Tour Day - Stettler Town and Country Museum

Fellow RVICS-er Wayne Wooden Loves Garages and Old Tools

RVICS projects involve three and a half  days of work on the project and Friday is 'tour' day where the team chooses a local attraction to visit, usually followed by lunch somewhere nearby.

For our first RVICS tour day the group went to the the town of Stettler, about 35 minutes drive. Stettler is the closest town with a supermarket so we have made several trips to Stettler so far.

For tour day we visited the Stettler Town and Country Museum, one of the many local heritage museums (most villages have one) but with a reputation of being one of the best in Alberta.  It was indeed excellent.  We took a lot of pictures and even after sifting through them there are a lot to share.  These will be spread out over several posts, but read on for the first batch.  Enjoy!

Visiting Family in Boise (Part 2)

Uncle Jim and 2002 Mustang GT

Here is the man that gave Ken his first motorcycle ride on his Triumph in the early 60's and first dirt hill climb on his Greeves 250 (Ken remembers holding on to Uncle Jim for dear life - it was awesome!).  He then spent many Sunday afternoons during Ken's teen years taking Ken riding, beginning with his Taco 22 mini bike, then Yamaha 80 and finally a Yamaha 125 MX. Uncle Jim kept these sometimes dodgy machines going deep in the hills near Lambs Canyon and mountain fire trails of the San Berdo mountains. Ken was never stranded because Uncle Jim was prepared and able.  He is one special man. He has always had one, sometimes two, cool cars.  He is pictured here, at age 95, with his cream puff 2002 Mustang GT.  What a guy!  More photos follow so read on.

Visiting Family in Boise Area (Part 1)

Visiting in Nampa

After we were situated at the Huston Vineyard we headed over to the Ferris's in nearby Nampa.  We had a great time catching up with the Ferris's and they prepared a great dinner for us. This time of year the evenings are long and pleasant in Nampa (though not as extended as what we are experiencing now further north in AB).

The Family Homestead

Homestead Quarter Section Near Kinsella, AB

Taking a break from trip preparations to contemplate travel plans - While in Alberta we hope to visit what was the family homestead near Kinsella, a small village located at a crossroad in Alberta. In 1910 Grandpa Henry Candy and his brothers Richard and Thomas immigrated to Canada from Cornwall, England. Each obtained a quarter section near Kinsella.  Ken's mother Eileen was born on the homestead in 1916. The family eventually migrated to Los Angeles when Eileen was six years old.

Thanks to the kind assistance of Heather Northcott, Reference Archivist of the Provincial Archives of Alberta, we were able to locate the specific quarter section of the Henry Candy homestead and access archive records using the Alberta Genealogical Society's homestead database and Library and Archives Canada's Western Land Grants Database.

Recent Satellite Image of the Henry Candy Homestead Property 

Read on to learn more details.

How We Became Part of the RVICS Ministry

It was a Sunday morning at Temecula Evangelical Free Church in the 1980’s.  After the service I noticed a couple that were first time visitors and I approached to greet them.  They were wearing name tags.  I wasn’t familiar with the organization listed on the tags but their last name ‘Hoatson’ caught my attention.  My great-grandmother's maiden name is Hoatson.  My grandfather’s name is Thomas Hoatson Lindsay and I had memories of going with my grandfather to see his cousin Ray Hoatson, who owned a small service station on Orange Street in Redlands, when we would make the trip to see family in Yucaipa.