I met Janis back in the fall of 1970 when I was starting grade 12. She was a little younger than I, having just turned 16 and was one grade behind. As I recall, it was love at first sight - at least for me. Janis wasn’t nearly ready to fall for this new guy - yet. In her telling, I would have to chase her until she caught me. Things got serious quickly in my version and I recall asking her to marry me after a few weeks of dating, even though Janis was the first girl I dated, I LOVED what I saw. Janis, of course, said no to my earnest request. Looking back it was that above-stated strategy of her having me chase her until she caught me. We dated a few more weeks before I worked up the courage to again ask her to marry me… and again I got a no - but not quite as quickly as the previous attempt. This went on for some time until my request got a ‘MAYBE’. This was definite progress. It was sometime later before Janis finally said yes. In 1974, a few weeks before Janis turned 19 we were wed. It is hard to believe, but it has been FIFTY YEARS since that happy celebration. Every day has been an adventure as we learned to live and work together. We’ve been through many challenges, and plenty of good times as we raised a family and built a successful business. It is hard to believe that time has passed so quickly. As we pondered how to celebrate this amazing milestone we decided to keep things simple with no big event. We went to a matinee movie, had a quiet dinner together and then strolled down the sidewalk to spend this special night in the Hazelnut Inn - the perfect getaway.
In the driver's seat
We made great progress on the pumpkin coach with the three seat supports and coach structure now fully welded into place. With that work completed it was time to begin forming and welding the pencil rod armature and then we can tie on the diamond lath. It is our hope to begin the concrete sculpting by the end of next week. Stay tuned for more fun…
Ready to head down the road
Greg, our favourite crane operator from Wishlow Cranes had the lifting machine set up and ready to go at 8:00 am. It was a smooth and quick load with Keith and Julianne hooking and spotting the three large pieces. Once the big pieces were on the trailer, we loaded the smaller pieces using our forklift. Our friends from JD Transport dropped by in the afternoon to tie down the load and take the trailer to their yard in readiness for the journey to Kraay Family Farm in Lacombe, Alberta this weekend. We look forward to seeing pictures soon of all these pieces installed!
