Chapter 21
More Change And Growth

During the 1950's big changes were to come with the development of the oil field north and east of Midale. The town population increased during the drilling period and more classrooms were needed at the school. A new school was built in 1958 and added to soon after. Our children were of help at home but once they reached high school there were many activities that involved school, music and a few other things that required evenings that were spent playing games or practicing for some school event. We were very busy taking them to town, sometimes many evenings a week. Daughter Carol started taking piano lessons at an early age and eventually was much involved in music activities. The last two years Carol was in school she was the pianist for the school and also played the piano or organ at church. She is still performing that service at the church in Benson.

The spring of 1961 was dry and grasshoppers became a serious problem. We did a great deal of poisoning, two different chemicals were widely used, Aldren and Dieldrin and they were rather dangerous to handle. I tried to do all the poisoning in calm weather but that wasn't an easy thing to accomplish. The crop was light and anything that was swathed early was rained on. Some thin swaths were a total loss. We had a small field of oats that was early and matured unevenly. I swathed it early and it got rained on until a second growth was above the swath. The first cutting was a loss and I swathed the second growth and baled it for feed. I can't remember how the wheat crop turned out but it wasn't a good crop year. 1963 was a much better year as we had ample rainfall. It was a much better harvest season than 1961.

1961 was also the year when sister Pearl and her husband, Peter Truman in White Rock, BC won an Irish Sweepstakes lottery ticket. It was to change their way of life considerably. They were building a new house on a war veteran's loan, I believe. Now it was much easier for them to complete it and also help their children in terms of education for those who wanted to extend that area of their life. They purchased a 1961 Chevrolet station wagon and made a trip to Saskatchewan that summer. Visiting with us at Midale and also at Peter's home community near Canora, Sask. I'm not sure of this part but they may have visited at Naicam and Debden also.

Charles was 13 years old in 1962 and he was soon driving one of the tractors and a Ford ton truck we had bought recently. Our cattle herd had increased to the point where we needed to take a sizeable bunch to the community pasture for summer grazing. We were also renting a hay plot along with three other partners at the Souris River. Charlie did a lot of work on the summerfallow during July or early August. In short, there was lots of work to be done. One of Charlie's projects in 1963 was a wheat test plot for Saskatchewan pool elevators. It was interesting but required a lot of weekend cleaning and keeping records. Charlie was good help at an early age and he adapted to any job that required driving a tractor. I think it was in 1964 I bought a used Massey 55 tractor and a 12 foot CCIL disker with seeding attachment.

In the summer of 1962 Lorraine was our first Grade 12 graduate. She was married in July of that year and we had much company for a few days, with many of Natalie's family present. Her husband, Mervin Statler, worked on drilling rigs and they soon had a trailer house in our yard. They lived in Moose Jaw while Mervin was working in that area and eventually moved to Medicine Hat in the fall of 1971.

In the fall of 1963 we fenced the south half of Section 24 and also had a dugout made in a poor hay slough. I had set most of the corner and gate posts so it was easy to stretch out a wire and set posts along it and still have a straight fence. Some of the time it was very dry and it was difficult to make post holes. Yet the job was finished in time to turn the cattle in there when they were brought home from the community pasture. Previously it had been the practice of watching neighbor's cattle clean the good field grazing as soon as we were through with harvest. Now it was our turn to see our cattle thrive for a few weeks before winter arrived. Our cattle would graze there contentedly until the dugout started to freeze enough that it wasn't safe to have them drink from it. How I enjoyed going out to take a daily look at them and determine that all was well with them. Then when I knew it was time to bring them home it was so easy to go out to the gate and simply call them. If the wind was right, I just stood and watched them come on the run, as much as to say we are glad it's time to go home and be fed. Our cattle used that system of fall grazing for 14 years. I was obliged to sell them all in 1978 due to health reasons. I didn't begrudge selling them as it was too much work eleven months of the year doing chores, repairing fence and putting up hay and straw. I was glad to pick up the cheque and say no more of that.