| Day 33 - Wednesday, September 21 - Manitoba | << Index |
| Anticipated: Play golf at Glenboro Golf Course in Glenboro, Manitoba. |
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| Click on the photos below to enlarge | ||
 Jim with sports newscaster Dan Omand and cameraman Chris Brinkworth from station CKX out of Brandon, Manitoba |
 (Top) Presentation to Jim and Pat from Irma Wood (golf club manager) and Sandra Hamilton (secretary of the club). (Bottom) Greetings and presentation from Pam Barrows (golf shop staff), and Linda Rankmore (Treasurer of club). Pat is holding a beautiful golf tote bag made by Linda. |
 Scenes from golf course, and (lower right) Pat with Harvey Hamilton, Long-time club member. Harvey loaned us his golf cart for the day. |
 (top) Pat and Jim with cousins Bob and Olivia Jewsbury and Donna Knight. (Lower) Maria Berry, reporter from the Glenboro Gazette |
 (left) Jim at the grave of his great grandfather James Healey and great granduncle Norman Healey in Glenboro cemetery. (right) Jim at the grave of his grandparents, John and Mary Healey in Brookside Cemetery in Winnipeg. |
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Today, Wednesday, September 21, 20005, was one of the highlight days of our golf odyssey. We returned to the hometown of Jim’s dad, Russell Healey. Russell was orphaned in 1902 in Winnepeg and was sent to Glenboro to live with his Aunt Em and Uncle Hank on their farm from 1902 to 1910 (age 6-14). Glenboro is today a small farm community of 600 people right on the prairie of Manitoba (flat as a pancake, you can see for miles). We had been to Glenboro before for Leader/Healey family reunions (Leader was Aunt Em’s married name), but this was different. The relatives and townspeople and especially those at Glenboro Golf and Country Club were pleased that we chose their golf course for the Manitoba golf club of our sojourn. We had already been written up in several Manitoba newspapers, so our reputation as “golf nuts” had preceded us.
We stayed at the home of my cousin Donna Knight (Emma Healey Leader’s granddaughter) at the same farmhouse where my dad lived for 8 years. After breakfast at Donna’s we drove to the golf course, arriving at 10:00AM for our 10:30 AM tee time. The reception at the golf course was unbelievable. The local press was there from the Glenboro Gazette (Maria Berry), plus several officers, club staff and many club members. We were presented with several gifts and numerous pictures were taken. Eventually we teed off a little after 10:30 AM as a threesome of Jim, Pat and Bob Jewsbury (Bob is Jim’s cousin by marriage to Olivia Clisby Jewsbury, a great-granddaughter of Emma and Hank). On the second hole, the sports reporter (Dan Ormand) and cameraman (Chris Brinkworth) from CKX television (Brandon) were waiting for us. We were both interviewed and then video taped during our play of the next four holes, and it was aired on the sports portion of the 6:00PM CKX news. Dan and Chris did an excellent presentation (considering their subjects!), and we wish to thank them for their time and courtesy.
After the first nine holes we stopped for a fine lunch at the club and met several other people. More pictures were taken and then we teed off for our second nine at 1:30 PM. We again played with Bob and had the added pleasure of being joined by Harvey Hamilton, a long time member of the club. We want to thank both Bob and Harv for playing with us, and also to Harv for the use of his golf cart for the full 18-holes.
Glenboro is a beautiful 9-hole golf course and is rated as one of the top 9-hole golf courses in Manitoba. In spite of what one would think, the course is not flat. It is set in close proximity to the Assiniboine River Valley, which makes it very “hilly”. There never seemed to be a level lie. The greens are very nice, but care had to be taken to read the subtle (and extreme) breaks before putting. The whole course was well watered and in our opinion in great shape. The course was originally built in the mid 1920s and had sand greens until 1972 at which time the present day well manicured greens were constructed.
One of the highlights was our performance on the 9th green just before our lunch break. There were about 25 people on the veranda of the clubhouse watching as we were putting out. Believe it or not, Jim made a 40-foot putt all the way across the green; then Pat putted and made a15 footer; and then Bob, with all the pressure of his fellow townsfolk watching, made an 8-footer! Unbelievable that we should all make those putts—we hadn’t made anything up to that time. And to top it off, every time we made our putts, those watching gave us a loud clapping ovation! Jim shot 90 (yardage = 6040) and Pat shot 109 (yardage = 5694).
After golf we said our goodbyes and returned to Donna’s home for one of her delicious suppers. We were joined by Fred Jackson, a friend of Donna’s who had supplied many of the fresh vegetables for the dinner. At 6:15PM we watched CKX, and to reiterate, the presentation was very well done. Another second cousin, Sherman Leader came later in the evening and we had a good visit with him.
It’s impossible to thank all those who made our day so pleasant, but we certainly wish to thank Donna, Olivia and Bob, Sherman, and Harvey, plus all those associated with the golf course and Glenboro. At the risk of leaving some out, our thanks for their hospitality to Linda Rankmore, Pam Barrows, Irma Wood, Sandra Hamilton, Maria Berry and Ryan Diehl (club president). Today was a day that we’ll never forget. We only wish that Jim’s dad had been here for our sentimental journey.