Susan and I came to Canmore from Edmonton, first as visitors, and only secondly as prospective retirees.
In the mid-eighties we were whitewater kayaking enthusiasts and had been told that to get the very best instruction we should go to Canmore and take lessons from Al and Marion Shaffer. And so we did and, when we weren’t over our heads in water either on the Bow or the Kananaskis Rivers or in the Canmore Rec Centre Pool, we were admiring the beautiful views and appreciating the friendly staff of the local hotels and restaurants.
A couple of years later, as we were actively looking for a place to retire, we remembered Canmore and started spending weekends here looking for a lot. The scenery hadn’t changed and neither had the friendliness of the people we met. I remember one weekend a young woman passed us from behind as we were walking along. She turned around and said, “Hi, hope you’re having a good weekend!” I wondered who she was and was dumbfounded when Susan told me she was a waitress at the Kabin adding, “We’re either really big tippers or she likes your baby blues”. Another weekend, coming out of Marra’s with a roll of film, we were greeted by an older man stacking up the shopping carts. He thanked us for dropping in and wished us a great weekend – our first introduction to Ron Marra. It was experiences like those, the easy friendliness of people who treated us like guests in their town, not just as tourists with money to spend, that made us think that Canmore would be a fine place in which to live.
Unfortunately, lots were hard to come by and we had just about given up when Alberta Mortgage and Housing put their last Canmore subdivision, Mountview, on the market. It was a lot draw and, because we neither worked nor lived in either Canmore or the Bow Valley, we were among the last to get drawn along with the contractors and other outsiders. Well, we lucked out and, in 1990, were able to buy a lovely lot at the corner of Elk Run Boulevard and Lady MacDonald Drive. We moved to Canmore in April of 1993 to start construction on the house we designed and have been full-time residents ever since.
Until 1993, I was a life-long resident of Edmonton. My brother John, now in Calgary, and my sister Lois, now deceased, grew up in the Delton area. I attended school St. Alphonsus and St. Joseph’s High School. My mother, a transplanted Cape Bretoner and former teacher stayed at home to raise us. My father, previously from Ontario, was first a farmer and later a tinsmith until he died when I was fifteen. Brother John and I were always involved in athletics; John was an excellent curler, hockey player and golfer. I specialized in lacrosse, hockey and football.
I played at the Junior hockey level for the Waterloo Maple Leafs and signed a “C” form with a National League hockey team. I played only one year of high school football before playing five years with the Junior Maple Leafs Football Club which went to the National Junior final in my last year. We lost to Hamilton.
I was on the Edmonton Eskimo’s practice roster for two years before being fortunate enough to win a spot on the Eskimo’s team in 1952, going to the Grey Cup in my rookie year. We lost to the Toronto Argonauts. I played with the Esks for the next ten years. In each of those years we played in the Western Conference final, going to five Grey Cups and winning three in 1953, 1954 and 1955 -the Eskimo’s first dynasty.
After the Eskimo’s I was recruited as Head Coach by St. Anthony’s College in Edmonton, playing in the small town high school league. From there I graduated to the University of Alberta Golden Bears’ squad as Offensive Line Coach, a position I held for thirteen years, from 1966-1979. The nickname “Coach Don Bear” was given to me by my players and fellow coaches and stays with me still on my car’s vanity plates and is echoed at Golden Bears reunions. We won the first Vanier Cup in 1967 and repeated the win in 1971 and 1972. Post-Bears, I coached Junior football with the Edmonton Wildcats for two years (1985-86) as line coach and the Edmonton Huskies for two years (1987-88) as Head Coach. I was the line coach of the CFL All-Stars when they played the Edmonton Eskimo’s in 1988, winning against my old team.
In the fifties and sixties, football was a part time career paying very little money. I held down a full-time job with the City of Edmonton for 42 years. My work career started at age 17½ when I was hired by Edmonton Telephones (which later became part of Telus) as their first apprentice cable splicer. I became a journeyman after five years. I worked for Telephones through my football career, using my holidays and getting unpaid time off for road trips. Climbing telephone poles all winter definitely kept me in shape for football in the spring. When NAIT opened in Edmonton, I took, on my own time, the electrical training required for an apprentice. Sensing other opportunities, I followed through with Engineering courses at the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension, again at nights, for another 6 years. This led to my promotion to the Junior Engineer position as Supervisor and finally to Manager of Outside Plant Engineering. In time I transferred out of Telephones to work at the City’sRealty Development Office, looking after the servicing of industrial and commercial subdivisions. A promotion to the residential subdivision section followed and eventually became the Director of Development Co-ordination for the City of Edmonton looking after the City’s interests for all industrial, commercial, residential and special (such as West Edmonton Mall) projects. In all, I spent twenty-six years with Edmonton Telephones and sixteen years with the Planning and Development Department, retiring as Director of Development Co-ordination for the City at the end of 1991.
I have five grown children: John (Gabi), Pat (Sandy), Andy (Bev), Jim (Bev) and Gina (Scott). Four boys and a girl who, between them, are raising ten children of their own: six girls and four boys.
Susan and I married in 1991. We share business interests and a love of physical activity in the outdoors. We hike, golf, cross-country and downhill ski; we’ve traded our whitewater kayaks for touring kayaks and enjoy tenting and kayak camping trips. Last year we added mountain bikes to our equipment inventory. Susan’s a big reader and I’ve been taking Donna Jo Massie’s watercolour classes for the last five years.
We’ve been pretty active in the community as volunteers since we arrived here. Susan has served on the Town’s Economic Development Authority, and the Development Appeal Board and is still a member of the Canmore Library Board and is the Town’s representative to the regional Marigold Library Board. I was on the Town’s Recreation Committee and we both spent a year as members of the Growth Management Strategy group, representing the Seniors. I served on the Executive of the Seniors for two years and have helped to organize a few functions (New Year’s Eve and Grey Cup parties) and worked on some improvements to the Drop-In Centre. Until last year, we both were volunteers, under Les and Jean John’s leadership, for many of the big cross-country ski races at the Nordic Centre and Mount Shark. We participate regularly with the Monday morning mixed golfers, the Meanderthals and the Elderski cross-country group. I also curl with the Seniors’ mixed curling on Tuesday mornings and occasionally join Doug Campbell and other Trailminders on Mount Lady MacDonald building or repairing routes.
I am a member of the Fabulous Fifties Eskimo Alumni (Ten Year Club), both the Golden Bear and Huskies Alumni, the Telephone Pioneer’s Association of Canada, the Canadian Football Player’s Association, CAAG, and we are both members of the Canmore Senior’s Association. We have enjoyed seeing Canmore grow around us. Downtown traffic can be a problem on busy summer weekends but we appreciate seeing the new goods and services that a growing population brings. We’ve been impressed by the character of the pioneers that helped explore and develop the valley – people like Peyto. It’s been fun to meet and learn about the more modern Valley builders: the Marras, the Rivas, Bruno Engler and many others.
We look forward to many new adventures and exciting changes in “paradise”.
In Canmore Seniors at Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 8-10.
