Maw’s Jam Eaters made hockey history in Salmon Arm in 1939. Considered the dark horse, the team was the brainchild of Ted Morton in Maw (Emelia) McEwan’s kitchen on Peters Street.
Maw’s house was central station, a hang out place for many of the young men in town and Ted Morton frequented her home. Morton was an ideas man and this one turned out to be a good one. Ted was named the Coach and, with a little convincing, Maw agreed to be the team’s Manager.
Times were tough, the team needed uniforms, so Maw had to think about outfitting her team. The Depression was just ending and war had been declared. None of the team members had much money. Under the supervision of Mrs. McEwan and her daughter, Doris, team members helped make their own uniforms. Plain cotton fleece sweaters were bought, oilcloth letters cut out and sewn on. No two uniforms were identical!
Fortunately, Maw also owned an old-fashioned knitting machine. Jim Brewster, Maw’s oldest son, was handy and got the machine working. Then team members took turns cranking the knitting machine’s handle to make their hockey “socks”.
Thanks to great community support, this exhibit contains hockey artifacts, photographs, memorabilia, and, where otherwise not available, replicated items.
The Story of Ruth begins October 5, 1921. The gate swings shut at Asterfield, a farm and the residence of Annie Florence and Arthur Adair Brooke. Doctor Connolly arrives on the scene. At 11:30 pm, he examines Mrs. Brooke, sees that his patient is in advanced stages of labour, and decides to take her to the General Hospital in town.
The event that is about to take place is unplanned. With three adult sons, days on the Brooke farm revolved around farming and animals. For more than a decade, life in Salmon Arm was settled. Then a remarkable thing happened…a small miracle. Baby Ruth Adair Brooke was born. Although old enough to be grandparents, the parents were delighted.
The birth took place on the 6th. The little girl was given her mother’s maiden name and shared her middle name with her father. The night before, Brooke set to work recording Ruth’s story in small-format books. He painted water colours like modern parents snap digital images, placing Ruth in the Salmon Valley landscape.
This exhibit contains 28 digitized images in a collection of over 324 tiny paintings.
