EPISODE 1,175; IMAGINARY CONVERSATION WITH ERIC SKEOCH (beer bottle weapons and mud spikes…and 1944 snowstorm)
alan skeoch
oct. 22, 2024
Picture of Eric and me in front of one of our snow forts 1946 or around that time. In the1944 great December
storm Eric was only 4 years old while I was six years old…obviously we were younger than we appear
in the picture above.
The snowstorm of 1944 brought life to a standstill in Toronto.
Hey Eric. remember the snowstorm of December 1944. Almost two feet of snow came down
and paralyzed the city. More than 20 people died trying to shovel their way to the coal chutes outside each house..
No chute – no coal – no heat. The city was stopped dead. I think you, mom and I slept in the
same bed on cold nights while dad was on the couch.
Remember what we did in those ww2 war years, Eric? We built the best damn forts made of snow where we could fight
against make believe enemies. We were largely unaware that World War Two was raging. Hubert Skeoch
and Harvey Metcalfe arrived when the war ended. Hubert had a plate of false teeth he removed
for our enjoyment and you found a ‘safe’ in Harvey’s back pocket.
Hey Eric, remember when this picture was taken? We inherited the Freeman Farm around 1960 after grandma and grandpa Freeman died. Mom inherited
the place…25 acres of stony soil with 5 swamps. Hardly a farm was it? The farm house was solid. This is my favourite picture of the four of us. Laughing.
We laughed a lot didn’t we? In spite of dad’s gambling addiction. It is possible to love people despite their weaknesses and eccentricities. Mom kept us
together. She got no credit. She did not expect it. We were not huggers and kissers, We took each other for granted. We loved each other.
NOTE: DUFFERIN PARK is mentioned several times in these memories… real or imagined? Hard to say. The historical
records say almost nothing about the park. Is my memory of one big gang fight false? Why have I so much
detail in my mind? Your thoughts!! Broken beer bottles were excellent weapons.
Broken beer bottle weapon
Hey Eric, remember when I fell on that broken beer bottle in Dufferin Park? We were playing Blind Man’s Bluff with mom. perhaps 5 or 6 years old.
Big slash. Some blood. The park was
a dangerous place in the war and post war years. Gangs…The Junction Gang and the Beanery Gang.I think the
beer bottle had been a weapon. Easy to make. Grab the bottle by the neck and smash it against rock. In most cases
shards of lethal looking protruded. Perhaps the bottle was just cast aside by a beer drinker. No matter its origin
the bottle cut me badly. I still have the scar 80 years later. The cut was bad enough but made worse by
mom saying “Alan, we must get the cut stitched up at the hospital.” Now that terrified me. Hospitals were places
where people go to die. What did I do? Remember? I ran home as fast as I could. Upstairs and under the
big bed. Grasped the bed springs. Mom could not pull me out. I screamed. Dad came home a little later. He fished me
out fast. He lifted the whole bed, turned it over and hauled me erect. Strange that I do not remember getting the
stitches nor the hospital. The whole incident showed me that the game of Blind Man’s Bluff could have bad
consequences and that dad was as strong as an ape. He could lift a double bed and turn it over.
Muddy football fields were to be expected. This was our 1962 team at Victoria College, U. of T., Russ Vanstone and I have
mud faces on their right.
Eric is in back row.
You are probably thinking “What this story got to do with me…Eric.” And there is a reason. Years later you
were sliced far worse than me. I remember the moment. We were playing football against Riverdale whose
quarter back was nick-named Banana Nose. The field was a quagmire of mud but our game was scheduled
regardless. The change house had been bashed up and one Riverdale guy poked his head through a
missing divider yelling “We’re going to cream you pricks,” Or some such expression. Football was serious
business in High school We won. But there were casualties. You limped off the field at one point. “Little cut in my leg
you said to coach Fred Burfprd. It turned out to be a very nasty hole in your leg…more than an inch deep.
No-one knew that until later. The hole had been filled with mud and white chalk field marker. You played the
rest of the game. No one knew how serious the slash was. It was not a scratch. It was big mud filled hole.
Just looking it made me feel weak in the knees.
How did it happen? Both teams, Humberside and Riverdale, prepared for the game by unscrewing the
cleats in our boots with ‘mud cleats’ to get a better a better purchase in the muddy field. Mud cleats were about inch long. They were weapons and you, Eric, were the reason mud cleats were never
used again. Or so I believe.
Was it mom who washed the mud out of your leg? I think so. No one really knew how badly you were hurt. Mom did.
Mom took you to Dr.Greenaway that evening. He got very serious.
“This could be badly infected.We won’t know until; morning.
So take this syringe home with you. Alan, your mother says both sleep in the same bed, so you will be the
first to notice trouble. If Eric says something or if the leg gets puffy and red then you give him this needle
right away. Understand/‘“
I feared needles. I was already weak in the knees due to your injury. Dr. Greenaway put me in a
life or death situation. I believe I stayed awake all night. I stared at the grotesque syringe. I was scared.
You were calm. Asleep.
Nothing happened. We saw Dr. Greenaway the next morning. He took the needle away. Told you not to
play any more football for a time. Coach Burford got upset. The mud cleats were unscrewed and
dumped in the garbage.
The Humbersiders, namely us, won the game from Banana Nose and the Riverdale tough guys
Life continued. Both you and I have scars to remind us of our youth. YOURS WORSE THAN MINE. I have no idea what was in that syringe.
Do you remember?
ALAN
Oct. 26, 2024
ON November 4, 2024, a few of the survivors of that game in 1956 will meet for lunch at the Burlington Golf
and Country Cub for lunch. we have done this for years. I wonder if Zig, Gary, Gord, Marino or the Rodin boys will remember?
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