it's a... There's a lot of glamour in guys' ice, because you see the wages that guys are getting when you watch the screen,

and we've had a few come out of them, like Carson Sussi's on the Vancouver there right now. But honest of the goodness, you never meet a more humble family than Carson's like Mike and Debbie and just humble, and you never know. There's no, and that's the way he used to. So I enjoy those kind of guys.

I don't like this when they score a goal and they run over and do a body check on the glass. That's hot dogging. But anyway, that's my opinion. Who was your favorite hockey player growing up? Who'd you watch? You know, way back, and that was Bobby Bond was the one for Toronto and George Arndon. Bobby Bond?

Yeah, he was a defenseman. And George Armstrong, thus going way back. And, uh, but then he up through there was Yvonne Cornyway and then Bobby Hall. And then he had been Bobby. of course. You finally hit a couple names I recognized. I'm going bob and bar. I don't even know who that is.

Oh, you look them up. I think he scored one goal in his career. But he set a lot of people on the rear. Yeah. Yeah, he was the tough defenseman for the Leafs. But yeah, and all there, we once didn't watch a lot of your heroes were the local ones in town on the Aces

and then some names there you respect it. And as community, when you look back at that Irma area, was there a project that got built in there that you were very proud of or a big part of or I don't know anything that comes to mind from a community standpoint? Project, boys, I think you can't narrow it down to one. I mean, I don't know of a community with that population that has been that generous to do. to do things like, you know, the arena and all that and keep it going. And the curling rink is one of the class curling rink and all, and ball diamonds and ball facility. It's just phenomenal, you know, there's people come from the cities

and then they can't believe the ball diamonds we have there. And a lot of that is to do with the Susie family. Mike's dad, Charlie, I put a lot of time in there in the Gannies. Randy Ganey, his dad, and they spent a lot of time in there fixing stuff. up all the time. So a lot of volunteers. Yeah. Irma's been good for volunteers.

And community. That doesn't happen by accident, though. No. No, you're right. You're right. I just think back, you know, like where I come from Helmand, community rank that they've had, you know, you drive out there. Here's this little tiny farming community.

And then it's got, you know, now it's 2008. So what's that? 16 years old, I guess now. But you walk in and you're like, how the heck does this school, this area have this. They got a million dollar gym on the school. And you're like, how does this area? And, you know, when the community comes together,

they are extremely powerful. It's honestly a superpower that the world's forgetting real fast. But in our areas, you just got to look in recent history and you can see it all over the place. When you work together as a community, a lot of things are really possible.

Yep. And it makes it worthwhile. It gives you a community to be proud of. You're glad to be part of it. Irma's always been pretty good that way. It's been, you know, the fundraisers that have come out of there just blow you away. And they did one for us when Will was in trouble. And there was three fentons had lost a house to fire.

And the Fisher, Greg Fisher's daughter was in trouble in the hospital at the same time. was ours. We were up there and there was a huge fundraising for that and just they filled the arena and for that fundraiser and it was phenomenal. I just my daughter was and son-in-law, we're out in the wild, or Rob and Rhonda were just blown away by that, you know, you just, you think everybody, you're just going through this, but it's the thing, you know, that's the beauty of a small community. I mean, sometimes you just feel

while you're living under a magnifying glass in the ark, well, then something like that happens. And while you just, you want to stick your chest on, I'm from Irma.

And it took me a long time to see that because I was from Albert first. And Irma was the rival? Well, yeah, we, you know, I played fastball with Albert Royles.

And the Roman Tigers, they were just, You know, it sooner had step on dirt and road than that. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, you can think back in those days, I mean, Albert was the last country school in that school district, outside of the 100th.

That was the last country school. And at one time there was 26 of them. And every one of them had a ball diamond. They had a Sunday picnics in the summertime, and there'd be ball every time. So it was kind of in your blood. And when I first started playing, there was just, you know,

you had a Passondale, had a sports day there, and it was a little old school Roseberry, and they had one, they always celebrated on Farmer's Day, which was Wednesday in the middle of the week. And you'd go there, and then the following weekend,

you'd go to Passiondale and play ball there. And then there was, well, Irma was the middle one, in the summer and then North Irma was another little country picnic and we had one out at Albert and over by the lake there not already the school yard we had diamonds over by the lake Amber's Lake and like I said we never drove Edgerton the Eagles who played them lots and Viking coyotes and all and that's all that was arranged you know you get down and Sedgeer because I was getting out there you didn't go

It was pretty good. I was fortunate. I played fastball in the Haiti of fastball, as far as I was concerned. There were so many teams that we'd have to drive anywhere to play them. And, yeah, there was some good friendly rivalries, but I said, now you look back and all those foes and enemies back then, they're part of your ring of friends. You remember that?

You know, you get into those kind of, oh, yeah. And so, yeah. You've been married for. 54 years in November 7th it will be how did you meet your wife we're in the same grade at school kind of there and you know I told you about that last journey at a school and come home that night and and the kids from the grade and we're going to get together over to Ambler's Lake for and let's go have a Bernie. I didn't know if I could be allowed to go and this.

And get home and there's a vehicle sitting up in front of the house. They didn't recognize it. And he got in the house and here's my mom's sister, Joan. My aunt Joan was there and she was visiting Mom. So I just had them talking about, well, you know, they're going to have, they're going to wean roast and that and some fun down at the lake tonight. And Mom said, you don't.

Mom was deathly scared of water, and she was scared of the, you know, go near the water. Anyway, but it was nothing to do it. But anyhow, and Joan said, oh, come on, Pegg. He said, you better let them go. Only young ones. So on.

And I don't remember how I got down. I might have rode the bike. I'm not sure how I got there. But anyway, we got down there, and we got kind of connected that night. That was the longest June 21st, and then it was

1967. So that was basically our first date and then it kind of went from there. Well, it didn't get real serious for another year or more. But that was the hookup. That was the hookup. I still remember that in the sort of street, so that's a good thing. What year did you get married?

1970. In Irma? Yes, in Irma. United Church and Irma and the dance was at the North Irma Hall, which was a North Irma school. And it was probably twice the size of this room here. Pretty small.

It was a small. There was many people standing outside. The stag line was outside and all that. Yeah. And look, it's been quite a journey. The kids have been, you look, you know, you look back now. and there's nothing new.

I wouldn't change anything, really. We've got the family and us are your biggest joy right now. You're your family and you're watching and you're hoping they do this and hope and do that and hope they fall over bail and find the path. That's the most important thing. But that's their hands, the same as yours, yours, mine. We all got to find that path.

But yeah, and there's been some tough times in there. There's been some good times, you know. It's funny how it is. I think you learned a lot more on the tough times you did and the good ones. And, you know, the 80s, we went to farm through, all the 70s were wet, and the 80s were dry, and you got into there, and there were some pretty short crops, and you had interest to the roof, and in the 90s were dry, you know.

we were by the end of the night we were drilling wells because there was no sluws for the cows and we were drilling wells and uh 98 was a really dry year and uh that one that one hit 96 97 that was really wet the year or not and i spent the winter 96 97 i spent the winter in town the uG dry and grain took my friend of charlie's Charlie Susie run the elevator and he phoned me up and that was in first October summer right around there said you would you be interesting coming in dry and grain who I don't know we're not done combine in here yet well you think about it so we did finish up and and so he was on the phone you got to get in there you got to get in there so I did go in

took it in there and that little old dryer and then they got in there and holy smokes so we added some tears on to it so dry faster and got through that and we we dried just a right around three-quarters of a million bushels that winter and but you know the the check we got from that kind of help with the bills on the farm and it pulled us through 98 like I said was a dryer and we had that little bit of a cushion it was still you had to have one of those experiences sitting at the other side of the desk with a banker hat and hand to kind of get through that one.

We did. But that was a tough year. And right up, and then it stayed, you know, I don't know whether you were being, not being in the property. Everybody remembers so too. Because we didn't, the first time in my, since I started farming, we never combined a bushel. There was nothing.

that would dry it right out. And that had never happened before in my lifetime. And then you just, but, well, in 2002, we got through that. And, of course, there was a little feed to put up in the fall because there was second growth. We got some rain in August and that, but there was nothing, not much. So we made the brilliant decision,

well, we're going to go out and Saskatch them because we'd gone out there had a drive and seen there was some good, and buy some straw, at least you can pull the cows through the winter. And I don't know why we drove. so far but anyhow we ended up buying bales and taking the haul and tractor and bailer down to odessa, Saskatchewan which is east of Regina and we bailed up 800 bales down there it was 800 and 8505 clicks round trip or one way 1600 clicks for a little deals and the boys and Wayne was married but then Lindsay was with them and they made some trips down there that one that was a wow

We got it home, got them, saved the herd, and then that spring, spring of 03, the BSE hit. So the herd you'd gripped your guts out to save was worth nothing. Basically worth nothing. We shipped a load of call cows. They went on to a little packing plant in Armstrong, B.C. They were looking for call cows. Nobody wanted them. And they got out there.

And by the time we were done, they, by the time, the truck was paid, we got $100 a head for. So what advice, you know, would you give to maybe not a brand new farmer because certainly, you know, in order to afford everything today, let's just assume you're farming, but you're new into it, but you, you know, for the most part, you got the land, you got the cattle, you got the whatever. What advice would you give somebody when you're, when you're, you know, you think times are good? I listened to everything you just said

and like is there a way to prepare for BSE and drought and you know because you basically said one year you didn't combine if nothing to go by and it never happened before so how can you prepare for the things that you can't fathom could happen well the one thing about that I mean was life or life insurance crop insurance really pulled us through in that one and but how do you prepare for it

You know, I don't know. The biggest thing is, I believe, is keep the debt down. You know, don't get, in which it seems to be a rare thing now, because there's a lot of new iron goes and a lot of that out, but I don't know. I would just, I guess when you get on, he's all granddad, dad, and me now that Wayne and the boys are there, Wayne and Joe are both farming, and that's another generation. Wayne's boys are starting to help out now.

One's 16, one's 14. They're helping on the farm. So you're thinking, well, a generation, eh? And when granddad came over here, like I said, came out here. He had nothing. He spent that first summer. He worked on the railroad as a carpenter building station houses up the airman, right up through the Leluke.

And that was to earn enough money to buy a team so he could break more land. And his brother, John, who said to come over to the other quarter, he broke 13 acres on our home place. He had a horse and an ox. That was the team. And broke that with a walking plow, 13 acres. So the story says, Dad, come in and he told Granny,

when John come in, he said, told her Granny, he said, well, I think it was 13 acres, 13 or 60. I can't remember exactly sure. And he said, and he told her, of course, they'd come from small farms and around. You never break another acre. That's all you'll ever need. Yeah. So you got to sit there.

They came from, a field was the size of a postage stamp where they came from, and the 13 acres was a big dealer. Yeah. So times have changed. But, you know, I look at Granny and Granddad, and I never met Granddad. I was 11 months old when he died.

A heart attack in the yard, actually died right in the yard. But just from the stories of them told them that I think that walk with the little girl and they left in Ireland, I think that brought him and granny to know the Lord. And right, we have, my brother, Hugh was a twin, so, and but only he survived. and his twin or his twin brother, died at birth, the same thing. And I think cord around the neck, I can't remember exactly,

but it was, and it was that there that eventually had my mother to know the word. Because she battled with that for some time. And then we had a conversation, I should have brought the poem and left with you, but we had a conversation in the garden. And she told me that journey, And we were over, we lived on the other side of the road where I live now, where my brother lives now.

And we were getting across because we were moving into the house where I am now. And we were getting the yard and the carpenter, Harold Cockroff, was doing renovations on the home. And we were out back and we had gripped up the garden and we were planting the garden. And then she started telling me about what had happened. And I hadn't heard anything or very little. about it. And she told me how it all went and she said, and he was buried in our yard. If you go by there, there's a marker on it. Now that time it wasn't. It was in the middle of trees and, and she told me about that. And I thought it had played on her heart for a long time.

He was born in 1940. Well, in 19, I think it was 56, 57, 56. Our neighbors, the Hardies. And my brother, Johnny, is married to Barb, and she was a Hardy. They got a lost a little girl in a tragic accident on the farm, and I think, she believes she got run over by her truck. And when Mom and Dad went to the funeral, and the mother's, Catherine or Tid, she was known by, and she never broke down. She never broke down.

And that just got mom. And I don't know how she got together with her, but I think she walked over. Mom didn't drive. She had one experience with that. That was enough. So she didn't drive, but she walked over and visited it. And she said, how did you do that?

And she just said, I had to because Ivan, he was driving the truck, so he kind of blamed himself. And she said, I couldn't break down for him. But she said, I know Mary's with Jesus. And mom said, oh, I want

that. So did let my mother to life. It's funny how he'll use anything, you know, to pull people to open their eyes. Yeah. I had an

instant here. I can't remember what year that was. It's probably close to 10 years ago now. And Joe and I were working on the drill down at the bottom of the hill and getting ready to start seeding. And look, and there's this little car. I'm going to come in the, we got a talk gate and coming down there and come in and just come to-todling down behind the drill. And what's this about?

And this young lady gets out of the car and someone who I talked to her. And then she said, you know, I need gas. She said, I've been on a voyage and trying to get, but I'm out of gas. And I looked at the sign up there, and I thought I was just about the rome when she was going into her. Well, Irma, just as a card lock, it wouldn't have her any own. And she said, I looked, and it had to steal 42 clicks. Well, she'd read the sign wrong, the sign is 42 clicks to Viking, but it's only 20-something

in there. But she read the side wrong, so she pulled in. And so I said, don't worry, said, I'll get you some gas. So she went over there and then I got talking to her what she'd do. And well, she said, I'm looking for some place. I have some sheep. I'm trying to get, I'm not making this up. She had a flock of sheep.

She was trying to, the landowner she had was, he had passed on. And the boy took over the land while he wanted her out of there. And she was heading over to go. And she'd been up to the Peace River country and talked to a guy up there. and she said the guy had horses on it. She said it was pasture. All you could see, you barely see roots. It wasn't enough grass or anything.

And then she said, and she'd come down, and there was another place she thought she might get a chance. And she had some name of the guy over by, I think it was, I think she said Marweener wrote in that country. And she said, and he's different. That's all she said. And I said, so then she got telling me her story and how all things that she did.

been through. And her father had beat her and it was quite a tragic story. And she said, we were raised in church, but it was church on Sunday, but it wasn't on the week. And so she got pouring out and then she'd got into drugs. She'd got into alcohol when she was having a terrible goal. and I said, you know, we were sitting there by the fuel tanks and I said, you know, you see that, because she was talking about how I should go into church or something. I said, you see that old shop there? She said, yeah.

I said, well, that's my church. I said, that's where I met the Lord was in there. And she said, really? So then, I said, you just wait here. And I went and I had a New Testament in the house. I come back and give her to her. And I said, you know, He's looking after you.

You wouldn't have pulled in here if he wasn't. And I don't know, when we were done, and I said, you just trust in him. Don't trust in all the other stuff. And she gave me a hug with tears and her eyes. She said, my God, I needed to hear that. Those are some of the things that stick. And because she just came in out of the blue. and what's the odds of that happening?

So, you know, he's involved in a lot of that stuff, and now I know he's involved in everything I do. I just, sometimes I still do it wrong. But Paul struggled with that too. I know the things I should do, but I do the things I shouldn't. That's an ad-lib, but, I mean, more or less what he says. It's pretty much what he says, and if somebody who knew Jesus says that, you go,

Holy Macana. This is something that's been wrestled with for a long time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Sure. Yeah. If I may, before I get you out of here, I would love to know a couple more things.

You know, one of them is I was asking about your wife. And when you do 54 years, soon to be, what's some of the lessons you've learned out of 54 years of marriage? but she's the other miracle. She's put up with me for 54 years. Yeah. You know, I just, we'd try and do everything together. I mean, the kids are,

she has been a miracle to me. I mean, she's, I don't know, I'll have to put it, she just goes and the kids, kids adore her. Don't work any ass for her. And she loves the kids and the grandkids.

and I think me too. So, and the further you get into it, I think the more you realize what you've got on the line and it's the advice, I don't know, do it as a pair. There's no years in mind, it's ours. That's the biggest thing. Like, she does all their bookwork.

And there was a time that I was out in the field and working, and that was the work, and now she's doing the bookwork, and I think, wow, I'm glad it's her. You know, there's a, like, you know, what you're handling for invoices and all the rest of that now compared to when we started out. It's a, we survived there for the first winter

by eating rabbit stew and trap line them. Yeah, no, that's the thing. Don't think of it as yours and mine. just think of as ours. That's the most important thing. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours. What's maybe your happiest day,

if you go back? I don't know if there is such a thing as the happiest day, but maybe a moment where you're like, you know, that was a pretty special time. Getting married was one of them, for sure. I don't know whether you can narrow it all down to one. The day of the light come on for sure. that was definitely

probably a high end one in the special days and maybe the day it just doesn't even start out do you think is special and you realize what what you've gotten and hey all other stuff

isn't that important you know isn't that the adventure of life is that once you realize it the most mundane what are we on Thursday the most mundane Thursday could be the best day of your life.

It's a pretty wild thought when you think about it. You think the why, you know, there's so many books that I've read that, you know, you get to the end of the book and the gold's back home. And it's kind of like a story arc. You know, at the end of the story, you realize where the gold is is sitting at home.

You don't need to go on some fancy adventure. I mean, you could literally step out your backyard. As you pointed out, you know, one of the best days in your life happens in your, your yard. Like, think about that. I mean, don't get me wrong, the circumstances around it are pretty heavy. Yep. But it wasn't going to some, you know, I don't know, I don't know, hopefully you're an Emmington honors fan. If you're Calgary Flames, we might have words in the studio, but, you know, you think today going and spending thousands of dollars to go watch the Oilers play, or whatever sport you want,

or whatever avenue want, you know? If you... You know, if you... It's not something. them. You know, you know, you look at when they how far they made it in the playhouse last year, but look what a ticket was worth to go sit and watch that. Like, just crazy. So, no, I just bought two season tickets for the Irma Aces. So I think that's pretty good.

That's far enough for me. You don't mind the Aces, right? You know, what's funny is I had, no, not at all. I actually have an Irma Ace's hat. So I had Blair Erickson live with us for a year. Oh, for heaven, shakes. And you're still okay. He, they, Irma, I think, has just, like, I don't know what is it about the Aces logo.

I just think it's awesome. I just think it's so well done. So I got an Irma Aces hat. I must have ragged on them for a full year. I really like an Irma Aces hat. Yeah. It's probably the only other community of hats where I can wear it. I proudly wear it because I'm like, well, I've had a bill of kid from there.

And he was a wonderful human being. And we'll wait and see where he goes. He's a giant. But yeah, I got an Irmae's hat. And so, in fact, you got season tickets. That's great. That's fantastic. Yeah.

Well, played with him a little bit. And my boys both played with him. And hopefully some grandsons play with them too. That's just the longest running senior team in all. What's your youngest, which your longest running up? Wait, wait, in senior in Alberta, Irma Aces are the longest running. Consecular. Really?

That's something. Because, you know, one of the things about running a senior team, so that jersey right there on the wall, sorry, folks, you won't be able to see it, is the Hillmont Hitman, actually. Yeah, that's, that's, that's pretty much. There, I'm pointing at it for people who are, well. watching. That is mean looking at. So they were the Hillmont All-Stars when my dad played for them. And then when they came back in the league, there was already an All-Stars team and,

you know, a bunch of, maybe they wanted to, maybe it was they wanted to differentiate themselves. I don't know why because I think the history is what it's all about. Anyways, they started up to Hittman. Hintman would go in since 2008. But one of the things you start to see in senior hockey specifically, because there's no big money in it, right? Everybody's playing for love of the game, volunteers.

on and on and on. When you say they're the longest consecutively running team, that's something to hang your hat on. So anybody who's a part of that organization, that's something. How does that come to be? Because there's lots of great senior hockey organizations. We played against Wilkie. And Wilkie, I forget how many years they've been going.

Is it 100? Is it 80? It's a high number in Saskatchewan. And I remember playing them and they were good. And being like, how did they get? that many generations of people to buy into volunteering and keeping the organization. Because you can have tough years. You can have years when you suck.

And everybody wants to hang it up and be like, no more, we're done. You see it how many times. It's ebbs and flows. It's cycles. You're going to have strong teams. You're going to have weak teams. And the goal probably is when you're really bad to find a way to muddle through so you keep the team going.

Because once the team goes away, you don't know if you're going to get it back. Because it takes a ton of effort to get it up and running again. Yeah. So how did Irma do that? Or how is Irma doing that? Well, I don't know whether there's any one secret. I mean, it's just, it's been dedication. There's been a couple of sketchy years.

And in there, I think the year I played, that was almost ready to shutter down. And I was 43 when I played out of them out here. But there were some young guys in after that. They could, once a young guys come up and start. It all reads back. your minor hockey, really, you know. And I don't, though, there's a lot of people in there,

but don't remember Irma not having an AIS team. And so, yeah, I don't know. It's something that it's been, like you said, you've got to be proud of it because it's, it's a heritage now. And I know, there's lots of teams around that have come and gone. And then they maybe skip a couple of years and come back. Yeah.

And, and, but it's just. It's tough. It's tough. Well, I think of the Saskalta, the Saskalta when it was going, right? Wainwright would have been in that. Yeah. And at the height we had 14 teams. And now I think they're back down to, I think it's eight.

Yeah. And the ebbs and flows of teams coming in and leaving is, you know, usually two, two try and get in and to try and leave almost every single year. Yeah. You know? And at the start as a young guy, you think, good. get them out, whatever. They don't want to play.

But the longer I go, I'm like, man, as soon as one leaves, you don't know if you're ever getting them back in. Yep. Yeah, you're right. And it is, you know, like it's volunteers, you're there playing, you're playing for fun, and that's rough hockey. Well, I tell you what, that night when we won the championship,

it had been 37 years, I think. It had been 37 years since Helmand had hosted a, a wasted a championship. And I got out partied that night by 70-year-olds that remember and were a part of the team that won in 1978. And it was such a... If I could have bottled up that night... Yeah.

Because it was so special to everybody involved. Yeah. You know? And small town hockey that's still alive and well, you know? You hope communities never lose that. because it was a very special thing to be a part of. Yeah. No doubt.

As for some of them in there, too. I mean, some of my old friends had started out. I used to go in as a kid and watch them. I remember Butch Fisher playing and their, Jean Shreier was probably one of the better defensemen I ever watched play in my life as far as around these teams. It wasn't a heavy hitter, but he had a head and his shoulders. Yeah, but you go into the arena, they didn't just play weekends.

I mean, there was, he played Wednesday night, I think Wednesday, and it's two games a week. And the arena would be packed. Yeah. Arena be packed. And now it's, they still get a pretty good draw, but it's, it's different. It's different. but there's so many distractions and you got how many

that time there was six NHL teams and now it seems like there's 36 I don't know that there's a lot of them and everybody's well you can get a game every single night of the week yeah yeah you can watch it went from Saturday nights and you know yeah what's on who's playing tonight yeah they might miss a Monday but that's about it

so yeah there's a end there We're busy lifestyle. Yeah. Busy lifestyle. Nancy asked, what's your favorite of best prank you ever pulled on someone? No.

You know, that goes back to hockey. I think that would probably one rates about the highest, or one up there. We was playing with the man, I played in the record with their mangle roadrunners, and, And we were playing in a tournament in Duhills.

And our neighbor, Eddie Schrader, was, and he was in town, and he was late getting up there and whatever. But he left his three-ton truck. He had a cab over for it and left it over at the thing. It was a wheat pool. It doesn't matter. It was a wheat pool usually. But then he had to load that up with bag fertilizer.

I got to go play hockey. So he gets home and then he's in there and he's telling us this story and yeah that boy's they're loading my truck for me so Jimmy Bars and I were in the river driving in our own vehicle

and he was with another guy so after the game and we think we were going to play again the next morning so we got to get home and so we scooted her back to Mamble about as hard as we go so we got there in time and so Jimmy hopped up in the truck

and he's firing bags down and I stuffed the cab and put that old cab over for it and we had it right full. There wasn't room for the driver or nothing. So I guess, you know, you get out of there, you don't stick around. So the next day we're sitting in a dress room on two hills and he was raped. All those rotten burgers, he said they went and they just, they were mad because they had to fill my truck and they fill my cab right full of bags of fertilizer. He said, I had to take that all out of there by myself and try and get it up into the box.

and we never said a word. It was a lot of years before we lied on that had happened to him. So he had to go in and apologize and said he went in the next day and chewed them out for what they'd done. They said there with blank fix on their face. But oh, there's been a few, I guess

that was probably one of the better ones. Clean fun. Yeah, clean fun. You remember. remember them. You remember them. And I think he did too. But yeah. Any, um, I had a few enough, there was enough hold on me too, so it all even though it. Any, not final, you know, I had a guest on the podcast just say this recently, you know, because, uh, not final thoughts on life or anything, but final thoughts for this, you know, because obviously life carries on after

this. So if you're, if you got family watching this and you wanted to give them one final thought on your life or on this chat or on things in the future things across your life what would you say well i just i know you've been it's been like dear in the headlights for them for some of the stuff that i've gone through and it's it's uh it's hard to my thought for them i just pray the lord has as much patience with them as you did with me plain and simple and I just, like a little poem here I'd like to read. Those nose from your mouth can be a million times deployed, and when the answer turns to yes, all those nose are null and void,

and take it from someone, the Lord's truth for years denied, and just once I surrender, then he changes me inside. That surrender didn't mean defeat, and that was the moment the Lord made me complete, realizing those arguing years came at such a cost, and all he wanted was to show me, I was lost. For all those years beside me, he stayed than one year for a moment. He said, my cost was paid. That's what I want them to enjoy.

That's, no more greater enjoyment than see somebody come to know them. I don't know what else to say. I, you know, it's funny how this was turned out. as I've thought many times you know I watched mum and she died in 04 and I come to know

the Lord in 06 so she went without seeing me come and I said well maybe I can leave something behind that they'll touch them when sometimes it's easier to listen when they're not here

so I got to say thank you to Nancy I never she blew me away when she said what do you do it So, and, yeah, I don't know. Life's a journey. Nice a journey.

And it's when you get a hold of him, that's the road map. Well, that is a way to end it, sir. I appreciate you allowing me to be part of your journey. This has been, and maybe to capture a couple of the thoughts. Appreciate the family enduring some of my indulgences in the conversation. That's great. One of the things I can't help myself in here is like as soon as you're in my realm, you know, it's, it's, uh, you're along for a ride. Or maybe I'm along for the ride, you know, I don't know. But either way, we appreciate, um, you coming in and offered and doing this. Thank you so much.