Although Gerald and I have only lived in Canmore about five years, my first contact with Canmore was at Easter, 1943, when I came with a group of Calgary Youth Hostellers and stayed five days at the Canmore Youth Hostel. The Hostel was an old hotel, I believe, owned by the Riva family. Though the snow was knee-deep on the ground, we struggled up to Twin Lakes, now called Grassi Lakes. Starting from downtown, we followed the trail Lawrence Grassi had improved. Where the steps are on the steep part of the trail now, there was a rope ladder then. One night, the thirty to thirty-five of us squashed into Grassi’s little house on Three Sisters Drive to see some of his slides. He was an early colour slide film photographer and his pictures were outstanding. At the end of the evening, he drew our attention to a cardboard box by the door, full of elk horn curios he had carved. “Just help yourself to something,” he said. We have a beautiful cribbage board that he had made – a wonderful memento of not only that evening but of a fine man. On Easter Sunday, about two dozen of us arrived at Rundle Memorial Church not very well dressed up and in muddy boots. The kind parishioners welcomed us although it took a few minutes to find a place for us all – some on the floor! For about three years, I was among that group of high school students who enjoyed our time in this community very Much.
I was born in Calgary and lived there until I attended university in Edmonton. My high school years were at Western Canada High School where I was active in sports, Hi-y, Sigma Tau Sorority, the Yearbook, the Mirror (the weekly newspaper) and the Youth Hostel group. Out of school, Canadian Girls in Training (CGIT) was an important part of my life. As a youngster, I took piano lessons for many years and also liked to go riding with my family on weekends when weather permitted.
At New Year’s, 1946, I met a nice fellow at another Youth Hostel, Ghost Lodge at Ghost Dam. One thing led to another and Gerald and I were married in June, 1948, at Knox United Church in Calgary. We were both university students, he in Medicine and I in the Bachelor of Arts program of Psychology and History. In 1949, we received our B.Sc. and B.A. respectively. That fall, our first daughter was born. Two other girls arrived by 1953. At that time, Gerald wanted to go to Britain to pursue training in surgery. We stayed there four years and came back to Calgary in the fall of 1957, having added a son to our family in England. Gerald began to practice medicine and before too long, I went back to university to get my Bachelor of Education degree. I taught for several years with the Calgary School Board in Grades Four, Five or Six. Active in our church, First Baptist, I taught Sunday School, had a CGIT group, was a member of a mission group and later joined the choir with one of our daughters. Volunteering at the Scottish Nursing Home, the Family Life Education Council, the Inter-Faith Social Action Committee, Home and School Association, etc., kept me out of mischief! Then in 1968, we were blessed with another baby girl.
In 1974, Gerald left the Foothills Hospital staff and taking our youngest daughter, we went to Nepal as board appointees of the United Church of Canada to work in the United Mission to Nepal, a unique organization with personnel from about 18 countries and from 38 sending boards. Although we hadn’t originally planned to stay so long, we lived 12 years in Nepal, mostly in Kathmandu but occasionally in other places for short stints. Gerald worked as a general surgeon and I did several things besides looking after our daughter, Gerald, and our home. I taught in the United Mission Nursing School twice – one course in Social Psychology and another that was especially rewarding on how to read a journal article. For six years, I was the medical librarian. A new hospital was built while we were there and I acted as a sort of tour guide right from the “hard hat” stage. Most of us living in Kathmandu tried to have an extra bedroom and in a sense were guest house hostesses for colleagues from outlying projects or friends or family from overseas. When our daughter graduated from Woodstock High School in North India in 1986, we came home to Calgary where we lived until we came to Canmore in February, 1995, except for two short periods in Inuvik, NWT.
Canmore has been a great place in which to retire. There is always something interesting to do. I have enjoyed many of the activities of Canmore Seniors, including the Meanderthals, bowling, duplicate bridge, and social times. We enjoy “hospital bridge”. I enjoy aquasize at the Rec Centre and volunteering in the extended care part of the hospital. We are members of St. Michael’s Anglican Church and enjoy our involvement there. Shortly after coming to Canmore, I helped get a support group for visually impaired people, started under the auspices of the CNIB. We call ourselves The Visual Reality Network.
Since 1988, we have participated in the Alberta Seniors Games – sometimes in track and field, sometimes in horseshoes and I even represented Zone 2 in Scrabble at St. Paul! I have entered both knitting and photography categories and have met with some success in my endeavours. Last year the judges liked a print I took on my point and- shoot camera of the park by the Bow River. It’s always fun to participate in the Games.
In 1998, our family of twenty-two children, spouses and grandchildren gathered here in Canmore for several days to celebrate our golden wedding anniversary. We hiked by day and in the evenings looked at selected slides of our fifty years which brought many laughs. We sang old songs and shared many memories. One evening, some cousins and a few close friends joined us, including Alison’s bridesmaid. What a perfect place to celebrate.
We find Canmore a good place to live. Residents get involved with issues important to them, the scenery is magnificent, and there are many opportunities to expand our horizons. We’re glad to be a part of this community.
Alison and Gerald Hankins 1999
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 113-114.
