Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"VETERANS BEST GARDEN 1947"

Date

1947

Materials

SILVER, METAL, PLASTIC

No. Pieces

1

Height

14.5

Width

9

Description

TROPHY WITH HOLLOW SILVER CUP AT TOP AND HOLLOW BLACK, PLASTIC BASE; TROPHY CUP HAS TWO WINGED HANDLES ON SIDES; BASE OF TROPHY HAS TIERED, RIDGED CARVINGS. FRONT OF TROPHY HAS LIGHTER ETCHED TEXT, “VETERANS BEST GARDEN, 1947”. SILVER CUP IS TARNISHED; BASE AND CUP HAVE GRIME; BASE HAS MINOR SCRATCHING; OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION.

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

ASSOCIATIONS

History

ON JUNE 5, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED CAROL DARMODY REGARDING HER DONATION OF OBJECTS RELATED TO HER PARENTS, IRENE (NEE NAGY) AND JOHN FROUWS. ON THE TROPHY, DARMODY RECALLED, “[THE TROPHIES ARE IN THE DAD’S NAME] THE TITLE, TOO, EVERYTHING. BUT, HE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT MOM…HE WAS DOING SHIFT-WORK ON THE BUSES, AND HE COULD…HE WOULD HAVE STILL BEEN TIRED COMING HOME, AND MOM WAS THE CORE. SHE WOULD BE OUT THERE [IN THE GARDEN]." “[THE TROPHIES WERE DISPLAYED] SOMETIMES…THEY WERE PROBABLY BURIED FOR 30-40 YEARS, WHEN THEY MOVED TO THE [NEW] PLACE [ON NORMANDY ROAD IN THE MID-1970S]…THEY WERE HUMBLE PEOPLE, AND…THESE ARE HUMBLE TROPHIES…I REMEMBER THEM AS A KID BEING [DISPLAYED] BUT NOT IN A PROMINENT PLACE. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOMEWHERE SUBTLE. I THINK THE COMPETITION GAVE THEM SOMETHING TO FOCUS ON…IN THAT TITLE THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN A LITTLE MONETARY RECOGNITION FOR THE WORK THEY HAD DONE THE FIRST YEAR.” “[WHAT I KNOW ABOUT THE COMPETITIONS THEY ENTERED IS] OTHER THAN IN…THE HERALD [I KNOW], WHEN MY [GRANDMA NAGY] WAS DYING IN PEACE RIVER, MY SISTER, AND I, AND MY MOM WERE UP THERE ALL SUMMER [ IN EMAILED AMMENDMENTS TO THE INTERVIEW, CAROL DARMODY NOTED, "DAD HAD THIS HUGE GARDEN TO DEAL WITH. WE DIDN’T OWN A FREEZER, SO DAD HAD TO DO ALL THE CANNING BY HIMSELF. IF HE HAD ANY QUESTIONS, HE WOULD PHONE HIS SISTER, GERTRUDE FOR ADVICE. HE DECIDED TO ENTER THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S 30 ANNUAL FLOWER SHOW, AND HE WON SEVERAL PRIZES…WHEN A REPORTER FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD CAME TO INTERVIEW DAD, HE EXPLAINED ABOUT THE OTHER COMPETITIONS THAT HE HAD ENTERED IN THE PAST"]…[HE WAS THE] ‘WINNER IN 1949’ OF A DOMINION-GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED COMPETITION FOR…DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN’S AFFAIRS…SMALL HOLDINGS. HIS HOUSE IS CLASSED AS THE OUTSTANDING VETERAN’S SMALL HOLDING, IN CANADA. MR. FROUWS SAYS HE ENTERED THE SHOW JUST TO SURPRISE HIS WIFE. HE WAS AS SURPRISED AS ANYONE WHEN HE CLEANED UP ON THE PRIZES." DARMODY ADDED, QUOTING A LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE, “HIS PARKDALE HOME HAS WALKED OFF WITH THE CANADIAN LEGION, ARMY, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE VETERAN’S CHALLENGE TROPHY, FOR HOME GARDEN, SEVERAL TIMES. HE TOOK THE TROPHY LAST YEAR, AND ALSO HAD HIS LOT JUDGED THE BEST SMALL HOLDING SOUTH OF RED DEER IN ANOTHER GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED CONTEST.” THEY ENTERED SEVERAL [COMPETITIONS]…HIS MEMORY, EVEN WHEN HE WAS IN HIS ‘90S, WAS PRETTY DARN GOOD, SO HE WOULDN’T HAVE LIED ABOUT ANYTHING.” DARMODY CONTINUED, “HE COMPETED IN THE LOCAL [HORTICULTURAL COMPETITIONS]…I THINK THEY CONTINUED BECAUSE…IT WAS EASIER TO COMPETE. IN 1947, IT MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY HARD TO COMPETE, BECAUSE IT WAS PRAIRIE; IT WAS STARTING WITH NOTHING, AND THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH A GRAVEL PIT…I THINK WINNING MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT EASIER BY 1950, BECAUSE MOST OF THE REAL HARD WORK WAS DONE…I HAVE A FEELING THAT THEY ENTERED [THE NATIONAL COMPETITION] ‘JUST FOR A LARK’, BECAUSE THE GARDEN WAS STILL BEAUTIFUL, IN THE EARLY ‘50S. WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER DIED, FROM ’53 ON, I DON’T THINK THEY [ENTERED COMPETITIONS], BECAUSE WE HAD EXTRA THINGS, LIKE CHICKENS. MOM WAS DEPRESSED FOR A WHILE, BECAUSE HER MOTHER HAD A HARD LIFE. BUT, UP UNTIL ’52-’53, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY, ONCE THE GARDEN GOT GOING…AND ENCOURAGING VETS TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, TO HELP THEM WITH PTSD…NO ONE TALKED ABOUT POST TRAUMATIC STRESS, BUT THAT’S ONE WAY TO OVERCOME…WORK HARD, PHYSICALLY.” “MOM WROTE DAD WHEN HE WAS STILL OVERSEAS. HE WAS OFFERED A JOB IN HOLLAND...[HIS SUPERVISORS] WANTED HIM TO STAY AFTER WORLD WAR TWO BECAUSE HE SPOKE DUTCH, AND HE KNEW SOME GERMAN. THEY DID NOT WANT HIM TO COME BACK TO CANADA. HOWEVER, HE HADN’T BEEN WITH MOM [SINCE THEY MARRIED IN 1943]; HE REALLY WANTED TO COME BACK TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA. MOM HAD TOLD HIM THAT SHE THOUGHT [DIEPPE NEIGHBOURHOOD] WOULD BE OPENING UP, AND THAT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA FOR THEM TO LOOK INTO IT. SO, THEY WERE, IF NOT THE FIRST PEOPLE, THE SECOND, BECAUSE THEY HAD AN OPTION OF GETTING [123 OR 201] DIEPPE…THE ONE DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET, AND DAD DIDN’T WANT [A HOUSE WITH] TWO STORIES. THEY WANTED THIS PLACE. [THEIR’S] WAS THE SECOND HOUSE BUILT, SO THEY MOVED IN, IN AUGUST OF 1946, AND THEY DIDN’T GET THE TITLE TO THE PROPERTY UNTIL AUGUST, ’47...BUT THEY IMMEDIATELY CULTIVATED, LIKE THAT FIRST YEAR, THEY ALLEGEDLY HAD A GOOD GARDEN…THEIR FIRST NATIONAL PRIZE FOR VETERANS GARDENS WAS IN 1947…WHEN THEY STARTED TO PLANT, MOST OF THE PLANTING WAS AT THE VERY BACK [OF THE YARD], THE VEGETABLES.” “I THINK, FOR BOTH OF THEM, THEY WERE CONNECTED TO THE LAND…BY WORKING REALLY HARD ON SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL…IT WAS HEALING. MY PARENTS DIDN’T LIKE TO GO OUT AND PARTY AND SOCIALIZE, SO THIS WAS THEIR WAY OF GROWING TOGETHER. THEY HAD DIFFERENT GARDENING TECHNIQUES. I’M MORE LIKE MY MOTHER. DAD LIKED TO HAVE ORGANIZED ROWS AND EVERYTHING JUST STRUCTURED…THERE WERE A FEW CONFLICTS, BUT THAT’S HOW THEY SPENT THEIR TIME…TOGETHER, WHEN THEY COULD, WHEN HE WAS OFF WORK, WORKING IN THE YARD, AND IT DID HELP THEM, I THINK, WORKING TOGETHER. THEN, AS KIDS, WE HAD TO HELP THEM, SO IT DREW THE FAMILY UNIT TOGETHER.” ON THE HOME AT DIEPPE BOULEVARD AND HER FATHER’S GARDENING, DARMODY SHARED, “[THE WAR] WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD [ON MY DAD]. DURING THE WAR, HIS ONE EAR DRUM WAS SHATTERED, WHEN HE WAS FIXING A TRANSFORMER, AND HE WAS SHOT AT…LATER IN LIFE, I DID HEAR SOME OF THE STORIES, AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DEADLY FOR HIM BECAUSE HE DIDN’T DRINK. THERE WEREN’T COUNSELORS. YOU WOULDN’T GO TO A COUNSELOR. EVERYONE WOULD KNOW. ‘OH, JOHN FROUWS WENT TO A COUNSELOR.’…IT WAS HEALING TO HAVE THIS PLACE, AND THEY WERE VERY GRATEFUL. THEY WERE REALLY GRATEFUL, AND IT WAS THE VETERAN’S AFFAIRS…IT WAS MONETARY, TOO, BECAUSE OF THE PRICE REDUCTION, OR JUST THE TROPHIES, AND THE RECOGNITION.” DARMODY ELABORATED ON HOW SHE OBTAINED HER PARENTS’ COLLECTION INCLUDING THE TROPHY, NOTING, “[THE OBJECTS CAME INTO MY POSSESSION TOGETHER]…WHEN DAD DIED…[IN] 2011.” “[I WANTED TO KEEP THEM BECAUSE] THEY CONNECT ME TO THE PAST, AND WHEN…THE FORMER GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S WIFE WAS IN LETHBRIDGE, SHE WROTE THAT BOOK, ‘MATRONS AND MADAMS’, SHE SAID IT USUALLY TAKES 3-4 GENERATIONS FOR THE WAR EFFECTS TO BE ELIMINATED, FROM THE GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDKIDS, SO, I WAS INDIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE WAR…I HAD TO TEACH SOCIAL STUDIES AT ONE POINT, IN VANCOUVER, SO I LEARNED, DID A LOT OF PREPARATION. DAD WAS SUPPORTING HIS WIDOWED MOTHER…AFTER 1943, HE WAS SENDING MONEY TO MOM. HE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF SPARE MONEY TO BUY THINGS AND SEND BACK HOME…SO THE THINGS HE SENT WERE HUMBLE.” LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES FROM 1947-1951 NOTE JOHN FROUWS’S WINNINGS IN GARDENING AND CANNING. ACCORDING TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, AUGUST 16, 1947, FROUWS PLACED FIRST IN THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S GROUNDS AND GARDEN COMPETITION IN CLASS 4—VETERANS’ PARKDALE SUBDIVISION. ON AUGUST 20TH, 1948, THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD REPORTED FROUWS’S AGAIN WON THE CLASS 4 DIVISION OF THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S GROUNDS AND GARDEN COMPETITION. ACCORDING TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, OCTOBER 28, 1949, FROUWS’S WON OUTSTANDING SMALL HOLDINGS AS THE OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL WINNER IN THE NATIONAL SMALL HOLDINGS COMPETITION, SPONSORED BY THE VETERANS’ LAND ACT DEPARTMENT. FROUWS WAS ADDITIONALLY REPORTED TO HAVE RECEIVED A SHIELD FOR HAVING THE BEST COMPOSITE GARDEN FOR THREE CONSEVUTIVE YEARS FRO THE LETHBRIDGE BRANCH OF THE CANADIAN LEGION AND THE ARMY, NAVY AND AIR FORCE VETERANS’ ASSOCIATION. ON AUGUST 24, 1950, FROUWS’S WAS REPORTED BY THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD TO HAVE WON THE SPECIAL PRIZE, J.H. DOWNS, FOR MOST POINTS IN NOVICE SECTION AT THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S ANNUAL EXHIBITION. ACCORDING TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, SEPTEMBER 1, 1950, FROUWS ALSO PLACED FIRST IN THE ANNUAL SMALL HOLDINGS BEAUTIFICATION CAMPAIGN FOR VETERANS RESIDING ON VETERANS’ LAND ACT HOLDINGS SOUTH OF RED DEER, ALBERTA. ACCORDING TO THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, AUGUST 22, 1951, FROUWS WON THIRTEEN PRIZES AT THE LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S ANNUAL FLOWER SHOW, AND RANKED SECOND FOR THE ENTIRE HOME CANNING EXHIBIT. FROUWS WON FIRST-PLACE PRIZES FOR DILL PICKLES, PEACHES, PLUMS, FOR A COLLECTION OF FOUR SEALERS OF VEGETABLES, AND FOR A COLLECTION OF FOUR SEALERS OF CANNED FRUIT. FROUWS WON SECOND-PLACE PRIZES FOR CANNED BEANS, CHERRIES, CARROTS, CAULIFLOWER, AND RASPBERRIES. FROUWS WON THIRD-PLACE FOR RASPBERRY JAM, BEETS, AND PEARS. FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND COPIES OF THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILE P20190010001-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190010006

Acquisition Date

2019-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail