Memorabilia

When it comes to the Uhl family, these two really started it all. Frank's parents, John & Caroline. Aren't they just the sweetest couple of people you have ever seen? They came over, separately, from Bukovina, Austria way, way back. They were the role models that many of us looked to for guidance. I loved my times with them. I barely remember their days on the family farm, I remember mainly their days on Blackstock Street in Strasbourg. I would go to visit them on lunch hour from school. The clock would be ticking in the quiet room, Grandpa would be slowly wandering through the living room, his hands clasped behind his back, looking out the window in the front door. He would sit in his living room chair. I would sit on the foot stool in front of it and ask him to tell me about the old days. Grandma would be brushing the hair out of my eyes, feeding me something that was delicious, and they would answer all my questions, very quietly, very patiently. Grandpa was my very first hero and a visit there was not complete without me wandering into the bedroom to gaze at his picture and tell Grandma that I couldn't believe how handsome he was. They were the best and as I write this I have a lump in my throat because I miss them still. I truly believe that Grandma was the wisest person I've ever known.
The famous store, Frank's Esso, just one mile from Rowan's Ravine Provincial Park in Saskatchewan. What a place to grow up. As you can see, this picture was taken before the sewer system was even in. To the right of the house you can see a large pit with a board going across it. How many times did the boys walk across the board? How many times did they get yelled at because it was many feet straight down into the pit and they could break their stupid necks? How many times did Larry pretend he was deaf so he couldn't hear Mom yelling at him for walking the gangplank, again? There's the old Dodge station wagon parked to the left of the house. (I think it was a Dodge, Don will let me know if I'm wrong.) The back lane led us just about to Uncle Fred & Aunt Edna's lane. Oh bliss! To have so many of my cousins living so close! And just a bit further down the road was Reinhold & Eileen's house where we always went when we were older to play cards on the weekends. Their kids were the first kids I ever babysat for money. The "authorities" today would be horrified to know that I was only about 10 years old when I started doing that. But Mom & Dad were just down the road, nothing to worry about.
Too bad pole climbing wasn't an Olympic sport. This was taken in 1971 and that's me up there, barefoot, as always in the summer. That's Dad watching in the background. And of course Diane had those long legs even when she was only 8 years old! I didn't get away with climbing those poles very often, I might break something. I was never sure if they meant I might break something of mine, like a limb, or something important, like the stupid pole.
This one is labeled as being 1964 or 1965. Even though Jackie is positioned in front of the cake, because Grandma & Grandpa were both there, I expect it was Diane & Grandpa's birthday. Yup, Di was the lucky one who shared a birthday with Grandpa. I believe that I can see Wes, Dave, Don, Grandpa, Me, Jackie, Diane, Brian, Michelle, and Grandma. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. (Go ahead, I can sometimes take correction gracefully.) It was a Sikma cake. Remember those everybody? And don't you just love those plywood walls?
Every year, the first day of school, Mom would position us outside the school bus. Usually Dad was standing in the background but I don't see him in this one. This was 1965 according to the note on the back. That was my favorite sweater. I think this was Grade 4 for me, Miss Currie. Don't we look fresh scrubbed? For the benefit of those who don't already know, that is Don, Jackie, Jo-Anne. And of course, you know those were new clothes. That was always the best part about the first day of school. It was also the first day I had worn shoes since the last day of school, 2 months prior.
By now you have noticed that these pictures are in no particular order. It's much more fun that way. Many of you will remember the old purple army jeep. That's Jim teaching me to drive a standard in 1973. Jim first taught me to drive a car when I was 12 in his white Dodge(?) convertible at the park. This jeep was great fun, Jim bought it in Yellowknife and sold it to Larry & Don when they went back to Sask. I never could figure out why I always had to start going in 1st gear when I really wanted 3rd. I must have stalled that thing a dozen times one day trying to head right into 3rd without bothering with 1st and 2nd. (Blonde) We had such fun driving that thing around in the gravel pit. The sign on the front of it that you can't quite read in this picture said "No Problems". The jeep was eventually bought by Rudy S. and still sits in his quonset across from Uhl's Bay (in pieces).
As always, Art Wirll was the centre of attention with the kids. I remember that old white cupboard from the farm and it came with us to the store, sitting in the kitchen until Dad finally built the counters. This one is supposed to be 1965. Here we have Don standing, then Jackie snuggled up against Art's knee, Michelle, Brian, Diane in his lap, Art, and me next to him. Can you believe how much hair I had? Mom and those perms she used to give us! Art was always very popular with the kids, he knew so many stories, seemed to genuinely enjoy the company of the kids and laughed louder than anybody. And man, could he tickle a person. He tickled me so much one day on the farm I was sure I'd throw up! Leona finally made him stop.
Okay, so how many of you remember pixie cuts? This was March 25, 1968, Allan's 19th birthday. 1968 was the year of Mom's first heart attack, the year everything changed. This was only a couple of months later, which is why Mom looks pretty rough. In an attempt to make life easier for Mom, Aunt Agnes came out and gave haircuts to me, Jackie & Diane. I remember that Mom cried when Jackie's hair came off, it was so long. I was so excited to have such a stylish cut, Agnes did a great job. Around the table you have Allan, Larry, Don, Diane, Mom, Jackie & Jo-Anne. Yes, that's another Sikma cake. I can't believe that we came to take those beautiful cakes for granted. Notice, the kitchen no longer had plywood walls, although this wasn't a really big improvement. That mosaic on the wall above Larry's head - Mom did that as a way to learn to relax more after the heart attack. I remember "helping" her. I wonder where it is now?
Christmas of 1965. Jo-Anne, Diane & Jackie showing off the new dolls we got for Christmas. One of mine was a Barbie, the other was a doll whose hair grew (you could pull a ponytail out from the top of her head). I don't think that one lasted long, I think someone pulled the hair right out, for good. I don't remember who - certainly not me! Aren't we a happy looking bunch? I figure that we had just been yelled at because we wouldn't settle down. You know the routine, "She touched me! She looked at my doll! She touched my doll!" And have you ever seen such a puny little tree? Another bid to make life easier for Mom. I'm guessing it was the last Christmas before we got the artificial tree. About the same time we got the fish tank to help her relax. The one where we mistakenly put in 2 Siamese fighting fish and watched them kill each other. Really relaxing that was!
Here we go with another first day of school. That's Don, Jo-Anne, Jackie, Diane (being squeezed out, as usual) and Dad in the background. The year was 1969 and I figured I was pretty hot in that fake leather skirt and vest to start grade 8. That was my first year in the highschool and I was ready. I also wore that sharp looking skirt to a couple of whist drives at Pengarth school, where a sweet blue haired lady from Bulyea was always yanking it down a bit whenever I walk by her. She felt it was a bit too short and risque. Remember those whist drives? Leif Nordal deciding what was trump, tables and tables full of neighbors, relatives, friends. So much talking and laughter. And the food afterwards! It was worth going just to eat.
Now this is another of my personal favorites. Isn't he handsome? That's Dad, Frank Uhl, taken while he was rather tied up with World War II. I think this picture was taken in 1943 but I wouldn't swear to it. I've often tried to figure out which (if any) of his kids or grandkids look like him. Let me know what you think.
This one is a wee bit blurry. It's Mom & Dad, of course, standing in front of the old family farm (Grandpa's, then Reinhold's, now Dave's), I think. I expect it was taken either not long before or not long after they got married. Judging by what Dad was wearing, I expect the war was probably on at the time.
Ah, yes. Who could forget the outhouse on the farm, next to the haunted woods. I know those trees were haunted, my brothers said so and they would never lie to me about a thing like that! It was a 2 seater, 1 bigger hole for the folks and 1 small one for us wee kids so we wouldn't fall in. (I was always afraid of that!) When we moved from the farm to the store and suddenly had not one, but three bathrooms! Well! We thought we'd died and gone to heaven. Except of course for when they needed cleaning.
This was taken in 1966. That's me on the left, then Jackie & Diane and, most important, our beloved dog, Skipper. He was amazing. The best farm dog you could ever have and once we convinced him that we had actually moved to the store, he was great there too. He single handedly (hand/foot/paw?) saved our farmhouse from fire, saved all of us kids from imaginary "bad guys", cornered a ghost in the Goodfellow house next door to the farm, discouraged anybody from stealing anything at the store, and probably even saved the world a couple of times. We got Skipper from Maskell's after our dog, Buster, died. Buster was hit by Bob Swanston's car when he was trying to keep all the kids on the same side of the road when the car came along. Obviously, we have a history of "hero-type" dogs in our family. It was Bob who went to Maskell's to get Skipper for us. He felt pretty bad about Buster.
Now here's a blurry old one. This shows 4 generations with Jim being the baby, held by his Great-Grandma, with Grandma Ebenal on the left and Mom on the right. I don't know whose house is in the background but it was taken in May of 1944.
Click picture to make larger. This is interesting on more than one level, for me anyway. Here we have a couple of receipts written out by Dad to Arnie Oehler (Gerry's Dad) for gas that was purchased at "the store" way, way back. It's interesting because Arnie is no longer with us, it's interesting because of the dates and because of the price of gas!