ShiloBrats Guestbook

Submitted by
Name: barbara willerton altseimer
From: vancouver island
E-mail: barb-l@shaw.ca

Comments:
I think Howdy Doody's brother was Double doody, his sister was Heidy Doody, and the snake was Hista. My favorite show when I was 5.

Added: September 1, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Bill Brown

Comments:
Hey Bump;

YPA in Shilo was not like other bases, it had no affiliation to the Church. It was dances on Saturday nights for teens only, we had a committee which organized the dances and officer who oversaw us. We were watched over quite well, we had a man and his wife as Chaperones at the dances. The word was from the base commander, if we did not discipline those that were drunk at the dances, all our dances would be shut down. We would have to bar those that showed up drunk from dances for I am thinking 3 months the first time and double that time for the second time. I became President of YPA shortly after I got to Shilo. While our committee made the suspension I was the one to enforce it, so for a time was rather unpopular with the drinkers. I did go from having records being played to brining in bands from Winnipeg every second Saturday. Everyone loved the bands. We even organized bus trips to Rivers to go to their dances and they would come back to ours. I really enjoyed my role as president, except for having to bar those that drank.

To me Shilo was a great place to be as a teen! There was the pool, gym, bowling alley, theatre and of course YPA dances. Also they had a bus to take us to Brandon to shop or to hang out, as us teens did.

I can't say Shilo was a great place to be for our parents, being stranded in the middle of no where away from family. I think because of this and the effects of being in WW, many soldiers drank far to much and it was actually encourage by the military back then.

On Howdy Doody. Here is one for you; What was Howdy Doody's brothers name? Also, I believe it was Buffalo Bob, not Cowboy Bob, but I could be wrong.

Added: August 31, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Bump Murphy

Comments:
I left Shilo at age of 12/13. I never knew or heard of YPA. If it was Young People's,I did attend in our local church in Sackville NS. after leaving Shilo. ..Forever young I must admit we had our fair share of petty crimes although we certainly had service medals for undetected crime. Chuckle. For example on one early fall evening, several of us young boys and also some young ladies , while just after young people's had upon impulse took it up to deposit our Pastor's VW bug up against the stately oak tree that shadowed the small church. The VW front bumper was a couple feet angled up and hanging up on the tree bark. The Pastor gave us the evil eye and then a war smile of understanding. No harm done. Kids. We were that.
Remember -'kick the can' ? We played it with lots of gusto and very much fun in the neighbourhood. mostly just after dinner time as it began to get dark. The street lamps added flavour and atmosphere.
Speaking of cans. How many of us got a hold of tins from carnation milk or pop cans and we stepped our feet into them so they folded over our shoes. Then we paraded around like we were wearing horseshoes. My Mum told me later she hated the noise of it but she always knew where we were when we were playing like that.
...Thanx Floyd for mentioning the Coffe Shop. That is where I remembered the small mail drop area.
.....I was born in 1948. I was in nursery school in Shilo and of course kindergarten and then Gr. 1. Six years old and in grade 1 gives a bit of a time stamp for my time in Shilo. I was in NS by the fall of 1961 attending school in a rather tiny one room school house. There was no room or indeed grade to teach me. For several months they stuck me in a corner and had me re- do my ABC's and to,es tables to keep me occupied. After a short period of time I was sent to a nearby town and advanced to a grade that could keep up to my previous Army report cards. Life is strange. Camp Shilo was much better for me in my School years until it levelled out around Gr. 10 in SSHS in Bedford Ns.
...Remember Howdy Doody and Cowboy Bob. The silly snake. The Indian Primcess. ....How about Little,Maggie Muggins. All kids stuff now mind you. Early TV you know.
I will tell a story about my brother Ernie' eye . Next time maybe.

Added: August 29, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Bill Brown

Comments:
Hey Floyd good to hear from you. The YPA Hall they built on the Q side in 65 was tore down and replaced by a smaller building, in 04, I believe. I don't think they have YPA dances anymore. It would be interesting to know.

Added: August 29, 2015

Submitted by
Name: pat dolan
From: martensville SK
E-mail: pmdolan@sasktel.net

Comments:
Delighted to see some traffic on the guestbook. As has been mentioned, it would make Otter happy. Have to get Mom to visit some time soon.

Bump: Would you happen to remember my wife Alexia (Forke)? She would be the same age as yourself. They lived in the H huts when her Dad (George) was in Korea and moved IIRC in 1952 to a new PMQ on Citadel and then off base when he left the service for a while in 1953. They were back once more for a while (I think on Frontenac) and then finally 27 Ubique (last house on the SW side just before Ubique joined up with Kingston Ave. and just across the street from Hopkins IIRC) from around 1960 until my Father-in-law's retirement in early '70s.

Floyd: where the heck are you? HOW the heck are you? It has been far, far too long. We get to AB a fair bit now, since our baby has set up residence in Edmonton (and will be welcoming our newest grandchild - Addison - in a week or two = Gramdma and Grandpa will be there!!) Don't think I have seen you since Churchill, and that would be almost 35 years ago. Just came back from a visit to Inco and a good friend in Thompson (predictably, working on his airplane).

Edie: thank you and all of your helpers for the fantastic job of keeping up the website. I was particularly touched by your Mother's story of WWII service. So hard for most people today who have not experienced the post-war period when memories were still fresh yet there we were with friends and families who's parents had been shooting at each other just before we were borne. My Father was not allowed to enlist early as he was in a critical job, but finally got signed up late in the war. He came down with pneumonia in basic, so spent the last year as a POW guard. During his two rotation in Germany in the '60s, his former captives were his most gracious hosts and friends.

I can not say with enough clarity how immensely proud and grateful I am to those who have served in the armed forces of this country in the past and present. They have acted with such bravery, honour and dignity to make this world a much safer, better place.

Added: August 29, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Bill Gillespie
From: AB/BC
E-mail: bgillespie@shaw.ca

Comments:
Hey, Floyd-your note triggered remembrance of something that I haven't thought about in ages.

When my Dad retired from the Army in late '64, he stayed on in Shilo for about a year as Manager of the Golf & Curling Club.We had to re-locate from the PMQs-so the old H-hut next to the old Fire Hall was renovated to accommodate us.

Previously, the building had served as the Pay Office. Initially, after we had moved there-guys were walking into my bedroom looking for their pay cheques!

The building next to this on the north side was indeed the old Post Office. Across the street, was the residence of the Fire Chief at that time, I think. There were two kids younger than I that lived there-the Service Corps bus would take us to/from PEHS. I often had to be at school early for sports practice, and on cold mornings "Mary T" (Miss Sheehan) would take pity and give me a lift to school.

Thanks for the memory, Floyd!

Added: August 29, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Floyd Turner
From: Alberta

Comments:
Nice to see you chime in Bill. I hope life is treating you well. It's been a long time. Not sure if Bump would remember the YPA Hall. During the period when Bump lived in Shilo, that building was called the Coffee Shop. When they built the new MLS Mall across from Strange Hall, they opened a new Coffee Shop there and the old building was converted and became the YPA Hall. Today there is newer YPA Hall, that you mentioned, built on the PMQ side of Royal Avenue, but never attended any functions there. Bump, as I recall, the old post office was the building just north of the Old Fire Hall. I could be mistaken, but I think Mr. Archibald was the postmaster and had a house directly across the street. I remember those old stores in Shilo. The dry goods store that you described and a little further down was the grocery store. I didn't drink much chocolate milk and had to Goggle Topsy. Man, that was 60 years ago!

Added: August 29, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Bump Murphy
From: Vancouver Island

Comments:
Howdy Bill
The name Bump had absolutely nothing pointing towards my being a klutz. Chuckle. ..My older brother Ernie by 14 mo. when learning to talk would fumble the words a bit and come out with bump. He probably did it on purpose. He was always bossing me around as we grew older. My Mother always explained it that way. He died at Sea in the winter of 1986 on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. ...He lived a short but very colourful life on the edge. Most times on the dark side of the law. Another story. ..........For Floyd's quizzer? Well. He got me. ..I can remember only that on Patricia in the proximity of the Sports Palace there was a Maple Leaf Services sort of bldg..In Air Force, we called them Canex after unification was implemented. You know. One part was magazines. Some clothes. Writing materials. All the materials to keep a lonely soldier occupied. Shoe polish for sure. Some jewelry to send back home to his Gal. ..The other part of the bldg. had a very nice diner sort of thingy. Ice cream and pop etc.. They made the best French fries ever. I drank many bottles of 'kik' cola there. As boys we collected all the bottle tops. Of course the sealer inside was cork. We would put the cap on the outside of our shirts and secure it by using the cork on inside of skirt in a sandwich. We drank 'topsy' chocolate milk. There is one for you Floyd. What did the name and it's picture logo refer to? You only need to say you know. In those days you could get away with it. It would offend many today. Not polite to say it on line. If you are stumped, google it. Too funny. Anyway. In that bldg. in the entrance there was a small post office but probably for quick and convenient service to single soldiers and the mail bag would be picked up and delivered to the main Base PO for handling. That is all I can remember about Post Offices or their Post Master. I will wild guess he was your Dad. Hmmmmn. I spent thousands of hours running around Shilo but it does not come to mind. It will not take much to jog my memory on it.

Added: August 29, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Bill Brown

Comments:
Hey Bump, now I know why I did not know you, I did not arrive in Shilo until 1964. I lived at 104 Kingston Ave, right across from Floyd Turner. When I came there Floyd was the DJ at the dances, I soon started helping him out. Which later led me to become president of YPA. They built a new YPA Hall on the Q side in 1965, I believe. The older brats liked the old YPA Hall better, it had far more character to it, even though it was hot as hell in the summer. Do you know how you got the name Bump?

Added: August 28, 2015

Submitted by
Name: Floyd Turner
From: Alberta

Comments:
Bump, you DO have a good memory. We arrived in Shilo before our PMQ was built and also lived in an H-Hut just south of the Sports Palace. They were called the E-Lines, I believe. I was only 3 at the time, but I recall walking with my Mom down to that old store. Here's a quizzzz for you: where was the post office located back in those days and who was the postmaster?

Added: August 28, 2015