The Thirteen Biggest Events of 1964
Everything in Port Alberni, according to Albernians, is a little bigger, a little worse, a little more, a little less, a little better, a little longer …. I was an Albernian. Even at a young age I could be heard saying things like “It rains more here than anywhere in BC”, “This is the hottest place in BC in the summer”, “The tsunami that hit us in ’64 was the biggest ever”. (We called it a tidal wave back then). The year was 1964, and Port Alberni was the centre of the world. For me.
Lots happened in 1964:
Take a moment or two and peruse the above link after you read my entry.
To this nine-year-old boy, living in Port Alberni, there were, clearly, thirteen major events of 1964, listed below in chronological order, not in order of importance.
January 11 Surgeon General links smoking to health concerns
It was the fourth straight day of snow, Alberni snow, biggest flakes you’ve ever seen, Dad home for the season. School closed, stores closed, even lots of roads closed. Two days before, the US Surgeon General’s Report was on the CBC news. It seemed that tobacco had negative health effects. Mom looked at Dad. Dad looked at mom and threw his cigarette into the Acorn stove radiating heat into our living room.
“We have to quit,” he said.
“You don’t have the nerve to quit,” she replied.
Dad stared at her and said nothing.
Two days later.
Mom was out of tobacco. She had already done what smoker did (and do). She had gathered up bits and butts from ashtrays and rerolled. She was out and demanded her husband, who had recently quit smoking, go get her some tobacco.
“Joe, get in the car.”
Jack’s Store (now called Jax Store) at the end of Morgan Crescent and around the corner? It was closed.
The snow was still coming down. At the end of Ian Avenue was another store. We will try that one. The road was slippery and the wipers weren’t doing a good job clearing the windows. We neared Johnston and Ian and you could tell. Lights outs, orange and black sign on the door window.
“Dammit,” said Dad. I always felt more grown up when he felt comfortable to swear in front of me. “I guess we’ve got to go to the Chinaman.” He looked at the floorboards. “I don’t like those tires in this mess.”
The “Chinaman” was a store we never went to. It was way across town in South Port up on Third Avenue. I am pretty sure the name of the store was not “The Chinaman”. “We have to down Johnston Hill, left on Gertrude, angle onto Stamp and then up the GD hill at 3rd.” I knew he was talking to himself, but I liked to think I was being consulted. He looked at me. “We’re going to have to take a hell of a run at that hill.”
We took several runs at that hill, some times getting farther up , sometimes not so much, sometimes we seemed to slide backwards even as the car was going up the hill. Dad asked me to get out and push. Then he told me to stay in the car. I cursed the slippery smooth soles of my shoes, they’d let us down. I climbed back into the front seat, the navigator’s perch.
Eventually, we made the hill. I knew Dad would beat that hill. He was Dad. He made things work. He went into the Chinaman’s (“I knew that guy would be open”) and came out with a can of Export A tobacco. The ride home was silent, slippery but silent.
Dad went in first. I knew not to rush past him, no matter how cold my feet were. Mom came around from the living room into the kitchen, eyebrows lifted. “Did you get it?”
“Here’s your g** d*** tobacco,” he replied as he kicked the can off the wall above the table.
January 25 Robbie Burns Day, Feast of St Paul, My Birthday
Best gifts – several Hardy Boys Books that I hadn’t read yet. Outstanding!
I never ate haggis until I was well into my forties.
February 9 Beatles on Ed Sullivan
I had no idea I could hold my breath that long. I had no idea I could be quiet that long. My head spun for days afterwards. My sister described the event beautifully in a previous blog : https://ogmundsonstories.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/moments/
March 27 Great Alaska Earthquake
Being an Albernian, the earthquake clearly hit us harder than anywhere else.
Babies floated on mattresses down the street in front of the Super Valu. Entire parts of town were under water. The mills had to shut down until everything dried out. Boom logs got chucked up onto the hills like Lincoln Logs. People were using boats instead of cars.
Some of that might have been true. In our family the big news was that my sister’s house was picked up and tossed hundreds of feet back. She was not in it at the time, nor were any of her family. But we did see the house and it did indeed get moved. And the town did suffer a flood.
April 25 Leafs beat Detroit to win the Stanley Cup.
My dislike of the Leafs was growing. It was rare in our house to like anything associated with Toronto. It was rarer to hear our Dad utter the word “Toronto” without it being preceded by “God-Damn” as in GD Toronto bankers, GD Toronto politicians, GD Toronto Maple Leafs, etc. I extended the GD Toronto rule in my life to include GD Toronto Argonauts, GD Toronto Metros-Croatia (look it up), and GD Toronto Raptors, although I have taken a softer approach to the Raptors in the years leading up to their NBA Championship year.
My team was les Canadiens de Montreal. Our dear Aunt Lil lived there and secured for me an autographed photo of Henri Richard, best player on earth, who wrote “to my friend Joe” on his 3×5. My hands shook as I read the script.
Who were these GD Toronto guys thinking they were better? 1964 became a wasted year in hockey.
May 24 Beatles on Ed Sullivan again!
Incredible. Twice. Only Topo Gigio or Wayne & Schuster were ever on that much.
Beatles interview with Ed Sullivan May 24, 1964
June 1 I meet Joe Kapp in person and he shakes my hand.
Tenth Avenue Ballpark, I was pitching in the third inning of a league game. It was a lovely spring day. I was thinking that if I threw just under the batter’s elbow he would have a hard time hitting it. My teacher, Mrs. Bjornson, had come to watch our game. It was a special day.
To my left I could see a convoy of fancy long dark cars rolling up near our field. Several men began walking the small rise of grass towards our game. The coaches called time out. This was unusual. I turned towards the men and as they came closer my heart stopped. It was Joe Kapp. What was the quarterback of the BC Lions doing coming to watch me pitch in a Port Alberni minor baseball game? Would he remember me?
We had met before. The Lions practiced in Courtenay in a park near my Grandmother’s house. People could sit on the hill and watch the Lions work out. Grandma suggested I might like to go watch for a few hours. I found a spot on the hill and watched the players run, pass kick and grunt through training camp.
The hill was between the park and the Courtenay Hotel where they stayed. On my second day watching, after lunch, as the team made its way back to the field, the incredible happened. Sonny Homer, and Joe Kapp were chatting as they headed back to the field. Sonny Homer rubbed my head, “Hey kid.” “Hey kid” echoed the great Joe Kapp. I couldn’t take my eyes off them the rest of the afternoon. And now, about a year later, Joe Kapp was coming to my game.
We gathered around and took a knee. Joe Kapp took a knee. His speech went something like this;
“Men, my name is Joe Kapp, and I play quarterback for the BC Lions. We should have won the Grey Cup last year” (I silently cursed Angelo Mosca on his behalf) “but if we get a little luck, and with your support I can tell you we are going to win it this year in Toronto.”
“In the meantime, I have a little something for each of you.”
He got up and went down the line and spoke to each of us as he shook our hands. The other men gave us a small container of Squirrel Peanut Butter. Random guys also got a plastic football shaped container of French Maid Bleach “to take home to our moms”. I didn’t get one. Not sure the peanut butter made it home either.
Every team I played on I tried to get uniform number 22 or 16.
August Civil Rights Workers found dead
This news story gripped everyone, especially Mom. She was genuinely shaken by the news so it became important to us as well. A lot was happening down south. It was over there, but it felt like it was getting closer to here.
Mom was very connected to the world events surrounding the civil rights movement. Her interest kept it real for me. Somehow it felt like a struggle we all we all had a part in and we needed to win. This story terrifies me to this day.
Civil Rights Workers deaths 1964
September Beatles’ movie A Hard Days Night – we got to go see it!!!
And – The Last Ogmundson sib was born on September 20.
October 14 Martin Luther King announced as Nobel Prize winner
This event struck my mother, and members of our church, as a profoundly important event. It mattered on a world scale to my mother, so it mattered to me. It felt as if the good guys were starting to win.
October 15 Cardinals beat the Yankees in the World Series
Not a big deal but something I kept track of. I found myself rooting for the underdogs in games where my team was not involved. I still do. Mickey Mantle was a big deal. Bob Gibson was a big scary deal. A fearless pitcher who practically growled at hitters. The most competitive person ever.
October 25 Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan
I would wager that I am not the only person watching that night who felt I was witnessing something a bit naughty. Are you Beatles or are you Stones?
November 3 Johnson beats Goldwater and it meant we weren’t going to get blown up
I didn’t have a clear understanding of American politics, but from what I could gather by listening to my Dad talk to others, there was a clearly good side, and another side that would get us all blown up if they won. The good side won and it was as much a relief as a celebration.
November 28 BC Lions beat Hamilton 34-24 in GD Toronto to win the Grey Cup.
Joe Kapp was right.
December Father Brazeau says mass….. in English!
It took a long time to get my head around the fact that the priest was facing us and talking to us in words we could understand. I could not imagine that one day we would be singing along to guitars in church.
Pax vobiscum.
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