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EPISODE 921 : PRT 2 ONE OF THE BEST YEAR IN MY LIFE 1958 – 1959


EPISODE 921 :  PRT 2   BEST YEAR IN MY LIFE   1958 – 1959  

alan skeoch
DEC 1, 2023


nov. 27,023



ROMANCE

I Have always liked girls.  They looked better, smelled better, behaved better, worked harder,

.   The 1950’s were dancing years.  Some of it quite frantic such as Bill Haley and the Comets version of 
Rock Around the Clock which

   Norm Semra and his band on stage to promote the school yearbook which was in trouble.  . 
There was no HCI yearbook for 1958=59.  So this is a fragment of events that year.

NOTE: CUT A LOT OUT HERE


LIPS THAT TOUCH LIQUOR WILL NVER TOUCH MINE

MR. HAISTE, our science teacher,

“Class. pay close attention, what I am about to demonstrate is worth remembering.”  And he held a small empty plastic dish.
“Now I will break this egg into the egg into the dish…
“Next I will pour this alcohol over the dish contents…
“You will note the egg immediately coagulated…turned gelatinous…rubbery….””
“That is what happens to your brain when you drink alcohol…your brain is
coagulated…
“the effect is non reversible.’

WOW!  Did that ever scare me. Convinced me to never drink alcohol.
And for a year or two I tried to scare my friends… I became insufferable…a zealot.  


MR,WISNER AND FOSSILS I FOUND NEAR COCHRANE

I gave Mr Wisner a pile o fossilize corals that the excavatora scooped up in swamp.
Proof of plate tectonics.  Millionsof yearsago /Cochrane must have been on
the equator.   Cochrane now is  nearer to the Arcitic Circle.   Mr. Wisner seems impressed and added my fossils to
his collection.  I should have kept a couple.

Most of Ontario’s fossil record is found in the Paleozoic rocks that cover much of southern Ontario and the James Bay Lowlands. These rocks were deposited during the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods (450-350 million years ago) when Ontario was repeatedly covered by warm, shallow inland seas. The seas were fed by rivers draining from the bordering highlands of the Canadian Shield and acted as settling basins for thousands of meters of sand, mud, and clay. Eastern and northern boundaries of Paleozoic outcrop run roughly through the southern borders of Muskoka and Haliburton just east of Kingston (where Ordovician rocks lap onto Precambrian rocks). Ordovician rocks here abound with fossil snails, clams, squid-like nautiloids, trilobites, starfish, and sea lilies.

DANCING THE  SCHOOL YEAR 1958 – 1959

Second only to football was dancing..  The 1950’s were great dining years as Rok snd roll eclipsed the big band music of the 1940’s
The lyics were something to behold

“Skinny Minnie’s not skinny
she’s tall that’s all…”

and

“Long tall Sally’s got a lot on the ball
Nobody cres if she’s long and tall.”


I do not remember who wrote those memorable lyrics.  would he or she rank with Woodsworth or T.S, Eliot?  Perhaps.
We danced our school years away.  For $25 we hired Gord Sta[ple sand the Swing Kings    Big 
band sounds of Glen Miller.   And then got Norm Semra and his rock and Roll buddies .

NoTE: Major edit here.  Cut out all the dating  and broken hearts…that part seemed important but was silly.
Lots of relationships that fizzled.  

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

To do do, down dooby doo down down
Comma comma, down dooby doo down down
Comma comma, down dooby doo down down
Breaking up is hard to do

[Verse 1]
Don’t take your love away from me!
Don’t you leave my heart in misery?
If you go, then I’ll be blue!
‘Cuz breaking up is hard to do

[Verse 2]
Remember when you held me tight
And you kissed me all through the night
Think of all that we’ve been through
And breaking up is hard to do
(Neal Sadaka)


I noticed Marjorie nosing though her old photo album and pulling out pics of her many boyfriends.
Some were semi-serious business like John who asked her to marry him and Larry Keiler from Ohio who
she liked when his family spent  summers fishing in Northern OntARIO lakes,  He was a real contender.  Distance
kept them apartt thankfully,

So the topic  is DANCING RATHER THAN ROMANCING

BILL HALEY AND ELVIS PRESSLEY…AND LYRICS THAT NWD MUSIC TO BE UNDERSTOOD


Top 25 Songs 1955 – 1959
1. Don’t Be Cruel/ Hound Dog – Elvis Presley
2. Singing The Blues – Guy Mitchell
3. Mack The Knife – Bobby Darin
4. All Shock Up – Elvis Presley
5. Rock Around The Clock – Bill Haley & His Comets
6. The Wayward Wind – Gogi Grant
7. Sixteen Tons – “Tennesse” Ernie Ford
8. Heartbreak Hotel – Elvis Presley
9. Love Letters In The Sand – Pat Boone
10. Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley
11. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear – Elvis Presley
12. At The Hop – Danny & The Juniors
13. Love Is A Many – Splendored Thing – Four Aces
14. Rock And Roll Waltz – Kay Starr
15. The Poor People of Paris- Les Baxter
16. The Yellow Rose Of Texas – Mitch Miller
17. Memories Are Made Of This – Dean Martin
18. April Love – Pat Boone
19. The Battle of New Orleans – Johnny Horton
20. Young Love – Tab Hunter
21. It’s All In The Game – Tommy Edwards
22. The Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley
23. Tammy – Debbie Reynolds
24. Love Me Tender – Elvis Presley
#25. My Prayer- The Platters

that is the top 25 pop hits 1955 to 1959.   Know them all .  I am other surprised that “Skinny Minnie”
and “Long Tell Sally” are not here.   But I’m glad see Elvis Pressley’s many top hits… the best of which was Hound dog.

HEARTBREAK HOTEL

Oh since my baby left me I’ve found new place to dwell
Down at the end on lonely street at heartbreak hotel  I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die  Although it's always crowded you can still find some room  For broken hearted lovers to cry away the gloom  I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die    Well the bellhop's tears keep flowing the desk clerk's dressed in black  They've been so long on lonely street they'll never never never get back  I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die  So if your baby leaves you, you got a tale to tell  Just take a walk down lonely street to heartbreak hotel  I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die    Oh since my baby left me I've found new place to dwell  Down at the end on lonely street at heartbreak hotel  I get so lonely baby I get so lonely baby I get so lonely I could die  I get so lonely I could die

JAILHOUSE ROCK

The warden threw a party in the county jail
The prison band was there and they began to wail
The band was jumpin’ and the joint began to swing
You should’ve heard them knocked out jailbirds sing
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock
Spider Murphy played the tenor saxophone
Little Joe was blowin’ on the slide trombone
The drummer boy from Illinois went crash, boom, bang
The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock

Number forty-seven said to number three
“You’re the cutest jailbird I ever did see”
“I sure would be delighted with your company”
“Come on and do the Jailhouse Rock with me”
Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock.
Everybody in the whole cell block
Was dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock.

HOUND DIG



Not all music was so frantic.   There was always room for a few cheek to cheek dances.
real romantic stuff like “My Prayer” by the Platters.

MY PRAYER

When the twilight is gone
And no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone
You come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay
While I pray

[Verse 1]
My prayer
Is to linger with you
At the end of the day
In a dream that’s divine

[Verse 2]
My prayer
Is a rapture in blue
With the world far away
And your lips close to mine


SOME ENCHANTED EVENING

Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger
You may see a stranger across a crowded room
An’ somehow you know, you know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her again and again!

Some enchanted evening, someone may be laughing
You may hear her laughing across a crowded room
An’ night after night as strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter will sing in your dreams!

Who can explain it, who can tell you why
Fools give you reasons, wise men never try!

Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love
When you hear her call you across a crowded room
Then fly to her side and make her your own
Or all thru your life you may dream all alone!

Once you have found her
Never let her go!

BLUE SUEDE SHOES


I know the lyrics sound goofy.  Most readers will never understand
these songs.  Too bad.   You had to be there.  To skip school to 
see and hear Billl Haley.  Had to see Elvis wiggle his hips. 


END PART TWO  1958-1959


PART 3  ALASKAN KODIAK BEARS AND MINING EXPLORATION

PART 4  MARJORIE HUGHES

POST SCRIPT

“Skinny Minnie” is a 1958 song co-written and recorded by Bill Haley and his Comets. The song was released as a Decca single which became a Top 40 chart hit in the U.S.

Background

“Skinny Minnie” was composed by Bill Haley with Milt Gabler, Rusty Keefer, and Catherine Cafra. The song was released as a Decca single, 9-30592, backed with “Sway With Me”, reaching no. 22 on the Billboard chart and no. 25 on the Cash Box chart.[1] The song was featured on the 1958 Decca album Bill Haley’s Chicks.[2] The song became a rock and roll standard which was covered by scores of bands and singers.

“Long Tall Sally“, also known as “Long Tall Sally (The Thing)“,[1][2] is a rock and roll song written by Robert “Bumps” Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard. Richard recorded it for Specialty Records, which released it as a single in March 1956, backed with “Slippin’ and Slidin’“.

The single reached number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart, staying at the top for six of 19 weeks,[3] while peaking at number six on the pop chart. It received the Cash Box Triple Crown Award in 1956. The song as sung by Little Richard is listed at number 55 on Rolling Stone‘s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[4] It also ranked at number 45 on Billboard‘s year-end singles of 1956.[5]

It became one of the singer’s best-known hits and has become a rock and roll standard covered by hundreds of artists,[6] including Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac, the Kinks and the Beatles.

In 1999, the 1956 Little Richard recording of “Long Tall Sally” on Specialty Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[7]




















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EPISODE 920 SCHOOL YEAR 1958-1959 ONE OF BEST YEARS OF MY LFE: PART 1

  EPISODE 920     SCHOOL YEAR 1958-1959    ONE OF BEST YEARS OF MY LFE: PART 1          


alan skeoch’Nov25, 2023


Alan Skeoch and Grant Weber  – Toronto Daily Star @ Oakwood field


OVERWHELMING AND PERHAPS UNDESERVED

I never expected to be so warmly greeted by the football community in the fall of 1958 when  returning to Humberside
for second stab st Grade 13.   What an exhilarating feeling to be welcomed and wanted. Russ Vanstone, Gary Logan and
others were also welcomed.  But I got the biggest load of glory.   So much so that it is hard to put what happened on paper.

I am caught on the horns of dilemma.  To write about my awards and honours is to be vain, yet not to write about them
is to be unappreciative.   

So here goes a fast description to show my appreciation of those who’ nominated or voted for me.
Captain of the 1958 HCI  senior football team, winner of the Wildman Trophy* (see note*), selected forCity of Toronto All star
football teams by Toronto Daily Star and Toronto Telegram, selected Head Boy for 1958-59 at HCI, elected President of
the BAA.  

 Contrast these awards with the depression I felt in the previous year with my broken hand.  

1958-1959 was a grand year for me.  Please excuse my inflated ego for a moment…my 15 minutes of fame.

Now let me flash back to my meeting with Mr. Couke…the suspension.  I Decided to buckle down academically
To prepare for the Departmental Exams but to go beyond that.  I Bought a scribbler and plotted my free time in half hour intervals
and began a personal reading plan.  I decided to read as many great authors as I could…Charles Dickens, Jules Veerne, John Steinbeck even
Dwight Eisenhaur.   The psychiatrist Eric Fromm caught my eye and his book The Sane Society made me think about
socialism much to the disgust of Russ Vanstone and the amusement of Jim Romaniuk, my two best friends.  Jim had made the cut
the previous year but remained a close friend until his early death.

FOOTBALL…always  present
SPOTTING WITH TED PUCCINI AND VIC HOSZKO…NOT A GOOD IDEA
(I am not sure if Ted and Vic were my associates…memory says they were)

“Alan, you have a couple of spares, come with us to spot the Central Tech team.”
“Spotting?”
“Yeah…we’ll see who carries the ball mostly…note their best plays…see if they
have a double reverse like Burf is secretly planning.”
“Is spotting legal?”
“Who gives a damn…join us…Burf will be pleased…”
“Spying?”
“Yeah.”

Somehow our VP got wind as to what we had done.  Mr.. Couke was a man with high principles.
Spotting was unfair.  Skipping school to spot was worse.  Vic, Ted and I were not as highly
principled.

“Would Puccini, Hoszko snd Skeoch report to Mr. Couke,”  came over the PA with the morning announcements
We gathered there and Mr. Couke saw each of us individually.  Ted and Vic were each suspended 
for the week.  My turn was next.  I was scared to death but not for the reason most would think..

Mr. Couke looked at me and said  “Alan, I have to treat everyone equally…”
“Yes sir  Mr. Couke can I shake your hand?”
“Alan, you will be suspended for the week.”
“Thank you , sir…thank you.”
(Nothing could be worse than favouritism . If I had got off as a first offense then any respect people had
for me would be lost.   I wanted to be penalized.  My respect for Mr. Couke lit up like the North Star.)

Something snapped in my head during that suspension.   Was I going to spend this year fooling around?
Wasting my time,  Or  was there another path?  Could I make every moment useful.  Be a  better person?
Where was I going with my life?   I was not sure where but I did know the direction.  University.  If I could make it.
So I took a few steps in a better direction,

First I spoke to Crooky,  
“Mr. Cruikshank would you allow me to write the Grade13 history exam?  Working on my own,  Outside of 
the class.  I know teachers are judged by their success with students.  I will not let you down.”  Crooky
agreed.  I would self study.

Next I asked Mrs. Charlesworth the same thing.  She agreed well aware my self study plan could be a
disaster.

Next I bought a  notebook on which I planned a whole year of self study, 
 I broke all my free  time into half hour  blocks and assigned myself s certain task for each half hour.   If I did the
task then I drew a yellow line through the entry.  I became a spare time bookworm 


TOSSING AROUND BIG IDEAS

Paperback The Sane Society Book


BRIGHT IDEA OR A LOAD OF CRAP
(Russ Vanstone and Alan Skeoch in discussion — Fall season 1958)

“Russ, what do you think of the graduated income tax?”
“Think it’s a load of crap.  Why shouldI I pay more tax if I work harder than my neighbour.:”?
“Erich Fromm would  make the rich pay higher taxes than the poor.”
“Sounds like crap to me, Alan”
“Try this side on for size.  Fromm thinks we should all have the same salary. Exactly the same…let’s say $100 a week would be paid to
bricklayers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, store clerks, garbage collectors, teachers, ..;everybody.”
“Sounds goofy…off fthe wall, Alan…wacko.”
“Fromm figures most of us are unhappy because we are not doing what we enjoy in life.”
“Crap!”
“Makes some sense to me.  Most people pick a job because of the money.   What is the wage….what’s 
in it for me?”
“Now that makes sense.”
“Just suppose money did not matter….everybody gets the same wage. Then what job would attract you?”
“You are getting more wacko by the minute, Alan….got a screw loose somewhere in your head.”
“What would  you really want to do? I know your choice even if you do not.”
“Keep me out of this.”
“No, Russs , you already told me what you loved doing.  You loved that farm your dad owned out in 
Manitoba…the tractors …the people.”
“I told you it was flat as piss on a plate…nothing more.”
“Not true Russ.  You loved that farm. Fromm says if we delete money as a motive for work, we will find jobs that make us happy”
“My dad would call you a Commie.”
“I am nothing.  Give the idea a chance.”
“You mean find a job I love.”
“Yes.  Russ you are  natural farmer.”
“And what are you, Alan?”
“I don’t really know…maybe a teacher..”
“Do you really believe that crap?”
“I would make an exception.   Doctors should be paid more.  I don’t want some prick
with a knife carving me up because he loves doing it?”
“Let’s get a hamberger and coke.”
“From a waitress who loves her job?”
“Right.   No joke.  There are people who love to cook and serve food.   Right now
they are at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”
“Give her a big tip Alan,”
“I can’t do that.  I have no extra money.”
“Case closed.”




Meanwhile other things happened…

FOOTBALL EVENTS

Here are  several events associated with football that year.  

“JARRING” JACK OSMOND

Jarring Jack Osmond brought his violin case to the Red Feather night game at Exhibition 
stadium.  Violin case?   Jarring jack was not in the orchestra.   Why the violin casy would he bring a violin to an alll city footballl game?

“Jack, why the violin case?”
“Want a beer, Alan?”
“I don’t drink beer, jack.”
“Tough luck.”

Jack had a six pack of Mosons Export beer tucked neatly in the violin case.
He was nabbed quickly and then suspended from Humberside C..I. for a
few days.   To us he became a kind of folk hero.   A gregarious chap who meant
no great harm to anyone;  Took his suspension in his stride.  a folk hero.

WRONG WAY CUSH

About the same time Wrong Way Cush became famous and got the nick name
of “Wrong Way” because he intercepted a pass from the enemy quarterback
and proceeded to run with the ball for a possible touchdown,   Only trouble was that
he ran the wrong way.   He was about to score a touchdown against his own team…
our team.   As he ran by our team bench we were all lined along the
field white chalk line margin yelling “Wrong Way! WRONG WAY CUSH!

“Hey there Cush,…why did you run the wrong way?”
“I got confused….got turned around,,,,did not ex[pect  to catch the ball really
but once caught I knew I had to do something.”
“Some of our guys weere trying to knock you down…didn’t you notice?”
“Yes I noticed.  Wondered why they would want to knock me down…I was on
their team.  I thought they were confused.”
“How come you stopped?”
“Passing our bench someone called me an ‘asshole’ while the rest of
you were yelling “Wrong Way Cush.”
and that was how Wrong Way Cush got his name.

GRANT WEBER’S STOMACH…BONG!

(fond memory of Caroline Laughlin, Nov 22, 2023)

“Grant Weber’s stomach sounded like a big bass drum”
“Stomach?”
“He blocked a kick with his stomach.”
“How would you know?’
“Heard the drum sound way across the field where the fans stood,”
“That was more than 50 years ago…are you sure?”
“Yes…some fans wondered why Grant would do that.”
“I wondered as well”


END PART 1   SCHOOL YEAR 1958-1959

NEXT EPISODE: PART 2
Romance, yearbook fiasco, coagulation, HERMES error In school assembly, Alaska, MARJORIE
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EPISODE 919 FAILURE IN MY LIFE… 1957=1958 EMBARASSING

EPISODE 919       FAILURE IN MY LIFE…  1957=1958   EMBARASSING


alan skeoch
Nov.  25, 2023

LOOKING BACK — NOT ALWAYS A SMOOTh ROAD

Note: Grade 9 — 1953
“Alan, choose one option…music, art or typing.”
“Typing.”
“Why?
“I am left handed.”

Sketch done by Kate McCartney…Alan  Skeoch….Did he deserve to fail?  


SEPTEMBER  1957-1958 SCHOOL YEAR

I knew I was in trouble , I could not write or make notes due to
the cast covering my left hand.  And almost immediately my schoolwork began  a slow  l decline. I did not
want anyone to know.  Denial . both coaches ….Mr Griffiths and Mr Burford…asked if the cast  impeded my Grade13 studies.

“Alan, is that injury to your hand affecting your school work””]
“No.  Not at all.  Everyting is fine.”

But that was a big lie….a delusion.  Each school day in 1958  I slipped further down.
Yet I did not want to face up to my problem.  It was a terrible school year which culminated in my Grade 13 Departmental exams.
These final exams were meant to identify the best students in Ontario High  Schools and then funnel them into
the universities.   I would not be among them.

A lot of students failed to make the cut.   I deluded myself into the belief I could do OK…not stellar but OK.
But I was riding the escalator down.   I think my teachers knew that and were concerned.  I think some of them were not enamoured
of Humberside’s fanaticism regarding football.  My broken baby finger and subsequent 
academic decline was a good reason to cool football .I ceertainlhy did not want that to happen.   I did not want help.Too embarrassing.

The school year made me more and more unhappy internally while my external demeanour MAY have seemed upbeat and joyful.   
In retrospect a lot of  people knew I was troubled.   


Try and decipher  this note written with my left hand which has the crooked little finger.  Easier still —find the word decipher’

TRANSLATION  ’NOV. 24 / 2023
“MY WRITING WAS VERY BAD.I WOULD HATE TO BE A MARKER TRYING TO DECIPHER MY SCRIPT.   JUST FOR
FUN TRY WRITING WITH YOUR LEFT HAND  (signed  Alan Skeoch)

The crisis climaxed with the departmental exams.  Students today in the year 2023 have no idea how demanding 
were these exams.  There was no wriggle room.  Failurerate was high. 
As I remember a university acceptance  would need a grade average of  75%.  

I knew deep down that I had slipped below the cut off.  But maybe I would be lucky.  No Such luck!    It was the Physics exam 
that got me  I Could not remember what the letter “s” meant i n solving physics mathematical problems   I was blank.
And “s” was such a simple part of the exam.   It was a given.  A simple given but for the life of me i could not remember

Then the school year ended.

I accepted a summer job as a surveyor working on the new stretch of the Canadian transcontinental Highway .
There were 8 of us living in a shack near the village of Hunta just a few miles west of Cochrane.  To get there I rode
the last steam train on the ONR.  It was an escape.  The survey crew were all much like me .Young and 
full of energy and misplaced enthusiasm. All except for one boy who was really troubled.  Made my troubles seem minor.  the boys
badgered him So I chose hin for my three man team.

I can still remember the moment he snapped.   His pent up hatred burst forth in a frenzy of anger directed
at me for some reason.   I was running the transit and john C was setting up pickets with a blazing axe.

“Get in line, John, More to the left”
“Fuck you!”  And he turned and threw his blazing axe right st me.  It missed but it was close.
“What the hell did you do that for?”
And John went into a kind of catatonic state. I  told our crew chief what had happened.
“We will have to do sometihng” 

That night John went a little more berserk/  All 8 of us slept on metal cots in the highway bunkhouse.
About midnight when we were all asleep,  John got up quietly.   Picked up a large rick the size of a football that he had
secreted under his bed.  
He tip toed over to Hazuda’s bed and dropped the rock on what he thought was Hazuda’s head.   Smashed the water jug
to smithereens.   
Then got back in bed before we put the lights on.   He said nothing.  He was crazy.  We stayed up all that night while
John jus lay in hia cot.  In the morning he was  put in a straitjacket and  taken away.  We never heard what happened but 
imagined he was committed to a place like Penetang for the insane.

This event and the regular arrival of a black bear took my mind off my own troubles but not for long.

The letter came.

I new it would be bad news but I had persuaded myself to think that miracles happen.  I did not open the letter in our
sleeping shack nor in our cook trailer.   Instead I took s long walk to an abandoned one room school
on the transcontinental highway near the village of Hunta, a village made famous as the boyhod home of
a member of the notorious Boyd Gang.  I think his name was Steve Suchan (something like that).

There was an outdoor back house behind the school and that is where I  opened the letter.  Time to 
be blunt.  I failed.  Failed get above the cut off mark.  My marks were OK in most subjects.  Not stellar
but OK.  Middle of the pack marks.   Good enough to pass but not good enough to enter university.

It ws convenient to blame my busted baby finger for my failure.  But that was not true.  Even before the 
injury I had stepped on the road to failure by avoiding homework.   By bluffing.  I thought I was good
at that.   Thought I had fooled my teachers.  Not so.  

Miss Schroeder made hatt clesr to me gently in a French exam.  While writing the exam she slipped
a newspaper clipping on my desk.  A clipping from the Dagwood and Blondie comic strip where 
Blondoe accuses her husband of using words that do not exist.  Dagwood’s response was
“It takes brains to invent words that do not exist.”

I looked up.  Looked at Miss Schroder whose face was impassive.  That was a moment of truth for
me.  I had  fooled no one by using English words with French pronouncement.   If anything I had 
been a source of amusement. My desk was in front of her desk….by accident rather than design.
Or had she put me there for her amusement.   “Monseur Skeoch, would you read P 23 of the 
story converting English to French from your homework?”
  
At which point I would read from a blank page.   
But she liked me anyhow.   Smart ass stuff fooled no one except for me. I had bad habits.  Rarely
did homework.  Spent more time dating girls, sharing stories with my 38th Boy Scout Rover Crew,
playing football, joining the Drama Club, the Science club, the student council.  No time in the 
school day for something as trivial as homework.

So my failure in hat letter read in the back house of an abandoned school in the wilderness of 
Northern Ontario was not just due to the cast on my hand and wire drilled down the centre of 
mybsby finger.   All the same it was comforting to have n excuse.

MY history teacher, Evan “Crusher” Cruickshank, had a few good tricks up his sleeve.   His best one was just three words.
“I don’t know.”  He would leave a question dangling as if he really did not know.  On a couple
occasions I even tried to help “Crooky” by going to the Runnymede Public Library to 
find the meaning of something like Karl Marx’s ‘dictatership of the proletariat ‘.  I was deluded 
into believing Crooky needed help.

Much later in my life after Crooky hired me as a high school history teacher I discovered that
a blood relative, Alex Skeoch, had been the barn builder n the late 19th century on the Cruiksahnd farm near Sarnia.

Down deep I loved my techers but did not suck around.  What I liked best about them was 
their objectivity.  They treated all students the same…or tried to do that.  There was no crime greater
than being a teachers pet.  Better to keep buried in the classroom….as far back as possible.

Roberta Charlesworth new how to straighten out students that did not do their work.
She handed out detentions in an even handed way.  “Skeoch, you come in after school
….detention….Next time do your work.”

She was coaching the girls basketball team in the girls gym.   Why serve s detention in
home room If i could sit in the gym and watch the girls jump around in their blue 
gym bloomers.  So I did.   Next day.  “Skeoch, come up to he front.”  I thought i must
have done something right.  Thought that until she lifted me off the grabbed by my
left ear lobe and lifted.  Made my eyes water in front of he whole class.    “When I say detention
I mean detention in this room not the girls gym.  Now sit down.”

Later she got me several jobs tutoring students in English.  She did this as well as lift me by my ear
lobe.  I never told  one Greek student I helped started our 
tutoring with a glass of liquorice brandy.    And another was a friend of a nice Ukrainian
girl I waned to date.   Her parents did not like me until I used  a few Ukranian words
that Jim Romaniuk gave me.  “Sho Tish Niyue” (??) meant ‘How are you?.  Won them
over and got the date.  But that went nowhere as she was Catholic and I was
Presbyterian which seemed to be a wall.

IN school…public school…religion had no place.   Tha was a good thing.   Football 
replaced religion I suppose.

LOWER THAN A SNAKE IN A RUT

My parents were not upset in a way some might expect.  They were only upset 
because I was hurt.  They loved Eric and I in spite of some of he stupid things we did.
What a joy that was.   To be loved in spite of failure. No condemnation.  Mom
knew the cast covering my baby finger was a partial reason.  But she also 
knew I had rarely done my homework and was  partially o blame .   But she never said so
And dad did not really give a dmn.  He had been thrown out of school in Grade 9
at Fergus for firing snowballs at girls in the female back house that hung over the
steep hill above he Fergus Fairgrounds.   Instead of going back to school he caught
a train to Saskachewan after hiding from his father for some time.  

Should I do the same as dad.  Head for Saskachewan where Uncle John had a huge farm. 
 In other words Quit school and ‘climb telephone poles’ as my typing 
teacher ’Tiny Tim Talbot called quitters.  No.   Mr. Burford’s words
popped into my conscious mind. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Football philosophy had a powerful influence on daily life.   Replaced religion.
Some readers will  be offended by that comment I know.  My mind was like a blank
slate on which new ideas were written all the time.   I only wished that  my
mind had not gone blank in that 1958 Departmental physics Exam.  Maybe my mind just up and failed me
as a lesson.  

Did I have the guts to go back to high school…to repeat my Grade 13 year.
“To suffer the slings snd arrows of outrageous  fortune.?”  Did I have the guts?

Luckily I was not alone.  My best friend got the same devastating news
that I got.  We would both return to Humberside.  And surprisingly we were 
welcomed.

Note:  This may sound like a lot of crap.   What am I trying to explain?  Simple. My 
crushed baby finger was not the whole cause of my failure to get 75% on the
1958 Deparmentsl Exams.  Mea Culpa!   It was my fault,,,not just my baby finger.
Simple causation.   For every effect there are multiple causes.

I had many surprises ahead of me…good surprises…wonderful surprises.
And I chose a new path.  Study can be a joy….even an obsession.

alan skeoch
Nov. 24, 2023


1958-Grade-13-History-Final-Exam-by-toramble-ontariopage 1 of an old 1958 Department of Education, Ontario grade 13 Chemistry exam

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EPISODE 918 TED AND SHIRLEY, SNOWBIRDS, RETURN TO CANADA FOR GOOD. WHY? COST OF HEALTH CARE IN TEXAS

EPISODE 918      DINNER WITH COUSIN TED FREEMAN AND HIS WIFE SHIRLEY NOV. 24, 2023


alan skeoch
Nov. 23, 2023

MARJORIE SKEOCH, TED AND SHIRLEY FREEMAN   NOV. 23, 2023

It has been a long time since  we have seen each other.   Shirley and Ted Freeman have moved
back to Canada after 35 winter months at their ex=pat home in Texas.  
They are back on the farm I remember so well.  Ted’s mom and dad are so close to me that
it is hard to write about them.  Their farm is the farm where we spent so much of our childhood
years that it seemed like a pat of our own home.   It is very hard to write about people and 
places that are close…tight…personal.

Why did they return to Canada after so many winters inTexas.  Health care.  Simple.  The cost
of extra health care for Snowbirds is around $10,000 per year.   That cost cannot be sustained. And it
may not even be enough if a devastating illness or accident happens.   

Some Canadians experiencing a terrible operation prefer to hire an air ambulance to get
back to Canada.

Ted and Shirley are not ill.   They are back home.   And maybe this will give me a chance
to write about their farm.  Of all the farms in our family there are only  two where relatives still live.
The Townsend farms and the Freeman farm.


my cousin Ted Freeman had aneardeth experience…the thought of which he would rather not talk

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EPISODE 917 FOOTBALL ACCIDENTS CAN HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES…MY BABY FINGER for instane

Note:  Such a trivial event…a broken baby finger.  But it Changed my life.  Embarrassing and personal… maybe the story is too
boring for readers.  Skip it then.   That baby finger, however, is a big parr of my life. I feel driven to tell the story even though most
readers might feel I have wasted their time.






Take a look at my  baby left finger.  See the bump on it.   Now to tell the story.


  EPISODE 917    FOOTBALL ACCIDENTS  CAN HAVE BIG CONSEQUENCES…MY BABY FINGER for instane

alan skeoch
Nov. 20, 2-23

The accident seemed so trivial at first.  But the consequences on my life Big time and bad….in the short run.
And surprisingly positive in the long run.

I threw a good Cross Body block.  Was it in a game or just in a practice scrimmage ?  I do not remember.
I do remember the block.  My left hand touched the ground as the block finished.  Then our halfback ran by.
And he stepped on my left hand.  Let’s say that was 180 to 200 pounds of crested foot were landed on my baby finger.
It hurt a bit.  Later I had trouble writing.  My left hand scrawl was bad enough butDoing so with a broken baby finger
was worse.

“Your finger is broken, Alan.”
“I know that but it does not  hurt much.”
“You should get it fixed.””
“How?”
“See Dr Pennal, at St. Joseph’s Hospital.”  I think that was the surgeon’s name. Not sure.  And I think Dr. Greensway
suggested getting a surgical opinion.
(seventy two years ago)
“Yes , it is broken.”
“Does it need to be fixed?”
“Yes.  Fragment floating around that little finger need to be stabilized.  Minor operation,”

And that’s how this major event in my life began.  Noting major.  Minor surgery  The year was 1958.  My Grade 13 year
of high school at Humberside.  Big plans?  I had none.  Had no idea what to do with my life.   The smashed baby
finger changed everything.

THE OPERATION — FINGER SURGERY

I went to the hospital alone.  Not because my parents didn’t care.  But they were working
Mom was a sewing machine operator in a needle trade sweatshop hidden workshop on Annette Street near Keele St.
If she did not work, she did not get paid.   Dad made good money a long way from home.  He was a truck tire buider and  had to catch a series of busses and street cars from
West Toronto to the small tow of Whitby, east of Toronto.  Probably 3 to 4 hours there and back home.  He was a gambler….horse races too all his free time. 

So I went alone.  Never a good idea going to a hospital alone.   I read that somewhere.  True.  

First i was asked to lie down on a gurney while a nurse shaved my right arm.  Now That seemed
odd to me.  

“Why are you shaving my right arm?”
“To get you ready for the surgeon.”
“But it is my left hand with the broken finger.”
(She checked  my chart)
“Sorry…you are correct.
(Then she shaved my left arm)

What would happen if they opened up the wrong finger?”

“This local will numb your hand…no pain. You wil be awake.”
(And a  nurse gave me a needle. Then the gurney was wheeled 
into the hallway and left there for some time.  I waited on the gurney for a long time it seemed.

Then was wheeled in to the operating theatre.  Yes, theatre.   There ws a huge round gallery
above me with half a dozen people gazing down.   Such a small operation for interns and
nurses to watch.  I never did know exactly how damaged my finger seemed.  No time for
thinking.

“YOWEEE!  That hurts, “ as the surgeon began to open up the finger.
“When did this boy get the local?”
“Some time ago, perhaps an hour or more>=”
“Give him another shot right now.”

No pain after that.  I took my mind off the surgery by watching the people who were in turn
watching the surgery.  Tried to put my mind elsewhere. Ten it was over.

“Son, you  will have a cast on your left hand for some time.  The bones on 
your little finger have been put in place… a long wire pin goes down the centre of your finger.
When all seems fine the pin will be removed.  See the tip of it there.   Be careful.”
(Instructions were something like that.  The pin was there but not visible due to the cast.)

Day surgery. “You can go home  now.”   I boarded the Roncesvales street car heading for 
the Annete Strreet bus and home.  I felt a little faint as blood oozed into the cast but 
soon I began total the immobility of my left hand for granted.

Should I play football?  Why not?  We had a game against Oakwood where I made a
textbook shoestring tackle.  Burf said so   He may have also noticed my white cast. Never told him about it.
And in that game I nearly intercepted a pass but knocked the ball to the ground instead.
“Why did you not catch the ball and run with it?”
“Never occurred to me.” (Left Guards andi inside linebackers are not ball carriers)

I was back in the game…playing my role with the team.  It felt good.

OMINOUS CLOUD

The consequences of that damaged little finger changed my life.
Grade 13 was a tough year for students across Ontario in 1958.  Grade 13
exam papers were marked by special markers  in June and July.  Markers that
did know or care that I could barely scribble my name even after the cast was removed.

CONSEQUENCES OF MY LITTLE BROKEN FINGER … WERE BIG TIME 

Next Episode    BIG CONSEQUENCES OF A FINGER WIRED TOGETHER


postscript:  The Grade 13 exams were very serious…expected much of students.

Circular S. 4C 1959-3113
ivjinisiry 0 i E
r r
33 3 • I9i G
o 6T>>e {H –
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
MEMORANDUM
To Principals of Secondary Schools
Re Grade 13 Departmental Examinations in English
1959
ENGLISH LITERATURE I. GENERAL COMMENTS
Markers of the English Literature papers in 1959 observed a gratifying improvement in handwriting and spelling, as well as in sentence structure and coherence. It was still evident, however, that a great many candidates lacked training in organizing their material. The habitual use of clear, precise, and idiomatic English remains the exception rather than the rule, and startling deficiencies in vocabulary were revealed. For instance, many candidates lost marks because they did not know the meaning of “thwart” and “subsequent”. Those who neglected to read the questions carefully penalized themselves by failing to perceive the main requirement of the question and by wasting time in writing irrelevant material.
The defect most frequently found was that, though most candidates revealed an adequate command of the content of the course, few were able to discuss critically and appreciatively the means which an author uses to produce his effects. Key words in the questions, directing the candidates to attempt a critical approach, were largely ignored. Thus, though candi¬ dates were asked ‘how a statement contributes to the achievement of a purpose’ and ‘how a character is revealed’, and were directed to state or describe ‘the means by which suspense is created’, ‘the uses of metaphor or simile’, ‘the methods of inducing the reader. . . ’, and ‘the sources of comic






a 











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EPISODE 916 ; FOOTBALL DAYS…. ERIC GOT SPIKED…DEEP HOLE IN HIS LEG FILLED WITH MUD….TERRIBLE THING TO SEE

EPISODE  916 ; FOOTBALL DAYS…. ERIC GOT SPIKED…DEEP HOLE IN HIS LEG FILLED WITH MUD….TERRIBLE THING TO SEE


alanskeoch
Nov. 18, 2023
This is my brother Eri…14 months younger than me…we are close , like twins,…did things together.  He was right handed though
which made a hell a of difference in life.



Eric’s 1955 Football jacket…his number was 29, right end.  which meant he could catch afoootball pass from the quarterback while
my job was to bash the guy opposite me, the defensive guard.  Quite a different job. No glory

MUD GAME AGAINST RIVERDALE…TURNS TO HORROR

It was a mud game.  Late October at Millen Field in East end against Riverdale C. I.   THE Riverdale boys were tough. We expected
the game to be very physical the moment our team arrived at the ramshackle changing room bisected into
two parts by a flimsy sawdust board dividing wall.  Big hot in the wall where a Riverdale guy poked his head ans yelled, 
“’We will knock the shit out of you Pansies,” or some comment like that.  We were no better as we were determined to
 ‘Get Banana nose,’ the less than flattering term for their quarterback.  Enemies ar war…with one big difference in weaponry.
Mud spike.

“Boys, I want you to wear mud spikes today, better traction in Millen Field.”

And so we hsdto unscrew our normal spikes which were about an inchi long and replace them
with 2 inch mud spikes.  Better traction for sure.  Like running with studded tractor tires. 

It was  still raining and had been doing do for a couple of days.  Ugly day.
I remember the mud slurry went over my boots in places.     Mud did not bother me much.  Getting dirty
was expected of football players.  We were not pansies.

The game was tough   Body against body.   Most plays were ground plays.   Very little passing.  Lots of 
body contact.  I read somewhere that the impact of an offensive Guard like me against my opposing defensive guard
was the same as the impact of an astronaut breaking the gravity barrier into outer space.  Heroic effort.

My brother Eric must have been a defensive right end in that game.  His job was to ‘Get Banana Nose’ or the ball carrier.
He had to charge full speed into the mayhem after the ball was snapped.  The Riverdale quarterbacks nose did not look 
as long as I expected.  But he did look tough.

Something unusual happened.  Eric was helped off the field….Limping.
A couple of mudslpikes had cut the calf of his leg.  Hard to tell how deep because the
exposed flesh was covered in mud and the dirty white powdered chalk used mark the field into five yard intervals.
He  limped to the bench.  “I am OK…just a scratch’  LIKE HELL IT WAS A SCRATCH.

This was no scratch…Could see the mud handing from the hole.
As for me I was suddenly overcome with a feeing of weakness.  My brother was hurt and I felt the pain.
It was hard for me to go on the field with ouroffenive squad. I was not looking for revenge.
 I think that is why brothers are separated in wartime.   They might look after each other.  Lose their concentration.
 Maybe the separation is so that one might be lost but not all would be lost.

I got over the shock next play when I saw Eric coming back on the field as defensive end.  Must just be a scratch…not serious.
So we finished the game.  I am quit sure we won.   As Burf said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”,   Foptball was not just s game,
it was war.

The terror set in after the game…after our team shower.  No!  There was no shower. And  Eric’s wound was not superficial.  It was deep…perhaps an inch or more into
the calf of his leg.  The hole had filed up with mud…stopped the bleeding.  Mud mixed with blood becomes mud.  Why was he not in
pain?  Adrenalin.  

“Get your mom or dad to take Eric to the doctor,,,this wound could be bad.”  

Mom took control immediately. 
  Dad was on night shift…gone to work.   Mom ran our house anyway. 

“Alan, you come along.  We will see Dr. Greenaway right now.”  Family doctors were accessible in the 1950’s.
Doctor Greenawy cleaned the wound, applied some alcohol in the wound, stopped the bleeding.   D.r Greenaway
was concerned.

“Who willl watch Eric tonight?”
“lan will….The boys sleep in the same bed.”
“Then, Alan, I want you to take this syringe..this needle.   If Eric begins to act strangely…to have a convulsion
tonight, I want you to give him this needle.  It is very important.  Can you do that?”
“Ye,sir,,,I think I can.” knowing full well I would get mom fast.  She slept in the couch in our
one bedroom house.  Dad sept in our bed when he was on day shift at Dunlop Tire Corporation. All
very efficient.  All very close.  All very natural to us.  Doesn’t everybody live that way? We lived on top
of each other.  My boyfriends each had their own rooms. Soft life for them. I rarely did homework…no room.

It was a long night for mom and I.    Maybe for Eric too.   But morning came and no odd behaviour.
Eric was alive.   I think he e ven played football later in  the season.  We were not pansies.

Grea chsnce for a cruel joke on mom.



“ERIC’S HELMET IS SMASHED , MOM”

7)  The next football season, 1956, we played a cruel joke on Mom.  It realy was not  funny.  
but to us it was a hoot…really funny.  

 Mom loved
us and did not want to see us hurt.  Dad was the same.   Touch my kid then answer to me.  Physical world we lived in.
Eric and I played cruel jokes on them both.  Careful with dad because he might overreact.  But mom was fair game.

Mom has been gone a long time butI often Eri and I remember this joke.   It is not funny but we thought it so.

We returned form a football game in Russ Vanstone’s Chev.   He dropped us at the door.    We lived on
the second floor and there was a long staircase upward.   The plan was cruel.  I knew mom would
ask about the game and sure enough as soon as I started up the stairs the asked, “How did the game go?”

“Eric got hurt mom,” and I threw his crushed footbsllhelmet up the stairs.

Russ had accidentally back the Chev over the helmet.    Very funny, don’t you think?
I came up the stairs alone but Eric was not far behind.   I think mom laughed when she
got over the shock.  zoo hugs and kisses.  The joke was not so funny to mom.


 alan

Post script:  Much more to come…Wrong Way Cush and Jarring Jach Osmond and
my operation at St. Joseph hospital where people go to die.

POS SCRPT:  I remember when the scab and hardened puss came out of Eric’s leg….not
pretty.



Here are some family pics that might sue your  Mom made all our winter clothes out of old coats.

Eric, our farm cousin Ted Freeman, Alan….much later in life.












Mom with her two boys wearing cut don costs
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Fwd: EPISODE 913: FOOTBALL BECAME AN ADDICTION…A DANGEROUS ADDICTION 1954 TO 1961

Fwd: EPISODE 913:   FOOTBALL BECAME AN ADDICTION…A DANGEROUS ADDICTION  1954 TO 1961


Alan Skeoch

Nov. 15, 2023


Left handed Alan Skeoch could not skate well because skates were hand me downs and too large.
He ankled his way across the ice. Hockey was out of the question   His athletic career was football centred.

Victoria University team…Alan skeoch far right, front row,  Russ Vanstone beside him. Eric Skeoch fifth /sixth? person back row right side.  Who has most mud on face?

HOW utterly boring.  Who in their right mind would want to read about my football career.
I never scored a touchdown.   Never trounced the football except once between 1954 nd 1961…
from High school to University of Toronto .   Who would care if it did?  Not you, especially 
if you are female.   Most males would not give a damn either.

Here is a reason to read these episodes.  I was scared to death a lot of the time.  I was nothing really.
No glory.  A lineman and inside linebacker.  Not worth watching.  Then why was I so scared?  I was 
afraid I would let our coach down.  Afraid I would make the wrong move.  

I had difficulty telling left
from right.  Being left handed meant being different from 90% of the population.  It is a right handed world.
At Kent Public School the teachers tried to ‘break me’…to make me right handed. The result was
not good.  I have always had difficulty telling left from right.  Still do.  If asked to use left hand my thumb 
moves fast … left thumb touches left little finger where there is a bump.  That is my left hand.  And that ‘bump’
is a big part of my athletic career.   That little finger was crushed.   More will be told about that bump.  But not now.

PRIDE AND BRAGGING ARE DIFFERENT

I am enormously proud to say that I conquered the handicap.  Became a Toronto City All Star on both
city all star teams….Daily Star and Telegram.  Was winner the Wildman Trophy as well.
Bragging?  There is a difference between bragging and having pride.   When winning the accolades I have
always been well aware that many players must have been better than me.   One of my best friends
and fellow lineman, Russ Vanstone, had a forearm smash that was something to be envied.   Rich Mermer,
our high school halfback was the best athlete I have ever seen.  The same applies at University to our
fullback, Don Seeback.  Ed Jackan’s cleated leather boot rescued me from a violent incident…kicked the guy
who was making hamburger out of my face. I have always had good friends.  Ed kicked the gy between the legs.
Cooled him down fast.

I still get s warm feeling when thinking of those football days.  Just being an integral part of a team
was like being an integral part of a Canadian army platoon.   We depended on each other.  We knew 
that.  Our top athletes like Mermer and Seeback knew that and never let their ego loose.   Gest gas who
became great men.

Our coach, Fred Burford knew the importance of team work . “Alan, the reason you got those all star awards was the team.  We are proud of you
and hope you recognize your success was team success.”

Why are you reading this?  I will tell you why.  Some very bad things happened to football players.
Life long events.   I am 85 years old now and in a few weeks…on Dec. 12, 2023, will face knee
surgery to make me walk normally again.   So this is more a story of injuries than glory.  Are you still with me?


Eric’s Humberside jacket has hung in our barn for 73 years….a little ragged now.   The jacket has been waiting for 68 years for
me to do this story   Be understanding.   Avoid criticism.   Russ Vanstone’s jacket is perfect he tells me.  Different barn I guess.

OUR COACH FRED BURFORD

 Fred Burford believed in football
as some believe in god.   The game dominated his waking hours even at the expense wife and family.  His son joined our
Old boys club shortly after Burford died.  His observation says it all.

“One day I went to see Dad’s Humberside team play a game against another TSSAA team.   I was shocked.
The team from Humberside came on the field like a well oiled machine….every move synchronized.
I was flabbergasted.  I knew Dad loved football but I did not know he had made the top team in Toronto in 1955.”

I WAS SCARED TO DEATH MOST OF THE TIME

Now I would like to give my observation on those football years in a series of personal anecdotes.
Surprised to say how many incidents involved injuries.  Some awful things happened. Some of which may sound silly.
Some, in later episodes, were horrific.

WHISTLING INCIDENT
1) I was scared when I joined the Huskies back in 1954. Only a second string lineman and occasional Inside
linebacker. I sat on the bench most of the time.  Scared I would actually be sent to actually play.  Scared I would let the coach down because 
had trouble telling right fro left.  When the teacher at Kent Public School tried to break me, she failed. Left? Right? Got
me confused.   Football is a science of right and left diving fullbacks and racing halfbacks while the humble linemen
try to bash holes in the defensive linemen’s position.

“OK boys, let’s try a left reverse.  Left Gard will pull and smash the left cornerbacker.  Do it on count of three.”
So spake the quarterback in this imaginary huddle.  My job as left guard was to take out the outside corner backer with
a flying cross body block (now illegal). 

 IN the fall of 1954 I was scared and was only sent into the huddle when 
the first stringer got hurt.  But I became noticed by Burf.

“Who is whistling?”
I raised my hand. ( Whenever I feel afraid I whistled a happy tune as in The King and I.) 
“So it was you.”  (I am not sure if Burf knew my name back in ’54.)
“Come over here and stand on this bench”
I did so but did not know what that had to do with whistling.
“Boys, gather round.  There is nothing worse than over confidence in a football game.
Whistling shows overconfidence.  I want you boys to be quiet..to think about your
game..to be sure and know all the plays on the mimeographed sheets.  We are going to 
win this game.”
“OK Skeoch, step down…no more whistling.”
I was mortified.  If I could have crawled under the bench I would yhave done so. Seemed that 
every boy in the room looked at me as if I was the anti-Christ.

All coaches try to think of a way to get teams up for games. Burford was good at that.
I think he knew he had made a mistake picking on me but he never said so.

   I am a joiner.   I’m nor a quitter.  Mom said  to me when I filled at skating. “Alan, you
will always start at the bottom but rise to th top.  Was she just trying yo boost my morale?   I never told her about
the whistling incident.   And Certainly did not tell dad.  He might have laughed or, worse, he might have gone thundering
over to see Burf  like Gengis Khan

QUARTERBACK HAS NO SHOES
2)  Burford seemed agitated.    We were all assembled in an east Toronto locker room. Enemy territory.
Something was wrong.  Tension was higher than usual.  Like the wire on a guitar…tense, tight, close to breaking.
“Boys we have a problem.  Our quarterback left his shoes at home. One of you will have to
lend him shoes which means you will not be able to play today.  Quarterback is essential.
Back up Quarterback, Jim Romaniuk, missed the preparation chalk talk.  We have a crisis.
Who will give up his shoes?”
“I will , sir.”
“Let me look at you boots.”
 My shoes were the bottom of the team shoe distribution bag.  They were old 
and cracked in half.  Something like Bozo the Clown would wear to flap around a circus tent,
“Sorry.  These shoes are no good.  Surprised  you could even wear them.”
That rejection hurt as much as the whistling incident.
Other shoes were found.

Humberside C.I had three football teams…Bantam, Junior and  Senior.    Nearly a hundred boys
had to be strapped into equipment.  Shoulder pads, kidney pads, boots, helmet, padded pants, .  
“You boys will have to buy your own jock straps…make sure the jock has  a cup to
protect your hardware.”


TOTAL COMMITMENT
3)  Joining the Huskies was like joining the Canadian army in wartime.   At least it seemed that way to me.
Schoolwork was important but the football war against other high school teams demanded total 
allegiance.  World War II  had only ended 8 years before Ientered grade 9 in 1953. A long time in the past for me
bt not so long ago for Burf who I Believe had been in the Canadian navy.There was a relationship that 
was akin to the gap between officers and enlisted privates.  Salute and do what you are told.
So every lunch hour of my high school career was spent in Burf’s hoe room studying endless 
mimeographed sheets of plays.    No chance to scout out the girls .  This was war.  The victories
were all important. Noting else mattered.  We had around 1,000 stents at Humberside.  Only 100
were members of the football team. The chosen few. Football was war.

DON PHILLIPS HAS CONVUSIONS
4)  One lunch hour I was sitting with the rest of the Junior team in Burf’s room while he reviewed
 a recent game.  We probably won for we had   a terrific team and eventually
won’t the TSSA championship that year (1955). The room was silent as Burford
went over the game.  

The silence was broken suddenly b a rattling…then a deep surging.  I turned around 
and looked at Don Philips in the middle row.  He was twitching…emitting some kind of bubbly gutteral nonsense.
 foaming at the mouth.  Then he fell from his seat twitching.  I was dumbfounded.
Though Donnie ws going die   Burford quickly ran down the aisle and put a ruler in his mouth at right
angles.   Later I was told this ruler prevented Don from biting his own tongue.  It is Hard to describe
the silence in the room tht day.   Once the convulsion stopped there was dead silence.

Never head what happened to Donnie.  He never played football again although he 
completely recovered.  The scuttlebutt round the school was that Don had bashed his 
head in a direct tackle in the previous  football game. Spearing.  Seemed some teachers were blaming Burford
But that was only said in whispers.

It was not Burf who was at fault.  He trained us  to never ever use our head as  a”spear”
when  taking down a ball carrier.  “Use your shoulder, never your head and get him blow the knees
….clamp onto him.  Nice clean tackle.  No ’spearing’.   Had Don forgotten that rule?
Or did Don have a previous ailment?   We would never know.  But that moment shook me
and for the rest of my long football career.  I used my shoulder and tried to hit low.

THE CROSS BODY BLOCK (now illegal)  
5) No one gives a sweet goddamn about linemen.  It took me  a while to realize this.
I thought girls liked football  and being part of the team would lead to romantic conquests.
That never happened.  Girls , I think, found the game boring.   Certainly my part
of the game.  no one could see me.  Except..except … except when given the chance to
throw s Cross Body Block.  That happened when the ball carrier was trying to out run
the defence  players…particularly the Outside Corner Backer.  If left side play  I had the chance to run
beside our halfback and takeout that cornerbacker with a Cross Body Block.

“Alan,  To throw a good Cross Body Block you must put your whole body lengthwise
in the air.  Six feet of body flying in the air.  Knockdown the corner backer and help 
us get s touchdown.  Be accurate….just one chance.”

Picture: Left Guard Alan Skeoch, Fullback Grant Weber  (Grade 13…less scared than I was in 1954))

SURGERY — KNEE REPLACEMENT.

   This year, 2023, on Dec. 12 I will be having
my knee replaced by surgery.  My knee has given out and I blame the Cross body
Blocking I did from 1954 to 1961.   My knees got bashed badly….ribs as well.

“How do you know you were good at it?”
“Because Bob Cwirenko said I was good at it.”
“Who is he?”
“He was one of our high school team….a corner backer.  Bob played for SPS,
the engineers at U. of T.   I played for Victoria  and threw a cross body block on Bob…
took him out.  When he got to his feet he said “Good block Al”

(Aside: Marjorie Hughes was an SPS Cheerleader who would later accept my
brown bagged engagement ring from the glove compartment of our old 1953 Meteor.
I wonder if Cwirenko noticed her?)


ROGER PUGH BLOCKS A KICK
6)  I set some limits  after I saw Roger Pugh block a kick with his face.  A lot of
the guys congratulated Roger.   “Way to go “Pugh!’  I was impressed by his courage but
resolved to never put my face where the cleated shoe of a kicker was about to come up full force.
Bad things happened while playing football.

alan 

NEXT EPISODE 914  — “IF Eric begins a convulsion shove this needle in right away, Alan”


Postscript
Ed Jackman and Marjorie…hE played left tackle at U. of  T., later became a priest.   A good friend now gone.


Alan Skeoch married Marjorie Hughes in 1963

Below: Russ Vanstone and Alan Skeoch played football together 1955 to 1961, married roommates.
Posted on

EPISODE 912 HUMBERSIDE OLD BOYS REUNION –NOV. 8, 2023


Note: POSTSCRIPT:   Next  Episode will be memories of football at HCI.  Sound boring?
Not so. 1)   “Now Alan, if Eric starts convulsions, shove this needle into his arm immediately.”
            2)  “The blood was seeping through the cast as I got on the streetcar.”
            3) “How was the game boys?” “Eric got into an accident,” and I Threw his crushed helmet up the stairs
            4) Beer in a violin case thanks to Jarring Jack Osmond — who was suspended
           5) Wrong Way Cush (how he earned his name)
           6)  “He started to twitch and foam at the mouth,”  Burf put a pen across his mouth to save his  tongue
           7(  Playing football should attract the girls.  A false statement that we believed.
           8)  Alan, you must be suspended like the others.”   “Thank you Mr. Couke…thank you, thank you”

EPISODE 912   HUMBERSIDE OLD BOYS REUNION — NOV. 8, 2032


I Am a joiner as are the eight Humberside C.I Old Boys in this picture.
Why did we join this elect group of 80+ year old club.   We enjoyed  high
school….liked our teachers (most of them) and liked each  other.



THE HUMBERSIDE OLD BOYS REUNION (RIGHT TO LEFT) — MARINO BASADUR, GARY LOGAN, ZIG NOVAK, (host) THE RODIN BROTHERS, 
GORD NICHOLS  (chairman), ALAN SKEOCH, 


PHOTOGRAPHER,  THOM NORRIS (above left)  see note from Thom in postscript

ABSENT — BOB CWIRENKO,  RON CLARK, JEFF SCOTT, JOHN FUTA, ROB WILDMAN and others


ONLY 8 OF US HERE TODAY (NOV. 8, 2023)

We meet two to three times a year when Gord Nicholls and Zig Novak can get this lunch
table at the Burlington Golf Club.  That’s a long way from HCI and West Toronto.  Very few people even
know we exist…or care.  We have no grand project now in 2023. 

In past years we were a much larger group…perhaps 20 or so.  and we began just to meet once more with
our football coach Fred Burford and Track and Drama coach Dunc Green and basketball coach Big Al Merritt.
Those fellows have departed this world now but we remember them still.   We remember lots of things
that bring us together.   One of the Rodin brothers does an imitation of Les Devitt, an HCI math
teacher who had idiosyncrasies.

My memory of Mr. Devitt is slightly profane.  He was checking homework …moving down 
the fifth row of seats where Christine Skironsky sat.  She had a particularly low cut blouse
on that day.  I noted thins like that.   I was not alone.  As Mr. Devitt approached the low cut
blouse, he said  “What have you got there”

Christine shrieked and put her hands against that blouse.  The class went wild.   I think Mr. 
Devitt put a couple of us in the hall.  I am not sure if he knew why we were laughing.
I honestly believe he had no idea but I  could be wrong

When Devitt retired I was asked to give a speech honouring him.  “Be funny, Alan.”…said Roberta
Charlesworth, our English teacher.  She knew there were many stories about him.  I did a little research and 
discovered Les  Devit was a test pilot in World War I.  If he thought an airplane was not
good enough then he brought it down to a very hard landing…a damaging landing.
Why?  Because he did not want young pilots to be endangered.  We never knew this
courageous side of Mr. Devitt.  No one laughed as he sat on the stage.  All applauded.  Some with
tears in their eyes.  Even Christine Skironsky who never wore that blouse again.  I would have
noticed.

Stories like this have been shared over and over again by the fellows.  Les profane.

We are all in our late 80’s now.  Real Old Boys.   Some have departed.  Some are  ill.
Some live far away.  Some, no doubt, do not have fond memories of high school.  Our
own two boys do not have this nostalgia.  They never mention high school days as we
do.  Too bad.

alan
November 15m 2023

POSTSCRIPT:   Next  Episode will be memories of football at HCI.  Sound boring?
Not so. 1)   “Now Alan, if Eric starts convulsions, shove this needle into his arm immediately.”
            2)  “The blood was seeping through the cast as I got on the streetcar.”
            3) “How was the game boys?” “Eric got into an accident,” and I Threw his crushed helmet up the stairs


THOM NORRIS REMEMBERS

HUMBERSIDE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
 

From infancy, Humberside Collegiate Institute was part of my life. I remember my mother in long gowns going to the At Home  dances and bringing home hats, horns and treats. The Toltons, Wismers,(relatedto us) bachelor and later married Stuffy MacInnis, LaPierres, Devitts, Coukes, Talbots, Cruikshanks ( related to us),)Maclellans and more were on our doorstep as almost family., All were my teachers.. The wives were like a club. Noreen Couke, Helen Tolton, Ellen Wismer , Mrs. Talbot and others were like sisters .d_The McHoull’s lived in the apartments at Clendenan and Bloor and paid $9 per month rent frozen during the war and said they had so little furniture they kept their Christmas tree up for months.. My father joined the Humberside staff in 1922. In 1952, upon graduation, I received the Alumni Award before heading to Normal School.
 
Helen Tolton and Doris Norris were my Sunday School teachers at High Park United, the largest Sunday School of any denomination in the British Empire when my dad was Superintendent of the Sunday School in 1934 when I was born. 800 soldiers came out of HPU and Alhambra United ( our H.C.I. 125th Anniversary venue in 2017)including my brother John born in 1925. Everyone lived nearby and either walked to H.C.I. or drove, as when Dad was in shock that Romeo La Pierre moved across the Humber to Glenaden bordering on Park Lawn Cemetery. He would have to drive to work Dad said in amazement , as he couldn’t understand why anyone moved to the Burbs with no transit nor sidewalks nor stores to which to  walk . Why was I not so wise? Especially why would anyone want to give up High Park ???. 60 Pacific Avenue was 12 houses from my extended playground-High Park.
 
It was after the war that immigrants flocked to High Park as was typical of European culture. All Toronto  teachers’ cheques were deposited by the Toronto Board  of Ed.in the Bank of Toronto on the north-east side of Keele and Dundas. The Manager was their financial advisor.After the war he advised ones like Romeo La Pierre  to get a new house in Etobicoke since with immigration  from Europe to disturb our British milieu ,Polish and Ukrainians were willing to pay $6200 for the old three story houses in High Park./Runnymede.
 
It is interesting on this Victoria Day weekend that I have the Union Jack flying out front that fluttered on the eves of 60 Pacific Ave. along with all  other loyalists with the same, t hat has fluttered over 4 Coronations in 1936,1937, 1952 and 2023.
 
GOD SAVE THE KING

HELEN IVENS REMEMBERS

You write a great story Al. I’m sure your 300 pager was unique also. Who knew that you and I tackled a Master’s degree about the same time – mine an M. ED. at OISE, Computers in Education. I was on a 12 year “sabbatical” raising our 2 girls and when ready to teach again, there were no jobs available, so I looked to the future to upgrade my qualifications. It ultimately worked and I got in 13 more years to add to the earlier 13. 
 
My husband, Bob,  would have been very interested in your grad degree, as he worked at Massey Ferguson for a time in the 60’s and turned down a move to Desmoine Iowa. Whenever we travelled, he was on the lookout for Massey equipment that he might recognize. It finally happened in 2000, when he saw an ancient looking tractor in a field in Western Turkey and yup –  it was a Massey. Then we saw a bright new one at an Outdoor Museum in the same area. It made his trip! 
 
Coincidently, my dad, Tom, had also worked for Massey Harris, as it was then, when my sisters and I were little tots. Even a math teacher couldn’t stretch an end of June pay cheque to the end of September and that’s how he got us through the summer for a few years. I’m sure dad would have loved your agricultural treasures and might have even read your whole 300 pages, if he’d still been around. That was the total of my agricultural experience – more or less.
 
Keep them coming Al. Your slice of life is unique and quite fun and interesting to read.
 
Helen
 

alan skeoch
Feb. 3, 2023
Posted on

EPISODE 911 HAWKERS CARTS, GRAVEL ROAD, WILD APPLE TREES, STUMP fENCE….NOV. 12, 2023

EPISODE 911     WANDERING DOWN FIFTH AND SIXTH LINE ROADS


alan skeoch
Nov. 13, 2023

Nothing seemed to go right today.  Drove to farm and  accidentally spilled five gallons of 
water on my clothes….stripped  and found old pair of leotards …. Gave up on cleaning  the barn and took a THERAPEUTIC RIDE down 
fifth and sixth line reads,

There is no storY here unless you make one up yourself.  Sorry   


I could get nothing done  in the barn…anticipate some work now the actors’ and writer’ strike is over.   has been tough times.

But I am soaking wet and wearing leotards.    I quit.


More fun to search for wild apple trees now the leaves have fallen and the apples cling for a final display that no one cares  about



This farm has been derelict for four years.   The stable was filled with riding horses.  Now all gone and combination  of wind and and vandals
will pull it down.  Hopefully someone will rescue those hand made beams.


The beams may have been hacked from this root fence……white pines
Posted on

EPiSODE 911 AMDREW’S BEES HAVE SWARMED


Note:  Here is a short episode…a mystery.  Easy to read.  I wonder if any of you took the time
to read my “Last flight of HX 313” sent for Remembrance Day…too long I know   This is hoister..a mystery.


EPiSODE 911   AMDREW’S BEES HAVE SWARMED

[


alan skeoch
Nov. 5, 2023

“Dad, have a chunk of honey.    All that is left of four bee hives.   One bite for each of us.  What happened?”


OUR SON ANDREW lost four of his five bee hives in the lsat 6 weeks?  They swarmed.  A bunch of the bees and a queen just took off.   Then the others did the same.   Leaves him with one hive.
Why did this happen?  Bees are smart    But these bees seem to have a low I.Q.   Why take off in a swarm in late October?   Winter not he way  Thousands of them seem to face a sure and
certsin death.   Most bees swarm in the spring.  Why did Andrew’s bees swarm when the leaves were falling and the nectar giving flowers were dying?
I know there are bee lee[ers eep read these stories.   Starvation is a reason for some swarming.  But these hives had stocked up on honey…yet when we looked at the hives they were near empty
Some mice were chewing in one hive and a cloud of wasps were catching a few free meals.  But no bees.   No bee messenger had been left behind to say:”Andrew we have taken a hike. If you want us
back we are over in Bobb Kerr’s south field fence line.”   No message, however.


Prime Bee Swarm

A primary bee swarm is the most common form of bee swarm and is the first bee swarm to leave the hive. It is usually made up of around 50% of the size of the parent colony, which is normally around 25,000 bees. It also contains the queen bee.

swarm of bees

Absconding Bee Swarm

An absconding bee swarm does not happen very often and is the result of problems in the beehive such as starvation, pests overtaking the hive, or disease. If an absconding bee swarm happens, all the bees will leave the hive instead of splitting like in swarming. In this case, very few if any bees will be left in the beehive.