The Life and Times of Bob and Eddy Hayes - Part 4

           Now back in Calgary, we rented the main floor of a house and some long time friends rented the upstairs.  Bob was back to driving the Greyhound bus and had a run on the Big Bend  (before Rogers' Pass was built).  We enjoyed that time in Calgary.  That summer, our girls and I had the mumps and I was so thankful for Bob's mother.  She came down to south Calgary and helped me with the girls. We were so busy that summer; our girls were a real handful.  Gail was so energetic; thank goodness Karen was more placid.  We had a very lean Christmas as we were still paying hospital and Doctor’s bills from Whitehorse. 

            In January 1951, Bob was laid off from Greyhound and he had his introduction to oil field work.  He got a job with Schlumberger as a helper on a perforating truck.  It was some introduction as it was very cold and ever so much snow, so much that the truck had to be transported by train.  Come spring, Bob was laid-off due to the spring break-up.  Greyhound called him back but wanted him to transfer to Saskatoon.  Again we bundled our wee girls up and left for Saskatoon.  We found a nice basement apartment in a home of a lovely couple.  They were so good to us, and lo and behold, 6 weeks later Greyhound transferred us to Lloydminster.  We found ourselves in South Minster in a small house in the yard of Fran and Cliff Ranger.  We were at home. 

           The community welcomed us with open arms.  Second day there my girls and I were invited to Muriel Foote’s home for the community tea.  The people I met then are still my friends today.  Bob was invited to play with the South Minster ball team.  Such fun at the ball games — Sandy Beach, Lone Rock, Marshall and even against the Wainwright Army team.  Wonderful picnics and Ball tournaments.  Happy days!

            Bob drove his usual Greyhound route to Saskatoon, drove taxi and worked on Cliff’s farm.  He was energetic beyond my understanding.  In the fall, we were able to rent a wartime house, now this was heaven!  Three bedrooms, running water and a bathroom.  Not very much furniture but lots of room.  The laugh of the day was when we went to look at the house, we told the girls they would each have a bedroom, as we entered the vestibule (about 4’x6’) Karen exclaimed “Oh! My very own bedroom.”  Guess she figured that was a pretty good space for her. 

            In January of 1952, Bob was laid off by Greyhound again!  However, this was a good thing as he was employed by Dowell Inc.  The station manager was a very personable man named Frankie Anderson.  He took all the employee’s interests to heart.  The perforating engineer that trained Bob in the perforating division was Peter Farrell.  He didn’t want to remain in Lloydminster so he encouraged Bob to learn quickly so Peter could move on the greener pastures.  Six months later Bob was a Perforator.  The work was very challenging with ever so much to learn. 

          In 1954, Dowell obtained a very small perforating unit, actually a trailer to be hauled behind a half-ton truck.  The theory was that it was more economical.  It worked pretty well and a number of wells were perforated using this method.  In 1955, Bob left Dowell as there was a slow down in the oil field in Lloydminster and he was asked to transfer to Drayton Valley.  We didn’t want to move there because we were expecting our third child.  Bob took a position with Lloydminster Development and he worked long hours doing a variety of jobs.  I remember him moving oil storage tanks, and also negotiating with farmers for access roads to oil wells.  I remember him bringing in forklifts and graders to remove manure piles for a farmer in exchange for access roads.  He had to be quite inventive.

           The winter of 1955 arrived early in October with a blinding blizzard.  I know they sent the office staff home early.  That winter of 1955 - 56 there were record amounts of snow.  On September 16, 1955, our baby boy, Bardy Allen, arrived and what a joy he was.  He had the most beautiful large eyes.  His daddy was very pleased.  His name was chosen as Dad wanted to have a name no one else had. 
 

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The Hayes Family is off to Edmonton ... continue