Historic downtown gem a source of great memories
Re: Story of the Welland House: High drama,
historic events — and The Human Fly, July 14
I thought this story was great reading.
I have two experiences with the Welland House, one of them involving the newspaper.
I was born in 1932 and grew up in St. Catharines. By the time I was 10, I was delivering The Standard on Western Hill, Pelham Road to be exact. Each Saturday, carriers had to get to the Standard office on Queen Street and pay what we owed for the week.
We were looked after by two nice men — Mr. Turnbull, who I think was circulation manager, and Mr. Prior, a great old gentleman.
One Saturday he told us there would be a Christmas party the following week and we were all invited. Sure enough he was true to his word. Of course, the only place that could hold us all was the Welland House. As I recall it was in the big ballroom.
This was during the Second World War, but we had a Christmas dinner and gifts for everyone. Mine was a Westclox pocket watch.
All in all it was a wonderful day which I have never forgotten.
My second memory dates to about 1945 or ’46, right after the end of the war. The Maple Leafs had chosen St. Catharines as their training site, the old Garden City arena. I was an autograph hunter and soon found it was easier to get autographs from players at their hotel, rather than at the arena where they had to change and get on the ice.
They were staying at the Welland House. Usually Saturday morning was the day, as we didn’t have school and the players didn’t seem in any hurry to board the bus to the arena. They were jovial, asking us who we thought was the best player, the handsomest, etc.
I had autographs from the likes of Turk Broda, Syl Apps, Ted Kennedy, Bill Barilko and many others.
As an aside, as I think back to those times about 75 years ago, I remember how players were so well dressed. In those days to be a professional athlete you had to not only play the game well, but be a professional in all aspects of life.
Especially in a great hotel like the Welland House.
Dave Jones
Fonthill