Winter cold and late night darkness weren’t going to stop two farm boys as they played Canada’s game on a frozen pond
It was around midnight and I felt a shake on my shoulders while I was deep in sleep and among my blankets. It was a December evening in 1975. In the darkness and in my sleeping stupor, I could barely discern the figure of somebody slightly smaller than I, but who looked similar — my […] Read moreStories by Mark Kihn
‘Rink of Dreams’ offered new challenges for farm boys
Iowa may have its baseball Field of Dreams, as depicted in the 1989 movie, but it has nothing on my brother Tim. In December 2014, he made his own Rink of Dreams near his Sherwood Park, Alta., home. I was headed to nearby Edmonton on business, and on a hunch we might meet, I tossed […] Read more
Gift-giving marked departure from childhood
With a dollar in his hand, this prairie youngster’s introduction to the world of giving proved to be a ‘puzzling’ experience
I don’t recall much about December 1968 — I was only eight and busy trying to ace Grade 3. Girls held no allure yet — I couldn’t even spell puberty — and I had little money. However, as Christmas approached, I zeroed in on one goal — polish my image in the quest for that […] Read more
Toy bulldozer promise results in a road trip
An ailing father drew inspiration from toy models of heavy equipment he had worked with decades ago on the farm
“Now a promise made is a debt unpaid,” wrote Robert Service in his Klondike poem, The Cremation of Sam McGee. I couldn’t help thinking of that admonition as I followed up on a purchase of a toy bulldozer collection for my late father. When Alfred Kihn of Didsbury, Alta., reached his mid-80s and became more […] Read moreRancher was pioneer of continental breeds
Richard Kanegawa, a long-time farmer, rancher and entrepreneur from Calgary, died of a recurring lung condition Oct. 8. He was 90. Kanegawa may have been best-known for his Heritage Inn hotels, first built in 1974 in Taber, Alta., and then expanding to seven other locations. He is interned with his family at Lethbridge. Originally from […] Read more
Spuds harvested for food banks
It wasn’t quite an old-time gathering of “bringing in the sheaves,” but Jim and Lynne Van Wert recently hosted a Food Bank Potato Harvest that featured several aspects of those old-fashioned work efforts: hard labour, hearty appetites and common goals. Their farm, six kilometres northwest of Carstairs, Alta., became a hub of activity Oct. 3. […] Read more
Cattle publisher dies at 66
A well-known promoter and publisher in the beef cattle industry has died. Laurel “Laurie” Watson, 66, of West Montrose, Ont., died Sept. 3. Together with her father, Harald Gunderson, they produced the World of Beef and the Limousin Leader in the 1970s and 1980s. Laurie was a prominent beef industry personality, whether on the phone […] Read more
Saskatoon berry expedition turns nostalgic
If I look closely, my fingers may still have those purple stains on them from saskatoon berry picking as an adolescent on the farm at Basswood, Man. However, I did not volunteer for berry picking, rather it was coerced. Mom would have led me to the patch by my ear, if necessary. It was often […] Read more
Courageous Civil War eagle inspires old J.I. Case logo
Serendipity? Coincidence? Who knows when two mysteries converge? We often make discoveries accidentally. I still recall going to an auction sale with my dad in about 1973. Dad bid and bought a like-new Case 830 tractor, complete with a cab. After the sale, we even drove it home about 80 kilometres to our farm in […] Read more
Necessity and Dad — both fathers of inventions
“Work is its own reward.” My late dad quoted this often to motivate his six children on the farm at Basswood, Man., 50 years ago. However, that didn’t stop him from making a few inventions to make the work lighter. The inventions may not have been unique, and a few were merely “a new use […] Read more
