Just a Gal from Glidden: Life, I love you, all is groovy.
BY KATE WINQUIST
kate@yoursouthwest.com
Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the
cobblestones
Looking for fun and
feeling groovy.
One positive thing about the COVID-19 pandemic is that it forced me to slow down. I know what you’re thinking. Slow down? You started publishing a newspaper in the middle of a global crisis! Truthfully, when I became aware of the coronavirus’s reality, it helped me become more aware of who I was, and I had more time to spend on personal reflection. I can honestly say that I would not be in Kindersley today if it weren’t for the pandemic.
We get so accustomed to our everyday routine and our fast-paced lives that we forget that life used to be simpler. Technology has taken over our lives with its speed and efficiency. We call it progress.
In the days before smartphones, there was a way of communicating with no wires in between. I was lucky enough to witness this technology growing up, as my Dad was an amateur radio operator, otherwise known as a “ham.”
Dad became interested in ham radio in the mid-late 60s. He had been quite ill with Crohn’s disease and had to have three operations. Dr. Penner from Kindersley introduced him to the hobby as a way for Dad to rest from farming until he recovered from his surgeries. I can safely say that if it weren’t for Dr. Penner and Dr. Cram (who performed the operations), my sister Carrie and I may very well not be here!
Dad set up his equipment in the farmhouse basement in what we just referred to as “The Shop.” Nowadays, I guess you could call it the man cave. It certainly wasn’t anything fancy. It was the room where the furnace and cistern were located. Still, Dad created a cozy corner for his broadcast studio: transmitters, amplifiers, radios, receivers, along with certificates, postcards and his call letters that he crafted himself out of wood, hung neatly and proudly on the cement walls. He had a large globe that would sit beside his desk and also a teletype machine.
Amateur radio operators have to identify themselves by their alphanumeric call signs. Dad’s call letters were VE5UT, which in the phonetic alphabet is Victor Echo 5 Uniform Tango. We often heard Dad say, “CQ, calling CQ. This is Victor Echo 5 Uniform Tango. That was the way that he would let anyone listening that he was available to chat. It was customary for the hams to exchange their information and then follow up with a postcard to add to their collection.
Dad had a huge collection of cards. The most famous being from King Hussein of Jordan, with whom he talked with briefly. Another famous person that Dad had contact with was an American film director and producer from Hollywood named Mel Shavelson, who had worked with Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Danny Kaye, to name a few.
Amateur radio operators are often known for their ingenuity. Dad was no exception. He built his 1000 watt transmitter by himself, including the steel cabinet. He also had quite a few build-it-yourself items from a company called Heathkit, who manufactured electronic kits from 1947 until 1992. One of the most impressive things that Dad built was a 100-foot tall antenna pole that was necessary to transmit the radio signal. The antenna consisted of two poles. The first pole was about twenty feet high (which was also many feet below the ground). It had a hinge on the top that the taller attached to. Dad used an electric drill to raise and lower the antenna when he needed to make adjustments to it. There was an anchor with a locking pin at the bottom of the shorter pole for securing the main taller pole. There were a few wind storms that would cause that pole to sway quite a bit. There were guy wires on the pole to help keep it stabilized, but one time one of the cables broke, and Dad was very concerned about the antenna crashing into the side of the house, which thankfully never did happen. I don’t recall the antenna ever being struck by lightning during many thunderstorms. Still, Dad assured us that it was better if the lightning struck the antenna rather than anything else on the farm as it was well-grounded.
There are plenty of great memories of Dad and “The Shop.” My siblings and I were reminiscing over email this past week. I’d be amiss if I didn’t thank them for their contributions to this column, especially my brother Garth, who has a fantastic memory for recalling things.
One thing that we all remembered was the fascination that we all had with Dad’s teletype machine. Dad created some pretty cool pictures with it - Alfred E Neumann, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse and a basset hound. Then there was the risque nude woman pic that hung on the back of Dad’s shop door. Pretty tame by today’s standards! My sister, Valarie, recalls getting off the school bus and checking to see if there were any new teletype pictures. I was able to find a couple of these pictures on www.RTTY.com.
My sister Carrie remembers watching the tiny little screen and how slowly (very slowly) it took to produce a photo. She would quietly sneak in behind the furnace area to watch Dad and listen to him on his radio. Sometimes when Dad was talking on the net and having a beer, Carrie would ask for a sip, which Dad would let her have. She says it’s funny, to this day she doesn’t like beer, but she always enjoyed a sip from Dad’s bottle. Our sister Kristine also used to ask for a sip of beer. Unlike Carrie, she liked the taste then, and she still loves it now!
If Dad were still alive today, I’m sure he’d be up-to-date with all the latest technology, but I can’t help but think that he’d rather be back to when life seemed more straightforward and at a slower pace, just like the old teletype photo scan.
Instead of rushing off to work in a frenzy, I think I will try to slow down my pace. It will lead to a greater appreciation for life and a greater level of happiness.
Life, I love you, all is groovy.
- KW
