Greenwater Report for August 7, 2000

The Greenwater Report for August 7, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - August 7, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

half inch
Another beautiful day sunny and warm, but not too warm, and a light breeze. It has been nice all week, but a couple of thunderstorms, which I slept right through, left a half inch of rain.

Saskatoon
We were in Saskatoon on Thursday. They got some wild storms while we were there; it knocked out the power in parts of the city and really fouled up the traffic lights. It took us about a half hour just to get from one end of 42nd Street to the other. We caught up with some rain on the way home, but not the wild thunder and lightning.

Queen Mum
So the Queen Mum made it! She must be the all-time favorite of the Royal Family. Apart from the fact that she looks like anyone’s mum, she became a hero during the Blitz, when she refused to leave London for safety. She certainly looked alert and cheerful on TV. I hope she has many more birthdays.

letter from
Dave Howie
I got a very interesting letter from Dave Howie, of Regina, in reference to my article about the World’s Largest Truck at Sparwood. He is very familiar with it; "The most note-worthy thought regarding the 33 -19 was the fact that Diesel Division of General Motors, London, Ontario, built this unit from first design to operating model in just one year. In the heavy construction machine industry this was unheard of as it was the norm of manufacturers to take from 4 to 5 years to put out a prototype." He says they "basically put a locomotive power train (diesel electric with wheel motors) onto a huge truck frame. It was quite an accomplishment and done by Canadians."

special
pajamas
Dave also goes on to refer to my comments about Jenny’s store in Kelvington: "A long time ago, I remember hearing about the very large sizes in mens‚ wear at the Empire Store in Kelvington. As I recollect, an old derelict or a hermit type farmer from north of Kelvington was going out hunting in late fall. An overnight at a cabin was in store, but this old boy had to have his special pajamas. I understand he got the Empire to bring in some oversized coveralls and he got his lady friend to sew a pair of wool work socks onto the legs to make his jammies."

Many thanks, Dave. Did you by any chance teach in Wynyard?

Cat lovers
Cat lovers will be happy to know that our stray, which Jill took home to Mozart, showed up. You may recall that as soon as they got home, the cat saw the dog and scrammed. Well, it must have gotten hungry " it wasn’t really the smartest cat around " and decided to brave mad dogs and other cats to look for a handout. Their biggest problem now is keeping it out of the house. We had that problem too.

Park Visitor Centre
The Park Visitor Centre is now open, and the staff has moved over. We went around there this morning to have a look. The Interpretive Centre is just an empty room now; I expect they will move what artifacts they are keeping at the end of the season. I gather it won't be a museum, so if you have

loaned any artifacts to the Nature Hut, it might be a good idea to claim them in the next week or so. Give them that much less stuff to move and keep track of. There was a door opening off the big room, with a sign above it saying "Interpreter". I wonder what languages they can interpret? Funny ˜ I didn‚t know they had any bi-linguals except Frank and June; Frank has his own office and June works in the general office.

Heritage Day
Heritage Day was a success, with lots of exhibits and lots of people looking at them. We had a table with some old photos and cameras, and samples of Doreen’s home-made cards. Merv Miller had a

table of antique tools, lamps, etc., and Shirley displayed some of her stampings done on rock slices. Rose Steadman displayed some of her paintings, and Jim some willow baskets. He also brought his snowplane which, along with Cec Ewen’s restored John Deere, got a lot of attention. Don and June Horncastle displayed some traps and furs for the Saskatchewan Trappers‚ Ass’n . and Brian Shuya had some fresh-picked lilies of different colors and styles, and some of his paintings. Joy Weinberger was kept busy painting kids‚ faces, and Kevin showed some of his antler carvings. Bob Stadnek and Dave Bergh had bows, arrows and arrow heads, and Sarah Pelletier brought some of her paintings. I missed it, being down at Kelvington sweating away in the hot sun behind Jenny's store, but Doreen got some photos. The quality of talent in this little corner of the province never ceases to amaze me!

Gerald B. Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423
Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg

The Greenwater Report for August 7, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - August 7, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

half inch	Another beautiful day sunny and warm, but not too warm, and a light breeze. It has been nice all week, but a couple of thunderstorms, which I slept right through, left a half inch of rain.

Saskatoon	We were in Saskatoon on Thursday. They got some wild storms while we were there; it knocked out the power in parts of the city and really fouled up the traffic lights. It took us about a half hour just to get from one end of 42nd Street to the other. We caught up with some rain on the way home, but not the wild thunder and lightning.

Queen Mum	So the Queen Mum made it! She must be the all-time favorite of the Royal Family. Apart from the fact that she looks like anyone’s mum, she became a hero during the Blitz, when she refused to leave London for safety. She certainly looked alert and cheerful on TV. I hope she has many more birthdays.

letter from Dave Howie	I got a very interesting letter from Dave Howie, of Regina, in reference to my article about the World’s Largest Truck at Sparwood. He is very familiar with it; "The most note-worthy thought regarding the 33 -19 was the fact that Diesel Division of General Motors, London, Ontario, built this unit from first design to operating model in just one year. In the heavy construction machine industry this was unheard of as it was the norm of manufacturers to take from 4 to 5 years to put out a prototype." He says they "basically put a locomotive power train (diesel electric with wheel motors) onto a huge truck frame. It was quite an accomplishment and done by Canadians."

special pajamas	Dave also goes on to refer to my comments about Jenny’s store in Kelvington: "A long time ago, I remember hearing about the very large sizes in mens‚ wear at the Empire Store in Kelvington. As I recollect, an old derelict or a hermit type farmer from north of Kelvington was going out hunting in late fall. An overnight at a cabin was in store, but this old boy had to have his special pajamas. I understand he got the Empire to bring in some oversized coveralls and he got his lady friend to sew a pair of wool work socks onto the legs to make his jammies."

	Many thanks, Dave. Did you by any chance teach in Wynyard?

Cat lovers	Cat lovers will be happy to know that our stray, which Jill took home to Mozart, showed up. You may recall that as soon as they got home, the cat saw the dog and scrammed. Well, it must have gotten hungry " it wasn’t really the smartest cat around " and decided to brave mad dogs and other cats to look for a handout. Their biggest problem now is keeping it out of the house. We had that problem too.


Park Visitor Centre	The Park Visitor Centre is now open, and the staff has moved over. We went around there this morning to have a look. The Interpretive Centre is just an empty room now; I expect they will move what artifacts they are keeping at the end of the season. I gather it won't be a museum, so if you have

	loaned any artifacts to the Nature Hut, it might be a good idea to claim them in the next week or so. Give them that much less stuff to move and keep track of. There was a door opening off the big room, with a sign above it saying "Interpreter". I wonder what languages they can interpret? Funny ˜ I didn‚t know they had any bi-linguals except Frank and June; Frank has his own office and June works in the general office.


Heritage Day	Heritage Day was a success, with lots of exhibits and lots of people looking at them. We had a table with some old photos and cameras, and samples of Doreen’s home-made cards. Merv Miller had a

	table of antique tools, lamps, etc., and Shirley displayed some of her stampings done on rock slices. Rose Steadman displayed some of her paintings, and Jim some willow baskets. He also brought his snowplane which, along with Cec Ewen’s restored John Deere, got a lot of attention. Don and June Horncastle displayed some traps and furs for the Saskatchewan Trappers‚ Ass’n . and Brian Shuya had some fresh-picked lilies of different colors and styles, and some of his paintings. Joy Weinberger was kept busy painting kids‚ faces, and Kevin showed some of his antler carvings. Bob Stadnek and Dave Bergh had bows, arrows and arrow heads, and Sarah Pelletier brought some of her paintings. I missed it, being down at Kelvington sweating away in the hot sun behind Jenny's store, but Doreen got some photos. The quality of talent in this little corner of the province never ceases to amaze me!

	Gerald B. Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg