Ed Strome (Artists)

In the summertime we walked, and smelled the beautiful flowers in the distance. So when eight years were up dad needed me on the farm. When we were youngsters we cleaned the barn, fed the pigs and chickens, and were always kept busy, otherwise we would get into mischief.

When it came time to milk the cows, we had to fetch the cows, put them in their stalls, milk them and then turn them loose. Doing chores in the evening, I knew dad had a little radio in the house. I would sneak to the house to listen to the "Lone Ranger & Tonto" and other half hour shows like "The Squeaking Door" and "Fibber McGee & Molly".

Dad loved a cigar every once in awhile and they came in a nice slim box, constructed of soft wood. I was able to fret saw something out of it. I was 17 or 18 years old when I got interested in that kind of a hobby.

Dad bought more land when the time was right, so there was lots of work to open the land. We go a new John Deere tractor, brush cutter, a brush pusher and a breaking plow to open up the new land. My brother Arnold and I did all that work without once complaining. That first year we opened up 100 acres which was to be seeded the following year. Boy, did we put in the hours, and nobody complained.

In 1945, October 26, I married a German girl named Agnes. In the spring of 1955 we build a house on my quarter section of land, just one mile from home place. I got a carpenter to help me build this shack, and we also built a barn, pig barn and a chicken coup. I built the cupboards and vanity for the bathroom and people found out that I do nice work. From that I got orders to do more.

It was the time when country schools were closing down and kids went to town to go to school. We were barely 6 or 7 years on the farm when we decided to get a mover and move our house to the town of Humboldt, some 11 miles away. I bought a lot in town, put the foundation in and had the movers move our home cross country when the harvesting was all done. In one place the mover had to raise the power lines up about a foot to get by, but everything went well and they rolled the house on to the foundation. We were soon able to live in our house again, which was on the last street in town.

We didn't stay there too long because I found a lot close to school with nice neighbours, so I built a new house and rented the old one.

When the house was complete I was offered a job by a contractor in town as a finishing carpenter. After some thought I decided to go for it and got my brother to farm my quarter. I worked for five years with this company until they went broke.

I then decided to go to Calgary with a fellow finisher and look for work. I didn't like the big city so we went to Red Deer. It was amazing to see this town with spruce trees in and among the city of 35,000. I got work with a company called Carius Homes where I worked steady for 12 years.

My wife Agnes and I went on a holiday to British Columbia and saw the mountains for the first time. We drove to the Shuswap and rented a place at Blind Bay. We looked around the area and drove to the north side of the lake up Anglemont Estates and had a round of golf and lunch. The next day we looked all over for some property for sale and ended up buying a lot on Ta Lana Trail.

In 1983 we decided to build our house on the Shuswap. I had a carpenter help me with the cement work and framing. In little over a month we had the house up with siding, shingles and left it that way until the following year, until I had electricians and plumbers and in the third year I had the gyproc and furnace put in.

In the meantime I had work in Red Deer, until we moved to our new home on the Shuswap on October 1, 1986. Agnes and I finished the complete inside over the winter months.

We had settled for a year or two and I then began my hobby work. Making cars, trucks, different animals, pull type units, and picture frames of all kinds. I then began lathe work, starting with small projects at first like jewelery boxes in a round and square shape, then I began making bowls and vases of different colours by applying different wood like maple, birch, walnut, cherry and purple heart.

YOU ARE ABOUT TO LEAVE KAMLOOPSCITY.COM

Click To Visit Ed Strome

Clicks: 258