Bill and Lori (Nelmes) Brand met in Boston Bar at a caf where Lori was working. Here is their story.
Bill Brand was born in Carrigana, Sask., in 1930. He moved west, found work with the Canadian National Railway (CNR) and worked in the office as a telegrapher.
His job was to provide the railroad dispatcher with the exact time each train arrived and departed from the station, allowing him to make and communicate changes to the safe movement of trains and the meeting of trains on a single track railroad line.
The job took him all over B.C. and he eventually ended up in Boston Bar where he met Lori Nelmes.
Lori was born in Chilliwack in 1938. She was the cook at the Beanery, a CNR caf which took its name after the well-known hobo meal consisting of pork and beans. All the men from the section crew ate at the caf which was remotely located down by the railway tracks in Boston Bar.
Bill was working for the CNR and ate at the caf on a regular basis.
The year was 1955 and Bill asked Lori if he could walk her home when she got off work. Lori said she only lived a block away and that she didn't have a problem getting home. He asked her again and she agreed. Bill immediately jumped on the train and went down to Hope to get his car and then drove it back to Boston Bar so that he could drive her home after her shift.
Lori said, "I thought that was kind of corny but I was impressed. We were married one year later and that was 62 years ago."
They weren't married long and Bill's next transfer took the newlyweds to Birch Island, which is near Kamloops and Blue River.
Lori said, "There were no living accommodations in Birch Island so we lived in our own trailer that was shipped to Birch Island by rail. It was shipped by rail alright and in fact when it got there we had to live in the trailer perched on top of a flat car for ten days before they could get the equipment they needed to move it off and onto the mobile home site. We lived there for over a year with no hydro and the other comforts that we were used to. It was a good thing we were in love because we managed through it all.
"The next move took us to Spences Bridge for the next nine years. I worked as a cook at the Sportsman Dining Room while Bill worked for the CNR. He had worked there for over 14 years when the company started to phase out their operations.
"We knew we had to find work so we moved to Prince George in 1966. Bill went to work for Northwood Pulp that same year. He started at the bottom and ended up as a supervisor in the pulping end of the pulp mill; he retired in 1992 after 26 years with the company."
Lori worked for many years in retail for Sears, Woodwards and the Bay. Later, she cooked for many years at the Chuck Wagon Cafeteria in Spruceland where Shoppers Drug Mart is now located. She worked at the cafe until she retired in 1992.
Bill and Lori have three children, all of whom live in Prince George. They have six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Lori reflected back and said, "Over the years we watched the pulp mill's arrive and with that the city grew and soon there was the big expansion at the airport. Jobs were plentiful and life was good. We lived in the Hart area and finally moved into town in 1973."
When they first retired, Bill and Lori spent a lot of time traveling, hunting and fishing. Bill was into wood working and as soon as he finished a project Lori painted it for him.
Lori said: "Now I just play cards, go to the pool three times a week and I do a lot of walking. Each spring, after a long winter, I travel to Chilliwack to visit my two sisters. I am busy everyday and I like that. In my younger days we bought a horse for the kids. My daughter excelled in Gymkhana which is an equestrian event consisting of speed pattern racing and timed games for horseback riders."
"We kept the horses down at the Fairgrounds and I enjoyed being at the arena with the kids so I bought my own horse and successfully broke it and trained it all according to a manual.
"We rode horses all over the Union Street area when it was still bush and we would spend many hours riding from the Ospika area all the way up to the Chief Lake Road. I can still remember walking our horses over the old Hart Highway Bridge. Those were great and wonderful days and I have so many fond memories of it all and believe it or not the memories include the awful smell of the pulp mills. My brother-in-law used to tell me that it was the smell of money."
The ever-popular Gospel Singers from the Elder Citizens Recreation Association will present their show called Waters of Life, under the direction of Alexis Maikapar and Joyce Burkitt.
Show dates are April 8 at
7 p.m. and April 9 at 2 p.m.
Admission is $10 with tickets available at the door at 1692 Tenth Ave. (between Vancouver and Winnipeg Street). There is lots of parking at this wheel chair accessible senior centre; all proceeds go to centre operations.
For more information phone centre manager Lisa McGhee at 250-561-9381
March birthdays that I know about: Caroline Nadalin, Frank Manfredi, Elaine Hughes, Lois Keim, Robert Krekoski, Rita Sexsmith, Janice Arndt, Eileen Storozinski, Linda Meise, Frances Roch, Doreen Denicola, Pat Coutts, Kathleen Soltis, Julia Cook, Peggy Vogan, James Dow, Marva Gibbs, Sylvia Fowler, Ted Horvath, Ethel Drake, Joyce Bickford, Shirley Carless, Sandy Houston, Esther Swanson, Carl Wikjord, Andrea McKenzie (Jr.), Rita Thibault, Carol Anderson, Betty Burbee, Ron Clemmons, Lydia Kral, Alice Olesen, Rose Dorish, Margaret Pearson, Owen Pitcher, Ray Bouffard, Marvene Layte, Reg Pointer, Janet Dahlberg, Violet Mcclelland, Bettie Doherty, Alzora Hick, Hollis Wood, Susan Hunter, Carmand Wagner, Don Hollis, Grant Collins, John Bachmann, Omer Regent, Angie Mills, Joan Fogarty, Betty Stock, Neslon Chapman, Alan Dixon, Molly Eberle, Richard McCormack, Ken Carmichel, Cecelia Bencher, Wilf Miller, Ada Turgeon, Thelma Watts, Susan Konig and Harold Moore who is now 90.
Anniversaries that I know about: 54 years for Dave and Carole Milne, 43 years for Henry and Marie Nagasaka and 28 years for Lawrence and Joan Cleghorn.
