Allan Scahill's County Mayo, Lancashire and Cheshire Roots
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2008 Christmas Newsletter
Date: December, 2008
A very merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all family and friends.
On the 14 of January I posted my DNA testing kit to Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. Now I wait, and see what becomes of it and if it matches any other Scahill's out there?
On January 20 I lost my wallet outside of Costco, but a very kind and considerate member of the store returned it to store security.
24 January I passed my Electric Fork Lift (EFT) test at Costco. At the store we call it the Skud. It picks up two pallets side by side, with a total lift capacity of 8000 pound.
On February 1 my 90 day probationary period with Costco was up.
February 5 saw the passing of Kay Schmidt. Kay was the sister, to my sister-in-law, Marlene Jacober. Kay was 74.
February 13 2008 was the 20th anniversary of the Calgary Winter Olympics held in 1988. It was also the 20th anniversary of the across Canada Olympic Torch Relay, in which my son, Gary, carried the torch the last kilometer to Medicine Hat City Hall on the 7 February 1988.
Wednesday, February 20, saw a total eclipse of the moon starting at 7:00 PM, and ending 50 minutes later. It was quite a site as the sky was completely cloudless. The next one is in North America will be in two years, and then not again for another ten years.
On March 3rd I was taken out to Rossco's Pub by family and friends for a meal, drinks and later homemade cake. Mmmmmmmmmm....
23 March George and Gail Lamb paid us an overnight visit from Calgary. We spent a fun evening bowling and playing other games on the Wii with George, Gail, Deb and Bill.
29 March my granddaughter, Sarah Faye Scahill, became engaged to Devon Andrew Ford. The wedding is to take place on 15 August 2009.
23 April was the 50th birthday of Debra my niece. We held a surprise birthday party for her at the home of mutual friends.
At the beginning of May I started working my part-time hours at Costco. Previously for the store start up and opening I had worked full time. Then Spring came and with the better weather and the golf courses open, I wanted to the five hours per day that I had signed up for. So from May 1st on I worked from 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM Tuesday to Friday and on Saturday's from 4:30 AM to 9:30 AM. This meant by 10:30 AM I was on number one tee box at my local golf club.
One May 5, 2008, I managed to get a hole-in-one on the 9th hole at Cottonwood Coulee Golf Course here in Medicine Hat. This is the second time I have holed out on this hole and my 5th hole-in-one. This is an image is of our scorecard and a clipping from the Medicine Hat News, published 5 May 2008. We were also recording our putts, and that is the extra number in the score box. Although the News clipping says 119 yards, it was playing 121 yards on the day. Playing with me on this date were my brothers-in-law Allen and Wayne Jacober. The hole was playing 121 yards from the black tees and windy. I did not start the round particularly well, shooting a pair of 7's, but my game came around, and with the help of a birdie on the back nine finished up with a total of 84. I still finished last, with Wayne shooting a 73 and Allen an 83.
18 May was our 34th wedding anniversary.
The 26 May 2008 was the 80th wedding anniversary of my mum and dad. I have no photographs of their wedding, but I do have an exterior and interior view of Saint Stephen's Church where they married. The exterior view was taken in 1958, a couple of years prior to it being demolished. I wrote to the Manchester Evening News and submitted a letter to their "In Touch" section. I asked if any reader had photographs of the church and explained why I needed them. I was not surprised to get three responses with the above images.
Because I had had my letter published in "In Touch" I even received an e-mail from someone who recognized my Scahill name and asked if I was any relation to a Brian Scahill? This persons name was Roy Hulmes. Roy had been on the same football team as Brian at Saint Stephen's School and even supplied photographs of the Saint Stephen's school eleven football team. Team 1 Brian is in the back row and second from the right in this photo. Team 2. Brian is in the back row and first from the right in this photo. These photographs were taken in 1951. I also have to thank Roy for supplying the names of the other football team members.
In June, Gloria was approached by an old customer from the Deli we used to own. He asked if she would do an advertisement for a new condominium in Medicine Hat, the Norwood Grande. He needed a bubbly and cheerful person and immediately thought of Gloria. Gloria said yes and did the advertisement for our local TV station CHAT TV. Lot's of people have commented on seeing the ad, but as yet we have not seen it.. This is because we have satellite TV and the local station is not part of our lineup. I recently spoke with Curtis and he is getting us a DVD of the ad so we can view it.
Also in June, my sister-in-law, Doreen Woods paid a visit to Canada. Doreen was married to my late brother Brian Scahill.
28 June we attended the Schuler 85th Anniversary. Schuler is the small town near to where Gloria grew up on the farm. At the Schuler school we saw a quilt that Gloria helped to make when she 10 years of age. The school term year was 1955 to 1956. I wore my Schuler 75th Anniversary T-shirt for this visit.
29 June saw the passing of Lawrence Jacober. Lawrence was a cousin to Gloria, from her dad's side of the family. Lawrence was 76.
We spent the weekend of 13 July at the home of George and Gail Lamb in Calgary and it was Stampede weekend. We had visited George and Gail while they were living in Trinidad in March of 2007. George and I played pool at a local bar and Gloria and Gail visited, We could not play for the "International Trophy" as two other friends, Bill and Wayne, were not there. George is the current holder of that trophy. Anyway I came home with the bragging rights for the evening. We finished off the night by watching the fireworks display from a great vantage point in downtown Calgary.
Gloria's birthday on 20 July saw both of us golfing at Cottonwood Coulee golf course, followed by a meal and drinks with family at Earls Restaurant.
On August 9 we had lunch with a couple of old friends from Methanex, Gerry and Elain Dufresne. Gerry brought his "smart car" and took me for a spin. They spend winters in the Desert Hot Springs area of California and they get many looks and questions when they drive this car down there. We will be meeting them down in California for the last week of February and the first week of March 2009. We will be taking our golf clubs.
On this same date Gloria and myself attended the 50th wedding anniversary of Leona and Clarence Gruszie. Leona is Gloria's cousin.
31 August saw the second annual pig roast at the LaVonne and Kevin Reis acreage. LaVonne is Gloria's niece. LaVonne and Kevin have room for a couple of dozen trailers at the back of their home and a seriously good time was had by all. It was great to meet up with family and friends that we had not seen in a while. Pity about the rain later on in the evening, but the games, campfire and drinks kept everyone warm.
13 September we left for a two week vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We had planned on going to Europe for three weeks and had booked our flights via Zoom Airlines. Two weeks prior to us leaving for Europe, Zoom Airlines went bankrupt. Thank goodness we had booked using a credit card as we received our money back. So for the price of our airfare alone to Europe, we spent two great weeks at an all inclusive resort. We even upgraded to the luxury suites and still came out ahead. We will be going back to Puerto Vallarta.
On 1 October Irene Violet Soltis died. Irene was a cousin to Gloria, from her dad's side of the family. Irene was 80.
In November I created the Facebook group Scahill Names From Around The World. If you were born a Scahill or married someone with this surname, please join.
5 November I celebrated my one year anniversary with Costco. On the 23 November we held our first company Christmas party. We were too busy last year with the new store opening to have one.
15 December we booked our flight to Palm Springs. We are leaving on 22 February 2009 to 8 March. We will be staying at the Catalina Spa in Desert Hot Springs. We are flying to Calgary this time rather than drive, then we don't have to leave the car for two weeks at the airport.
16 December Gloria's YWCA ladies Belly Dancing Group performed for the seniors at Valley View Seniors Home. This was there last fitness class of the year.
Christmas Eve 2008 was spent at Mauro's Pub for customer appreciaton, Kelly and Darren Schlenker's for family dinner and Jenn and Dave Drummond's home for drinks and a visit.
Christmas Day we spent relaxing. I had just one day off from Costco, so free time was at a premium. Later in the afternoon we visited Jenn and Dave, where I photographed Juli Jacober and her daughters. At 4:30PM met Allen and Marlene for a prime rib dinner at the Medicine Hat Lodge. No cooking, no dishes. Allen and Marlene have been going to the Lodge to have Christmas Day dinner for several years and it was worth it. In the evening we played Scrabble. I was first out, but Allen beat my pants off with his score.
I had to work on Boxing Day from 5 to10:00 AM. In the evening we went to Pam and Pete's house for supper. We were joined by Jenn, Dave and family.
27 December our friend Donna West paid us a visit from Consul, Saskatchewan. We first met Donna and her husband Glen on our trip to Thailand. Donna stayed overnight and we went for supper to Mauro's Pub and had a great breakfast the next day
28 December and several family members went to Montana's Cookhouse with Jillian and Mark who are visiting from Australia. Jillian is Gloria's neice and the daughter of Wayne Jacober. They are planning on getting married in Australia on December 2 2009. So it looks like we will be spending next Christmas in the sun. We had a great time together at Montana's, but the service was lousy. They had to knock $90.00 of the bill for late service and cold food, so not many of us will be going back anytime soon
New years eve was spent at home. Both Gloria and myself were in bed at 11:00 PM.
Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
Love and best wishes from Allan and Gloria.
Owner of: Scahill.com and Scahill.ca
