Keyhole came back
by Lois Perepelitz

Keyhole came back.
But just for a visit, in March of 1952.
At that time he was living in Slocan City, B.C. and working as a cook on a lake boat.
Yes, I said a cook. Does that surprise you as much as it does me? When he was here he lived in the Royal Crown Hotel, and I doubt that he was able to do any cooking in his room, so where he had the chance to learn how to cook is beyond me.
It does sound like a pretty good life though; floating around on a lake all summer. I was just surprised that he didn’t let people know through his column that he was planning on staying in B. C.
This week I am going to write some more about the “Cor-Teen Club” because I think Keyhole had good reason to be proud of the youngsters.
The teens had been wanting a club of their own for a long time and finally in the spring of 1949 they got together and with the help of Constable Tommy Band RCMP, Don Sharkey, Stan Stevenson and other parents they formed the “Cor-Teen Club”.
They did it up right too by electing officers (Eddie Towns being the first president) and charging a membership fee of 50¢ to join and 25¢ a month.
It was open to boys and girls from the ages of 12 to 19 and they started off with about 40 members.
What impressed me about them is that they seemed to know that you can’t have the fun unless you do the work, and they were willing to do the work.
I found these two articles in The Review that seems to prove that.

April 14, 1949
“Cor-Teens Putting Tennis Court In shape
“The Cor-Teen club has cultivated, harrowed and packed the old tennis court site and now is busy hauling the cinders and shale.
“Mr. A. Glasier kindly lent a truck for hauling the cinders.”

I was glad to see that they had the support of the parents in the community. The teens would also show that they were developing a keen sense of business, as this article shows:

September 29, 1949
“Cor-Teen Corner
(by Sylvia Jensen)
“The Cor-Teens had a special meeting on Tuesday to set prices for the Baby-sitting Bureau.
“The meeting opened with “God Save The King” then the president, Doug McColl brought up the question of a special rate for shows.
“It was passed that there would be a rate of 50¢ for a three hour show but the employer would have to pay the regular rate if they were over three hours.”

They would use this money for things like picnics, wiener roasts, skating parties and dances.
I think the most important thing about a club like this is what it would do for the self confidence of the young people.
I hope these members look back on this time of their lives with the pride that it deserves.

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