My Selkirk

I grew up in Selkirk, Manitoba, population 10,000 or so. Not sure. Depends how much of the surrounding area you count. It is a the usual Prairie combination of sweet quaintness and bleak sameness that are all small towns.

Here follows a long photo essay of my home town.

There are a lot of photos. You might get bored. 

MY SELKIRK

Dark Shadows. Dirty Car.

Strippers and beer

Classy like steak house now. Used to be the place for underaged teens to get beer. Not me, though, mom.

Fancy now. Used to be old school drive in with the trays that hung on the car window.

Thrivingest business in town.

Used to be Balcan's house. Not it's a bank or something.

the house I lived in from birth til 8 years. The upper window was my bedroom window.  Many Barbie and GI Joe corpses beneath it.

the parking lot across from my first home. I got lost in the parking lot when I was 3 - couldn't see over the cars. I'm still recovering.

maybe you had your high school graduation on this boat?

photo credit: bigthings.ca

Rexall, but originally it was The Met store. Karen and I would sit on the steps waiting for Ron Gigolyk to drive by in his Gremlin. And then after he did, we'd go to the Riverboat for french fries. 

Apparently there were hockey games here. And the beginnings and endings of many a Junior High romance. Not mine.

Socials were held here to raise money for teenaged brides. Rye bread, cheese and kolbasa.

Curling club. For Selkirk's Scottish community who liked to drink in places where it was cold and people screamed at brooms.

When I was taking this picture I heard this little voice "hello.... hello...". There was an old guy in a wheel chair stuck down the ramp below the wall in this photo. If I hadn't heard him he'd have been there all night! Poor chap. 

Lutheran Church. For the Germans.

My high school. God in upper left hand corner waiting to smite those who were mean to me.

Where fancy Selkirk Ladies buy their clothes

Now a respectable art gallery. It was mostly unused when I was growing up.

Where to go for things made of plastic, Garfield figurines and toxic toys.

Strippers and Beer

Site of Hooker's Lumber Supply.

Will someone just tell Peter Gabriel already?

Merchant's Hotel. I am not allowed inside.

Closed now. Riverside Grill used in movies - super old school.

Mural commemorating Selkirk's annual Cotton Candy harvest and Acid Trip Festival

If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand.

Fire Hall

Mclean Ave

used to be Souter's house. Currently being decorated for a movie set thingie.

Selkirk can do better.

This one's for Kevin Patterson. Victory comes with a price. At least when it comes to Banana Split Eating contests...

my mom is, like, totally into this place.

Site of the Esso station where the Robert Smith patrols stored their flags. There was  gas there and a garage of some sort as well.

Used to be where my dentist, Irving Olofson had his office. Two doors down (far left) was a candy shop.

Grades 1 and 2. 

I never went here, but Sherene Sololoski did. And she was pretty popular.

Have to include Chuck the Channel Cat.

Road to Nowhere

My mom says she gets all my Xmas gifts here.

Who doesn't love Sears?

Place of fries and cola.

Site of my first/best job.

Pump house

The horror... the horror.

Robert Smith School. It used to be brightly coloured. 

Fancy church

More wedding receptions and socials for teenaged brides.

Power

Centennial School. I didn't go here for school, but I went to Brownies here for a little bit.

Kara's house.

no idea who lives there, but my mom really likes the tree, so it gets in the blog.

Nancy's house.

Playground. Ish.

Mom and Dad's first house.

what one feeds hoards of teenaged bride's guests.

United Church. Even Satan is welcome there. As long as he makes a donation to the Building Fund.

Melinda's house. So many languid summer days in that porch