Tittlemier’s Journey to Winnipeg
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Rudolf was born in White Russia in 1890. The homeland was plagued with much unrest and threat of war; so, in 1910 Rudolf and his father Henry Tittlemier decided to emigrate. Men were being drafted into the army, and trained for war, so it was time to leave. Leaving Russia and crossing into Austria was a very difficult and dangerous task. The unmarked border was well guarded by soldiers with guns. The only safe way to cross was the hire a “guide”; someone who, for money would take them across, bribing the guards. Rudolf and his father broke up before the crossing; it was safer to cross individually. He crossed in darkness at 11 p.m., and went to a house, where they were expected, in an Austrian village a few hundred yards from the border. Father could not be found. Rudolf spent the night in the granary with straw for a blanket. The time was October, and the weather was cold. The “guide” found father next morning, so the couple had a hearty breakfast at the house. Rudolf remembers the house owner’s wife saying that all food was plentiful in Austria except bread.
Money was paid to the Misler Agency, and the pair went by freight train to Bremen, Germany. Brazil was their choice of countries to emigrate to, but the passage was too expensive. Canada was the cheapest country to go to, so the baggage was loaded on a ship headed for Canada. Each immigrant was required to have $50.00 to be allowed to come to Canada. Rudolf and his father had only that much money between them, so father showed the officials his money, and then passed it back to Rudolf so that he could show the same $50.00, and be allowed to go. They landed in Quebec City, and took the CPR to Winnipeg, arriving on November 20th, 1910, at midnight. They went to the Austrian-German immigration agency, and told the officials of their relatives in the Steinbach area. The agent suggested that Steinbach was not such a good place to go to, and that working in the bush would be a better job. Rudolf went to the employment agency, and met a man working in a bakery, located at McKenzie Street and Stella Avenue. He got a job looking after the bakery’s horses, and cleaning the stables. Wages were $200.00 per year. Rudolf slept on top of the bakery ovens at night. After about two weeks, he became a helper, going on a delivery wagon to a new town called Transcona. Along what is now Regent Avenue, there was a dog catcher who kept quite a few dogs penned up. One day the dogs broke loose, and chased the horses, creating a big disturbance. Rudolf did not want to go back, so he went to the immigration office, and got a job as a lumber jack for $30.00 per month at Grandview, Manitoba. His equipment included a sharp axe and a cant hook. There were six men to a gang cutting the wood, plus one teamster to drive the horses. Later in that winter, Rudolf became a teamster for $40.00 per month.
He worked there all winter, and in spring came back to Winnipeg dressed in bush clothes and had over $100.00 in his pocket. He bought a completely new wardrobe from head to toe, and still had over $80.00 left. He then took a job with the CPR for 15 cent per hour, working on a “change gang”, doing odd jobs. After about three months, the wages were raised to l7½1 per hour, and Rudolf was working as a store man in a CPR steel warehouse.
CBC News: Consumer Life-Concerns raised about furnace company
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Wpg Jewish Center
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February 13th, 2010
A Brief Story about Jane Tait
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July 14, 1901 marks the date of Jane Tait’s birth at River Hills close to Seven Sisters. Her mother was a Canadian from Ontario and her father was an Englishman from England. Coming from the west, Mr. Tait immigrated to Canada when he was 18 years old. At a very young age he sought for work in the area and luckily found one as a foreman for the CPR and did some farm work too.
Jane’s parents built a log house, and they hunted for deer or moose for their food. They also gathered wild fruits such as berries as there were no fruit for sale in the market.
Then the depression came, which had a big effect on Canadian people. It was not easy but all of them struggled through it. In fact, Jane still remember how the hall burned down to the ground during those times.
Doctor Ross’s house was the first building in town. There was a small station located where the present CPR station is located. The store owner was Howard Corrigan whose building was called Fort Howard. To purchase the goods, people used a special type of coin. Many people worked at the brickyard. The employer was Dave Wardrop. There weren’t very many stores in those times so peddlers came around selling little trinkets.
Jane attended the school on Polka Street in Whitemouth, she studied until grade 5.
Seven Sisters power dam was under construction around 1928. For entertainment they sang songs or just visited with their neighbours. Jane Tait feels those were the ‘Good old days”. The people socialized more and there was no competition between the people. Everybody worked hard but people were poor and they were still happy.
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Walter Steiner
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Walter Steiner’s grandparents arrived to Canada because it was not easy to make money in Europe. They purchased a homestead where Walter Steiner resides today and cleared it. Mr. Steiner’s grandpa travelled to Saskatchewan to assist with the harvest to earn some extra money.
Mr. Steiner attended Oldenburg School where he finished grade 7. His father and mother engaged in building or threshing bees with the neighbours.
The Old Winnipeg City Hall
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It was called as the "gingerbread" building, built in Victorian grandeur, and symbolized Winnipeg's coming of age at the end of the 19th century.
The very first Winnipeg City Hall was constructed through the concert aid of the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1876. It was built at a cost of almost $40,000.
The plan for second City Hall appeared in the daily papers on June 16, 1883.However; the whole construction process was surrounded by lots of controversies. Nevertheless, the building was completed in 1886 and was considered a “Victorian fantasy”.
In 1913, the committee of Winnipeg’s City Planning Commission recommended that new civic centre should be made. So, a design contest for the next city hall was held. More that thirty entries were made and submitted. In the end, the first place was taken by the firm of Clemesha and Portnall of Regina. The design was Greek inspired and the structure was to be six stories in height.
The Young Sommerfeld Couple
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Saving Jewish heritage in Winnipeg
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The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre is coming to its 22nd season of preserving Jewish heritage in Winnipeg. The Jewish theatre exhibits premium professional artistic performances that mirror the past, present and future of the Jewish culture. Winnipeg Jewish Theatre supports and encourages the production of new Jewish inspired Canadian plays in collaboration with various Canadian playwrights, performers, and producing personnel. The goal of the theater is to promote a better understanding of Jewish culture in the community at large.
The Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, dancing towards success
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Portage Avenue, showing Eaton's Store and Somerset Block in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Eaton's was once Canada's largest department store retailer
Founded by Rachel Browne in 1904, the Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers is proudly the Canada’s oldest modern dance company. With her leadership and guidance, the group grew from local amateur dancers into known professional dance performers by 1971. They have established their reputation by presenting high quality dance under the scores of exceptional Canadian and world class choreographers. WCD’s broad range repertoire and established presence served an important role in teaching Canadian audiences about contemporary dance in developing market for fresh contemporary choreography.
The performing group has successfully accomplished their four city Canadian tour, receiving warm acceptance and interest as shown in their sold out performances across Canada.
This coming year as part of their 2009/10 season, the group’s Artistic Director Brent Lott prepared a new full length work, inspired by his interest in humanity’s attempt to make sense of our place and function in the universe, Between the Sycamore conjures a world that blurs the lines between sacred narrative and natural law. Join Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers for this bird’s-eye view in to a community of individuals organized by imagery drawn from Egyptian mythology and the lifecycle of the Scarab Beetle.
CBC News: Consumer Life-Concerns raised about furnace company
Personalities behind the Chamber of Commerce (1980-1985)
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Gerald Reimer
Gerald Reimer (1980)
Gerald Reimer (1980)
Gerald Reimer
At the age of 42, Gerald Reimer became the youngest Chamber president in its history up until then and one of the city’s biggest boosters.Reimer has said that Winnipeg is a great city, yet it is somewhat sad that the media in those days did their best to tear apart the city rather than build it up. The construction of the Bank of Montreal building (the tall building near Portage and Main) was announced when Reimer was president. It was very positive but the The Free Press headline was read as ‘Bank down on Manitoba.’ It was like a totally different event. He went to see the editors and suggested that if his neighbour’s house was burning and he rescued them, the paper would run a headline like: ‘Gerald Reimer breaks into neighbour’s house.’ They told him, oh no, they’d do much worse. They’d likely say: ‘Gerald Reimer rapes neighbour’. There’s been a big improvement in newspaper coverage since then.
As for other memories of his time in office, he fondly recalls being seated at a Chamber luncheon with two provincial premiers, Sterling Lyon and Alberta’s Peter Lougheed. It was an interesting day, he says.
Another event that stands out, but for opposite reasons, was a fire that destroyed The Chamber Club. He was on vacation in Bermuda that time.
Jack Hignell (1981)
Jack Hignell
Jack Hignell will always remember a trip to Japan, at the invitation of the Japanese government, and the insight he gained into how they do business. The Japanese were clearly less confrontational when it came to labour/management relations — yes, there were strikes, but workers would be back on the job within an hour or two. During his term, Hignell would face a prolonged postal strike. They went into competition with them (Canada Post). They had their own postal service between chambers. They’d collect mail (from our members) and send it by courier. They’d sort it and then phone to let members know it had arrived.
“By the end of the strike, they (strikers) were as sick of it as we were,” he laughs.
It was also during his presidency that The Chamber moved into the Grain Exchange Building.
“We were on the lower level of what had been the trading floor,” he says, adding although it was never publicized, there was a suspicion that the fire the year before had been arson— occurring at night and gutting the place.
Plaque to be unveiled for the adventure of a lifetime
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A ceremony is planned for August 17 to unveil a plaque honoring the Starkells for their incredible “paddle to the Amazon.” The ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the East Kildoman Lions Club Senior Citizen’s Park, located on Kildonan Drive at Bronx Place – the park from which Don, Dana, and Jeff Starkell launched their six meter canoe The Orellana, June 1, 1980 and journeyed almost 20,000 kilometers to the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil.
The two-year odyssey (Jeff returned to Canada after the pounding seas of the Gulf of Mexico nearly killed them all) was fraught with surprises, many of hem life-threatening. Their adventures, chronicled in the book Paddle to the Amazon, earned them a place in the 1986 Guinness Book of World Records for the longest journey by canoe.
The plaque is being installed in the park by the East Kildonan-Transcona committee, with funding coming from a per ca-pita grant.
Storageville – Winnipeg Public Storage