Over the summer I was entertaining an aunt from overseas. It was a great chance to get to those places that one only visits when entertaining visitors, such as the Manitoba Museum, Lower Fort Garry etc.
Most impressive was Assiniboine Park. I have been to the park in recent years but usually to go somewhere specific, not wander around at length. I recall a decade ago that the park was looking its age. A bit tired and worn out.
The park now boasts a new duck pond / picnic area, a Children's Garden and play area and a Butterfly Conservancy. You can see some of the new construction at the zoo (I assume that's the polar bear exhibit). It's looking more like the gem that it is.
The Leo Mol Sculpture Garden and adjoining English Garden look spectacular. Given the hot, dry summer it must take a lot of work to keep them in such great shape. The advantage is that you can probably still catch them in full bloom this late in the year.
I noticed that the gardens contain a number of building fragments from long-forgotten edifices such as the Royal Alexandra Hotel (above) and the Dominion Post Office.
A friend pointed out that one thing the park is missing is a central concession area and I have to agree. The upscale restaurant and gallery in the Pavilion is great but really makes the building off limits, even as a place to go sit and cool down.
I remember the old main floor concession. It was family friendly and you could grab an ice cream, canned drink, bag of cotton candy or just use the washroom and sit down for a bit.
The upstairs was a restaurant, now home to a gallery. The gallery is nice but does have a lot of dead space. I am not sure how many people visit but in the half hour we were there nobody else came in.
And for the 20th year in a row my vow to read up a bit on the rules of cricket and go catch a few games in-person never panned out. Ah well, there's always next year !
On August 14, 2011 the Winnipeg Stadium, (now Canad-Inns Stadium), turned 58. Barring a major construction setback, this will be the final season for the building. In this series I look back at the history of the Stadium and some of the great moments, football and non-football related, over the decades !
On August 29, 1970 "Man-Pop", Winnipeg’s first outdoor rock festival, took place at the Winnipeg Stadium.
As part of the youth festivities for the Manitoba centennial celebrations, concerts were held across the province all summer long and Man-Pop was the grand finale. The Centennial Corporation budgeted $130,000 for the event, expecting to make back $100,000 of that through ticket sales.
Fifteen thousand people showed up at noon for the start of the eleven-hour concert but later in the afternoon disaster struck in the form of a heavy downpour that lasted for over an hour. The field became a muddy pit, the concert's power source was damaged and a number of bands, including Zepplein, has some or all of their equipment destroyed. Maitland Steinkpopf, chairman of the Centennial Corporation, and his team had an idea: Instead of calling off the concert, start it back up again inside the Arena. Organizers scrambled to find replacement equipment and chairs for the arena floor. Dozens of Winnipeg Transit buses were booked to run concert-goers home in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Concert-goers were sent to the Arena but not everyone got a seat as the fire department locked the doors when the capacity reached 14,000 and threatened to cancel the show if any more people were allowed in. Some angry fans broke three of the Arena's windows but there was little other violence. The Centennial Corporation offered refunds for those left in the rain.
In an organizational triumph, just three hours after the stadium concert was ended the arena concert began. It is said that performer Diane Heatherington had to coax Led Zeppelin to stick around and play their set. They took to the stage around 2 a.m. and the concert got out after 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
August 26, 1970. Winnipeg Free Press
By most accounts the concert was a success, despite the heat and humidity inside the arena. Concert goers realized that a show this size could not be re-booked and it was either make the best of the situation or miss out. Even among the bands there were few hard feelings. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin told Ann Stark, Free Press columnist:
"It was just an unfortunate set of circumstances, we don't blame anybody for it, I think you lot did a pretty good job, what with all the groups pitching in with their equipment and your local sound people, with such short notice. I feel sorry for the cats that lost all their sound system out there in the rain. Their insurance company is going to have a fit when they find out what happened!"
The only damage reported were the three Arena windows and a mess at the hastily vacated stadium that was cleaned up in time for a Bomber game the following week. Police noted that the atmosphere was generally friendly. There were just 21 arrests, mostly for drug violations among minors.
The expensive headliner Led Zeppelin wasn't the crowd favourite though. Even Robert Plante said that he was unhappy with the makeshift concert:
"Our music demands a great deal of equipment for one thing and the building we were in wasn't too hot on the old acoustics was it?" September 5, 1970. Winnipeg Free Press
The show-stealers were six-piece Chicago band Ides of March, riding high on their album Vehicle. They returned later that year to play a sold out show at the U of M gym and two shows at the Concert Hall the following summer.
On August 14, 2011 the Winnipeg Stadium, (now Canad-Inns Stadium), turned 58. Barring a major construction setback, this will be the final season for the building. In this series I look back at the history of the Stadium and some of the great moments, football and non-football related, over the decades !
On July 27, 2007 the Blue Bombers play the Hamilton Ti-Cats at Canad Inns Stadium.
Mid-way through the second quarter Bomber slotback Milt Stegall scores career touchdown number 138 from the one yard line. This breaks the CFL record for Most Pass Receiving Touchdowns - All Time once held by both George Reed and Mike Pringle.
It was supposed to be a running play but quarterback Kevin Glenn had to sidestep a Hamilton tackle causing him to pitch the ball forward.
The Bombers went on to win the game. Stegall ended his career with 144 career touchdowns.
For those that don't get over to my Winnipeg Downtown Places blog often, I've been clearing out a lot of draft posts that have been hanging around behind the scenes.
Two building histories are of U of W restoration projects that often get forgotten with all the shiny new buildings opened of late. The stately Wesley Hall and the Canwest Centre for Theatre and Film, which is the former Salvation Army Citadel on Colony Street.
In the Exchange District I take a look at the Fairchild Building, now home to Fairchild Lofts and the Campbell Brothers and Wilson Building, now home to Penthouse Condominiums.
Crossing to the east side of Main Street there's 110 James Street, most notable for the fading Philco Radio, Refrigerators and Televisions sign painted on the side.
I am working on a new map for the projects. So some day they'll all be plotted in one place.
On August 25, 1921 game show host and television producer Maurice 'Monte' Halparin, known to most as Monty Hall, is born in Winnipeg to Rose and Maurice Halparin. For a time the family home was at 59 Cobourg Avenue.
Maurice Sr. sold meat from a wagon until he could open a small butcher shop in back of a north end delicatessen. Hall's first job was delivering meat for his father. Eventually Maurice Sr. opened a small store of his own at 1474 Main Street and he and Rose settled into an apartment at 10B-191 Cathedral Avenue.
Monte tried to save enough money to attend U of M with the hopes of becoming a doctor but had to drop out in the first year due to a lack of money. When Max Freed, owner of the clothing store next to Halparin’s butcher shop, learned of this he offered to fund Hall’s education on four conditions: that he kept good grades; that he paid it all back; that he would do the same for someone else one day; and that Freed’s name remained anonymous. (Hall says the latter was the only condition he did not meet as he 'outed' the late Max Freed in his autobiography).
Winnipeg Tribune, March 1, 1944
While at U of M Hall was elected president of UMSU, (brother Robert was an editor at The Manitoban), and worked part time as a CKRC radio host and emcee for charity and troop shows around Manitoba during the war. He also produced, acted and sang in local radio and theatre productions.
When he graduated in 1946 with a BSc in Chemistry and Zoology, Hall began working at the Canadian Wheat Board but knew that entertainment was meant to be his full time career. (He also says in this Toronto Star article that moving on to med school wasn't possible the following year due to a quota on the number Jewish students admitted to the program each year.)
CKRC's Monte Halparin !
Later that year he was off to Toronto to work for CHUM as a host / manager. In 1949 he was hosting a radio show called Who Am I which ran until 1959, which could be heard locally on CKRC, and soon began doing television projects for the CBC.
While at CHUM in the mid 1940s it was suggested that he simplify his last name and he chose Hall. 'Monte' became 'Monty' because of a typographical error on the station's promotional material.
Hall claims that he was forced from Canada when the CBC 'blackballed' him in 1955. Without explanation his duties were cancelled and other projects that he signed on for were also scuttled. Now married to radio actress Marilyn with two small children, Hall found himself in a bad position. "When the CBC cuts you off, you can't just walk across the street because there is nothing across the street." (Winnipeg Free Press, August 21, 1959).
So, in the summer of 1955 the Halls moved to New York City, though Monty would continue to commute to Toronto to do the weekly Who Am I until 1959. Within a couple of years he was making a name for himself as a popular live-event emcee, had a TV news show called 'Byline, Monty Hall' and was featured on numerous quiz shows. From 1960 - 1962 he got one of his first 'lead host' jobs in a game show, CBS-TV's Video Village.
It was the following year that Let's Make a Deal, which Hall co-created, hosted and produced, hit NBC's daytime lineup. Though critics panned the quirky show they warmed to Hall. In the late 1960s there was speculation in Hollywood that he could get a late night talk show gig to compete with the likes of Carson.
When the show shifted from NBC to ABC it was rumoured to be for an astonishing $7m payout. Though he was always looking toward other projects as a producer, he ended up staying on as host of various incarnations of Let's Make a Deal until 1991 - a whopping 4,700 episodes.
TV ad ca. 1974
Hall did return to Winnipeg from time to time to visit family and friends. (In this recent Free Press article he says that he made annual visits.)
In 1970 his mother Rose died and though his parents had lived near Toronto for a number of years, she was buried at Shaarey Zedek Cemetery.
In 1974 he made an 'official visit' for the city's centennial year. One of the many events he participated in was as host of the opening concert of the 4th annual Folklorama festival. At a luncheon he received a medal from mayor Juba on behalf of all Winnipeggers for his community service work. In his acceptance speech he spoke of the immigrants of the North End:
"They came here to build the street railways and the roads ... to develop Winnipeg and make it grow ... to make a contribution to the future. And now one immigrant son is presenting the city'shighest award to another immigrant son. I think my wife and family now really understand what Winnipeg means to me." (Winnipeg Free Press, August 14, 1974).
On July 25, 1982 Hall's father passed away at Misericordia Hopsital.
His last visit was in 2010 to host the 100th anniversary gala of St. John's High School.
The Manitoban, Oct 1, 1943
Aside from his television work, Hall is also credited with raising over $800m for Variety Clubs, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and other charities. He has four children's hospital wings named after him.
Last week Brandon began a month long experiment with a summer pedestrian mall in the heart of their downtown.
Those of you who have followed this blog since the early days know that I have a past history with Brandon and a soft spot for its downtown. Despite the fact that most Brandonites have a major hate-on for their city centre, which includes any projects aimed at improving it, there have been a lot of interesting things happening there of late.
The pedestrian portion itself is on Rosser Avenue from 9th Street to 10th Street. Traffic flow has been changed on the two streets to accommodate the new arrangement. From Princess to Pacific both are now one-way traffic with angle parking reintroduced.
The city's website details the street changes (and provides a truly horrible, illegible map).The Rosser closure ends after a street party on September 18th but the changes to 9th and 10th remain in place.
Though the downtown isn't "there" yet as destination, it has certainly overcome the tide of indifference, neglect and demolition that it faced for decades. They still have a decent inventory of interesting buildings. Many that sat underutilized or abandoned are now in the process of being renovated with housing as a big component. (Heck, they've even got free downtown wi fi !)
Introducing one way streets may be counter intuitive to creating a more walkable downtown (as Grant points out) but I get their desire to jam as much additional parking adjacent to the pedestrian mall as they can, at least at the start. Convincing most Brandonites that they can come downtown and walk around is an unenviable task and doing it with less parking, or the perception that there might be less parking, would be putting holes to your hull.
Brandon General Museum
If you're whizzing by Brandon on the Trans Canada this summer, take time to stop in and check it out. Other spots of note downtown is the historic train station that is being renovated, their new civic museum and impressive Kristopher Campbell Skateboard Park. Not in the downtown but a definite must-see is the former Brandon Mental Health Centre site, now partly home to Assiniboine Community College.
Like most Canadians I was saddened to hear of the death of Jack Layton.
It took me some time to warm to him but election after election i got to 'know' him better and liked the man and the politician. Given that he returned after each election with a larger caucus, obviously Canadians felt the same.
Jack's last couple of years also had a personal connection for me as his condition mirrored my fathers. Not long before Jack was diagnosed with his first bout of cancer, so was my father. He, too, beat the disease only to have it come back soon after and kill him.
In my 2011 campaign wrap-up post I gave a kudos to Jack. Some openly questioned whether he had a campaign fight in him, as if being a cancer survivor and walking with a cane meant that he had to hang up his goals and sit in a care home somewhere.
Instead, he wielded that cane a la Freddy Mercury's mic stand and pulled off an unprecedented victory for his party. To boot, he was the only oppo party leader to even make it back into the House with a seat !
Sadly, when his cancer returned Jack had no more victories in him. Canada is a poorer place today. My condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.
If you've been around Osborne and Broadway lately you might have noticed something odd. These are streetcar tracks, some from the cars that ran down the centre of Broadway. They've been uncovered during road resurfacing and will be surfaced over again.
In this photo you can see the original paving stones.
No, not former Prime Minister John A. Macdonald, but John A. McDonald the long-time Brandon merchant ! He died in Brandon on December 2, 1945 at the age of 81.
While skimming back through McDonald's history looking for a photo to use I came across a cast of characters and businesses that help tell the story of early Brandon.Here's what I found.
Rosser Avenue ca. 1890 (MHS). See McKee for 1882, 1883 images.
McDonald left his home in Lucknow, Ontario for Manitoba in 1882, eventually settling in the newly incorporated city of Brandon.
April 15, 1884. Brandon Daily Sun
McDonald's first job was as bookkeeper for the firm of Whitehead and Whitelaw on Rosser Ave., one of Brandon's original businesses.
Thomas Whitehead, who the Brandon Weekly Sun (July 8, 1886) referred to as “one of the most popular men in the city”, retired back to Ontario in 1886 after nearly four years in Brandon. He sold his share in the company to Mr. Storme, a Portage la Prairie merchant, and the company carried on as Storme and Whitelaw until 1890 when the partnership was dissolved.
After Whitelaw's, McDonald went to work for another pioneer, Dr. Alexander Fleming. The Scottish doctor, trained at Glasgow and Harvard, came to Canada and settled first in New Brunswick where he practiced medicine for ten years. In 1867 he married Louisa Biden with whom he had ten children.
In 1881 the Flemings moved Brandon (which must have been quite the trek with ten kids in tow !) and he became the region's first doctor and opened its first pharmacy on Rosser Avenue. That same year he became the first secretary treasurer of the school board and before long was president of the Manitoba and North West Farmers Co-operative and a member of city council.
November 27, 1897. Manitoba Free Press
The province was stunned when Fleming died at his Louise Avenue home on the night of November 26, 1897 from an apparent heart attack. He was only 56 and thought to be in excellent health. Earlier that day he showed no sign of any ill health, having performed surgery and attended an evening church meeting.
In Medicine in Manitoba: The story of its beginnings a colleague said of Fleming: "...he did things regardless of hardship. He was practically worshiped by the country people and attempted the most surgery at that time. He was certainly a fellow who was always on duty.”
Brandon City Guide 1883
Fleming's son John William Fleming was a trained pharmacist who worked with his father for many years and he took over Fleming's Drug Store, (also called Fleming and Sons.) J.W. went on to be mayor of Brandon six times between 1902 and 1911.
Source: Brandon Daily Sun
The McDonald family, there were at least two sons and four daughters, settled into their home at 318 11th Street and John A. decided that it was time to get into business for himself. In 1896 he joined with Frank Calvert to create McDonald and Calvert, a men's clothing store, at 341 Rosser at 9th Street.
As the community boomed, so did the business. Thanks to its success the intersection of Rosser and 9th became very desirable, considered the heart of the city's downtown retail district.
On August 1, 1911 it was revealed that the partnership was over; McDonald had been bought out by Calvert. The store closed for renovations and was to reopen on August 5 named simply Frank Calvert's.
A little over a week later the tables turned. After some reflection McDonald realized that he had made a huge mistake by selling out and went back to Calvert offering to buy the business back off of him. Calvert agreed and in late August John A. McDonald, Outfitter to Men and Boys, opened to the public.
Ad circa 1916
A few months later McDonald took another page out of Frank Calvert's book and got into municipal politics.
In April 1911 Calvert ran and won a city council by-election for Ward 2 but he did not run again in December 1911, (civic elections were held annually back then). John A. McDonald ran for Calvert's old seat and became the new alderman for Ward 2. In just his second year on council, McDonald was chair of the influential finance committee.
December 8, 1914. Brandon Daily Sun.
In 1914 Mayor Hughes decided not to run again due to poor health. McDonald risked his council seat to run for the top job. There was just one other candidate in the race, fellow small businessman Harry Cater, owner of Brandon Pump and Windmill Works.
December 8, 1914. Brandon Daily Sun.
Cater was a formidable foe. He ran and lost the previous mayoral race, in part because the Brandon Daily Sun did not support him. Cater spent the year honing his 'man of the people' persona and in 1914 was the Sun's darling candidate. The paper gushed over him while at times openly ridiculed the pro-business platform put forth by McDonald.
Cater beat McDonald and served as Brandon's mayor for 18 of the next 20 years. McDonald, it seems, never tried his hand at politics again.
Circa 1945
McDonald's clothing store was doing well. By 1919 the store had expanded to include 837 – 841 Rosser Avenue. Son Angus K. McDonald joined his father in the business and by 1921 the store was renamed John McDonald and Son.
On December 2, 1945 at the age of 81 John A. McDonald died at his home and is buried in Brandon Cemetery.
In 1958 Angus and his wife Hazel retired to a home at 3265 Rosser Avenue. That same year the store, now managed by S. I. Segal, was renovated and expanded so that it could sell women's wear for the first time in its 62 year history.
In 1960 the store was bought by Winnipeg retailer Alex Mitchell and was rechristened Dayton Outfitters. After 64 years the McDonald name disappeared from Rosser Avenue.
This post is copyright Christian Cassidy and may not be reproduced in whole or part without permission of the author.
