About 30 people attended a reunion and celebration of the 100th anniversary of the arrival of a group of orphans and disadvantaged children in Olds. The event was held July 8, at the Cadet Hall.
About 30 people attended a reunion and celebration of the 100th anniversary of the arrival of a group of orphans and disadvantaged children in Olds.
The event was held July 8, at the Cadet Hall.
Attendees included people who, as children, were sent to live at the Wood's Christian Home or are descendants of those children.
Initially, Rev. George Wood established the Innisfail Orphan Home in January 2016. However, the group of orphaned and/or disadvantaged children kept growing. More space was needed. So in the summer of 1917, he moved the group to Olds in order to find a larger home and create a farm.
The Wood's Children's Home existed for nine years. Wood even became mayor of Olds.
Unfortunately, his back was broken by a runaway team of horses. As a result, the home was moved to Bowness. The institution still exists today in Calgary, now known as Wood's Homes.
One of those attending the reunion was Don Gibson, 89, who spent the first few years of his life in Olds. He now lives in Wetaskiwin.
His parents and grandparents lived here and knew Rev. Wood and his wife, who was affectionately known by the children as "mother Wood." Rev. Wood was the minister at the Presbyterian church.
Gibson's mother died just after he was born.
Gibson, his brother and two sisters remained in Olds with their dad until 1934 when a fire destroyed the John Deere dealership facility. Gibson's dad was a John Deere agent.
"We went to Wood's Home in 1934," Gibson said. "Dad had no money."
"Mother Woods was very much alive at that time; she was the matron and she helped patch me up. One day I got a bee sting," Gibson said. "That's the closest (she came to hugging me). We never got hugs of course; like nurses you weren't supposed to get too personal."
The reunion was very emotional for Gibson.
"I'm really overwhelmed," he said.
Another person attending the reunion was Alina Miller, who lives near Sacramento, Calif.
Her grandmother, Thelma Middleton, was a resident of Wood's Christian Home.
She was presented with a photo of a group of children, including her grandmother.
Former home resident Frank Dwyer helped organize the reunion.
He gave a presentation on the history of the home and announced that he and a couple of colleagues have corrected some facts in that history, including the whereabouts of descendants of the first boy to live in the home and details of how and where Wood's first wife died in a fire in Saskatchewan.
Dwyer expressed hope further reunions will be held, but said he and his colleagues will likely not be involved in organizing them. They're stepping away from that.
