Serendipity: I was reading about The Western Producer’s 90th birthday and then rediscovered my YC crest in a “catch-all” drawer. Suddenly I was awash in memories of the Young Co-operators pages in the WP. Ah, the excitement of seeing one’s words in print in a real newspaper.
I remember with gratitude and fondness Sister Ann and Bluebird, who shepherded us and the YC pages.
At the beginning, some of my writings were gently edited. I tended to be a bit wordy. I would read my article in the paper and think, “yes, that sounds better.” I learned.
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There was structure to the YCC. Long before any of us would attain university degrees, we got to add initials after our pen names: HC for 20 publications, RHC for 50 and some of us even got to write CC (Centenarian Co-operator) for 100 published articles.
Other possible initials would indicate awards for either poetry or prose.
The YCC was also democratic because we got to vote for our own judges: junior and senior leaders for prose and laureates for poetry. I had the honour, and the challenge, of serving as junior laureate and four years later, senior leader, both excellent learning experiences.
Another bonus of membership: two fellow YCs became my life long friends.
In my adult life, I became an English teacher, again working with words and of course with youth. Sometimes I even found time and energy to write.
Thank you, Western Producer, for the YCC, which encouraged budding writers of Western Canada in the 1940s. We were affirmed and enlightened. You made a difference in many young lives.
