What I remember most about Aunt Gertie is that she always had a smile on her face. When I saw her at a family gathering I always looked forward to visiting with her because I knew I would walk away with a smile. What a great way to have people see you in the world – wherever you go people are happy you’re there!

I love her letters, she describes things so well I feel like I’m there, and it was kind of fun to have a little tour around Alberta.

Cochrane, Alberta

Nov 9, 1954

Dear Margie

Well since I last wrote you I’ve covered some 100 miles and had a really grand trip.

The first day we went to Wetaskiwin, Camrose, Banff and Rosalind. It’s this last place we visited my friend Ruth Ballard and her family and stayed there for the night It was so nice to renew old acquaintances and get caught up in the news.

Next day we drove to Castor and Coronation. We stayed here for 2 days visiting Butterfields. Ray and May got me my first tea schools(?) near Veteran. They both teach school. May teaches Household Economics and Ray is the principal. When we arrived at the school Ray was conducting cadet performances outside in the school yard. They were very interesting to watch. Besides the boy cadets he had organized a girls cadet corps. They have smart uniforms too. They wear short black jackets and green and white plaid shirts. They have dark tame(?) with an insignia on the front. Ray was the first teacher in Alberta to have a girls cadet unit. Since then other troops have organized one too and various interesting competitions have resulted.

May showed me through her economics room. It is lovely with such a wonderful kitchen unit with built in cupboards, a gas stove, and an electric stove, a refrigerator, mix master, washing machine, and ironed. On the sewing side they have large cutting tabled, mirrors for sheering, fittings of dress, etc. And some fine sewing machines.

In the evenings we had good companionship. George and Ray got along famously. They went hunting one evening after school but didn’t have any luck. Around Wetaskiwin we saw huge flocks of ducks and geese.

We went back to Veteran where I used to teach and I met several I used to know and some of the students I had, They are nearly all married with children of their own now. It was 23 years ago I taught there so I thought they did well to remember me. Everywhere I went folks seemed glad to see me and I came home with such a wonderful glow of happiness.

When we came back to Didsbury we stopped and visited Alf Allan and his wife. We had such a wonderful supper there and they showed us all through their ____ school. It accommodates 500 students and is truly modern in every sense of the word. What a difference from the schools I attended!

Coming home we stopped at Brushy Ridge for the card party and raffle. It was lots of fun. Needless to say we didn’t get home until 12:30.

It’s so lucky we went when we did. During our absence our hired couple found a new job – closer to town. They had helped us get all caught up and the house was just shining so we were grateful for their help. However now we are on our own we won’t be able to make anymore wonderful visits like this one.

Annie and Ed were here Sunday. They are looking just fine and Clarence David is such a Bonnie boy.

Sibyl and Jack were here too and Albert Shickey and Ralph Kerr so we had a real nice visit.

Well Margie, I keep looking forward to the day when I can see you. I hope it won’t be long now

Lovingly yours

Aunt Gertie