EPISODE 562 CONRAD BLONSKI…a boy you should have met….he would have tested your humanity

alan skeoch

March 31, 2022

Big Bill Martin parents ran the Sunnyside Penny Arcade.  They were ‘Carnies’…Carnival people

like Conrad Blonski.   Bill told me many stories about the fat lady made of wax that melted in the sun each

year…and was repaired.  Conrad’s mom never had enough profit to go big time…but she managed

to keep her son Conrad close to her.

THE CONRAD BLONSKI STORY…TOUCHED ME DEEPLY

Conrad Blonski.   Why did I think of him today?   The last time I saw him must be 60 years ago, maybe longer.

He was one of my students at Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto.   Why think of him specially?  Like other teachers

I taught thousands of young people.  Why was Conrad so memorable?   He was not a top athlete although he

loved sports…knew every player on the Argonauts or Toronto Maple Leafs.   He was a student, yes, a regular

student…not the whiz bang destined to become a heart surgeon.  He was memorable because he just loved

our school.  Loved it with every fibre of his being.  Could Could gnot get enough of the school.  Knew his fellow students

well and admired some of them who were outstanding athletes.  Why remember Conrad on this bright sunny

morning at the end of March?

I suppose one reason is that he attached to me like a bandaid.  He wanted to be an athlete but just could not

do so.  So I appointed him as manager of our Junior Football team.  He loved the job.  Kept a close eye

on every player.  And he had a way of winning their attention.  I am sure any student reading this story

will remember Conrad.  He was an enthusiast.

What was his life really like?  He must have a pair of doting parents who infused optimism into him.

Not so.  Conrad only had his mother.  And she was having a tough life indeed. She was a ‘carnie’,,,

a Carnival person.   In those days Parkdale had many Carnival people’s children.  Big Bill Martin for one.

Bill was a fellow teacher and friend from university days when we played football together.

His parents ran the penny arcade at old Sunnyside.  “We had a big fat fake lady in a glass booth

who greeted and lured Carnival goers into our arcade.  She was made of wax and sat in a west facing

booth.  The wax melted a bit each year and we patched her.  She became quite grotesque.”

I noticed Conrad was very chummy with Big Bill.  How come? “Carnival people stick together.”

Then I asked Conrad about the Carnival business.

“What do your parents do?”

“Only my mom and me.”

(Single parent family…lots of those at Parkdale.)

“Mr. Martin says you are Carnival people”

“We are…mom has a popgun booth.”

“Popgun booth?”

“Little canvas booth where people fire corks  a cigarette packs.”

“Popguns?  Corks?  Must be inaccurate.”

“They are but some people do knock off packs.”

“What are the prizes?”

“Cigarette packs…knock off a pack, win that pack.”

Conrad and his mom would travel from country fair to country fair in the fall

seasons.   One day I met them by accident at the Acton Fall Fair.  Sure

enough the guns were out and the cigarette packs lined up.  We talked a

bit.  His mom loved Conrad.  I sensed their lives were tough…catch as catch can.

How could they afford hotels when on the road?

“Where do you sleep Conrad?”

“Right here…on the floor.”

That response knocked me for a loop.  Made me understand a lot more about

Conrad.  He loved Parkdale Collegiate because it was the biggest thing in

a very tough life.  I got to know him better.   He didn’t suck around…not under

my armpits as they say.  But he was never far away.   Marjorie and I had

him out for supper one evening.  Conrad could not stop talking. He was so

excited.  For Marjorie and I this was no big deal.  For Conrad, being invited

to a teachers’ home was a very big deal.  I still hear his joyful voice on sunny

days like today.

Eventually Conrad finished his schooling.  And that was the end of the best

part of his life.  Not much I could do to help him.  One day I heard his mom

had died and Conrad was living in a substandard basement somewhere

near Parkdale.  He was poor.  He was just getting by.

Then one day he appeared at Parkdale to say hello.   We met near the

school office.  Conrad was as cheerful as he had always been but somehow

I got the feeling things were not good.  He never said that.  Gave no indication

that he was up against the wall.  But I sensed it.  

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“Conrad, here is a bit of money…go out and have a good time.”

(I really meant go out and get food..)

“No, sir, do not need it.”

(Giving charity is very demeaning.  I  prefer to do it anonymously then

no one has to be embarrassed but this time I forced $20 into Conrad’s

hand)

“Payment for all the work you did for me as team manager…not much money.”

Then Conrad disappeared for another few years.  He was a grown man but

still in difficulty.  Other ex students dropped by and said Conrad was having trouble.

Living in a single room somewhere near Parkdale.  That worried me but I

did nothing to sleuth Conrad out.   Too busy.  Too many new students to

teach.  Too much joy in our family life to give Conrad any attention. If I

could even find him.

Then he reappeared in the hall. Looked me up and handed me an

envelope.

“I won $60 at Bingo…here is the money I owe you. Thanks.”

And away he went. Next day, my brother Eric phoned me.  “Somebody

from Parkdale sent me $20.  Why?”  Eric and I worked together at

Parkdale for several years.  He knew Conrad.   Why Conrad sent 

Eric $20 I will never know.

I think he was paying us for making a few years of his life enjoyable.

alan skeoch

March 31, 2022

P>S>  Some Parkdale students remember Conrad.  How is he? I heard

he died a few years ago…hope not.

P.P.S.  I cannot help but think of two fellow teachers, Lynne Roddick, and

Leila Buckler, who did much more to help students like Conrad…even to

the point of taking them into their home when disasters struck.  I admired them

for that.   They acted quietly.  At some point I must tell the story of Leila Buckler.  I wrote that

story many years ago.