I n t e r v i e w with Joe

Martynek

As

1926 when
I come i n t h i s c o u n t r y , I h a v e t o work 10 h o u r s a
day f o r f i v e d a y s go buy 100 pound o f f l o u r .

Qs

I can

A:

T h i s t i m e i t was

Q:

What w o u l d a pound o f b u t t e r
t h e r e when y o u f i r s t . . . ?

A:

In t h i r t i e s
a f a r m e r g e t s e v e n c e n t s f o r €\ pound o f b u t t e r ,
t h r e e c e n t s f o r a dozen
#ggs and
pigs,
and
c a t t l e you
c o u l d n ' t s e l l i t , i f you had t h i r t y y o u c o u l d n ' t s e l l i t .

Q".

And
per

A:

That

I forget.

Qs

You

f o r g o t eh.

As

Yes

I smoke.

Qs

You

d i d n ' t smoke when you were i n C z e c h o s l o v a k i a d i d y o u ?

As

I o r d e r from Quebec o r some
know. L e a f t o b a c c o .

Qs

No - Y e s , L e a f t o b a c c o : s u r e i n t h e

A;

L e a f t o b a c c o - L e a v e s , c u t n i c e and y o u smoke

Qs

You

As

Ya c u t n i c&

Qs

Where d i d you g e t - y o u got y o u r p a p e r s i n A t h a b a s c a
c i g a r e t t e papers.
I t would send t h e p a p e r s t o o .

As

No

from a p a c k a g e

o f brown p a p e r , r o l l

i t up .

Qs

Oh y o u d i d n ' t u s e
c i g a r e t t e papers.

cigarette
- when
Maybe? larber on.

did

imagine.

When you were a t Richmond P a r k
a dollar

. . . ?

f o r wheat t h a t t i m e .
cost

in

the

early

thirties

i f y o u w a n t e d t o buy a pound o f s u g a r or what were t h e y
pound?

D i d you smoke even

had t o c u t i t up

then?

place I

saw

in

the paper,

you

packages.
this.

yourself?

f i ne.

you

- your

finally

buy

When I was some p l a c e w o r k i n g ,
package* t o b a c c o was 15 c e n t s .
How

>"!

For

t h e leas

y o u know

m a k i n g money.

A

'' ' you pay f o r t h e l e a v e s .
, I forget,

I think

What k i n d s o f • * t a l a g u e s d i d y o u
have
l i k e an E a t o n s . . .?

i t was 25 c e n t s a pound.
have b

'

D i d you

I saw i n s o m e b o d i e s n e w s p a p e r .
Did you,
Winnipeg

y o u r s e l f , g e t any n e w s p a p e r s , l i k e * t h e F r e e P r e s s Free Press.

No, I had no p a p e r s , no money t o g e t them.
I was b o r r o w i n g
from n e i g h b o u r s .
Lots of time
I went t o M a r t i n H i n e s , i t
was o n l y t h r e e m i l e s , i t was German p a p e r .
Where w o u l d
In

y o u buy y o u r c l o t h e s ?

town.

When y o u were s t i l l o u t on t h e farm a\t Richmond P a r k , d i d
y o u e v e r r u n i n t o any I n d i a n p e o p l e o r have any o f them
wor k i n g f or you ?
I had one f r i e n d , he was l i k e f r i e n d , he l i v e d i n a l i t t l e
s h a c k on k i n d o f t h e f l a t i n C a l l i n g R i v e r , r i g h t by t h e
r i v e r w i t h h i s o l d w i f e , and h e ' s s u p p o s e d t o be a t t h a t
t i m e , 100 y e a r s o l d .
That's
what he u s e d t o s a y . E v e r y
month he went t o town f o r h i s p e n s i o n .
He was g e t t i n g $25
p e n s i o n , s o he t o o k a l l h i s t e n t and b l a n k e t s , l o a d e d
e v e r t h i n g o n t o h o r s e and he le»ad t h e h o r s e , he d o n ' t r i d e
the horse.
One t i m e , i t was i n w i n t e r t i m e , he came t o mine
p l a c e and he a s k me i f he c a n s l e e p i n t h e b a r n , p u t t h e
horse i n the barn.
I say well sure.
I t a k e your h o r s e i n
the barn,
and I s a y s no, y o u go i n t h e h o u s e .
H& d i d n ' t
want t o go i n t h e h o u s e .
I no l e t y o u i n t h e b a r n t o s l e e p .
So She make h i m c o f f e e and l u n c h , and i n t h e m o r n i n g cook
b r e a k f a s t and n e x t t i m e , i n t h e f a l l
he come a g a i n and he
g i v e me? h a l f a b e e r .
For
payment,
s e e , b e c a u s e y o u were s o k i n d t o h i m . You
n e v e r had any o f t h e I n d i a n p e o p l e w o r k i n g f o r y o u on t h e
farm eh?
I had I n d i a n s i n P a x s o n ,
basement i n new h o u s e .

t h e f i r s t d i d work f o r me, t h e y d i g

How much d i d y o u have t o pay them a d a y ?
W e l l he had a c o n t r a c t .
They had t h e H e own h o r s e s and
s c r a p e r , we g i v e them a l l t h e i r meat and e g g s and cream and

t h e p a c k a g e was e v e r y t h i n g . The w i v e s ?'??????
and t h e
young,
and i t was n i c e t o w a t c h
them.
Always, every
morning,
they
make a l l t h a t
b i g black
smoke.
Always
hanging s h i r t s
i n t h e morning, they
hang on t h e l i n e , and
t h e y a s k me
i f they
should
b r i n g water
and e v e r y t h i n g
????????? ??????????????
and we h e l p e d them o u t , v e r y n i c e
people.
In t h e m o r n i n g s h e p u t a f i r e i n t h e f r o n t
of the
t e n t and s h e was t r y i n g t o f i x i t t h e r e , and when s h e s t a r t
building a fire
and d i g g i n g
dirt,
and s h e was k i n d o f
praying for t h i s .
Q:

What was t h e name o f t h e o l d f e l l o w t h a t l i v e d
t h e f r i e n d t h a t s t a y e d over n i g h t ?

on t h e r i v e r ,

A:

Joe Burtus?

Q:

No, t h e o l d I n d i a n .

A:

Minahue.
I work q u i t e a b i t ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? summer t i m e .
That was
helping
me t h e most.
About
s i x , s e v e n summers we were
repairing the telegraph
line
from
Deep C r e e k
up t o t h e
Calling
River
up t o , c l o s e t o - I f o r g e t , n o t r i g h t t o
McMurray.
Not t h a t
f a r , because t h e r e
was a n o t h e r l i n e
there.
So o n e t i m e i n ? ? ? ? ? ? ? we had a b i g r a f t ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
? ? ? ? y o u know, b i g r a f t ? ? ? ? ? ?
and between
? ? ? ? we w o u l d
p a d d l e , t h e y were about s i x t e e n , e i g h t e e n f e e t l o n g .
And we
l o a d i t w i t h s i x men,???? Cramer,
he was a l w a y s t h e c o o k ,
and a l o a d o f s p i k e s and w i r e s and a l l k i n d s o f t h i n g s , and
b o x e s and b o x e s o f g r u b .
Everything
i n boxes,
f o o d and
everything.
One t i m e we s t o p i n P e l i c a n , P e l i c a n M o u n t a i n s ,
t h e r e was a G e o r g e C a r o t h e r s , he had a t r a d i n g p o s t ; one
t i m e he had t o h a u l i n t h e m i l l w i t h a team o f moose.

Q:

Was t h a t P e l i c a n R a p i d s

A:

No, t h a t
was c l o s e r .
T h e r e was ? ? ? ? ? ? P e l i c a n P o r t a g e , and
there? was a p o s t o f f i c e and a s t o r e , he was t r a d i n g w i t h t h e
I n d i a n s , G e o r g e C a r u t h e r s was h i s name.
I had a ? ? ? ? t h e r e
was s o much g a s , l i g h t s come i n from t h e r i v e r ? ? ? ? ? p i p e s .

Q:

T h e r e was t h a t o l d f e l l o w by t h e name o f Newman u s e d t o l i v e
up t h e r e t o o .
D i d y o u e v e r h e a r o f a Newman?

A:

I h e a r t h e name.

Q:

And he u s e d t o have a b i g g a r d e n b e c a u s e he had g a s t h e r e .

A:

T h e r e was l o t s - b o t h s i d e s o f t h e r i v e r . Long t i m e t h e y
been d i g g i n g g a s ; I d o n ' t
know, may be h u n d r e d y e a r s .
B e f o r e me;
I d o n ' t know. B e c a u s e t h e y d i g and t h e y s u p p o s e
t o ? ? ? ? ? ? and t h e r e
was g a s , s o much g a s , t h e p i p e s been
? ? ? ? ? ? s t e e l p i p e s l a y i n g there*.

Q:

You t r a v e l l e d

or P e l i c a n M o u n t a i n s ?

s o much up and down t h a t A t h a b a s c a R i v e r , d i d

you

ever hear t h a t t h e r e

i n the Athabasca

S i xMile Island there

River?

A:

Gold?

Q:

D i d y o u e v e r go l o o k

As

No I d i d n ' t

Qs

You d i d n ' t

As

No

Q:

But j u s t t h i n k , y o u may h a v e been a r i c h man.

As

One t i m e t h e r e was one o u t f i t
digging that
One o f t h e B u r t y s ' s
b o y s d i g up l a n d r i g h t
t h e r i v e r bank.
They p a i d h i m t o d i g .

Qs

Where d i d t h i s o u t f i t

As

I d o n ' t know.

Qs

You d o n ' t k now?

As

N o , ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?.

Qs

When w o u l d t h a t h a v e b e e n , when
there?

As

Wei 1 i t d i d n ' t p a y .

Qs

Y e h , b u t when were t h e y

As

Oh when, oh t h a t

Qs

A f t e r y o u came?

As

???????

Qs

Oh, s o o n a f t e r y o u came t o Canada E h ?

A:

Y e h , Y e h . T h e r e was one f e l l o w was w a s h i n g g o l d .
T h e r e was
a few m i l e s
f r om ?? ? ? ? ? ? a c r o s s
t h e ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?,
then t h e
trapper
he was w a s h i n g
gold,
most
o f t h e t i m e he was
v i s i t i n g ? ? ? ? ? ? ?.

Q;

That w o u l d h a v e been i n t h e l a t e t h i r t i e s ,

As

No, no, no, t h a t w o u l d have been c l o s e
to forty.
Because
even
this
????????
was w a s h i n g
the gold
f or
h i m. Eh
s h o v e l l i n g , a t t h a t t i m e he was p a y i n g two d o l l a r s a d a y .

Qs

You were s t i l l i n Richmond P a r k
when t h e y
started building
roads then
h a y ? When t h e y s t a r t e d b u i l d i n g a r o a d n o r t h o f

y

??????????

was g o l d

i s Gold.

f o r any?

have t i m e d i d you?

No

i n t h e ???????.
there, right i n

come frorn?

t h e y were

digging

for gold

there?

was a l o n g t i m e ago.

???????

early

forties.

the r i ver.
A:

W e l l t h a t was a k i n d o f
1 i ke i t i s now.

Qs

But

As

A little
t h e r e was
h i ghway.

Qs

Which way
w o u l d you have t r a v e l e d , p a s t from Richmond P a r k ,
w h i c h way d i d you go?
P a s t my u n c l e P a u l ' s p l a c e , was t h a t
t h e r o a d you w o u l d have t a k e n ?

As

Yeh.

Qs

That w o u l d h a v e been t h e r o a d t o A t h a b a s c a .

As

Under

t h e r e was

starting

a. l i t t l e

b i t better.

t o get a t r a i l

It

was

not

hey?

b i t r o a d ? ? ? ? ? a l r e a d y . B r e a k i t a l i t t l e b i t but
no g r a v e l .
I t was n a r r o w ,
oh n a r r o w e r
than the

? ? ? ? ? down t h e h i l l

An o m m i s s i o n was

and

up and

Gormin.

Past

Gormin's?

????????.

made h e r e .

Qs

So can you t e l l us a n y t h i n g e l s e ? A f t e r y o u ' v e gone t h r o u g h
t h i s t e r r i b l e hard l i f e
and
you
look
at
life
t o d a y Mr.
M a r t e n y k , you
t h i n k we a r e p r e t t y s p o i l e d d o n ' t y o u .
We've
go t o o much.

A:

Very, Very s p o i l e d .
I c o u l d n ' t , I never thought t h a t p e o p l e
c o u l d be
so s p o i l e d .
J u s t l i k e mine cows when I was on t h e
farm.
When t h e y a l i t t l e h u n g r e y , when you l e t them out o f
the
barn
they
eat
any
kind
o f g r a s s t h e r e was and were
s a t i s f i e d , s o o n a s t h e y f i l l up
t h e y ' r e stomachs they look
at
the
fences,
and
yet
t h e y were good f e n c e s , t h e y were
breaking the fences ??????.
That i s t h e way p e o p l e a r e now.
The more t h e y got t h e more t h e y want.
They d o n ' t c a r e from
where t h e y g e t , t h e y j u s t got t o have
i t ,they
don't c a r e .
You t r y b u s i n e s s , t h e y
got t o
know.
L i k e I h e r e on t h e
? ? ? ? ? ? B r o u d e r , he s p e n t f i v e * m i l l i o n
dollars
and
he was
?????? they
been t e l l i n g ? ? ? ? ? . He s a y s he was w o r k i n g w i t h
t h e men t w e n t y - t w o weeks.
A l l t h e .jobs ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
Now t h e y
pay him
?????? nothing
t o do.
You can f i r e , no m a t t e r how
bad t h e man i s you c a n ' t f i r e him.

Qs

W e l l do you t h i n k

A:

I t e l l you, i f t h e - see t h a t ' s t h e t r o u b l e ;
b e c a u s e I can
tell
you
a story
about
the
unions.
Eiecause i n t h e O l d
C o u n t r y I was a l w a y s i n t h e
union
myself.
They had t h e
union.
I was
even
d e l e g a t e of the u n i o n .
Building big
factory,
build
box
cars,
trains
and
everything.
New
buildings.
Was a
l o t o f c a r p e n t e r s , I was a foreman - not
foreman, d e l e g a t e f o r the u n i o n .
So t h e r e was
democrates,
see like* i n C z e c h o s l o v a k i a
, t h e n you
were i n t h e f a c t o r y ,

i t ' s ever g o i n g t o change?

t h e owner o f t h e f a c t o r y , he had o n l y t h e r i g h t
to take ten
per cent
o f t h e f a c t o r y , b e c a u s e he h a v e t o pay t h e w o r k e r s
and he have* t o
improve, r e p a i r
and i m p r o v e
the ?????, ten
per c e n t g o e s o u t , and f i v e p e r c e n t , he g e t i n t e r e s t o f t h e
money t h a t i s i n t h e bank b e c a u s e he don't need
the f a c t o r y
i f he
don't get
even i n t e r e s t .
Now i f we w o u l d h a v e t r i e d
t o g e t more money, he show you a l l t h e b o o k s ,
work a. l i t t l e
b i t h a r d e r . I g e t mine i f you work h a r d e r , you work.
So t h a t ' s what people*
and g o t a l i t t l e more.
Yeh,

but not

Not

here.

d i d , t h e y worked a l i t t l e

b i t harder

here.

In Qebec, you g o t b i g g e r ???'??? t h e n what
you know.
There
was s o
much t r o u b l e w i t h t h e
f a c t o r y , so
t h e y g o t by how
much t h e y make you know, make a d e a l w i t h t h e b o s s , he makes
money and
t h e y make money.
Now you
s t a r t s o m e t h i n g , you
know one* y e a r i s a l r i g h t , n e x t y e a r t h e y go on
s t r i k e where
you a r e .
You
put m i l l i o n s
to start
small business after
two, t h r e e y e a r s t h e y want more and more* and you
can't get
s o much.
You
lose* y o u r two m i l l i o n d o l l a r s t h e n i s b e t t e r
f o r you t o put i n -- buy government b o n d s or s o m e t h i n g .
So what do you

l i k e * about l i f e

t o d a y Mr.

Martenyk?

Now f o r me, i s ve*ry good.
Now I am happy t h a t I'm i n Canada
for
mine own
children.
I went t h r o u g h h e l l f o r so many
y e a r s and now I w i l l have a l o t e a s i e r l i f e t h e n t h e r e .
In

Czechoslovakia.

Yeh,

I think

That's

right

Mine f a m i l y ,
So you

Mr.

Martenyk,

family.

your

family i s better

o f f here.

keep t h e work i s good f o r a n y b o d y .

enjoy t e l e v i s i o n ,

When I was
books.
In

I work f o r mine

by m y s e l f

Czechoslovak!an,

I

radio?
read l o t s

of books.

All

k i n d s of

P o l i s h or E n g l i s h ?

English
Where d i d you
I
learn
wor d s .

l e a r n t o read E n g l i s h ?

English

from

man

who

d i d n ' t know more* t h a n

two

Q:

Who

was

that?

A:

'????? I was
on
the
farm
there,
????'?? G e o r g e R i g g e r ,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? , he
s a y s he
knew a few w o r d s a l r e a d y t h e r e was not
??'?? n o t h i n g . No
E n g l i s h , '?'???'? M a r t i n H i n e s
was german,
well
he
s a y s , don't
r e a d a n o t h e r newspaper ? ? ? ? ? ? . s e e I
b u y i n g t h e newpaper E n g l i s h , he s a y s A t h a b a s c a Echo,
and he
show me
s e e -- cow, and he f i n d i n t h e book cow, t h e r e was a
few w o r d s i n i t , he was 1 o o k i n g e v e r y t h i n g i n t h e book.

Q:

In a

A:

No, no i n t h e n e w s p a p e r .
He* had no money t o buy D i c t i o n a r y ,
(he
would
find
a picture
o f a cow
-- comment from Mr.
M a r t e n y k ' s d a u g h t e r ) . Then one t i m e when we b u i l d a s c h o o l ,
w e l l George,
Rod and
me and
M o l l y , from mine c o u n t r y t o o ,
S h a l a p a y ? ? ? ? ? and ? ? ? ? ? and Dave, s i x or
s e v e n , we were
?'????? a s k e d
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? c o u I d make e v e n i n g s c l a s s and
s h e s a y s ok.
Two d o l l a r a month from u s .
I d o n ' t know how
many c l a s s e s , s o one day we come home and t h e r e ' s ? ? ? ? ? w i t h
s h o t g u n and i n t h r e e , f o u r d a y s we a r e r e a l l y c o m i n g ? ? ? ? ? ? .
In t h e t h r e e or f o u r e v e n i n g s I got l o t s o f a w a r d s .
Oh y e h .

Q:

Do you s t i l l

A:

E n g l i sh?

Q:

Ye*s, do s t i l l

A:

English?

Q:

Yes.

A:

I f I c o u l d t a l k so f a s t as I c o u l d r e a d ,
fast I could read.

Q:

Do you r e a d t h e Edmonton J o u r n a l ?

A:

A l l k i n d s o f p a p e r s , (he s a y s he c a n ' t
t a l k as
can r e a d - d a u g h t e r ) .
I got a l l k i n d s o f w e s t e r n

Q:

You

A:

In V e g r e v i l l e
I was
taking the
books.
Have you n e v e r s e e n ?

Q:

Yes I've s e e n t h e N a t i o n a l
books.

A:

I got a c o u p l e here

Q:

Oh

A:

I want

Dictionary?

read?

read a l i t t l e

l i k e western s t o r i e s

I couldn't talk

f a s t as
books.

so

he

ah?
geographic.

Geographies.

T h a t ' s a good

They

aire v e r y good

supposed

t o be o v e r i n

I can show y o u .

y o u ' v e got t h e N a t i o n a l
t o show

b i t now?

you t h e

Geographies.
one t h a t ' s

Russia.
Do y o u l i k e
Yes,

t o w a t c h T.V. Mr. M a r t e n y k ?

always.

Do y o u w a t c h
hoc k e y ?

Gretzky?

Do

you

watch

Gretzky

That one I l i k e

t h e b e s t , b u t now he i s s i c k .

play

He
i s hurt
now y e s , h e ' l l be back p l a y i n g s o o n I t h i n k .
What were y o u l o o k i n g f o r , s o m e t h i n g a b o u t C z e c h o s l o v a k i a ?
No, s o m e t h i n g a b o u t R u s s i a .

I had one book.

D i d y o u s e e on T.V. when Gorbfcchov
to t h e United S t a t e s ?

(check

the spelling)

came

Yeh.
What do y o u t h i n k o f Gor bec hov ?
He's

a great

man.

Do y o u t h i n k h e ' s g o i n g t o make* t h i n g s b e t t e r i n R u s s i a ?
In

R u s s i a i s a l o t b e t t e r then

You

think so?

i n the States.

•h y e h , i n t h e S t a t e s i s i n b i g t r o u b l e . B e c a u s e t o o much
? ? ? ? ? over t h r e e t r i l l i o n .
So t h a t ' s why t h o s e
- what do
you c a l l i t - e v e r y t h i n g went down, boom.
•h t h e S t o c k s and Bonds.
I g u e s s t h e y ' v e g o t t o g e t Regan
out o f there* h e y . So y o u h a v e a s t o r y and some p i c t u r e s o f
R u s s i a hey?
T h e r e i s one many ? ? ? ? ? s h o u l d
y e a r s ago. O l d e s t i n t h e w o r l d .
A Russian

be older.,

T h i s was a few

man?

A Russian, yeh.
You

weren't ever

i n R u s s i a y o u r s e l f hey?

No
Have y o u t r a v e l e d much
Czechoslovakia ever?
No,

never.

Mr. M a r t e n y k ?

Did

y o u go

back t o

Have you got r e l a t i v e s back

there?

Qh I had
living.

b r o t h e r s I don't

five

s i s t e r s and

D i d you n o t e v e r want t o go

know i f t h e y ' r e

back?

No I t e l l y o u , They were l o t b e t t e r o f f .
I was s u p p o s e t o
be a f a r m e r h e r e i n Canada and I was t h e p o o r e s t
man.
Do

you

w r i t e t o them?

I had
they
want
a picture,
I had no c l o t h e s , d e c e n t
c l o t h e s t o put on t h e c h i l d r e n .
F i v e s i s t e r s e v e r y o n e had
t h e r e own boy d r e s s e d up s o n i c e .
Do

you w r i t e y o u r

No more.
Do

f a m i l y Mr.

Martenyk?

They d i e a l o n g t i m e

ago.

you remember some d a n c e s a t Richmond

Park?

Wedding
was
not
so
much
fun,
i t was
when t h e r e was a
s u r p r i s e p a r t y . One t i m e , i n t h e w i n t e r
time, cause t h e r e
was w i n t e r
i n those
days.
Not l i k e
this.
They came b i g
? ? ? ? b o y s from P r o s p e r i t y , t h e y come a c r o s s t h e
r i v e r , they
were i n Richmond P a r k .
They came t o J o h n B y r t u s , t h e y s t a r t
p o u n d i n g on t h e b a r n you know, n o i s e ? ? ? ? ? ,
and he w o u l d n ' t
l e t them
in.
So t h e y
came t o mine- p l a c e .
I know ? ? ? ? ? I
s a i d we h a v e t h e
o l d house,
o n l y two
rooms, two c h i l d r e n ,
wife says
how we
can l e t them u n l e s s we t a k e them i n t h e
h o u s e warm up, g e t warm and
t h e y can
go.
A l r i g h t , I went
o u t and
I says
come i n ; and t h e y
were s o happy t h a t t h e y
come i n t h e y b r o u g h t c o f f e e , s a n d w i c h e s and t h e y
d o n ' t know
what t h e h e c k , t h e y b r i n g moonshine? and e v e r y t h i n g . I c l e a n
o u t o ne r oom, put i n on e c or n e r ,
one
had
ac c or d i on, you
know, them b u g g e r s , t h e y
make s u c h
a b i g ? ? ? ? ? , t h e y had
e v e r y t h i ng.
Music

and

everything.

Maybe e i g h t .
happy.
Did they

We

How

h a v e one

many p e o p l e w o u l d h a v e come?
hell

of

a time.

They

were s o

dance?

Sur e.
Do

you remember any

weddings?

No.
( y e s dad
you
remember
Charlie
Cora's
weddingdaughter).
Oh y e s , d i s at remc-mber, I damn near d i e d .
I was
? ? ? ? ? drunk
i n s i x t y - t w o y e a r s ? ? ? ? ? ? , but t h a t t i m e was a

little

t o o much.

Where was t h e w e d d i n g , a t Richmond
Yes,

Park?

i n the h a l l .

In t h e h a l l .
maybe?
We b u i l d

When was

the h a l l ,

that hall

built?

do y o u remember

oh t h a t waks i n t h e t h i r t i e s .

So was i t a b i g w e d d i n g ?

How many

I don't

people.

know, maybe t h i r y

T h a t ' s q u i t e a few, j u s t
a wh i t e dr e s s ?

people?

the neighbours.

Was s h e m a r r i e d i n

•h y e h . T h e r e i s one t h i n g I'm g o i n g t o t e l l y o u t h a t f o r
me
was i n t e r e s t i n g .
I t might
be f o r a l o t o f p e o p l e .
????????? ???????????? before Christmas, s i x years
a little
bit
older,
g o i ng t o s c h o o 1
? ? ? ? ? ???
was v e r y c o n t i n u e
c r y i n g , t h e y b r o u g h t t h e U k r a i n i a n c l o t h s and e v e r y t h i n g , and
s o some o f them,
Dave S h a l a p a y
and J o h n
and some o f them
w i t h t h i s c o t h e s ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? g r &at
singers.
So
t h e y i n t h e h a l l , t h e y make a c o n c e r t , C h a r l i e P i x came and
Mayor o f town w i t h h i s w i f e .
Who was t h e mayor

then?

I just forget.
They come t h e r e and one b r o u g h t
b i g box o f
oranges f o r the c h i l d r e n
and a n o t h e r f o r t h e c h i l d r e n , and
t h e s t a g e wa*s t h e c h i l d r e n i n U k r a n i a n c l o t h e s ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? and
one- a f t e r
t h e o t h e r i n E n g l i s h , f i r s t y e a r i n Canada, n e v e r
h e r e i n t h e S c h o o l , poems and e v e r y t h i n g i n E n g l i s h and s i n g
•'Canada.
You - t h e o l d l a d y was c r y i n g .
Children ????????
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? i t was s o n i c e .
I t was t o u c h i ng,
t o them
i t was v e r y t ouc h i ng.
But
they
used
didn't they.

to

have

a l o t of c o n c e r t s every

Christmas

Oh y e s .
Esig.
A few t i m e s t h r o u g h
t h e year
- concerts.
F i f t e e n c e n t s , t h e y c h a r g e d f i f t e e n c e n t s . B e c a u s e t h e y had
t o buy e v e r y t h i ng.
They u s e d

t o have dances,

just

t h e community.

P i c n i c , d a n c e s , oh d a n c e s i n t h e s c h o o l .
T h e r e was, J a k e
S e i - s e l s o n he t o o k t h e a c c o r d i o n and h i s s i s t e r ; g u i t a r and
women t h e y
make
chicken,
sandwiches,
a l l kinds of
s a n d w i c h e s , one b o o t l e g g e r , he b r o u g h t beer b o t t l e s f u l l f o r
t w e n t y - f i v e c e n t s , y o u know, f o r a b o t t l e .