Neepawa of yesteryear: Mama said there鈥檇 be days like this
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- Published on Tuesday, November 3, 2015
By Rick Sparling
The Neepawa Press
By the water tower was an open field that we played our 鈥楲ittle League鈥� baseball on. My dad was the manager and Tony Evans was the coach. I can recall like it was yesterday, waiting for a grounder during infield practice with Tony belting them out one-handed harder than most of us could hit with two hands!
That was in 1957.
Evan鈥檚 Drive Inn was across Highway 5. At one time, they offered car service with 鈥渃ar hops鈥� and one of the girls working for Tony was Cheryl Thurston. Some of the other car hops were Doreen and Marie Bradley from Arden, Joyce Yuel and Eveyn Reilly from Mentmore and Diane Nickart, Yvette Denis, from Ste. Rose du Lac, and I鈥檓 told that Jeanette and Lorna Jaslenczyk, Helen Beaumont plus Sandra Kulbaski were car hops as well.
Next was Matt Siemmen鈥檚 Auto Body Shop followed by Ed Smee鈥檚 Neepawa Motel. Just prior to the Airport, the last business along the north side of the Highway, was Bachelor鈥檚 Dairy Farm operated by Pop (Bert) and Grace Batchelor, grandparents of Gail Cathcart, Maureen Pittman and Lynne Montgomery.
On the other side heading back towards town was The Airliner Drive Inn. My mother had never been to the Drive Inn during all the years it was there and just prior to it closing I decided to take her to see at least one show. We pulled in and got 鈥榟ooked up鈥� and realized it was a triple X rated movie, which prompted me to unhook and drive out of there about as fast as I could manage! Ouch!
This incident made me review any movie I intended to take anyone to from then on!
Next sat Stoney Creek School then an Anglo garage before Clay Galt鈥檚 Texaco Service Station. The Agassiz Drive Inn, (the milk shakes were so thick you could turn them upside down for three or four seconds without them running out) built and run by Carmen Poole, was beside the Pasquill house. Some of the staff at The Agassiz, besides Carmen and Helen鈥檚 girls, were Janice, Darlene and Viola Kuharski, Jean Birnie and daughter, Eileen, Josephine Branzin, Doris Whitelock, Alma Loeben and Leslie Gunn.
Right next to that was the Bus Depot (West End Drive Inn) run by Mr. McEachern. Hilda and George McEachern had three daughters, Joan, Linda and Kathy. Prior to the bus depot being built, the McEachern鈥檚 ran the 鈥淲est End Drive Inn.鈥� Some of the car hops there were Pat Jackson, Lynne Harron, Grace Thompson and Janet Kulbaski. These car hops were kept busy serving all of the food produced by cooks Wes Hosler and Mary Owens. This information was from the early 1960s.
After Hare's Cartage, Keith Jackson ran The Ideal Service Station. A couple of his workers were Jim Crabbe, Maurice Clark, Dennis Clark and David Cameron.
In the next block was The Anglican Church. The sign out front says, 鈥淒rive carefully. You may hit an Anglican.鈥� That sign gets much attention from people passing through Neepawa.
The other sign that drew attention was the one coming into Neepawa from the east at Provost鈥檚 sign shop: 鈥淣eepawa population: 997,000鈥�.short of a million鈥�. Just south-east of the church sat the tennis courts.
I don鈥檛 see that sign any longer. Part way down the town hill was Parrott鈥檚 Green House. The Parrotts had two children, John and Geraldine. Just past Parrott's was the area known as 鈥淪leepy Hollow鈥�, where Scotty Burnett sold meat.
The Hydro building was the last business at the east end of Neepawa. Ed Salway was the Manager. Johnny Chapel, Linda and Margie Ball鈥檚 step-father also worked there and my mother, Marjorie, worked there as secretary for a number of years.
During the years when I was 16 and 17, back in 鈥�61 and 鈥�62, Saturday night was the time when we 鈥渂orrowed鈥� our parents鈥� car and drove around the town in circles. I can remember having my mom鈥檚 鈥�57 Ford, Dennis Foley with his 鈥榩ush button鈥� Chrysler, Richard Gromek鈥檚 鈥�58 Olds, Almer Pasosky鈥檚 Monarch and later his convertible Ford Galaxy, Ed Fearn鈥檚 Fargo truck and later the Falcon. Lorne Kines and John Parrot with their customized cars. I remember passing each other 25 or 30 times each night. The very first time any of us borrowed the family car was Ron Kleven borrowing his folks鈥� 鈥�59 Pontiac. What a thrill that was driving around town with the radio blaring out tunes like 鈥淏a Ba Ba Ba Barbara Anne鈥� or 鈥淩ama Lama Ding Dong.鈥� I also recall Cam Smith negotiating the country roads in his dad鈥檚 鈥�60 Vauxhall, gearing down for every sharp turn and handling the gravel roads with the precision of Al Unser.
Another popular tune back then was 鈥淢ama said.鈥� Yep, Mama said there鈥檇 be days like this鈥he just didn鈥檛 tell us they would end!
