Barry:
My memories of Gram are all very positive as she was a rock for our family and a true pioneer. She influenced me in a very positive ways. She gave me a wall plaque when I was about 13 which I still have hanging in my shop and stated “Watch out for ambition, it will get you into a lot of work”. I think she was amazing.
Judy:
Grama Frances was a very traditional and hard-working woman! She never liked fuss but was always looking out for others, especially her family. Grama would meet us in the yard when we got off the bus with warm cinnamon buns on baking day! After Grampa was in the hospital, I would go for supper with Grama once a week. We would eat pancakes or actual Kraft dinner – just the two of us! For the Hargrave fall supper, besides cooking turkeys and baking pies Grama would be the main dishwasher for the whole night! Hargrave bonspiel kitchen was also a busy place for her. She would make soup, cook turkeys and bake a few pies for the week! Grama and Mom and Dad milked a few cows by hand. She separated the cream and sold it be the quart or sometimes the pint to customers in Hargrave and Virden. I would help by delivering it to the door and exchanging it for an empty jar with money in it. The bulk of the cream she would take to the creamery in big cream cans – too heavy for me but ok for her. I was 10 and probably talker than her already. I loved her house! The cupboards were much shorter than at my house so I could get stuff when I was little. I liked to lounge on top of her freezer (which was in the kitchen) and enjoy an ice cream cone – she would have tea and we would talk! Her piano room was always full of red geraniums. If flour or sugar were on sale, Grama would buy extra and store in the trunk of her car. I bought her car so it came with a bag of sugar but no radio!
Rea & Lyle:
The memory of Grandpa seeing Rea and Lyle throwing stones (at each other?) out the window and him yelling at them to stop it!
Dolores:
Special times with Grandma Kinnaird included the following: Going to her place for sleepovers; Eating watermelon on the front step with the Kinnaird cousins; Grandma would get ready to go and milk the cows in the morning usually at around 5 am and coming back to the house through the porch with her big rubber boots; Going out to the pasture to watch her start a smudge for the cows to keep away the mosquitoes; Getting water from the kitchen sink because of the different style of faucet; Going to the garden beside the house with a cat or two cunning around; Being reluctant to go into the basement where the coal was kept; Going to sleep in her bed with a bottle of hot water that was placed in a sock to keep our feet warm. Then graduating to be able to sleep in Aunty Margaret s room; Picking Saskatoon berries with Grandma, Aunty Aida and Karen , then checking for wood ticks; Watching Grandma read the Brandon Sun while she stood at the deep freeze in the kitchen; Smelling the wood burn in the stove before she got the electric stove; Delivering eggs and cream in Hargrave and in Virden on Saturday mornings, along with the Kinnaird cousins; How happy she was when the new linoleum was laid in the house; How Grandma would play the hymns for Sunday church service so she would know them ahead of time and occasionally going to church on Sunday with the Kinnaird cousins; She would often look through her binoculars to see what was going on down the road or to see who was coming to pick up Judy (was it Sheldon?); Grandma would call neighbors to collect the weekly news to report the Hargrave news for the Virden Empire Advance and then watching as she would write on the special paper from the Advance for the news for the next week paper; Looking out the coloured panes of glass in the window upstairs to see how things looking in either yellow or red; Saturday night was often (more that often) spent getting ready to go to Virden to play BINGO. On the way there might be a stop to pick up Mattie Lifeso; On Sundays often we would phone and ask if she would like guest for supper. Supper would often consist of a tin of ham or sometimes a jar of preserved chicken, mashed potatoes with cream and green onions added in for taste, some type of vegetables fresh or frozen from the garden, always homemade bread or buns and often Virden ice cream or fruit cocktail for dessert. It was always fun to get in a game or two of euchre. She wold often send home with us eggs, homemade bread, and if we were lucky scones; If Charlie and Bella Gardiner were coming for a visit and supper Grandma would be invited too. You could tell what good friends they were. Usually there would be a card game after having supper; We would go to see the Simms at Oak River. Grandma would come to our house or we would pick her up. In the summer Karen and I would accompany her and have a sleepover so we could play with our cousins. One trip Judy came with us and she got to drive the blue car; When Grandpa Kinnaird was in Brandon at the Assiniboine Centre we would visit, pack a lunch (usually egg salad sandwiches on homemade bread) and spend time at the paddling pool in the summer. We would go to Brandon regularly to visit but unfortunately times were different and children were not allowed to visit as they are today. We celebrated one Christmas visiting in a large waiting room, often though it was looking through his room’s window and waving as we were held up high enough by Dad.; About 2 am on August 19, 1967 Grandpa passed away. We were on a sleep over as mum and dad were working in the valley. I remember on the Friday, Grandma and Uncle Keith went to Brandon to see Grandpa and knowing things were not too good. The phone rang early in the morning and I heard grandma go downstairs to answer it. She and Uncle Keith who was also in on the call (party line) spoke for a while. As she came back upstairs I remember her saying “poor dad”; Mum would often cut and would give Grandma s hair a perm. I think the one she liked was a Quick perm; When Grandma was ill, she spent a lot of time at our house. She would spend hours hooking rugs and would watch her favourite soap “The Edge of Night” at 3:30 pm. Sometimes she would talk to Aunt Nan. Our dog Lucky would always be on the lookout for some food scraps dropping conveniently onto the floor. During this time I was a candy striper at the Virden hospital. When Grandma was a patient I would get extra visiting time, Thelma Penner RN in particular would always make sure of that. I would make sure she was ready for the meal tray and help get her hair combed and freshened up ready for visitors. There were so many wonderful times spent with Grandma.
Karen:
My memories of Grandma are very special. Going to Grandma’s was always anticipated with excitement. We also got to play with our Kinnaird cousins, a bonus! Dolores and I had many sleepovers at Grandma’s and even sometimes we went there on the bus after school with Judy, Rea and Lyle. Many times we slept with Grandma in her bed with a warm bottle on the feet. I was always in the middle (not much room) but remember being put to sleep by the sound of the ticking of her clock. I hear Rea has that clock now, working or not! Grandma would get us to look out her east bedroom window to see the Lenore hill.
Going to light the smudge in the pasture at night was a ritual with Grandma before bed. Grandma made wonderful cinnamon buns, butter tarts, and her famous macaroni and tomato. TV was watched in the living room, mainly The Edge of Night and on Saturday night Wrestling her favourites, and caramels and cheese puffs close by. Dolores and I would go to Bingo with her in Virden often learning the different games. I loved going to deliver eggs, butter and cream to customers in Hargrave (a cookie from Bessie Carruthers) and to Virden (a visit and a treat from Esther Greig among others) ending up at the creamery to buy ice cream. Chicken and turkey killing days at the Kinnaird’s
were busy days, and Mom and Dad, Dolores and I were there too. But the canned chicken was the reaped benefit.
I remember Grandma putting in wood to the stove and the open oven door, always so warm in the kitchen! Trips to Oak River with Grandma to see the Simms were usually on rainy days so Grandma did not have to worry about milking cows as Uncle Keith was not as busy. There were many wonderful get- togethers for birthdays, Christmas and New Year’s that were spent together. Charlie and Bella Gardiner were often part of these gatherings, very good friends, just part of the family. Grandma was not one for pictures of herself so the rare ones we have are treasured. Grandma always remembered your birthday with a card signed “Love Gram”. Grandma loved to play the piano and taught me on the black keys my first piano piece. I remember going to church with her and she was in the choir. We would go to many events at Hargrave and Grandma was always involved whether the church, school or rink. I remember Grandpa Kinnaird having multi colored chicklets in his pocket and giving them to me! When he was in hospital in Brandon only remember a few visits, but once by his bedside and Mom cleaning his glasses and once in a large room at Christmas time and getting a tight hug. I always thought it was so terrific that both of my grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Kinnaird and Grandma and Grandpa Tapp had so many of the same friends. So many great memories!
Donna:
My memories of Grandma include sleeping over and getting up early when the cows were milked. Grandma told me just to sleep in but I wanted to get up and see what went on in the barn. Tippy was very excited that I was up too, jumping up on me which probably added to the commotion of the cows seeing a stranger in the barn! Helping collect the eggs was another novelty we did not have at home. Visiting at Grandmas was always something that I looked forward to.
Sharon:
My memories of Grandma include All Star “Wrassling” on Saturday night on TV, The Irish Rovers on the record player, chicken canned in jelly, her calling the cows – Cow Boss, Cow Boss, the little dolly she had dressed in a kilt. We were allowed to use markers in her colouring books! I remember when I came in the house to tell her and Mom that I drove the Kinnaird skidoo right in to the shed. (Those dear cousins showed me how to squeeze the throttle to make it go but never said to let go to make it stop!) Her only concern was that I was okay and anything that happened was their fault, not mine! Ha. I remember Grandma at our house and she tripped coming down from upstairs and Dad ran to her and said "Frances!" I was so mad at him because her name was Grandma, why was he calling her that! That north bedroom in our house was called Grandmas Room for many years until I moved into it with the dresser and wardrobe from her house after she died. Her dresser followed me to my current home and I remember her fondly.
Janice:
My memories of Grandma were lemon drop candies and Nilla wafer cookies.
