Journal of Mary Phyllis Fisher - Thomas Davies

1960. February 19 th
Tonight Ren, Frank, Lloyd and I went up to Lethbridge with Bob Reeder and his son Dan to
play the final game in the Lethbridge Stake Basketball game. They played in the stake house
with the Lethbridge third ward. The Bow Island Juniors team won 42 to 49, the Friday before.
They had played the first game of the finals. It was a two game series with points counting. Our
boys were really playing ball and beat them by 39 points.
Next week they will play either Cardston or Claresholm. Bow Island will play the winner and
the team that wins goes to Salt Lake.
Well the boys didn’t go to Cardston. Lethbridge third ward protested the game on the grounds
that Frank was too old. David Hogg, who was the Bow Island coach, had asked the stake if it
would be all right for Frank to play since he was only a month too old and they needed him in
order to make a team, and the Stake told Dave to go ahead and use Frank. But the protest was so
severe that the Stake said that Bow Island should play another game without Frank and the team
that beat should play off with Cardston who was the winner of the Alberta Cardston Stake. Our
boys were so confused and felt that it wasn’t fair and they got beat by a few points. We all felt
that our boys hadn’t done their best.
1961. January 22 nd
It has been nearly a year since I last wrote in my book. In the spring of the year Dan quit the
propane company and he and Alma and Carol Dawn came out to live with us. They moved into
the two south rooms. Frank was taking grade 12 and Lloyd needed to work hard at his
schooling having stayed out the year before. They got some more cows on shares [20cows] and
it was surely a busy spring trying to put in the crops and milking 30 cows. They had to buy hay
and it was scarce so by fall they had turned the cows back. On July the first, Dan and Alma and
I went to HillSpring to the 50th centennial celebration. There was over 100 visitors present,
people who had lived there. They had a barbecue and it was indeed a wonderful celebration,
especially when we were able to see Father and Edyth and her family, Ada and Emma and Orrin
and Frank and their families.
When we returned home our crops and garden had been hailed on. The crops came back but just
a month later we were hailed out again. The grain except for one small patch was completely
destroyed. We harvested only a few bushels of wheat. But we were able to harvest some hay,
and the beets which were a great deal of extra work, went for 19 ton to the acres. Ren borrowed
some money and bought a few more cows and Dan went back to work for Propane for the
winter. The garden came back and so we had lots of carrots, corn, and beans and put up lots of
tomatoes. The Lord blessed us with plenty to eat and with a good warm home. We built a
reservoir and pumped the water into the house with Lynn’s help. Dan and Alma and Ellen put
in a hot water heater into the house so we have hot and cold water now installed for Christmas.
On August 30, Kathryn Marie was born to Dan and Alma. She had dark hair and dark eyes.
Alma gives lesson after school and I help take care of the children. They are such sweet babies.
I enjoy them very much, although I get tired at times and it makes more work having the people
who come to take the lessons here. Alma is always so kind and pleasant. She is such a sweet
girl.
We had such a lovely Christmas. Tom and Frank were home from Provo and Lynn was here
also. Vaughn Taylor and his wife had planned to visit their family in Edmonton but her
daughter had a new baby and had gone to the hospital so I asked them to come for dinner. They
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