by Nikki Eroshinsky Coles
”We work in Calgary, but we live in Sylvan Lake.”
Like most people in Alberta, I have always looked forward to spring. My birthday is in May, summer is usually on its way, and I loved spending time at my favourite place in the world, Sylvan Lake.
My family spent 5 years or so renting a cabin behind the Antler Lodge on Main Street, and in 1957 they bought a lot on 50th and started to build a cabin close to what was then the ice house. We had a small trailer on the site, carried water over from the neighbour’s well and used an outhouse in the back. I also think we bathed in the lake as I seem to recall my mother having a bar of soap in her beach bag.
In 1961, my parents, Nick and Ethel Eroshinsky, bought Guy and Vi Stanfield’s lot where the Subway is now located. The lot was different then: a few large trees, a small hamburger stand, a little bungalow in behind with a bay window overlooking the street, a single garage and a small shed bordering the Revelstoke Lumber Yard at the back. With this purchase began the best 10 summers of my life!
The lakeshore strip (all two blocks of it) was different then. Starting at the Varsity Hall (now Raccoon Lodge) and moving west, was the gas station (now Big Moo), the Sandcastle (now Chef Francisco’s Pub & Grill), the Red Onion (now Bravo Gastro Pub), the Centre (still standing!), Nix Drive Inn (now Subway), Smith’s Ice Cream stand (now Chief ’s Pub & Eatery) a small storefront (now Pete’s at the Beach) and another garage lined Lakeshore Drive. The lot on the west side of the street seemed to belong to the hotel, but the Tourist Information booth, parking lot and grassy park were also on that property and surrounded by a hedge. At the west end was Sylvan Lake Hotel, which also housed the bar and a restaurant. From peashooters pointed through the hedge at tourist’s feet to giggling at the wobbly teenagers, there were lots of ways to pass the time.
The strip was an interesting place as only the hotel served beer. The legal age was 21 and the closest I came to getting in there was to sit on the steps with my friends and a bottle of pop while my folks had a quick beverage.
Varsity Hall was a different story — so many interesting things took place in there! Dances that catered to the 16-25 age group featured many popular acts (remember Bobby Curtola, the Shades of Blond and the 49th Parallel?). They had a terrific house band that played Friday and Saturday nights. On long weekends, there was usually a Sunday afternoon dance contest for the kids, a Sunday evening concert for families featuring all sorts of amateur talent and a Midnight Frolic from 12:05-2:00 am.
The beach was different then. The sea wall was not there, just some flat turf under huge trees leading down to the large and sandy shore. There was lots of sand, a push merry-go-round and a giant slide between the wooden federal piers. There were always great swings on the beach, and I recall the town putting up really big ones to everyone’s delight.
The boathouse rented out surf boards and canoes. There was a gazebo at the base of the piers, which provided a space for entertainment and protection from the rain. Further along the shore were the trampolines (once Smugglers), some cabins (now Chateau Suites) and a further stretch of beach which became the marina.
The town and the businesses also sponsored a regatta every year with swimming, boating, and water skiing competitions and main street had a carnival and small midway.
We would come to Sylvan a week or two before the May long weekend to open the stand, clean it out, get the gas turned on, the freezers running and stock up on supplies. We would often open that weekend before just to make sure we were ready to go for the summer. Those weekends were sort of magical as well because each weekend we drove up from Calgary the trees and grass turned greener and greener.
The May long weekend was always the kick off! Imagine the excitement of the year’s first dances, getting in touch with friends and just strolling up and down the street and the beach.
Those weekends really rocked, but during the summer weekdays we lived quite pleasantly — jumping from the pier, swimming out to the rafts moored at the drop off, riding our bikes, roller skating at the curling club, eating fries, reading books from the library or sitting in the cool shade of the lovely trees.
There were many interesting stores downtown: Cobb’s Grocery Store, Sylvan Lake Jewelers, Lane’s Clothing, Ritz’s Drugs, Old Dutch Bakery, the movie theater, a billiards hall, the grain elevators. Busy businesses for what was then a busy little downtown. And I will never forget wonderful neighbours on the strip and working at our hamburger stand.
I very much grew up on those few blocks of fun. But as always, people and times change. A provincial government desperate for votes lowered the drinking age to 18 giving rise to many of Sylvan’s current bars and restaurants. Our lakefront, always a place to meet people, drifted from being a family place to being a party place.
At the time, I was pretty happy about that, but looking back maybe not so much. Sylvan became a very cosmopolitan little place in a very short time. We had a small riot on Lakeshore Drive one night after the dance and bar had let out and my Mom and I watched the fire department hose down the miscreants from the comfort of our living room. It was all quite a scandal!
By the time my parents closed and sold the stand, my life had moved on as well. I didn’t spend a lot of time here until the ‘80s when I starting to bring my boys up to my mother’s cabin. What lovely days they were — the seawall had been long built and there were steps and sand and swings and a shore right at the end of our street. After supper we would often take the kids for ice cream, starting and stopping at a playground with interesting equipment and tall swings, large restrooms and two or three camp kitchens.
The old growth forest was a great place for the kids to play and the huge trees provided all with shade and protection. A walk along the shale path and an unblocked view of the lake was always a sunset treat.
There are many things that we did growing up that would now seem quite ill advised if not downright illegal. Riding bikes with no hands and no helmets, hiding beer in the bushes on the beach, dancing with strangers, selling fries from our stand window and rocking at block parties among them.
I try to stay active in town events and I try to be positive about the future and the many incomprehensible changes in town as I still intend to be here for a long time to come. But on this 100th birthday of the Town of Sylvan Lake, it is a great treat to think about and perhaps long for those wonderful days past.