Harsh Winter 1945
January and February seemed like an endless period of time of snow clogged streets, heavy dark cloudy skies and icy cold winter days. This was accentuated by the lack of any long weekends. Although the days where imperceptibly getting longer they were still mighty short. It was too cold and the snow was too wet or even sleigh riding. Even our classrooms seemed to be damper and smellier. Despite these conditions we began to really learn things. Also I was somewhat happier and more comfortable entering into the second half of grade 7.
Unlike elementary school where we began feeling a certain pride in Trail Tadanac High School. With great anticipation I ordered a school pin. Looking back on it I was inordinately thrilled when I got it and was able to pin it to my sweater. And did I ever wear it with pride. There was a school motto, which I thought was really cool because it was in Latin. It was ” age quod aegis” and meant, anything worth doing is worth doing well. We had a school song, which was pretty boring. There were school sweaters of Burgundy and gold. I was told that I was too young and would grow out of it too soon. Phyll had one but I never did. By the time I was old enough I was no longer interested.
There was no library East Trail Elementary School but they’re certainly was at Trail Tadanac High School. The library was something that I had never experienced before. It took me a month or so to get over my shyness and begin to borrow books. It wasn’t long before I went there whenever I could, not just during the library class. There was a wonderful librarian who took her real interest in me. It wasn’t long before she began picking books that she thought that I would find interesting. For instance she got me onto reading Ossa Johnson. Ossa Johnson was a wife of a world renowned explorer and was a terrific photographer. She spent most of her life with her husband in Africa. Her books were filled with photographs of Africa along with amazing stories.
She also got me interested in a series of books Richard Halliburton. He was an adventurer who did some wild and wonderful things. As an example he swam both the Suez and Panama Canal. Halliburton often did things which in full people and they’re odd customs and practices. This might include tribes in Africa or Mongolia etc. He traveled all over the world in search of new and exciting adventures.
Each time that I went into the library this wonderful lady would have books picked out for me. She instinctively knew what kind of books that I would like. They were often books that I would never have thought of myself. And usually I enjoyed them immensely. I’ll always be grateful to this lady for her guidance and kindness.
One of the things that I really enjoyed was art classes. For the first time I could be creative in a classroom be voted to art. One of the wonderful things about high school was that you knew that you would be having an art lesson on a regular basis. It really helped that the art teacher, Miss Lamont was equally wonderful. It ended up that she was the only good art teacher that I ever had in high school. I found that even the simplest of projects were interesting and I could do them in short order. Each time that I finished an assignment, Miss Lamont would then give me additional and more complex projects to do. For the first time I began to paint pictures in earnest. Painting also helped my drawing skills. I longingly looked forward to Miss Lamont’s art class.
My high school art enhanced mine art endeavors at home. During that long winter. When we were forced to stay inside the boredom was alleviated by my artwork and my reading. Time just flew by when I was involved in either one of these activities.
Christmas.
For all of January, February and March Trail was held in the icy grip of winter. For the most part we had snow along with short, dark and depressing days. We did venture out into the cold to enjoy a couple of wintertime activities. For one thing we went to as many hockey games as we could. The second thing that we really enjoyed was going to the movies. As much as I enjoyed the feature films I looked forward with equal pleasure to seeing the news reels and the cartoons.
Some of us boys would frequently go to the arena to see a junior or intermediate hockey game. But we had no money so we would sneak in. Often we get caught by the Arena Manager, Reg Stone. He’d give us a hard time about sneaking in and how important it was that we pay. But he never kicked us out. As a result he became a bit of a hero to us all. To show our appreciation we used to go to the curling rink when he was playing and cheer for him. Being rather dour and a man of few words he wouldn’t say anything but we knew he appreciated our support.
Dad had curled for a few years so I learned to understand the game. It was enjoyable when you knew someone who was playing. It did seem rather slow moving, especially compared to hockey.
The coming of spring brought the usual challenges of melting snow. I see streets and lots of running water. When at last the snow was gone it meant that I was able to ride my bike again. Not since last fall had I been able to ride my bike to school. Rather than dragging the walk through the snow to and from school I look forward to riding the bike.
When I wasn’t riding to and from school I was riding for the pure pleasure in it. Sometimes my chums and I was simply ride around Butler Park. A more of a challenge was to ride up the gulch, which was a narrow ravine-like gorge next to the smelter hill. It was where all the Italians lived. I loved going there as it was very interesting. On occasion Mom would use Phyll’s bike and come bike riding with me. We sometimes rode on a bench South of Trail called Merry’s Flats. We had a great time ridin the many trails through the bushes.
It was now apparent in Europe at the German forces were beaten. The rations were driving back the German army On the Eastern Front. We hung on every word on the news reports.
On May 8, 1945 The German Army unconditionally surrendered. We were ecstatic. Our euphoria was somewhat dampened by the fact that The Japanese Army was prepared to fight on. At the same time there was rumors that the Americans had developed an atomic bomb. No one was sure if this was true and just how carful this bomb would be.
My Story The Brisco Years 