Other Stuff
Curious things you find on eBay…
Postcard mailed in Germany by an English tourist just days before Europe would be plunged into World War 1
A photograph of French war damage, taken by Germans, and sent home to a loved one by an American soldier!
The Reunion (Shadow, James Dyck, Mom)
Happy Girl(s) (and James)
Reunited with Mom
Contented
Hey! Back off punk! I may be 12 and you may be 4 but I WILL take you down. Notice the leash. She didn’t want that dog anywhere near Mom.
Now that that punk is dispensed with, I can visit with Mom again.
Family portrait
America’s Favourite Bus Driver.
“A statue of Jackie Gleason in the guise of one of his most famous characters (and New York’s most famous bus driver), Ralph Kramden, stands in front of the main entrance to the original South Wing on Eighth Avenue. The plaque on the base of the statue reads, “Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden - Bus Driver - Raccoon Lodge Treasurer - Dreamer - Presented by the People of TV Land.” In May of 2007, the statue was fitted with an oversized New York Rangers jersey with the name and number “KRAMDEN 39″ for the original 39 episodes of The Honeymooners.” (Wikipedia)
Thats my mother, aged about 2, perched on the bumper of her Uncle’s car 
And here she is (mumble mumble) years later. May 28, 2007
Hotel Dieu Shaver Hospital
Mom’s room is on the second floor at the end (left), with the sun reflecting off the window. The windows above are bricked in.
Gazebo just outside her room.
The hospital is on the crest of the Niagara Escarpment. That’s what Niagara Falls rumbles over. Niagara Falls is about 16 km to the right of this picture
My father (extreme right), looking vaguely like a member of the Barrow gang.
Last picture taken of Charlie Waterer, Christmas 1980
Shadow the Wonder Dog!
I Hate Winter! (And why are you taking my picture in a snowstorm?)
Furry Friends:
Shadow’s Aunt, Tiger
Marilyn’s Roarke
Brian Smith’s Stewie
Stewie getting in a little computer time. Apparently he heard talk of a mouse.
This picture of my dad and I, taken when I was about 4, is best viewed while listening to the Andy Griffith Show theme.
My cousin Lynn, who I considered the smartest person on the planet. She turned me on to all kinds of neat stuff, science, star trek, etc. Also my beloved first dog, Peggy (the mighty hunter). And of course, thats me, cleverly evading the papparazzi behind my mickey mouse milk cup. 
The Untalkative Bunny - A clever Canadian cartoon almost no one has seen. Too bad.
Mike Myers is one of the funniest people on the planet. His home town has honoured him with a street.
Former Prime Minister Joe Clark and his daughter Catherine at the Hunter BBQ in Niagara-on-the-Lake, 1981. That BBQ on the Hunter Farm was quite the event for years in Tory circles.
A more recent photo of Catherine and Joe Clark
The war-room at a Tory Convention in 1980. As you can see, a well stocked bar is vital to any campaign.
At the same convention, Myself, Joe Clark, and two friends…what ever happened to you Dean?
Colleague and Friend Marilyn
Yours truly and my friend Tim Sykes. Check out Tim’s fabulous website Tim Sykes Cruise Nights (which was something of an inspiration for this one) at the links on the right. The photo was taken by Tim’s better half Jill (Note to self, next time get a photo with both of them)
Kevin, without whose help this website could not have been made.
Note the name of the ship. “Resistance is Futile”
Friends from the United States, enjoying a very cold view of Niagara Falls
Niagara Peninsula Sanitarium, now greatly expanded and known as the Hotel Dieu - Shaver Hospital. Read about it here.
My maternal Grandmother, Edith Scott
Thelma Waterer 1922-Nov 11, 2006
My Aunt Thelma - A Beautiful Soul Not Soon Forgotten
In the picture, my cousin Carol on the left, my aunt Thelma on the right. circa 1977
My father and his siblings. Last time together, 1979
left to right: Charles (My Dad, d. 1981), Edith (d. 2000), Percy (d. 1982), Thelma (d. 2006)
An earlier photo of the same group…including their parents Bert and Tillie. It may be Christmastime…my grandfather used to buy the family a 5 pound box of chocolates every year, with a card that said “For the whole Famn Damily”
Charlie and his big brother Percy
The two again some 50 years later…
Another view with Percy’s daughter Sylvia.
Jenny Larson
Carl Larson
Mary and Neville Waterer
CHARLIE LARSON, CLARA, JENNY, COUSIN JENNY, CHRIS LARSON, JULIS, AUNT GERTIE - CHRIS’S WIFE AND CARL LARSON
Tilda Larson
Laura, Julia and Tilda Larson
Baby Charlie with Tilda and ?
Tilda near the end of her life.
My grandparents were married at the Salvation Army Hall in Prince Albert.
Chris Larson and son Conrad, (Great) Grandpa Carl Larson and Conrad’s son.
Aunt Maren and Tilda Larson (my grandmother)
My Aunt Edith and her friend Marg Salmon
Will Isaacson. My mother’s uncle, killed in the last days of World War One.
Will Isaacson is, to the best of my knowledge, buried here, near the French-German border. He was killed in action Sept 5, 1918 during a final desperate German offensive.
My mother’s Uncle Larry, 5th Field Ambulance, Canadian Expeditionary Force, World War One. I scanned the photo still in its frame. It seems very difficult to take out, so I left it for now.
Uncle Larry was a character…more stories about him to follow. My favourite? He drove this ambulance, or one like it behind enemy lines and stole a cow…to feed “his boys”. He was popular with his friends.
He was gassed during the war. When it came time to embark for Canada, he and 3 others were going to be left on the dock, someone having decided that they would not survive. His men refused to get on the boat without him, he in turn refused to get on without the other three. They prevailed and all came home. The story gets better, more to follow.
Uncle Larry’s “Attestation Papers” can be seen here.
Just click the image to enlarge.
Bert Waterer, with pencil colouring by a young Charlie Waterer. His attestation papers can be seen here.
Just click the image to enlarge.
My Great-Grandmother Isabella (Isabel?)
A rather smug looking Alphonso Waterer, my great-grandfather at the grand old age of 19, in 1879.
My Grandfather Bert Waterer (light coloured shirt) gathering some twigs in the forest
Actually its a scene of logging in Northern Saskatchewan.
Threshing at Meota, Saskatchewan with some new-fangled modern gadget. My great grandfather, grandfather and great-uncle are in the photo…somewhere.
A similar scene on a postcard
The Cedars, Bagshot, Surrey, England. The Waterer home where my great grandfather ,grandfather, and many assorted Waterers were both born.
326 Ave J. Saskatoon circa 1920. Charlie on the left, Percy (?) on the right.
My Grandfather, Bert, shortly before his death (I assume). He was a Railroad engineer and always said “he wanted to die with his boots on.” He was a passenger on a train in rural Saskatchewan and was reading a paper. A porter who knew him came by to check on him and he was gone. Heart attack. His death certificate reads “died near Kinistino”..the train was in motion and they guesstimated.
The Waterer boys, Bert, Neville and Fred
Bert’s sister Flo. Alphonso lived with her in the final years of his life.
Fred Waterer, Meota Saskatchewan
***
Fred Waterer - My namesake
In 1902 Fred Waterer emigrated to Canada and while attending College in Eastern Canada got the urge for adventure. He left for North Dakota and took work with a gentleman who had recently been to Saskatchewan and filed on a homestead in the Langham district. After the summer work was completed Mr. Waterer, his brother (Bert, my grandfather – fw) and father (Alphonso) set out for Saskatchewan. They hired a guide in Battleford namely Arthur Mannix who showed them about the countryside.
Mr. Waterer recalled that deer, prairie chicken, grouse, rabbits and badgers were in abundance and that the prairie was dotted with the bleached white bones of the buffalo a grim reminder of an era past. After selecting their homesteads on the N.W. ¼, the N.E. ¼, and S.E. ¼ of Sec 36-47-18-W3rd they returned to Saskatoon. Here they bought a team of horses and broke them on the streets of Saskatoon; then drove to Prince Albert where they obtained work.
On March 17th of 1902 they returned to Meota, dug a hole in the snow and pitched a tent. The tall prairie grass furnished a soft rug and a tin heater crackled as the young adventurers reveled in the satisfaction that this was their domain.
In the spring a house was built only to find on completion that it was on the wrong section. They tore it down and reconstructed it across the line.
Hail in 1904 ruined one of their first crops leaving but enough for seed. Another tragedy was the death of twelve horses from swamp fever. Fate still had another punch to land in the form of a prairie fire that jumped a fireguard and burnt a large part of the countryside. After being brought under control, the Waterers were accused of starting the fire, and bills started coming in, some just and some unjust. One party sent a bill for a number of cattle which the Waterers learned later, had starved to death the previous winter.
A school became a necessity and in 1904, Mr Waterer helped build the Russell school.
To supplement homestead earning Mr Waterer did considerable fishing in Jackfish Lake, hauling his catch to Battleford. (My father, Charlie Waterer, and his sister, Thelma in a recorded 1977 conversation, reminisced about getting 100 lbs of fish every Christmas from their Uncle Fred – fw) One trip in particular stood out in his mind. In the depth of winter he freighted a load of fish and as he was about to return to Meota a lady, Mrs Maud Royer, asked for a ride to Meota. The weather was so cold it was impossible to keep warm in the open sleigh. Mrs. Royer walked almost the entire trip of thirty miles, the sleigh squealing along in the dry cold, snow, chains echoing through the snapping sharp air, such is the spirit that built a nation.
In 1912 Mr. Waterer returned to Ontario to marry his boyhood sweetheart Georgina Armstrong. Her neice Ena Little came with them and later on married Cliff Cooney. Billy Armstrong, Mrs. Waterer’s brother, had also stayed with them for a number of years, and then helped Mrs. Aylmer Schaefer after her husband passed away.