EPISODE 999: ALAN SKEOCH EXPLAINS HIS ABSENCE
alan skeoch Dec. 25, 2023
Surgery. What went wrong?
KNEE SURGARY Simply put my body did not like one of the drugs and told me so violently. The result set me back for a few weeks while I expected only a few days. The therapy will continue.
I have stories ready when I feel better.
alan skeoch
P.S. “One of you must plunge this blood thinner into Alan’s stomach each day for ten days … that will reduce the chance of blood clots. Here are ten syringes with the syrum. Who will do the job?” “I will,” said son Andrew.
EPISODE 926 SUMMER 1959 PART 5 “VESPER INCANTATO PEREGRINAM VIDES” (SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, YOU WILL MEET A STRANGER)
EPISODE 926 SUMMER OF 1959: “VESPER INCANTATO PEREGRINAM VIDES” (SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, YOU WILL MEET A STRANGER)
Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
you may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her
Again and again.
Some enchanted evening
Someone may be laughin’,
You may hear her laughin’
Across a crowded room
And 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 feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
For all through your life you
May dream all alone.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go!
alan skeoch
Dec. 7,2023
Our love affair …on an “enchanted evening” at a dance “across a crowded room”, I met a “stranger” and
“never let her go”.
Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
you may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you’ll see her
Again and again.
Some enchanted evening
Someone may be laughin’,
You may hear her laughin’
Across a crowded room
And 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 feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
For all through your life you
May dream all alone.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go!
Love at first sight sounds a little over dramatic but elements were true in my case. Russ, Jim and I Were singles at a
Victoria College, U. of T. dance.
Sophmores…second year men …inflated egos perhaps. I saw her right away. “across a crowded room”
“Jim. that girl looks nice.”
“Right,” and Jim darted across the dance floor and danced with her then returned
“Jim, you did not give me a chance. I spotted her.”
“She is nice, Alan, really nice. Your turn is now.”
And we danced. The evening suddenly become enchanting. We danced slow to something like “My Prayer”, cheek to cheek”
and frantic to any lyric by Elvis Pressly”. And the dance ended. The crowd dispersed. She headed for her residence and
we caught the bus to western edge of Toronto. I did not even catch her name.
Latin was not my best subject but one fragment got into te the long term storage compartment of my brain. “Vesper Incantato,
peregrines vides,” … “Some Enchjanted evening, you will meet a stranger”…across a crowded room. The hit song from
Rodgers and Hamerstein’s South Pacific. Our Latin teacher loved to sing i to us in Latin.
That is how it happened. But who was she?
Next afternoon at football practice our team was doing excercises running around the trcak a few times.
Lo snd behold, there she was leaning out a window of her residence. Fourth floor. I spotted her.
“Hi, up there, what are you doing tonight?”
“Nothing much”
“Meet you at seven at Wymilwood” (coffee shop for Victoria College students)
“OK”
Her name is (was) Marjorie Hughes, freshwoman from North Bay, … a nice person for sure. We clicked
She became secretary for her 6T2 student executive. A lot of people thought she was nice. One boy
even proposed marriage to her unknown to me. She chose to take a chance on me. Big risk.
We all have priorities in our lives. My priorities changed in 1959 as a result of a speech given to
Humberside graduate by th Dean of Women from University of Guelph.
“What is most important to you as graduates?” She paused. “I suspect you have high goals….high careers in mind.”
Let me give you a word of advice at this fork in the road of your life journey.”
“The most important goal should be finding a person with whom you wish to spend the rest of your life.”
Pause. “Career is secondary. Too few people are aware of this. Your career might last for 30 or so years. Your marriage,
should you be so lucky could last twice as long. Be vigilant.”
Number of my fellow graduate thought that was dumb speech. They had clear careers in mind…doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, etc. etc.
Personally I thought she was right. I was looking for a wife. University was secondary…no university was third . Football was second.
Adventure ss a geophysical explorer was new the top as well. Until a geologist I worked with died and his body was flow from
the bush in Chibougamau. Suddenly this goal faded.
But finding a person with whom
to spend my life was the very top of my list.
We soon got around to holding hands.
Marjorie had come through a tough year in her life in 1955 when both her mom and her dad died. She was
a Grade 10 student at Lawrence Park Collegiate when all meaning her life had was shattered.
‘I went to school that morning dad died. I was numb…walked back home. No one seemed to care.”
Her mothers’ sister, Phyllis Morgan was a Latin tescher in faraway Norh Bay. She became Marjorie’s guardian.
A life changing event.. “All I owned was put in my suitcase when I took the bus to North Bay. What wonderful
years followed. Chippewa High School. Dances, Curling Team, Drama Club (I Was a witch), summer cottages, trips,
friends..
…life changed.
Also a lot of boyfriends many of whom I met. Nice guys.
she chose me
My family was huge. Marjorie became part of it. Dad was unpredictable so much so that I never brought a girlfriend to
meet him until Marjorie. He fell in love with her immediately. She liked horses and Dad had spent a lifetime at
racetracks looking for the golden ring which he never grasped. He loved her so much
that Marjorie could not breast feed our boys because Dad appeared at our house every spare moment.
Marjorie became part of our family. A big part. She even spent several summers as part of a series
of mining wildernes jobs one of which was at Paradise Lodge on the lonely Algomaa Central Railway stop
72 (?) where she brought our cat, Presque Neige, and her electric machine which amused the crew
as we had wolves howling for the cat at night and no electricity for the sewing machine.
we had a very rich life ahead of us.
Love
Fwd: EPISODE 924 PART 4: SUMMER 1959 ALASKA JOB
Begin forwarded message:
From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>Subject: EPISODE 924 PART 4: SUMMER 1959 ALASKA JOBDate: December 5, 2023 at 5:09:42 PM ESTTo: John Wardle <jwardle@rogers.com>, Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>, Pam G <pamlikestokayak@gmail.com>
EPISODE 924 PART 4 — SUMMER 1959 ALASKA JOBalan skeochdec. 4, 2023
NOTE: OUR EXPLORATION OCCURRED IN 1959…THE PEBBLE MINE WAS DISCOVERED IN1987.Secrecy was common with most of the mining jobs. And often controversy. Mining is a dirty business.
iStock prices go up and down. Investers in and lose millions. One of the largest mine proposal in the world today
is the Pebble Mine plan for SW Alaska. Our survey was on the NW flank of the Pebble mine proposal to construct
a giant open pit one mile square. Hundreds of millions have been invested but, so far, no mine will be allowed because
enviromentalists believe a mine that large would destroy this pristine wilderness.
streams would become polluted with mine waste… Salmon
couldn’t reproduce.
Was our work in 1959 linked to the Pebble mine controversy? I have no idea. READ ABOUT THE PEBBLE MINE..SEE POSTSCRIPT.
“Fellows, our contract with Humble Oil of Texas is to see if this huge iron ore body
has some chalcopyrite (copper) to make mine feasible. The Japanese are interested.” Was this a lie or the truth?
TO START the Alaska job we got instructions from Bill Morrison who wouldbe my partner for he summer. Don and Ian were the other field crew while Mike Chinnery pllottedand interpreted the data. Basically we searched for anomalies….blips on our consoles..TO SET UP the motor generator was the first ask. More than a mile of single strand shielded copperwires laid out in a straight line grounded at both ends with heavy grounding rods, The generator crested anelectro magnet field that coulld be detected by heavy coils of copper wire hung on our belts. If an ore body existed belowground…deep below…we would find unexplained bias…anomalies.. Examining these blips was Mike’s job.The diamond drill crews were sent to places we directed.TO LAUGH every morning when our pilot awakened on loudspeaker wit “Let’s get fucking sir born.”TO BE OVERWHELMED by the pure untouched wilderness inland from Bristol Bayand the shallow Bering Sea. This became the land bridge to North America duringthe ice ages ….. today a vast open expanse of tundra cu by river valleys chokedwith tag alder an Beaver Dams ….cut off from Siberia by the Bering Sea.TO FLAG DOWN a helicopter among age old stunted spruce .TO BE DROPPED miles from camp on the open tundra which had been marked with pickets or bright red plastic tape.…base line 6,000 feet long made of grounded single strandshielded copper wire tethered to our motor generator.TO SPEND each workday taking readings at 100 foot intervals at right angles to the base line. The Turam was a Swedishinvention thst coould detetect mineralized rock deep below the overburden.(Note: This training in Alaska served me well. In subsequent summers I was the only one available which led tofascinating jobs in Southern Ireland and he Yukon Territory. Lucky…very lucky.TO CO EXIST with millions…billions?..of blood sucking insects the worst of which were the ‘white socks’ as Alaskans calledthe black flies that chewed away at us. They had little white feet hence ‘whitesocks’. These creatures liked to worm their wayinto places where clothing was tight like our waists….or worse, they tried to get in our ears en route to our brains.We wore loose fitting clothes and mosquito nets. Blood sucking bugs of all kinds made our lives miserable.TO SEE one Ameericsn diamond driller flown out to hospital. His body bloated from bites after an 8 hour shift withno insect protection. He never returned.TO SPEND our leisure time hooking Pacific salmon as they made their way up our river (stream) to nesting grounds.Huge fish often too heavy to lift and close to 2.5 feet long. Ugly mouthed creatures that were turning red as they’reabout to die and clog our trees with their bodies much to the joy of feasting Kodiak beas. This was one of North Americas’
last stretches of pristine wilderness. Shoudl it be turned over to a mining company noted for poisonous wastewater? That issue
was up for debate by the Alaskan people.
TO ABANDON our 30,06 rifles each day at the S52 drop points. To stack them on top of the big red blankets laidout on the tundra spot pilots could find us for return trips. Canadiansurvey crews did not carry guns “lest we shoot each other” Floyd Faulkner
said on a previous job. “Living together can get tense at times.”
TO JOIN Bill Morrison and take a few practice shots with the rifles which were far too heavy to carry along with ourTuram harness, cable and copper coils.TO STRAP us together like medievall warriors. Two man 100’ apart bound together by a 100 foot heavy cable whichwas hooked to two heavy copper piled tube and a battery pack. One man was outfitted with a receivingconsole on his chest snd a large battery pack on his harness backside…and a notebook to record the readingsTO KNOW that any contact with a kodiak bear would be bad news because the Tursm Harness was impossible to quickly remove..“No worries…Kodiak bears think we stink and avoid us unless startled. They have lots of dead and living Pacificsalmon that must taste better than us,:” said Bill.See Bill deep down in the river valley near our camp. Perfect for wanderingg Kodiak bears.TO MEET one kodiak bear boy accident wile wing upstream when i should have been wading downstream…Bill was100 feet ahed of me and i interpreted te swiping mud spots in the water as cased by his feet.Not so. A kodiak bear appeared in the tag alder brush. He or she was not interested in me. I back offand found Bill. Sounds moe dramatic than wss the actual case. he bear was distant and disinterested.TO PLAY withAleut native yo-yo’s at midnight because there was nothing else tobut go fishing if the yo-yos failed to amuse. Camp life was boring.
Perhaps dangerous as many of the Americans had hand guns for target practice.
One of the crew shot a beaver for no reason. Camp seemed more dangerous than
the tundra wilderness.
TO EAT on one occasion a piece of moose here with ventricles apparent. Yuck!
TO BE CHASTISED after foolish decision explore the tundra alone. We had finished our surveyand would soon be flying home. Nothing to do but sit in camp . One of the S52’s was about to pickupa drill crew miles from our base. I hitched a ride and figured it would take four or five hours to hikeback to camp. The land was flat and treeless . Undulating so I could duck out of the wind
and red a few pages of East of Eden by Steinbeck,
As the helicopterlifted off I thought — “This is not A good idea” but it ws too late so I walked back to camp.And I Got scared. I was all alone and the campwas distant. We had never seen a Kodiak up on the tundra but I begsn to feel uneasy.
Occasionally an S52 flew overhead but could not see me. A search had been organized.When I reached campthe reception ws not pleasant. “That was stupid , Alan” . I agreed…very stupid.TO RETURN to Anchorage where Don and Ian got into a spot of trouble. Could have beenbig trouble. They decided to checkout an American jet fighter parked on the tarmac with no one aroundI believe it was an F – 104. There was a metal ladder for th pilot to access is his seat.. Ian andDon wanted to look at those controls. As they were doing so a military jeep moved in fast. Two or threeMP”s took the boys away… Sort of arrested ?. No drawn guns.. drove the boys away.Later they were returned to our hotel after, I believe, a phone call to Toronto but I am not sure.What did i do? I walked off the base and home to our hotel. So much for US security at Elmendorfair base in 1959.TO FLY HOME SLOWLY when our regular flight was cancelled due to landing gear problem.Don, Ian and I were rebooked on a military flight from Japan. Officers aboard it seemedVery serious…no smlles…no drinking. We were the reverse. We were ready for a good time as werethe stewardesses who gave us free drinks as we laughed and joked our way down the rocky Mountaincoast to Seatle. Bit of a blur really. We booked into a cheap hotel and were a little surprised thatthe three of us were wearing Japanese kimonos. Mine is still around the house somewhere.Noody was hurt. Just silly 20 year old boys.Ian and I then flew to Vancouver where a relative had arranged a tour of old minesin British Columbia. I was included in the tour but felt a little embarrassed. Freeloading. The resultof the later flight meant I was a little late starting my new life st the University of Toronto, VctoriaCollege. Did I know where my life was heading? I had no idea.I suppose someone had to hold up the Golden Gate Bridge to Vancouver Island.next episode 925 part 5 SUMMER 1959 MOST EXCITING YEAR OF MY LIFE….I FIND MARJORIE HUGHES
Post Script: the PEBBLE MINE CONTROVERSY
The choice is simple: Pacific Slmon or copper and gold
EPISODE 580 PEBBLE MINE
alan skeoch
may 9, 2022
It seems strange to have the largest gold and copper discovery in the world named after a golf course.
The Pebble mine site in south west Alaska (Bristol Bay drainage basin) contains 57 billion pounds of copper,
71 million pounds of gold, 2.2 billion pounds of molybdenum, 170 million ounces of silver, 4.2 million kilograms of rhenium
then palladium and 31 other minerals.
Price 2022
(),$3 per lb. Copper,
$17.5 per ounce Silver,
$1450 per ounce Gold)
Uses of palladium What are 5 uses of palladium? electronics, dentistry, medicine, groundwater treatment, chemical applications and
jewelry, fuel cells. catalytic converter,
So many minerlals that the Pebble Minesite has been declared ‘essential to the security and prosperity of the Unired States’ *
(*US Department of the Interior, 1918)
Pebble is a ‘mine site’…not a mine. It may never become a mine. Even If Pebble Minesite would be the largest open
pit mine in the world. But it looks like it will never become a mine. As of 2022 the Pebble Mine project
has been cancelled by the American EPA.
How unusual?
Pebble Mine is the common name of a proposed copper-gold-molybdenum mining project in the Bristol Bayregion of Southwest Alaska, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark.[1] Discovered in 1987, optioned by Northern Dynasty Minerals in 2001, explored in 2002, drilled from 2002-2013 with discovery in 2005. Preparing for the permitting process began and administrative review lasted over 13 years.
As of November 2020 the mine developer, Northern Dynasty Minerals, still sought federal permits from the United States Coast Guard[2] and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. State permitting would then follow, which the developer expected to take up to three years.[3] In November 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) denied a permit for the proposed mine discharge plan.[4][5]
On September 9, 2021, it was reported that the United States Environmental Protection Agency had “asked a federal court to allow for Clean Water Act protections for parts of the bay.”[6] On January 31, 2023, the EPA effectively vetoed the project, using a rarely invoked power to restrict development to protect watersheds.[7]
Background
Geography
The Pebble prospect is in a remote, wild, and generally uninhabited part of the Bristol Bay watershed in Southwest Alaska. The nearest communities, about 20 miles (32 km) distant, are the villages of Nondalton, Newhalen, and Iliamna. The site is 200 miles (320 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.[8]
Pebble is approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of, and upstream of, Lake Iliamna, and near Lake Clark. The deposit area is characterized by relatively flat land dotted by glacial ponds, interspersed with isolated mountains or ranges of hills rising one or two thousand feet above the flats. Pebble is under a broad flat valley at about 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level dividing the drainages of Upper Talarik Creek and the Koktuli River.[9]
EPISODE 913 Part 3: 1959: ON TO BARREN LANDS OF ALASKA IN SEARCH OF COPPER SUMMER 1959 ALAN SKEOCH
NOTE; So many things happened so fast in sumer of 1959 that it was a blur….Alaska in 1959. I have tried seversl times to
write in such a way as to hold the story together. Very difficult. Like the spinning images of a slot machine…all dissimilar.
I was 20 yers old…on edge of manhood but not there yet. Growing up fast.
EPISODE 913 PART 3:: ON TO BARREN LANDS OF ALASKA IN SEARCH OF COPPER SUMMER 1959 ALAN SKEOCHalan skeochDec. 4, 2923
DON VANEVERY, IAN RUTHERFORD, MIKE CHINERY….stopover at Saskatoon airport…centrast with the airport at Dillnghm, Alaska which was a shack
MIKE CHINNERY, ALAN SKEOCH, IAN RUTHERFORD, DON VANEVERY at the airport in Dillingham, Alasaka
ALEUT fishing base near Dilllingham. Notice salmon drying in open air helped to dry by
a thousand flies of all kinds many of which liked to feast on human blood as we discovered.
ALASKA BOUND- IMMEDIATE DEPARTURE – “DO NOT TALK!”“Don Vanevery, Ian Rutherford, Mike Chinnery , you, Alan, will be flyling to Alaska immediately,…Get packed….one rucsack for the summer. Bill Morrison will meet you in Anchrage and join you in flight to Dillinghan…South West Alaska, nearthe Aleutian Chain. Bill knows how to run the Turam .. . He wil instruct you. We have American visas and work permits for each of you. Best you keep yourmouths shut until you are familiar with the Tram system of magnetic mineral detection.“Leaving when?”“Tomorrow. You will be living in a tent camp with a 25 man drilling crew. Secret location.The Humble Oil people from Texas insists youcarry 30.06 rifles in case of trouble with kodiak beers. Big calibre rifles.Another surprise…”there will be two S52. Sikorsky helicopters, to lift you from one site to another. Our contract covers a lot of ground. Tundra…treeless.”The day after or last exam we were airborne to Sskatoon
via Air Canada then a connecting flight with NorthwestOrient Airline to Ancorage then a propellor driven Fokker F27 to the tiny Aleut aboriginal community of Dilllinghamwhich sat on the edge go the Bering Sea 100 or so miles from Russian hostile shores.How do Communicate the adventures this job entailed? Pure adventure…true no fiction. perhaps stress ofconciseness…TO FOLLOW the spoor, the Con trail, of the B52 Nuclear bomber that overflew our house each day in 1959. So high as to bebarely visible. Unannounced. Lethal if angered. Heding North west perps to Minot, Northdakota or possibly to Anchorsge like would.
TO KNOW that nuclear anihilation wa a possiibility if the Cold War became a Hot War. In 1934, long long ago, the general in charge of the fledglingUSAir Force said “the nation that controls Alaska controls the world”…an 8 hour flight range to most of word’s populations.TO KNOW that our Northwest Orient plane was heading to Elmendorf air base where some of the 102 B52 Superfortresses were based.
TO SEE the vally of 10,000 smokes where the molten guts of planet earth are exposed….Part of the Ring of Fire that circles the Pacific Ocean.
TO LAND in ‘Dillingham on the edge of the Berng Sea about 100 miles from Russian missile bases.…a gravel lamding strip. picture of Fker F27 prop driven.
TO WALK where once so long ago the hairy mammoths munched their way across thebering lsnd bridge to north ameerics followed by Asian people in fits snd start.TO THINK that another ice age could reopen that land bridge….the reverse of current climate change,TO BE AWARE that this job in SW Alaskan not far from te Aleution Chain of Islands largely empty,stepping stones used by Japanese troops in World war II as a feint to draw US forces away from thereal goal of the Malayan rubber plantations.
Thee ALEUT people were super friendly. I expected to meet many of these native
people but never met any others which seemed strange to me. Our base camp in the vast tundra
was never visited by anyone. We were strangers in s strange and empty land.
TO PAUSE a moment to help an aged Aleut to his feet and realize it was not age that toppled him but alcoholTO KNOW that this vast open highland of tundra was cut by deep river valleys where Atlantic Sallmon made their deadlypilgrimage to the headwaters of these virgin streams to ly their eggs for future generations.
and then die….their bodies feeding Kodiak bears.
TO HAVE all these thoughts tumbling in my mind Like the rolling wheels of a slot machine. Like lemons, oranges
and bananas…all different and tumbling in my mind.
TO STAND resplendid in my University of Toronto crested jacket knowing full well I was not even a student yet.. A fake.FROIM DILLINGHAM TO OUR SEMI SECRET HOMEBASE
TO BOARD the two Sikorsky S52 helicopters whose throaty ‘Varrom, Varoom’ eclipsed the’ slap slap’ semi silence of anAleut fising fsmily hanging split corpses of almond ring racks beside the sea.TO LIFT off and ascend 2,000 feet with all our gear endangered by the button that allowed the pilot to dropthe load hanging in a net below us. “We had to drop a drilling rig one time, sudden down draft, It fell like a giant spear. We never wentdown to see it impaled in the tundra.. A stiletto gravestone.TO KNOW there is no button that could drop us. If the S52 goes down , we all go together. No parachute in a helicopter.
er.
This is my partner Bill Morrison sitting on the helicopter floor with his feet in open air at 2000 feet up.
TO SIT on the copters’ floor with feet extended through the open in the sure and certain knowledge of our immortality.TO HOVERt then set softly down. A neat two rows of tents … specially darkened canvas tosimulate nightfall in the land the Minot Sun. our new home. Remote, isolated, secret.
We arrived in our camp in mid June…lots of snow in river valley was used as a refrigersterfor our moose meat diet which I hated to eat.
Our camp is that patch of brown. thirty of us…25 americsndrillers, 5 Canadians to spot drill sites…a vast and semi-secret ore body benesth the tundra.
Midnight and all asleep. We had to build a wood sidewalk as the tundra ben to thaw out from foot traffic.
Garbage set out in garbage pail. The garbage truck never came (a joke)
END Part 3 — SUMMER 1959 ALASKAN ADVENTURE BEGINS
NEST
PART 4: SUMMER 1959 ALAKAN ADVENTUE CONTINUED
POST SCRIPT
ELMENDORF AIR BASE ANCHORAGE ALASKA – STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND(WIKIPEDIA) Following World War II, Elmendorf assumed an increasing role in the defense of North America as the uncertain wartime relations between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated into the Cold War. The Eleventh Air Force was redesignated as the Alaskan Air Command (AAC) on 18 December 1945. The Alaskan Command, established 1 January 1947, also headquartered at Elmendorf, was a unified command under the Joint Chiefs of Staff based on lessons learned during World War II when a lack of unity of command hampered operations to drive the Japanese from the western Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska.
The uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska. The propeller-driven P-51s were replaced with F-80 jets, which in turn were replaced in succession by F-94s, F-89s, and F-102s interceptor aircraft for defense of North America. The Air Force built an extensive aircraft control and warning radar system with sites located throughout Alaska’s interior and coastal regions. Additionally, the USAF of necessity built the White Alice Communications System (with numerous support facilities around the state) to provide reliable communications to these far-flung, isolated, and often rugged locales. The Alaskan NORAD Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC) at Elmendorf served as the nerve center for all air defense operations in Alaska.
The U.S. Air Force Security Service (USAFSS) activated the 6981st Security Group tasked with monitoring, collecting and interpreting signals intelligenceof concern to the region, including installation of an AN/FLR-9 antenna array as part of a worldwide network known collectively as “Iron Horse”.
Air defense forces reached their zenith in 1957 with almost 200 fighter aircraft assigned to six fighter interceptor squadrons located at Elmendorf AFB and Ladd AFB. Eighteen aircraft control and warning radar sites controlled their operations. Elmendorf earned the motto “Top Cover for North America”. AAC adopted the motto as its own in 1969.
THE BOEING B52 NUCLEAR ARMED HEAVY BOMBERS
B52’s first came off assembly line in 1955. By 1962 there were 104 B52’s flying.During the Cold War there were always some B52’s in the skies each armed with nuclear weapons. The B52 was expectedto have a lifetime of 20 years. Today 76 of the original 104 remainin service. constantly upgraded. In he 1959 we could look up in the sky each afternoon and see the con trail of a B52 en route to Minot , North Dakota. perhaps even continuing north westto Elmendorf Strategic Air Command base near Anchorafe, Alaska.When we landed at Ancorage in June 1959, I do not remember seeing B52 on the ground.In seven years or so, if everything goes according to plan, the U.S. Air Force should get what looks like a new bomber. A Boeing B-52 with new engines, new radios, new jammers, a new radar and fresh structural components. Even its profile might be new if the Air Force opts to remove redundant sensor pods.
The youngest B-52 left Boeing’s Wichita factory in 1962, meaning the 76 B-52Hs that remain in service are, technically, at least 59 years old. They’ll be at least 66 years old in 2028, the year Boeing and engine-maker Rolls-Royce plan to redeliver the first bomber with new F130 engines replacing the 1960s-vintage TF33s.
The Air Force finally announced the long-expected engine contract last week. Once the F130s are underwing, very little of a B-52 will be in i
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile components of the United States military’s strategic nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was also responsible for the operation of strategic reconnaissance aircraft and airborne command post aircraft as well as most of the USAF’s aerial refueling fleet, including aircraft from the Air Force Reserve (AFRES) and Air National Guard(ANG).
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
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
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.
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
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
[Verse]
When they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
Cryin’ all the time
You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog
Cryin’ all the time
Well, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
[Verse]
When they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, they said you was high classed
Well, that was just a lie
Yeah, you ain’t never caught a rabbit
And you ain’t no friend of mine
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
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!
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
Well, it’s one for the money, two for the show
Three to get ready, now go, cat, go
[Chorus]
But don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything, but stay off of my blue suede shoes
[Verse 1]
Well, you can knock me down, step in my face
Slander my name all over the place
Do anything that you wanna do
But uh-uh honey, lay off of them shoes
[Chorus]
And don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything, but stay off of my blue suede shoes
Let’s go, cat!
[Guitar Solo]
Ah, walk the dog
[Verse 2]
You can burn my house, steal my car
Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar
Do anything that you want to do
But uh-uh, honey, lay off of my 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]
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
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
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
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
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
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