Truro man walks the streets of Calgary
Jerry Hale, originally from Truro, provided an interesting interview in Calgary last week
His smooth steps take him a fair distance quickly. It’s like being paid to walk the streets of Calgary. But, there is more; Truro native Jerry Hale is a mail carrier with Canada Post. Hale went west in 1990, he moved to Calgary from Jasper in 1997 and he has now been delivering mail for Canada Post for 14 years.
“My alarm clock sounds at 6.24 a.m.,” Hale, 48, who resides in Mckenzie Towne, southwest Calgary, said. “My work day begins at 8 a.m. after a 25-minute commute. I find that people still really appreciate a mail person, it seems I always have people and dogs to talk to.”
Hale has an interesting delivery route but it has been a tough winter.
“I deliver mail in the northwest near the University of Calgary. Some winters go by and I don’t put on winter boots but this winter was a hard one, it still is. You can dress for the cold and your motion will keep you warm, but with the recent weather and all the snow, the worst part about delivering mail can be slipping. I fell four times this winter. But for me, personally, I find the toughest thing to be the rain, walking around with paper, it’s not fun when it’s raining.”
When not walking the streets of Calgary, on the job, Hale’s No. 1 priority is spending time with his two daughters – Elsie, 14 and Claudia,12.
“I coached Elsie for five years in soccer and I coached Claudia for two years,” said Hale. “But, it’s funny, soccer was a game I never played competitively. It was really a case of wanting to help out.”
Hale shared that Elsie recently had shoulder surgery resulting from a soccer injury.
“Elsie will attend high school next year so we’ll wait and see if she continues in soccer.
Claudia is a competitive dancer, so, overall, the girls keep me quite busy. They are at a great age, it certainly makes things interesting.”
For a hobby, Hale plays a lot of golf.
“I pay green fees; there are a ton of great golf courses in Calgary and this area a guy can play. There are great courses when you go up to the mountains, when you cross the mountains and go into B.C., there are more fantastic courses. To me, the best course of them all is the Jasper Park Lodge course, it’s the best golf course I ever played.”
Jerry’s great uncle (now deceased) was former Nova Scotia baseball great Johnny Clark, known to many as “The Westville Flash.” Clark starred for the 1946 N.S. senior champion Truro Bearcats and he starred in the famed H&D Baseball League during the days of the American imports. Clark, an uncle to Hale’s mother Vonnie, lived in Calgary during his later years.
“When I first came to Calgary, it was great spending time with uncle John, ‘The Westville Flash,’ as my mother called him. Uncle John was a great baseball player and my mother was his biggest fan. Uncle John and I spent a lot of time talking sports, I remember I’d go over on Saturday nights; he told me story after story, I never got tired of listening.”
Hale looks forward to a twoweek visit to Nova Scotia this summer, something he has practiced for a few years.
“Whenever I go back to Nova Scotia the colour of the dirt hits me first. When I get to Truro, the number of people I don’t now, hits me next. I rarely run into people I know. Thirty years away will do that. It will be nice to see my parents (Gerry and Vonnie Hale) though — my sisters Jennifer and Bonnie both live in Nova Scotia so we will get to spend time together.”
A multi-sport Truro athlete during his youth, Hale played hockey from novice up to midget. He pitched, played shortstop and the outfield in baseball, he ran track from Grade 7 to 12, and in football he was a quarterback for CEC Cougars. Later, Hale played three seasons of university football for Acadia Axemen.
“I have good memories from my years playing sports in Truro,” Hale said. “There were lots of communities from the area competing. Sports provided some exciting experiences, I played hockey with guys like Ozzie Mackay, Jeff Goss, Jeff Fielding, Jeff Vanwart and Wade Taylor. Some of my coaches were Jim Vanwart, John Hutchinson and Will Sutherland. One of my memories of playing football at CEC, my mother would make me go to church on Sunday mornings. At 11.30, near the end of the service, I was allowed to get up and head for the football field.”
Hale, who won an amazing number of provincial championships while playing for Truro teams and who received his share of personal awards as well, recalled another challenge he took on.
“I wasn’t very old, possibly 13, when Jack Lloyd gave me a job officiating in the Truro & Area Minor Hockey Association. We got $5 a game, it was actually pretty good pay when you consider what the minimum wage was in the early 1980s. I refereed hockey for about five years.”
Hockey Night In Canada’s Don Cherry often refers to “a good Kingston boy,” but in this instance, “a good Truro boy” fits nicely.