1967

Back to 1966

Throughout this past winter I have been organizing and presenting the pictorial history of our Boyle-Butters Lineage. I progressed routinely until I reached the year 1967. Back then, I referred to 1967 as “A Year To Remember” and wow, my artifacts succeeded in triggering a tidal wave of memories!

(As an aside, I will observe that working with family history is a great way to massage the minds and memories of us old people. When my Mom was in her 70’s she spent much time filling her scrapbooks – which are published elsewhere on the site – and I am more deeply appreciating the reasons why she did this …)

I have earlier published a couple of excerpts entitled “Expo ’67” and “Ontario”. Now, here is the complete year, including the previously posted excerpts.

My online page dedicated to 1967 is still under development. In the meantime I am publishing excerpts, beginning with “EXPO ’67.”

School Play

I used to watch this show in the 1950s. At the time I had sent away for this signed photo. I have no idea why it ended up in my 1967 collection. Maybe I was “taking a look back at my childhood from the perspective of 1967!”

A week prior to this I had lost to Ralph Goodale at the School Unit level. Ralph was the eventual winner and then went on to a long career in Federal Canadian Politics with the Liberal Party and currently serves as Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

**Centennial was everywhere in 1967. Here am I in a vest of the centennial plaid.**

Persistant Winter

Graduation

Click for Details

click for detailr

In 1967 Grade 12 Graduation ended with eight teenagers and their escorts getting in cars, and driving themselves, through the night, for what was called a Progressive Lunch hosted by our parents and teachers. We visited the homes of each of our Grads, and our two teachers, on a schedule that began at 11 pm and concluded at 7 am.

The Morning After …

**Mom’s flowers during Centenial Year. Note the centennial logo with (unlit) lights in the upper left.**

Square Dancing

**Joan Allan’s Report Card included two passes to the CNE**

Schools Out … Forever

Click to see my Report Cards for all 12 Years of School

During the 1960s, no visit to the Regina Legislative Buildings was complete without a trip up the metal staircase suspended through the open space inside the huge dome of the building. This led to a four sided open viewing area overlooking the city and the plains. I remember visiting on school tours and at other times during family visits to the city.

EXPO ‘67

I attended Expo ’67 in Montreal from July 24-28, 1967. My entire trip comprises two distinct events. Part 1 was Expo and Part 2 was visiting our “Ontario Relatives.”

The trip began in Saskatoon, at 3:15am, when Sally and I boarded CN’s passenger train, “Panorama,” heading east. We occupied what was called a “section” in the Pullman sleeping car. This comprised a pair of facing seats that converted into upper and lower sleeping berths. I took the upper Sally took the lower. After one day and two nights of rocks, lakes and trees in Northern Ontario we reached the CN Division Point at Capreol Ontario. Here is where Sally and I went in separate directions on separate trains.

Sally continued to Toronto where she was met by Mom (who had flown from Regina to Toronto).

Click Through
Click Through

I waited for a connecting train to take me on to Montreal via Ottawa. I remember my first experience of “Our Nation’s Capital” as a slowing and then backing of the train into the old station near, or under, the Chateau Laurier. I remember a vague enthusiasm for my first time in Ottawa. But I was also excitedly anxious to complete the last couple of hours of this long trip to Montreal.

I remember detraining and then hearing my name over the loudspeaker. “Chris Boyle, please come to the green light to meet your party.” My cousin, David Boyle, was paging me since I was staying with him, and his Dad, Dr Stuart Boyle, who, at that time was Mayor of Taber Alberta, and was in Montreal for a Mayor’s Convention. We grabbed a bite to eat and headed to our nearby hotel.

The next morning, Monday, July 24, we went to the nearby Metro Station and boarded Montreal’s rubber-tired subway for the short ride to Expo. Here we were, two prairie kids on our own in one of the grandest international spectacles ever.

Pavilions; people; line-ups; food; entertainment; technology; transportation; girls; warm summer days; litter-free grounds …

Some memories of the vibe in random order:

Sharing a city with dignitaries from all over the world. On our first day we were blissfully unaware as an international incident was taking place a few blocks away on the balcony of Montreal City Hall when Charles de Gaulle declared “Vive le Québec libre!”

Cheap good food, mostly chicken from the St. Hubert kiosk, but also a slice of that new food from Italy – pizza

Chatting with girls from New York City who wanted to know what big city Saskatchewan was close to

Riding the minirail

Signposts showing the remaining time in line for the specific exhibits (30 min; 60 min; 90 min)

The fountains and water features

The Telephone pavilion which showed a video on nine screens in a 360-degree circle

The roar of the passenger hovercraft crossing the St Lawrence

Reflecting on my travels during the summer of 1967, from my perspective in 2025, I realize that it was really two distinct trips in one; 1) Expo and 2) Ontario. I am surprised to note a stark difference between anticipation and memory. As a 17 year old anticipating the trip, I remember great visions of what Expo would be like. Even when I returned, there were visions of Expo dancing in my head. Now, as a 75 year old, the visions from Montreal have greatly faded and the experiences with family, Ontario, trains and airplanes are coming sharply into focus. In my life now, I often distinguish between artifical experience and authentic experience. For example, I refer to gyms and exercise bikes as “artificial exercise” where as walking in the woods and gardening are “authentic exercise.” I realize that this thinking is reflected in my memories of the summer of 1967. Expo which was the epitomy of artificial and the rest of the trip, which was much more authentic.

After five days in Montreal celebrating our own version of the Summer Of Love, I parted company with David and Uncle Stuart to catch a bus to join my mom and sister to visit Butters relatives in the Coburg-Baltimore area of Ontario.

This is the area that my Grandpa, Harry C. Butters, left to “Go West Young Man” in 1909. Grandpa and Grandma (Harry & Bessie) visited on their honeymoon in 1926. Mom and Dad (Keith & Lorraine) had visited a couple of times. And now another generation, Sally and me (and Mom), had our first visit.

Our visit, as recorded in the local newspaper:

Cobourg Sentinel Star
On Monday evening relatives and friends gathered at Coldsprings Hall for a picnic supper and to visit with Mrs. Keith Boyle, formerly Lorraine Butters, Sally and Chris of Colgate, Saskatchewan. After supper a musical program was enjoyed. Mrs. Lloyd West acted as M.C. Hiram Clapperton and Alex Buttars played mouth organ selections. Sally Boyle sang three solos accompanied by her mother who was also pianist for all numbers. Chris Boyle gave an account of the five days he had spent at Expo. A quartet composed of Jack, Earl and Hiram Clapperton and Harold Mann, sang several numbers; a sing song of old favorites and hymns. Jack Clapperton danced a step dance and Mrs. Boyle danced the Highland Fling accompanied by Hiram Clapperton on the mouth organ.
July 31/67

Side Note: The Butters family is a clear illustration of an issue known to genealogists, ie. various spellings of a surname within the same family. In our case, we see close relatives with the name Buttar and Buttars in addition to Butters. Read more about the Family Here.

Jack & Marg Clapperton made sure that we were chauffeured to many of the sites in Southern Ontario.

Here is the photographic record of Sally’s and my first trip to Niagara Falls. Also on his FIRST TRIP to the falls is Uncle Hiram Clapperton (foreground) who was 82 years old and had never previously travelled the 150 miles to the falls!

The Peterbourgh Lift Locks

Lorraine and Sally — 18 hours at Expo

Mom and Sally took the eastbound midnight train from Cobourg to Montreal arriving at 6 am. They spent the next 18 hours at Expo and then took the westbound midnight train from Montreal arriving in Cobourg at 6 am.

Fort Henry

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (& a bus). We experienced all of the modes of long distance travel that represented the Twentieth Century. Home to Saskatoon by car; Saskatoon to Montreal by train; Montreal to Cobourg by bus; Cobourg to Toronto by car. Toronto to Winnipeg by passenger jet; Winnipeg to Regina on a passenger prop plane.

The trip home was my initiation to air travel (something that I would see a great deal of during the early years of the 21st Century.) We flew by Air Canada jet from Toronto to Winnipeg, and then connected to an Air Canada propeller aircraft for the final leg to Regina. I clearly remember the large windows in the Constellation as compared to the much smaller windows in the DC8.

Almost daily we hear reports from folks from this part of the province, who have holidayed at Expo. Mrs. Keith Boyle and her daughter, Sally of Colgate, who recently returned from Montreal, were pleasantly surprised, while touring the Western Canada pavilion to read an inscription on a plaque, “Water flooding applies pressure to underground reservoirs and increases recovery and production. The water flood unit at Weyburn is North America’s largest.” How about that?