Author: wdhm@persona.ca

Next week many of us will partake in Robbie Burns day, an opportunity to celebrate our Scottish Heritage. I suspect this is a tradition as old as our community, as many of Wetaskiwin’s first families, including the MacEacherns, were of Scottish descent.

Duncan MacEachern was born in Lochaber Bay Quebec in 1863, the eldest son of John and Jennie (McDermit). Both of his grandfathers had emigrated from Scotland, and were pioneer settlers of Ontario and Quebec before dominion. A young Duncan attended an old log schoolhouse and he remained on the family farm until age 18, at which time he went to work in a stone flour mill. In 1892 he married Jennie Waterston, a native of Ottawa, and in 1897, moved to the new settlement of Wetaskiwin with his wife, three-year-old son Norman, and 50 cents in his pocket.

Mr. MacEachern became an active and prominent citizen. He was a member of the first town council in 1902, and continued to serve the city in this capacity for five years and as Mayor in 1907. He was also Chairman of the Hospital Board for two years, and an active member of the School Board for nineteen years. He is best remembered, however, as one of Wetaskiwin’s most prominent business men. Shortly after arriving in the area, Duncan played a minor role in the building of the first flour mill in Wetaskiwin, which was owned by Mr. Richie. Within two years had bought interest in it, and by 1903, he was in charge of the entire operation. Then, in partnership with William McCallum, bought the mill outright in 1905.

Initially, the mill was powered by steam and fuelled by burning cord wood. Farmers who were clearing land brought wood in return received two dollars cash. The MacEachern and McCallum flour mill and grain distributor became one of the more important industries in the earliest development of our district. By 1910 its elevators boasted a storage of 35,000 bushels, with the mill having a capacity of 100 barrels a day. The mill was famous for two brands of flour, “Hungarian Patent” and “Wetaskiwin Bakers”, produced “Boston Cream Breakfast Food”, and distributed an array of feed including bran, shorts, chop grain etc. MacEachern and McCallum also developed the first grain-cleaning elevator in Western Canada.

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In 1915, Duncan took over sole possession of the mill and MacEachern Milling Ltd. became a family business. The Great War brought a further boom to the mill, as it had to operate 24-hours a day in order to mill enough grain for the troops. This grain was sacked in 140-pound bags and shipped to many locations, including Ceylon and China. Then, during the 1930s, the MacEacherns looked after our community by milling more wheat into flour for the locals than any other mill in Alberta. The mill had another interesting role. Each morning at seven the mill’s whistle would blow, waking up those who were still sleeping. It rang again at twelve noon to mark the lunch hour, and at six to signal the end of the work day. This tradition continued for 45 years, until the death of Duncan on August 23, 1945. His wife, Jennie, passed away a year later.

Duncan and Jennie’s children were prominent citizens of our community in their own right. Their eldest son Norman, who had served with the 10^th Battalion during World War I, returned home to assist his father and youngest surviving brother John with the mill. Norman became a prominent businessman in his own right, and in 1958 he was given the honour of “Citizen of the Half Century” by the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture. Norman was also a member of the school board, the first president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 86 in Wetaskiwin, and helped to establish the cadets with Curt Paul Smith in 1942. His brother John eventually took over operation of the mill, and continued to run it until he and Norman sold the business in 1957. Meanwhile, their sister Mae attended Normal School to become a teacher. After graduating in 1917, she taught at Battle Lake for one year before deciding to pursue further education at the University of Alberta. Mae earned her Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and languages in 1924. In 1946, she was appointed principal of the new Camp Centre School, and in 1957 oversaw its change of location and name to Clear Vista School. She remained as principal until her retirement in 1962. The second eldest son of the MacEachern clan moved to Winnipeg and a fifth child, Charles, died at the age of four years and 10 months, as noted by his grave marker in the Wetaskiwin Cemetery.

The MacEachern Mill no longer remains, but a testament to the wealth it produced can still be seen in the grand family home that was built in 1912 on Main Street (50^th Avenue). Currently home to MacEachern Tea, a homage to the original owners, generations of MacEacherns lived here until it was sold by John in the 1950s. While I have no proof, I imagine many wee drams being enjoyed in the parlour room each year on January 25 to celebrate the National Poet of Scotland. I invite you to join me in continuing this tradition next Saturday at the Legion’s annual Burns Supper, and raise at least a second glass to the MacEacherns as well.

Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, January 15, 2020

The other night I drove by City Hall all lit up and smiled.

It looks particularly charming at this time of the year, but the truth is I smile every time I see it. When we first came to Wetaskiwin my husband immediately thought of the Hill Valley Clock Tower that was struck by lightning on Nov. 12, 1955, providing the 1.21 gigawatts of power needed to send Marty “Back to the Future”. In some ways, he wasn’t far off. He was in fact referring to “Courthouse Square” at Universal Studios composed of several facades built to form an archetypal American town square including an old courthouse. This is exactly what our City Hall is. I smile now not only because of this memory, but also because the old Wetaskiwin Courthouse truly is an architectural masterpiece that was designated a provincial historic site in 1977 and a national historic site in 1980.

On May 9, 1906, Wetaskiwin became one of the first cities of the young province of Alberta. Four months later, it was named the centre for the Central Alberta Judicial District. Temporary court offices were set up in the Merchant’s Bank on Pearce Street (Main Street) while the province made plans for a new courthouse. The site of choice was a large lot along the east end of Pearce Street, but the purchase did not happen without some controversy. The owner of the lot was A.S. Rosenroll, a Wetaskiwin man who was also a member of the Alberta Legislature. The sale went through, however, and ours became only the second grand courthouse built in the province, and one of the first buildings designed by the American-born and trained A.M. Jeffers. As the newly appointed Provincial Architect, Jeffers went on to design many governmental constructions in the “Classical Revival” style (ancient Greek and Roman architecture), including other courthouses, schools, registries, and the Legislature building.

The estimated cost for Wetaskiwin’s Courthouse was $80,000 and the contract for excavations of the site were awarded to Mr. Elmer Campbell, while D.J. McLaughlin of Edmonton, who was also the builder of the Merchant’s Bank building, received the contract for construction. The official sod turning ceremony was in October of 1907.

The courthouse is constructed of solid red brick over a concrete and rubble foundation that is faced (covered) with Calgary sandstone. The same sandstone can also be seen on the exterior trim on the upper walls as well as the windowsills and the keystone (or centre stone) over the arched doorway. The visual focal point of the building is an entrance with a shallow porch incorporating a pair of carved sandstone Ionic columns (two simple spiral scrolls at the top and a tall stepped base) that are topped with a pediment (triangular gable). Within the pediment is the date 1907 flanking Alberta’s armorial bearings. Today, the entablature below the pediment reads CITY HALL, originally this read COURT HOUSE. The entablature and decorative elements running along the top of the building are formed from galvanized iron painted to match the sandstone trim.

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Inside is just as impressive. It incorporates plaster ornamentation on the walls and ceiling, as well as richly stained birch doors, wainscoting, rails, and a prisoner’s box in what is now council chambers. You can also find original furnishings throughout the building. The old jail cells, with their heavy-duty iron bars on pivot pins, along with carved words and phrases on some of the bricks in the walls of the cells, can still be seen in the basement across from the Caretaker’s Suite, which has been restored as a satellite exhibit of the Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum to depict life of the 1940s.

The courthouse was not completed until 1909, but initial construction and the interior must have proceeded quickly as the first trial in the building was held on Jan. 21, 1908, with Judge Noel presiding. There were 33 cases on the docket that day. The building continued to serve its original function for over 80 years.

Starting in 1991, however, a new provincial court was built, and the old courthouse sat empty. Much like the lady with the tin can in Hill Valley trying to collet change to save the clock tower in 1985, the Wetaskiwin Old Courthouse Society was formed trying to ensure that it did not meet the same fate of destruction that its sister building in Lethbridge did. A news release on February 24, 2006 by the Government of Alberta confirmed that the building was to be sold to the City of Wetaskiwin for a nominal sum and that the province would contribute $800,000 (10x the price they originally paid to build it) to help pay for necessary renovations to convert it into our new City Hall.

Proper renovations to Heritage Buildings have many challenges including not doing irreparable damage to a building that was constructed with materials no longer commonly used, while incorporating modern safety codes and still maintaining its original character. When done right, the challenges are more than worth it, and the local firm PGA Architects did an amazing job that only enhances the overall appreciation of the building. The addition of the wings on either side of the courthouse perfectly fit the classical style ratio that the original architect Jeffers was trying to achieve and add to its grandeur, while the glass construction reflects the surrounding the sky, trees, and grass so that the new merges into the landscape and lets us appreciate the original building. At the same time, the incorporation of the painted galvanized iron entablature at the top flawlessly matches that of the original building and pulls the whole structure together into a unified whole.

I love our City Hall, and smile every time I see it. I am proud of this community for rallying behind it and not letting it be destroyed, or even worse, turned into Biff Tannen’s Pleasure Paradise Casino & Hotel!

Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, December 12, 2019

If you travel from Lethbridge to Helena, Montana on Hwy. 4 and I-15, you are taking the First Special Services Force Memorial Highway and following the path taken by more than 700 Canadian soldiers in the summer of 1942 to join another 1,100 American counterparts.

The FSSF, aka the “Devil’s Brigade”, was unique in that for the first time it brought together soldiers from both Canadian and American armies under one unified command. They trained for over a year, becoming a versatile group of elite commandos. They are one of the most remarkable fighting units in modern war history and the predecessor of both American and Canadian Special Forces Units including the Navy SEALs and Canada’s Joint Task Force Two. They also have special connections to our community.

The FSSF first demonstrated the value of their unique skills in the mountains between Rome and Naples. Between December 1943 and January 1944, they immediately earned a reputation for being able to take objectives that no one else could. Then, on Feb. 1, they landed near Anzio, just south of Rome.

One week into this operation, Sgt. Tommy Prince, Canada’s most decorated Indigenous soldier, was spying from an abandoned farmhouse. His only connection to his force was 1,400 metres of telephone wire. He was reporting back enemy artillery when the line was severed by shelling. Unfazed, Prince donned civilian clothing, grabbed a hoe, and, in full view of German soldiers, who were only 200 metres away, acted like a farmer weeding his crops. Inching his way along the line he found where it was damaged, and while pretending to tie his shoelaces, quickly rejoined the wires. In all, four German positions were destroyed.

The FSSF fought at Anzio for 99 days without relief. It was here the Germans dubbed them “the Black Devils” because its members smeared their faces with boot polish for their covert operations in the dark of the night. It was here their presence first became known thanks to trademark stickers they left behind featuring their shoulder patch of a brilliant red spear with USA across the top and Canada down the spine, alongside a slogan written in German that read “the worst is yet to come”. It was here Wetaskiwin lost one of our own, Sgt. George Oliver Godin.

During the night of June 4, 1944, the FSSF was the first unit to enter Rome. Strategically important, it became the first of the three Axis capitals to be retaken. The next morning, one day before the invasion of Normandy, while long columns of American soldiers passed through the Eternal City to a huge reception by the grateful Romans, the ones who had actually liberated it overnight, were already engaged in another fierce combat along the Tiber River.

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The FSSF was a one-of-a-kind military unit that saw heavy casualties. They lost 134 per cent of their original strength in only 251 days of combat. They never failed a mission. They contributed to the liberation of Europe. They saved many Allied soldier’s lives with the information passed back to headquarters, however, many of us have never heard of them. Part of the reason for this is that the FSSF was highly secretive. Another reason is that as we remember, we tend to focus on larger battles. While it is it is absolutely right that we gather to give thanks to the extraordinary bravery and sacrifices of critical turning points in our war-time history, we must also remember the forgotten fronts.

Fifty-seven years after the FSSF was disbanded, Canadian and American Special Force members were united again into a special assignment force for the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. The last of these soldiers returned home only five years ago.

One of our own veterans, John Lea-Stoddart, joined the Army in March 2008. He volunteered for infantry and was posted to the 1^st Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI) out of Edmonton. Deployed as a Platoon signaler for Task Force 3-09, he, like his fellow soldiers, was always a rifleman first. Cpl Lea-Stoddart spent six years in the army, training all over Canada and the United States and helping with natural disasters. Like is fellow soldiers, he willingly went into places most of us would flee from. This past year, he chaired the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 86’s Poppy Campaign. The money he helped raise through your donations, will be held in Trust at the branch level to directly support veterans and their families within our community throughout the year.

Canadian men and women have continued to serve since WWII. They, like Tommy Prince, who became a member of the 2^nd and 3^rd Battalions of the PPCLI (the same unit that Lea-Stoddart later served with), and George Godin’s three younger brothers Bud, Dick, and Lawrence served in Korea. They, like many of our communities’ members, including Godin’s nephew Richard, continued to serve in peace time. They, like many under the UN flag, were involved in missions that included combat. Others saw combat in both the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, serving with our American neighbours. They unlike most of us, have all continued to witness great tragedies at home and abroad.

Today there are many veterans continuing to serve their communities in a variety of ways, while many young men and women are waiting for their next deployment. As we continue to remember, I am also going to ask you to not forget the newer generations of Canadian veterans and soldiers. Their bravery and sacrifices are no less extraordinary.

Originally published in the Wetaskiwin Times, November 21, 2019