For many years our company barbecue/barn dances, birthdays or any excuse parties would be held at my acreage at Pigeon lake, which had been part of my family's farm. It was a perfect location for these events along with the evening barn dance. There was enough space to park trailers, set up tents, and the barn was readied for the evening dance. The water tank in the pumphouse, once used to keep the cream cans cold was now the beer cooler. We would fill plastic ice cream pails with water, freeze and drop into the tank to keep our "refreshments" cold. There were horseshoe pits, badminton net, lawn darts and a few golf courses nearby for family activities during the day. We were just across the road from the lake so if kids wanted to go swimming they could there was also a boat launch for those who brought along their boats.
After the BBQ and refreshments we'd move into the barn for music and dancing. If a live band or a musician or two could be rustled up then we'd have live music, otherwise it was taped and no one seemed concerned about how the music was played. Often these evenings lasted well into the night occasionally followed by a big breakfast the following morning which was cooked outdoors on an open fire, Breakfast was always much quieter than the BBQ the night before.
These were Noble days so whoever was home on crew change or in the country visiting family and friends would join in. Charlie and Dorothy Wills almost always managed to make it when they were home from UK visiting family. Gene House liked the area so much that after he retired, he bought property fairly close by, where he and Simone build a beautiful log home. When I retired I moved the old house off of the property and had a new home built, making that my permanent residence and Gene and Simone my fairly near neighbors. In rural areas anyone within 1 hour is your neighbor!!. Kevin and Delores Roche were touring across Canada with their family and stopped by so we had another great reason to have a BBQ and barn dance.
The Personnel/Safety group from Nisku held a golf tournament at one of the courses at Pigeon Lake, following the tournament the barbecue was held at the lake. Along with thr HR/Safety group there was also a few volunteers to help get things set up and get the pumpjack started so we could fill the tank with water. A few of the volunteers that I remember at this moment were Ernie Leonhardt and Lyle and June McKain.
During the evening festivities and after a few cocktails, something with a very large wingspan was seen flying out of the huge nest that had been built in the rafters in the machine shed,. It was suggested by either Pat McIlvride or Lyle McKain or both, that it was probably a Pterodactyl and must be investigated, Ernie backed the old tractor out of the shop and Pat climbed into the bucket, waiting for Ernie to raise it so she could check the nest. Unfortunately the lift on the tractor wasn't up to the job that night so the bucket was dropped as was the investigation. Amazing after a couple of refreshments what we can create for entertainment!
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