Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

"1975 JEUX CANADA GAMES... FINISH..."

Date

1975

Materials

CANVAS, PAINT

No. Pieces

1

Length

355.0

Width

88.0

Description

BEIGE CANVAS-DENIM BANNER WITH RED AND BLACK TEXT, “1975 JEUX CANADA GAMES FINISH – FINI” ON RIGHT SIDE. CIRCULAR BLUE, YELLOW, AND RED LOGO, “ALBERTA’S SUNNY SOUTH 1975 JEUX CANADA GAMES” ON LEFT SIDE OF BANNER. BLUE STICKER AT BOTTOM OF BANNER, UNDERNEATH TEXT, READS, “LETHBRIDGE/SOUTHERN ALBERTA JEUX CANADA GAMES FEBRUARY 11-23, 1975…” 1975 CANADA GAMES LOGO ON LEFT SIDE OF STICKER. EIGHT METAL EYELETS AROUND EDGE OF BANNER. BANNER IS SLIGHTLY STAINED IN PLACES, CREASE LINES PRESENT THROUGHOUT, PRINTED TEXT IS FADED IN AREAS. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION.

Subjects

ADVERTISING MEDIUM

Historical Association

SPORTS

History

ON JULY 28, 2023, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED PADDIE WALMSLEY ABOUT HER DONATION OF VARIOUS 1975 CANADA GAMES MEMORABILIA, ONLY THE BANNER ATTRIBUTED TO THE DOWNHILL (ALPINE) SKI EVENT WAS ACCEPTED AS A DONATION. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS DERIVED FROM THAT INTERVIEW. ON HOW HER FAMILY CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THE BANNER, WALMSLEY EXPLAINED: “…WHEN THE GAMES [WERE] FIRST ANNOUNCED THAT [THEY WERE] COMING TO LETHBRIDGE, MY FATHER, JACK WELCH, VOLUNTEERED TO BE A VOLUNTEER, AND HE ENDED UP ON THE EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE… [THE] PROCUREMENT COMMITTEE I BELIEVE IS WHAT IT WAS… [THE BANNER] CAME INTO DAD’S POSSESSION… WHEN EVERYTHING WAS GATHERED IN AFTER THE GAMES, [THE COMMITTEE’S] WERE TRYING TO DECIDE WHERE, AND WHAT… THINGS WERE TO BE GOING [WHERE], AND MY DAD THOUGHT THIS [BANNER] WOULD BE KIND OF COOL TO HAVE; BECAUSE MY BROTHER [ROBERT “BOB” WELCH], AT THAT TIME… WAS QUITE AN AVID SKIER, AND SKIED AT WESTCASTLE QUITE OFTEN… THIS IS WHERE THIS BANNER WAS [USED], ‘CAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE SKIING EVENTS WERE FOR THE GAMES…” WALMSLEY CONTINUED ON WHERE THE BANNER LIVED IN THEIR FAMILY HOME: “… [THE BANNER] CAME INTO DAD’S POSSESSION, AND MY BROTHER IMMEDIATELY, (HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN SEVENTEEN, EIGHTEEN AT THE TIME), HUNG IT UP IN HIS BEDROOM DOWNSTAIRS, AND THAT’S WHERE IT REMAINED FOR AS LONG AS MOM AND DAD WERE IN THE HOUSE [3518 - 10TH AVE. A SOUTH]. THEN, WHEN [OUR PARENTS] SOLD THAT HOUSE THAT [BOB AND I] GREW UP IN, AND MOVED OVER TO THE WESTSIDE, I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE [THE BANNER]… BY THAT TIME, I WAS LIVING UP IN BROOKS [IN 1988], AND IT HUNG IN OUR FAMILY ROOM IN BROOKS UP UNTIL WE MOVED…” WALMSLEY COMMENTED: “…ITS ADORNED WALLS WHERE I’VE BEEN A FAIR PART OF MY YOUNGER LIFE… MY BROTHER REMEMBERS IT FONDLY, ‘CAUSE OF COURSE IT WAS IN HIS ROOM, BUT WHEN HE MOVED OUT, HE DIDN’T HAVE THE SPACE FOR IT… BECAUSE I WAS HERE AND VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE IT, I HAD IT SO…” WHEN ASKED WHY SHE VOLUNTEERED TO TAKE THE BANNER, WALMSLEY REFLECTED: “BECAUSE IT WAS KIND OF COOL, I THOUGHT… WE WERE KIND OF IN THE PLACE IN OUR LIFE WHERE WE ADORNED OUR WALLS; OUR DECORATING THEMES WERE, YOU KNOW, FLAGS, AND BANNERS, AND POSTERS… PLUS IT HAD SENTIMENTAL MEANING BECAUSE, IT WAS IN THE HOUSE THAT I GREW UP IN, AND MY DAD WAS… SO INVOLVED, AND THE WINTER GAMES MEANT SO MUCH TO HIM. HE WAS VERY COMMUNITY-MINDED IN THAT, WHEN HE DECIDED THAT HE WAS GOING TO VOLUNTEER FOR SOMETHING, HE TOOK IT TO HEART… [HE DID] THE BEST THAT HE COULD…” WALMSLEY REITERATED ON WHAT THE BANNER MEANS TO HER: “…BECAUSE MY DAD HAD THE MEANING, OR THE CONNECTION THAT IT BROUGHT TO ME, WITH MYSELF, MY DAD; WE WERE VERY CLOSE, AND MY OLDER BROTHER [BOB], WHO WE, TO THIS DAY, ARE STILL VERY CLOSE… I’M A VERY SENTIMENTAL SAP, SO THAT’S WHY [I KEPT THE BANNER]. ON WHERE THE BANNER WAS HUNG IN ADDITION TO HER BROTHER’S ROOM, WALMSLEY NOTED: “IN OUR FAMILY ROOM, IN OUR BASEMENT. THAT’S WHERE WE [AS A FAMILY]… IF WE’RE HAVING PEOPLE OVER [ENTERTAINED], IT WAS [IN] OUR SOCIALIZING ROOM; WE HAD A FOOSBALL TABLE DOWN THERE, AND THAT [BANNER] JUST FIT IN, WITH OUR EARLY ‘POVERTY’ THEME, AND FUN… THAT WE HAD DOWN THERE [IN THE BASEMENT].” WHEN ASKED HOW HER DAD, JACK WELCH BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE 1975 CANADA GAMES ON THE EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE, WALMSLEY CONSIDERED: “THAT, I COULDN’T SPEAK TO… AT THAT TIME, [DAD] WAS WORKING FOR MOORE BUSINESS FORMS… BUT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT #51 WAS ONE OF HIS CUSTOMERS…(SO I’M GUESSING)… AND I BELIEVE IT WAS ED HENDERSON [WHO] WAS WORKING [AT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT #51]… I THINK DAD KNEW HIM THROUGH THAT… THAT’S ABOUT THE ONLY THING THAT I CAN KIND OF FIGURE OUT WHY HE ENDED UP ON THAT COMMITTEE, BECAUSE OF HIS KNOWING MR. HENDERSON.” ON WHAT HER DAD’S RESPONSIBILITIES WERE WHILE ON THE EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE, WALMSLEY RECALLED: “I THINK HE WAS LEADING PEOPLE AND ORGANIZING. DAD WAS A GOOD ORGANIZER, HE LIKED TO… GET HIS ‘DUCKS IN A ROW’, AND THEN… HE WAS A GOOD SUPERVISOR, WITH THE FOUR CHILDREN THAT HE HAD… I KNOW THERE [WERE] OTHER PEOPLE… THAT WOULD FOLLOW THROUGH ON WHAT WAS NEEDING TO BE DONE SORT-OF-THING.” WALMSLEY ADDED ONTO ANY MEMORIES THAT STOOD OUT ABOUT HER DAD’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE GAMES: “…I CAN REMEMBER LEADING UP TO THE GAMES… IF DAD WASN’T AT WORK, THEN HE WAS DOING THE PREPARATION. THERE WAS A LOT OF RUNNING AROUND; ORGANIZING; GATHERING THINGS; CATALOGING THEM; STORING THEM… AND THEN GETTING THEM OUT TO PLACES WHERE THEY NEEDED TO BE…” WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THE GAMES THAT FULFILLED HER DAD, WALMSLEY REFLECTED: “…[HONESTLY] BECAUSE IT WAS BRINGING ATTENTION TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA, AND THAT, [WITH] DAD, BEING BORN IN CALGARY, AND THEN SPENDING HIS LIFE FROM, (I THINK HE MOVED DOWN HERE [TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA] WHEN HE WAS ABOUT THREE OR FOUR)… TO PUT THE SPOTLIGHT ON SOUTHERN ALBERTA WAS IMPORTANT… I DON’T KNOW THAT HE SET OUT TO BE ON THE EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE… MY DAD, HE WOULD HAVE JUST VOLUNTEERED, AND THAT’S WHERE THE NEED WAS [WAS ON THE COMMITTEE]… OF COURSE… HE TOOK IT TO HEART, AND DID THE BEST THAT HE COULD, AND IT WAS IMPORTANT TO HIM… AS WERE THE GAMES… HAVING US KIDS VOLUNTEER, AND ATTENDING A LOT OF THE DIFFERENT EVENTS…” ON WHY THE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE SAVING AND PRESERVING THIS MATERIAL CULTURE, WALMSLEY COMMENTED: “…I THINK JUST BECAUSE IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME, AND THERE WAS MORE COMMUNITY SPIRIT AND CONNECTIVENESS, AT THAT TIME [IN 1975]… LETHBRIDGE, OF COURSE, WAS A SMALLER COMMUNITY… THE BEST PART… FROM A FIFTEEN YEAR OLD’S STANDPOINT WAS WE GOT OUT OF SCHOOL FOR TWO WEEKS, BECAUSE [THE GAMES] WERE USING THE SCHOOLS FOR BILLETING… FOR THE ATHLETES COMING AND GOING. BUT EVEN BEYOND THAT, JUST THAT IT WAS QUITE AN EXCITING TIME… THE CITY, YOU COULDN’T GO ANYWHERE WHERE YOU DIDN’T SEE THE PRESENCE, DURING THOSE TIMES, OF EITHER ATHLETES COMING AND GOING, OR CELEBRATIONS OF SOME SORT… I GUESS IT WAS LETHBRIDGE’S OLYMPICS SORT-OF-THING… [THE GAMES] BROUGHT QUITE A BIT OF CONNECTIVENESS TO THE COMMUNITY, WHICH I THINK SOMETIMES WE’VE LOST.” WALMSLEY ELABORATED ON THIS FEELING OF LOST CONNECTIVENESS, IN REFERENCE TO IF LETHBRIDGE IN 2023, WOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO PUT ON WHAT THEY DID BACK IN 1975: “NO… BECAUSE PEOPLE, I THINK, ARE TOO CONCERNED ABOUT THEIR OWN DEAL… PEOPLE DON’T, UNLESS THEY’RE GOING TO GET A RETURN ON WHAT THEY’RE PUTTING OUT, THEY DON’T WANT TO VOLUNTEER OR PUT OUT ANYTHING. IT’S ‘WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME’, YOU KNOW, VERSUS ‘LET’S DO THIS AND LET’S MAKE IT THE BEST THAT WE CAN’… I HAVE ALWAYS FOUND THAT VERY FRUSTRATING, BECAUSE YOU DON’T GET THINGS DONE BY YOURSELF… THE OLD, ‘IT TAKES A VILLAGE’… IT CAN BE A HECK OF LOT OF EASIER, AND PROBABLY MORE REWARDING, IF YOU HAVE A GROUP OF YOU, THROUGHOUT THIS LIFE.” WHEN ASKED IF THERE IS ANYTHING ELSE TO SHARE, WALMSLEY REFLECTED: “…[DAD] WAS OUT DURING HIS WORK, BECAUSE HE WAS A SALESMAN, BUT IN HIS PERSONAL TIME, HE AND MOM WERE MUCH HOMEBODIES AND FAMILY… THIS WAS ONE OF THE TIMES I CAN REMEMBER DAD KIND OF MAYBE STEPPING BEYOND HIS ‘COMFORT ZONE,’ AND REALLY GETTING INVOLVED WITH SOMETHING… I THINK BECAUSE HE JUST SAW THE GOOD OF IT, AND WANTED TO BE A PART OF IT… IT MEANT A LOT… HE LIKED BEING BEHIND-THE-SCENES SORT OF THING IN HIS VOLUNTEERING AND HIS DOING, AND I CAN REMEMBER GOING TO BOTH THE OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES, AND, FOR MY DAD, BECAUSE HE DIDN’T LIKE CROWDS, IT WAS THAT IMPORTANT THAT HE WENT TO BOTH OF THEM, AND WE WENT AS A FAMILY… IT WAS A THING! IT WAS IMPORTANT!” IN THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE, “GAMES BEING HAMPERED BY OVERLOAD OF WINTER,” PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 13, 1975, RUSSELL OUGHTRED WROTE ABOUT THE FIRST DAY OF THE GAMES AND THE SKI COMPETITION: “SNOW AND SUBZERO TEMPERATURE JOINED FORCES TO MAKE OPENING DAY OF CANADA WINTER GAMES COMPETITION MUCH TOO WINTERY… ALPINE AND CROSSCOUNTRY SKIERS WATCHED WITH DISAPPOINTMENT AS A HEAVY SNOWFALL FORCES CANCELLATION OF ALL OPENING-DAY SKI COMPETITION [AT WEST CASTLE SKI RESORT]…” “…WESTCASTLE SNOW UNSTABLE - ALL WINTER GAMES ALPINE SKI COMPETITION WAS AGAIN CANCELLED TODAY BECAUSE OF UNSTABLE SNOW CONDITIONS WHICH AVALANCHED THE WESTCASTLE ROAD A FEW HUNDRED YARDS FROM THE SKI RESORT…” “…COLD – THE COLD WEATHER ALSO AGGRAVATED A ‘SEASONAL PROBLEM’ AT THE RESORT. WEST CASTLE’S WATER SUPPLY, FED BY SPRINGS ON CASTLE MOUNTAIN, RAN DRY…” THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLE, “WEST CASTLE SKI VENUE GEAR TESTED ALONG WITH ATHLETES,” PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 17, 1975, RUSSELL OUGHTRED WROTE ON WHAT ENTAILED AT ‘CASTLE MOUNTAIN RESORT’: “…TODAY WESTCASTLE STAFF IS CLEANING UP, FOLLOWING FIVE FRANTIC DAYS OF BLIZZARDS, SLIDES, BROKEN SKI LIFTS AND FROZEN WATER PIPES…” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON PADDIE WALMSLEY’S 1975 CANADA GAMES FINISH BANNER, LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, OR TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20230010000

Acquisition Date

2023-07

Collection

Museum

Less detail