Editor:
In the 1940s, my father was a CPR railroader.
As he was very young and had very little seniority, he was bumped several times back and forth between Grand Forks and Nelson.
His first bump was from Nelson to Grand Forks around 1944. As housing was in short supply and we had to move on short notice, the only accommodation my parents could find was a room in the Grand Forks Hotel Annex – upstairs in what is now Kocomo’s Coffee House.
My mother would feed my younger brother and I cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch in our room.
She would then dress brother Jack and I up each evening and take us over to the hotel for supper.
The tables were covered with white linen tablecloths and there were large picture windows looking out on a beautiful garden, where the parking lot is now – there weren’t enough cars in those days to warrant a parking lot.
In the centre of each table was a tray containing salt and pepper shakers, soda crackers and hot mustard. Soup was served with every meal, hence the crackers but the mustard?
We only ate there for a short time until we found permanent housing; however, while we were there, a crew of construction workers was also at the hotel, eating in the dining room at the same time.
As with any two-and-four-year-olds, my brother and I couldn’t wait for our soup to hit the table so we could start on the crackers.
The construction crew got a kick out of loading the crackers with hot mustard and feeding them to us and we gobbled them up as fast as they could feed them to us, to the amusement of the entire dining room.
We learned at an early age to enjoy spicy food and we still do today.
Those were great days at the Grand Forks Hotel.
Bob McTavish, Grand Forks
