was a graduate of Grace Hospital and continued her‘
nursing at home after they were married. Herman con-
tinued in his chosen work of carpentry, and many of the
buildings in Ashern as well as homes along the east and
west side of Lake Manitoba were built with his supervi-
sion. He also played an active part in the community. He
was a Trustee of the Ashern School for 20 years, a life
member of the Ashern Curling Club and was presented
with an Honorary Life Membership by the Ashern Arena
Board. Herman Helgason passed away in November,
1966 and his wife Holml‘ridur one year earlier in October,
1965.

  

»_,r

Mr. and Mrs. Herman Helgnsson on their 401}: wedding anniver-
scary.

Edward and Margaret Howard

Edward was born in Verdun, Quebec. In 1950 be
came to work at the Oil Refinery in East Kildonan for a
year. At that time he met Margaret Kerntoph and in
l951 they were married and went back to Quebec. We
lived there i or twenty years, then decided to come back to
Ashern, and bought a quarter from brother Bill, and
started to build our home. The first summer we lived in a
tent and later moved into the basement. We both work;
Ed is a carpenter and does many other lines of work; and
1, Margaret, work at the Ashern Hotel.

I was born in Ashern at the house which my grand-
father built, my mother Ottilia, told me Mrs. Vince was
the midwife who delivered me.

We have no family, and will be celebrating our 25th
wedding anniversary this year, 19%. We would like to
take a trip back to Quebec.

1 went to Beatty School, and had a mile to walk
everyday. Some of the other children had three to four
miles, which wasn’t bad in the summer, but in winter it
was quite hard, with no snow ploughs. Sometimes they
would drive with a horse and cutter. Mr. Webster was the
Secretary-Treasurer, Mr. Vince and my father were
trustees at that time. The big thing was the Christmas
concert, with all the kids in school taking part. Each child
would get a bag of candy and nuts. A dance and lunch
always followed. Then in June the end of school, came
the picnic which was fun too, baseball, races of all kinds,
and all the ice cream you could eat —-— that was a big
treat.

There was only my brother Bill and myself in our
family. Grandmother lived with us until she passed away.
My cousin Wilbert Smith, came to live with us after his
father died.‘

 

 

Mother would make over a lot of my clothes from the
ones my aunt used to send from Winnipeg, so I always
had enough. i remember when she used to make
homemade noodles «- that was a day’s work in itself. She
would roll the dough out so thin and stretch it, then hang
it over tea towels to dry. Then flour them and roll it up,
and cut them with a sharp knife. 01‘ course we had
chickens so we would make chicken noodle soup, with
homemade noodles. They sure were good.

We always had a very good garden. Our cellar was
under the house to keep the potatoes and vegetables, but
it never froze and seemed to keep everything very well.

One day and told me to go out and get a rabbit for
supper, so I took the .22 and out i went in the bush. I got
a rabbit all right, hit it with the first shot, but when iwent
to pick it up itjumped away. I had to shoot it three times
before it finally died. I got teased so much from my
brother and cousin. They said they thought there was a
war on in the bush. I‘ve improved since.

I enjoy living in the Asbern district. i guess that‘s why
we decided to come back, away from the rush of the city
and noise. You have nice clean air to breathe out here,
and that to me is very important.

in the winter months before electricity, my father
would haul ice off the lake to Kurbis’ Store to keep the
meat and produce cold. They would keep it in on ice
house packed with sawdust, and it would not melt all
summer.

The Hugo and R. V. Walker Families

My Dad Mark Hugo, came to Ashern in 1912, and
filed on a homestead north-east of the village of Ashern.
They came out Inter and built a shock. Mother, Jim and
myself Mary, came on May 15, 1914. When we arrived
there was no one to meet us, so we walked along the
railroad track to the gravel pit spun-line, to the Sargent
farm. This was the only high and dry ground, there was
water everywhere.

There was little entertainment in the early days,
mostly picnics, baseball games, house parties and dances.

l recall we walked two and a half miles to school. We
dug senses root, shot rabbits and snared them too, for
spending money and to help buy clothes. We raised
chickens and calves for the annual fair.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Hugo on their 50th annivenrary. Back: Jim
Hugo, Mary and Dot-key Walker.