I was born in Fernie, B.C. Canada on November 23rd, 1936.
Being the 10th child of a family of 11 and the youngest boy of 8 brothers, I know what growing up in a large family is all about. It was a tough time to be born in, and a tough, coal mining town to be raised in, nestled amongst a half dozen other towns throughout an area called "The Elk Valley" in the heart of the Rocky Mountain Range.
The scenery was exceptionally beautiful with the mountains looming around and above us in a 360 degree exposure, typical of what you see most anywhere in the middle of the Rocky Mountain Range. To travelers passing through in any one of the four seasons of the year, it was breathtaking in it's four definite changes of the seasons.
Because of it's elevation, large snow accumulation and short summer growing seasons, it was not a favorable area to grow fruit such as apples, pears, peaches and other kinds of delicious foods. With fruit trees being considered of the hardwood variety, they weren't hearty enough to withstand the extreme below zero temperatures. They would split, and no longer able to hold the sap, die.
However,Not far away from this valley and into the rolling foothills, the season changes were less severe, and after a drive of 135 miles and close to the American border, lay the town of Creston, B.C. In contrast, It's rolling countryside was ideal for growing fruit. Orchards were everywhere and a delight for us to see when we travelled there on sporting trips to play inter-league hockey and basketball. In fruit picking season it was a real delight to walk down any sidewalk and eat off the trees that had branches hanging over the fences and heavy with fruit.
In comparison, when we could be having snowball fights in Fernie, the kids in Creston could be having apple fights.
Apples in particular were always considered to be in short supply and rather expensive to the average family in Fernie, especially our family. To the extent that when a kid came to school with an apple, the first one to say "Cobbs on ya" got to eat the core! When he or she was finished, all that was left to do was spit out the seeds.
All these towns were just struggling out of the Great depression and at a time when commerce was fighting to survive, the farmers in Creston were having a hard time getting a profit out of the fruit they had harvested. Ironically as a result, they were dumping their apple and fruit harvests in the Kootenay river rather than suffer the cost of shipping to other areas.
All at a time when we would have loved to have those apples in Fernie!
To emphasize the chronic shortage of apples in our town, when Halloween came around each year, the people would give out apples instead of candy as a rare luxury to the kids.
We would take pillow cases and go door to door hollering, "Halloween apples" instead of "Trick or treat". We would then store them in our root cellars and basements to be enjoyed at Thanksgiving, Christmas and sometimes beyond. Every once in a while, I wish, (even though I know it's not likely to happen,) that all of us who did the Halloween thing back in those days could all get together again, don our masks and different garb and do it again for old times sake. Some of the gang are gone now, but they could still be with us in spirit, and shout at the top of our lungs, "Halloween apples!!!"
God bless them one and all!
And "Jake", especially you my friend, I hope you'll be listening! Alan Neidig, Davie Lockhart, Johnnie Hartley, Peter Elkington , Larry Sedrovic, all my friends I went to school with, You too!! God bless you
A fond memory that will stay with me forever. Just sayin'.
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