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Diane (Kenyon) Romaniuk daughter of Alex Kenyon, part of crew that drilled the Imperial Redwater #1.
Circa 2008
Edmonton, Alberta

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By Diane Romanchuk (nee Kenyon)

My father Sandy Kenyon worked for Imperial Oil in Turner Valley from 1937 until he joined the Army in 1942. After being discharged from the army, he worked as a "roughneck" for Imperial Oil. We became part of Imperial Oil's "Oil Town" family which moved from town to town while the company was looking for gas in northeastern Alberta (Athabasca, Viking, Jarvey, Minburn and Two Hills). We didn't stay in one place for long and in Grade 1, I attended at least three different schools. It didn't bother me to move, since I didn't have to make new friends - all my friends moved with me. I remember a one room school that had grades 1 to 9. The children were very friendly and happy when we arrived because they would have more children to play with and make up sports teams. We always felt welcome and made additional friends in each town.

We lived in a two room "skid shack" that my dad built and it was moved from town to town on the back of a large truck. Our Imperial Oil group moved to each town as a unit and we were like a large family. What was unique was that entire families socialized, not just the fathers at their place of work. Because of the constant moves and the long hours that the men worked, mothers did not have careers or work outside the home. The ladies became friends and were very supportive of each other.

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Diane Kenyon's Birthday party with the other children in "oil town"
circa 1949
Redwater, Alberta, Canada

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Before my mother had a washing machine, I remember her washing clothes in a galvanized tub. Friends would come over and help her wring the rinse water out of the bed sheets before hanging them up on the clothes line.

I recall my dad taking off very dirty clothes after a day working in the rigs, sometimes before he came into the house. I am pretty sure that my mother washed his work clothes at home. I wonder now, how difficult it must have been for wives and single men to wash their very dirty clothes after a day's work on the rigs.

I remember the ladies always talking and laughing as they worked together, then they would sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee. Birthday parties for children always included all the mothers and smaller children in the "Oil Town". The mothers socialized while we children played. I always "helped" my mother make ribbon sandwiches out of Velveeta cheese with different food coloring for each layer and she always made and decorated an Angle Food Cake for my parties.

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Alex "Sandy" and Helen Kenyon with young daughter Diane in their oil town trailer home.
Circa 1948
Redwater, Alberta, Canada

Credits:
Imperial Oil Review, October November 1948 Vol.32 No. 5
Imperial Oil Fonds, Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta

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My parents, Sandy and Helen Kenyon, and I moved to Redwater in 1948 before drilling began on Hilton Cook's farm. We moved our "skid shack" to Jim and Ann Evasiw's back yard next to where the old Post Office was located.

My dad was in charge of the individual crews on shifts for the well and when oil was struck. I remember a lot of excitement when Jim Evasiw came to our house and told my mom and I to quickly get ready and meet them at their car because "they" struck oil. We went for a ride with Jim, Ann and Claudia to the farm where the well was drilled to share in the excitement.

I remember my mother taking my hand after we got out of the car and we walked through some high grass. I don't recall a celebration as such, but I remember seeing a lot of excited people with very happy faces. I think I was a bit bewildered and didn't really know what was going on since this wasn't an everyday occurrence for me. I was actually more excited about going for a ride with my mom, my friend Claudia and her family. I remember my dad being very excited and talking to my mom in our house about the oil strike.

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Diane Kenyon in front of their oil town house
circa 1949
Redwater, Alberta, Canada

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For me, growing up in Redwater as a child during the boom was a positive experience. There was always the excitement of new children coming to our school, but sadness as friends moved because their dads were transferred. It was an accepted way of life since we didn't know any different. With the transfer of Imperial Oil engineers to Redwater from other parts of the world, their children shared with us experiences and places where they lived and traveled. We found the information very exciting and learned a lot about other places. I had friends who were Ukrainian, English, German and other nationalities. We became part of the community and never felt like we didn't belong.

I felt comfortable going on my own to any of the many stores in Redwater to pick up milk, a loaf of bread or sewing supplies for my mother. Store owners (Boston's, Nelson's, Horbal's, Miss Vickers and others) always knew me by name and they made me feel "special" when I entered their stores.

The dairy was located on the same block as Redwater Utilities where we lived. As preschoolers, my brothers Dennis and Sandy loved going to the Dairy. Tom Stack would invite them in and let them watch the small bottles being filled up with chocolate milk. He always gave them a small bottle of chocolate milk to take home. They called Mr. Stack their friend and when they adopted a pet cat, they insisted on naming the cat Tommy, after Tom Stack.

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"Sandy" Kenyon sitting in front of skid shack with daughter Diane.
Circa 1948
Redwater, Alberta, Canada

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As with many families in the Oil industry where the father often worked out of town, my parents settled in Redwater so that my schooling would not be interrupted. Since many families were "in the same boat", the ladies became a support group to each other. My mother and her friends had a "sewing circle". There was no need to hire a babysitter since children were always part of the group. Children played together while the mothers embroidered or did other sewing or knitting projects while they socialized. These ladies became very close and their friendships lasted through to their involvement in setting up the Pioneer Club in Redwater.

When my mother was in her 80's, she visited one of her friends from the "Oil Town" days who lived in Calgary. She had not seen her since the oil boom, but once they got together and started talking, she told me that their friendship was the same as it had been 50 years earlier as they relived the good old times with Imperial Oil. Even though my mother lost contact with friends from the "Oil Town" over the years, there would be excitement when they saw each other at a funeral or other event and they would always talk about the good old times during the boom.

A while after we moved to Redwater, my dad started Kenyon's Oil Servicing Company and we moved to a house on Redwater's south side. He moved the skid shack into our yard and he provided it as living quarters for the men who worked for him since living accommodations in Redwater were scarce. They became part of our family and I would often talk to them as I watched them cook their evening meal. They probably weren't the best cooks, but I can still remember how good their "half raw" potatoes fried in butter tasted when they gave me some to try.

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During the boom years, there were a lot of things to do and a large number of children my age to play with. There were two movie theatres and on Saturday afternoons we all stood in line before the theatre opened, then rushed in to see who would get the "best seat in the house", the middle seat in the front row. We would play hide-and-go-seek in the lumber yard on the south side of the tracks. We would go exploring in the "bush" on the south side of town, checking out bird nests, picking flowers and playing "cowboys and indians".

Even though there was a large transient population, we children felt safe. Ed Lambert and his family lived at the end of our street. I remember how welcome we always felt when we were playing outside his house. His children were younger than we were, but my friends and I always knew if we ran into trouble while playing in the area, it was one of the first places we would run if we needed help if a parent was not around.

There were great baseball tournaments on long weekends. I remember my friends and I being very curious and excited the first time we saw the Amber Valley baseball team come to play in the tournament. We had never seen "black" people before and the children looked very happy as the carload of families climbed out of their cars and made their way to the bleachers.

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There were many restaurants in Redwater and a "brown derby" (a homemade donut with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, then chocolate sauce poured over it) was always a favorite treat. Restaurant food was much better during that time since everything was made fresh "from scratch". When my father had a day off, we would make a trip to Edmonton and go to the Longman Restaurant for Chinese Food.

There were many churches in town. I would go with friends to the United Church, Greek Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church and United Missionary Church. We thought it was normal to share each other's religion and felt comfortable in each church.

Mr. Hill was the minister of the United Missionary Church and his wife played the piano during each service. She also taught piano lessons and Mr. Hill drove the school bus. We would make a point of going to their church on days when we knew they had visiting young people from Didsbury College who played musical instruments and sang as part of the service. My girl friends and I enjoyed going to "Girls Club" at the Hill's residence at the back part of the church. Mr. and Mrs. Hill showed us how to make wire jewelry, belts from braded plastic, wicker baskets and many other crafts. Although we were very young, they were very patient in teaching us these skills. Mrs. Hill always made hot chocolate to end the evening and we all socialized and were made to feel important. They didn't teach religion at the girls club, but discussions while making crafts and drinking hot chocolate taught us how to be kind to other people.

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Helen Stetsko, Fin Lineham, Carrie Lineham, and Maurice Cook at the Discovery Derrick in Redwater.
Circa 1992
Redwater, Alberta, Canada

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My mother was widowed when my Dad passed away in February of 1951. She later married Matt Stetsko, the Manager of Redwater Utilities. Because the office was downstairs in our duplex, we also had a telephone extension upstairs in our house. The entire family had the duty of answering the phone if none of the employees were in the office. I answered calls from people wanting their furnace checked, problems with the smell of gas, and everything else the utility did. We all took messages and if there was an emergency, we would get on our bikes or run around town to find Matt so he could take care of the problem. At an early age, we learned about Customer Service, since no request for service was ever turned down and we were told we had to be polite to every caller.

Matt also owned the only lawn roller in Redwater. With the number of new houses being built in Redwater, we continually received phone calls from people who wanted to borrow the lawn roller. We were always trying to figure out if the last person who borrowed it returned it when the next call came in. Not only did Matt lend the roller out free of charge, he would often go and help with preparation of the lawn.

Our parents worked very hard but always made time to have fun with family and friends. As the town grew, almost everyone I knew volunteered for any organization in town that needed assistance - the golf course, the concessions in the curling rink and at ball tournaments, pancake breakfasts, school and church activities and many other functions. Although the boom probably caused a lot of the usual infrastructure problems faced by a fast-growing town, I remember the "oil boom" years as a very happy and exciting time.