“I was born at home in Canmore on September 17th. At this time the doctor, Dr. Worthington, used to make housecalls. He delivered me at home. I was the youngest of four children born to John and Elizabeth Stec: John, Mary, Julia, Lena. As we grew up, we each had our chores to do and were treated the same. Some of the chores I used to do were washing the dishes, bringing in the wood and coal, helping to plant the garden, weeding the garden. Next door, the neighbour had chickens which we had to respect. Our house was in Prospect and it was a five-roomed house with an outhouse in the back yard. Our water supply was running water from the mine company. We had electric lights and our heating source was coal and briquets and wood.
I remember grade one. Miss Kathleen Wallace was my grade one teacher. School supplies were all given to us. Any cod liver oil pills I took were bought by my mother and not part of school supplies. Books, pencils and scribblers were supplied by the school board. We went home for lunch. The school had swings and slides. Fifteen minute recesses passed quickly. We had parties for major holidays. Christmas time was special because each grade put on an item for the concert which was held at the Union Hall. At the end of the evening, Santa came and each child received a gift, compliments of the company.
As a family, Christmas was a time for gifts and whatever the family could afford. A specially treasured gift was a bracelet sent by an uncle in the U.S. We had the traditional turkey dinner. A turkey was supplied by the mine company to all their employees. Christmas was the day we visited the Chinese workers and they treated us to ginger and litchi nuts.
At Halloween we did the usual, like try to push over the outhouses and soap the windows. The only treat was apples in those days so the following days featured desserts made from apples: apple strudel, apple pies, applesauce. We exchanged handmade cards at Valentine’s. Easter was more of a religious holiday. We went to church in the morning, then came home for breakfast. We received Easter candies. Cabbage rolls were a part of most main holiday suppers.
For fun, Mom and Dad went to house parties. Since kids were not left alone in those days, we were taken along. It is there that I learned to dance, something I enjoy doing to this day. Every Friday there was a whist drive at the Union Hall. This was followed by a dance to which we would all go. We had a show hall; the show was held on Wednesdays, two then, and three shows on Saturdays. The matinee was fifteen cents for kids; the evening show was about thirty-five cents for adults. We skated on the river and on the rink. In summer we played scrub and went swimming. We had our favorite swimming holes – third island, mudsucker pond- places in the Bow River. The first of July was the big event of the summer, the miners’ picnic. There was a parade from the YMCA across the bridge and over to the school flats. There were races for the kids and for the adults. In the evening there was a baseball game. Tickets were handed out for pop, peanuts, ice cream and a chocolate bar. In my teens they had a clothespin race. I was able to grab a lot of clothes pins. We also had a three-legged race, sack race, egg race. We also had a needle and thread race. A boy at the end held the needle, the girl ran down with the thread. The first couple to have the needle threaded was the winner.
I took all my schooling in Canmore. Then I went to Calgary and worked in a bank there. After that I returned to Canmore and worked in the office of the Canmore Hospital. From there I went to work in the Rundle Mountain Trading Co., a general store selling groceries, hardware, gas, etc.
In 1952 when the Legion burned down, my sister and I were living next door. Our house was very, very warm.
We went to Calgary to see a dentist, later we would go to Banff. We always had a hospital. This one now, in 1999, is the fourth hospital in Canmore.The first hospitals were built by the mine company. The first one was located across from Lawrence Grassi school. The second hospital was at the end of Main Street, now owned by Bob and Irene Warwick. The third hospital was built by the miners and it was located on “hospital hill”, the end of Three Sisters Drive. It was torn down in 1998. The present hospital was built in 1984. The Lawrence Grassi School land was always school land and formerly held a brick building that has since been torn down. We had oiled floors in the first school, now the floors have tile.
Hockey! Hockey was the sport in Canmore in the winter. We would go to all the games; the old rink was just packed. Andy Chakowski, Art Krowchuk, John Stec, Nick Kazimer, Paul Krizan, Art Kaleta were a few of the team members. The Jerwas were older and went on to play in them States.
In 1957 Andy and I were married. Our three children are Suzan, Perry and Barry. They all took their schooling in Canmore. Suzan was very athletic. Perry now lives in Calgary. Barry works for the Alberta Government during the fire season. I now have three grandchildren, Samantha, Natasha and Kale Frey.
Andy was a fire boss at the mine, an underground supervisor. He would check for gas and he would drill holes for blasting. He passed away in March of 1990. After Andy retired, I asked Andy to make me a birdhouse. That got him started and then he talked to the construction workers for scrap boards. They dropped the boards off at the house and he started making more birdhouses. For three years in a row, the grade threes were invited to come up and they could pick up a birdhouse or a birdfeeder. He loved hockey, playing it in his younger years, and he also loved music. Andy played with Emilio Casale and Johnny Byers, Ed Fisher,Billy Belenkey, Irene Randle, and Tom Lytkhowski. The first piano player was Joanne Dutka.
Old Canmore was a great place. Since Canmore became a town it has suffered growing pains.”
The above is Lena’s story as it was originally published in Canmore Senior’s at the Summit, 2000.
Lena passed away peacefully on January 30, 2023.
