We actually have a "snow cover" now. A few more centimeters of snow fell during the past week. Strong winds blew it into small drifts. Colder weather has lasted about a week with higher temperatures during the past weekend. It is a significant change from what we experienced the first part of January.
This week we received the news Eileen Lamont of Salmon Arm, B.C. passed away in hospital in Salmon Arm on the morning of Jan. 18.
Eileen was born on March 10, 1926, the sixth child of Everard and Winifred Pike of Forest Bank. She received her education at Forest Bank School and spent some time as a switch board operator at the Waseca telephone office. In later years, when there was a teacher shortage, she was a successful study supervisor at Garvoch and Marie Hill schools.
Eileen was a talented person, so had many interests: music, painting and her love of animals, particularly horses and cattle. She also had a green thumb and gardened throughout her life.
Eileen married Bill Lamont in 1945 and after a brief time living in Brantford, Ont., where Bill was stationed with the forces, the moved to the Maidstone area. They farmed in the Big Gully area where they began raising livestock, both horses and cattle. Eileen was involved in all aspects of their life when it came to raising cattle, raising and training horses, showing horses at such places as Lloydminster, North Battleford and Prince Albert and Camrose, Red Deer, Wetaskiwin and Edmonton, Alta. Many first place ribbons and trophies were won. They were dedicated to breed improvement.
In 1959, Eileen bought a spotted cow from their friend, Mary Lindsay of Greenstreet. With encouragement from Mary, Eileen and Bill developed the Speckle Park breed of cattle that is now well known in parts of Canada and some countries overseas.
In 1986, Eileen and Bill moved to Salmon Arm where Eileen spent more time indulging in some of her favourite interests, mostly gardening and painting. She was awarded countless trophies for her wonderful flowers and her paintings, many of which she sold.
Eileen and Bill spent the last few years living in Salmon Arm.
Eileen will be remembered by her many relatives and friends and her husband, Bill, as a person who lived life to the fullest, explored her many talents and worked for what she believed in.
A burial service will be held at a later date.
Christine Pike and her sister, Maureen Bexson, spent the past weekend in Camrose, Alta., where they had a booth at the Camrose Bull Show and Sale. Their booth featured the history of the Speckle Park cattle breed honouring the work of Mary Lindsay and Bill and Eileen Lamont in developing the breed.
Gully Gus says, "People can be divided into three groups: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened."
