ShiloBrats Guestbook

Submitted by
Name: Dave Kearney
From: Aldergrove BC
E-mail: dave_kearney@telus.net

Comments:
Bump, I remember most of your stuff including our eternal games with the meatheads, freezing my * * * off in winter while my dog Mickey followed me to school in Grade one in Building A1 down by the golf course. I lived at 20 Ubique in 50/51 and I remember the old canteen between the Esso gas station and the Sports Palace. There was a murder-suicide near the weather station (or was that later?)

Added: April 18, 2016

Submitted by
Name: ShiloBrats
E-mail: shilobrats@shaw.ca

Comments:
A request has been made to ShiloBrats from a former Shilo teacher Iris McKay, through ShiloBrats teacher contact Gerald Brown to post a notice of use of a photograph in a media production for APTN.

Hello, Gerald,

I hope that you have recovered and are back to your usual activities.

I have a favour to ask. Knowing that you are in touch with Shilo ex-pats, so to speak, I am wondering if you could put a note out to the members of a 1960�s girls� volley-ball team that Raoul McKay coached and whose photo we would like to use in a digital media component that is to supplement a video we are doing for APTN.

In essence, I am asking if they have any objection to our using that team photo. The members of the team were: Sheila Love, Kathy Derbyshire, Pat Barker, Marshall West, Morag McKendrick, Pat Grouette, Faye Powers, Gloria Trainor, Sheila Rowland, Gill Willerton, Linda Prior, Judy Allen.

If you have any questions, send me an e-mail or contact ShiloBrats.

Best regards,

Iris McKay

Winnipeg, MB

E mail: rimckay@shaw.ca

Added: April 17, 2016

Submitted by
Name: ShiloBrats
E-mail: shilobrats@shaw.ca

Comments:
Obituary for Mr. (Michael) Balitsky.
Michael Lloyd Balitsky, 90, of Brandon, Manitoba, passed away Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016. He is survived by Diana, his loving wife of 50 years; sons Mark and David; nephews Al and Larry; nieces Elsie, Shirley, Angie and many more. Born September 21, 1925 at Stead, Manitoba, where his parents Anton and Mary immigrated to the farm from Poland circa 1907. He was the youngest of nine, having three brothers and five sisters, all now deceased. Passionate about people, he began his teaching career by 1947 in one room school houses for small towns like Beaconia, Stony Point, Lyleton and Libau. In 1959, he moved and taught in CFB Shilo, where he retired in 1988. Bro. Mike was a proud 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus for 52 years. He enjoyed some 20 years square dancing with the Shilo Prairie Schooners since 1969. Always involved with his two sons, he volunteered his time as a leader with Scouts Canada, mentoring his boys and others through Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts. Michael had a great love of gardening, walking the family dog, feeding and watching the birds, and playing cards. He will be missed. A special thank you to palliative care at Brandon General and Prairie Mountain Health for making his final days as comfortable as possible. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Augustine's Church, 327 4th Street, Brandon on Saturday, April 9, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. with Celebrant, Rev. Fr. Patrick Neufeld. A reception will follow at St. Augustine's Square. Donations in memory of Michael may be made to a charity of choice.

If you wish to post condolences or stories, Mr. Balitsky's full obituary is on the Memories Chapel, Brandon website today, click on "current services". It's also on the Winnipeg Free Press Passages

RIP Mr. Balitski

Added: April 2, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Bump Murphy
From: CRBC

Comments:
I have a darn good recall of Shilo in my day from very early fifties to say 1960. ...The maps I dig up on line and some of which are maps posted by Shilo brats do not reflect my mental images of some of my shortcuts across camp. Would any 'brat' have a map of Shilo proper for circa mid- fifties? For example: The original canteen/ the PX(Maple Leaf Services). I can trace my exact route across camp from Ubique and across Royal and across the field where the weather station was located and on to the ' H' huts there. The old Theater and the Sgt's mess and so on. Then over to the Motor Pool. There were two newer barrack blocks there. Two story and made out of brick I believe. The Admin bldg or HQ was up from the Motor Pool shop and I traversed a alley way between them and over and up to get to Canteen and Spots Palace. The snow fences and drifts certainly were a chore mid- winter. Chuckle. My feet and hands and face(lips) would freeze so bad I could not walk or talk by time I got home. I was in no good condition to help my brothers or friends pry their tongues off the steel posts or mail slots in the doors. Anyone remember those times. ....We spent many hours in summer and winter at the golf course and the dump of course. Many hous playing too close to the tank course and the indoor firing range collecting brass casings. Of course both were off limits. Huh! Duh! What did we know. We were just dumb kids.
We were quite a ' rat brat pack' occupying ourselves in all of the Shilo frontiers. .. We were always able to outrun or dodge the ' meatheads' . ... In reality I am sure they let us get away with many shenanigans.
Later. .......bump

Added: April 2, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Doug Jordan

Comments:
M. Balitsky - That is sad. He was a good guy. My favorite memory is not from school but rather teaching him and other seniors how to race walk. That must have been at least 20 years ago. I didn't realize he was that old - he certainly looked younger than he must have been when last I saw him walking up a storm.

Added: March 30, 2016

Submitted by
Name: ShiloBrats
E-mail: shilobrats@shaw.ca

Comments:
We have just learned that beloved Shilo teacher Mr. Balitsky passed away Easter morning at 90 + years. A full obituary has not been posted yet, and will appear here when available.
Tell us your memories of Mr. Balitsky, 20+ years at PEHS.

Added: March 30, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Brian Titus
From: Alberta
E-mail: betitus@xplornet.ca

Comments:
We lived at 11 Quebec 54-60 and then 23 Ubique 60-63. Remember when we had a colour tv in 1954. It was a green or red screen that fit the tv and - voila - colour tv

Added: March 27, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Doug Jordan

Comments:
We also got our first TV in the mid 50's (Sylvania TV, with halo light, the best in TV, Sylvania that's right). I remember waiting for Saturday (I think) when wrestling was big. I only remember 2 names, Hard Boiled Haggerty and Killer Kowalski. The best wrestling was the little people ("midgits" back then). I seem to recall one named Ski lo lo, or something along those lines and Little Beaver who I think wrestled near the end of the 50's. Good times. Good memories.

Added: March 26, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Ian Malcolm
From: Ottawa
E-mail: jmalcolm99@gmail.com

Comments:
I enjoy these posts about "culture" in the early days of TV. Shows were much more naive and simpler then and focused on "family" themes such as parental discipline (Father Knows Best), family situations (My Three Sons) and good old fashioned heroes (The Lone Ranger). I did not get to Shilo until the mid sixties but offerings had not changed that much. My enduring memory is watching the Stanley Cup playoffs (4 teams only) which were always shown earlier in French (when Montreal played) and then CBC would start coverage around the second period. My Dad's solution was to put the portable radio in front of the TV and we would listen to the English radio broadcast with the TV sound off. The fact that the radio announcer sometimes described a different game than the action on TV was only secondary as we got to watch Les Canadiens once again defeat that team in blue. Cheers!

Added: March 26, 2016

Submitted by
Name: Bump

Comments:
Hi Alf,
Yes that test pattern. Arggg! How many hours did we look,at,that although when we first got our tv we sat riveted to it waiting for something. Off at around 9 or 10 pm and on around 11 am or something. ....In early fifties we watched 'Tugboat Annie and ' Mister Peepers' and ' Life of Riley'. Lots of news programs and documentaries for sure. The old thirties movies were very common such as ' Charlie Chan' 'The Thin Man' 'The Saint' 'Bulldog Drummomd'. 'The Bowery Boys'.
There was a friend of my Dad and his PMQ was across the field from our back door over on Stonehenge and he repaired TV sets. Ours was a regular customer. Mostly the 'tubes'. Remember those things.

Added: March 26, 2016