Mar 2nd, 2006
The Big Trip
by Julene Coady
One of the fondest memories and stories I have of my Mom and Dad [Edith Macdonald and Bernie Coady] is their Big Trip.
In 1972 Ford Motors of Canada ad a contest; the prize was a trip Chicago, to see the Black Hawks play. Bobby Hull was playing for the Hawks then, so were Phil Esposito and Doug Jarrett. 250 contest winners would be chosen.
Who would ever have guessed my parents would be one of I believe it was 250 people in Canada that would win?
Now Momma had two sisters living in the States that she had not seen for 25 years. Greet lived in Detroit and Billie lived in Boston. Somehow or the other contact was made and a reunion was set up. My mom did not know a thing about it.
She would tell the story of how she was standing in line at customs, and the lady behind her said, “Oh my stars, there are some people over there who have not seen someone for a long time. Look at them smiling and waving.”
Momma looked and said to the lady, “Oh my God, they are my sisters! I haven’t seen them in 25 years.�
The woman said “Why are you standing here? Go see them.�
The trip was fantastic; Momma got to visit with her sisters and their husbands. (Uncle Hughie really liked the round bed.) They got to see great hockey, and if I am not mistaken, Hughie and Greet and Billie and Scottie all got to take part in some of the events.
Bobby Hull told my mother that he thought she was probably more famous than he was that weekend.
The weekend produced many pictures and stories that Mom and Dad brought back from Chicago. We actually saw pictures in “real time� of what Greet and Hughie and Billie and Scottie looked like. Prior to that week end we only had pictures in black and white. Everyone was etched forever in our minds as 20-year-olds.
In 1990, I was living in Regina for the first time. It was just after Momma had passed away. [My son] Coady was in elementary school.
Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were in the city doing an oldtimers game. They were on the radio and were taking calls from fans. I called the radio station and told this story to Bobby Hull, and thanked him because that was one of the highlights of Momma and Dad’s life.
Later that afternoon after standing in line at a shopping center for four hours with Coady, Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe autographed a hockey stick for Coady.
I told Bobby Hull who I was and that I had spoken to him in the morning. He told me he remembered that particular promotion from Ford, and although he could not remember all the names of the people, he remembered the reunion of the sisters.
Bernie Coady: Julene’s father
Edith Macdonald: Julene’s mother
Greet Macdonald, Billie Macdonald: Edith’s sisters
Hughie Ferguson: Greet’s husband
Scottie MacLellan: Billie’s husband