The Chilliwack Progress Wednesday, February 10, 2016
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Community
Remembering the Strecker ‘Stump Farm’ A welcome new addition to Chilliwack’s walking system is about to open. This takes you from Keith Wilson Road (between the big ASU building and the blue house at 44884), down past the city well and through the River’s Edge Development, connecting to the Rotary trail by the Vedder River. This land was once the Strecker family farm. Special to The Progress As you wander down the trail connecting Keith Wilson Road to the Vedder River, you will notice several signs of the original farmers of this land, The fruit trees in front of the ASU building, the “crooked tree,” the tall fir, and the remainder of the forested area, are all reminders of Frank and Elsa Strecker, whose family turned 28 acres of bush and stumps into a working farm. Frank and Elsa were married in Chemnitz, Germany in 1909. As rumours of war grew, the family decided to emigrate, choosing Canada over South America. Frank came first, in June 1912, and used the skills he had learned working on a tunnel under the Rhine to get work in the mines in Joggens, N.S. When he had earned enough money, a pregnant Elsa and toddler Martha joined him. But with such prices at the company store, Frank realized that he needed to head off for a better life. As he moved, the ever-enlarging
family followed him, first to Canmore and then to Rosedale, in the Drumheller Valley. Frank, always known for his ingenuity, used clay from the river to make 30,000 bricks and built the only two-story house in the town. However, working as a coal miner, Frank developed silicosis and needed clean air for his lungs. He came to Chilliwack in 1938 and bought 28 acres of land for $800. The farm went all the way from Keith Wilson Road to the Vedder River, getting a little smaller one year when the river changed course. For the next two years, Frank spent winters back in the mines, then summers in Chilliwack clearing the land with son Bill. In 1940, Frank, Elsa, and the two youngest children moved to Vedder Crossing. The land had previously been logged, but all the stumps remained. Clearing a stump farm meant digging out huge roots with the help of Jack the horse. Young Frank Jr. and Margaret were responsible for the dangerous task of moving the peg in the chain
Marge (Nowell) Kern with milk cans on the farm.
the horses used to pull out the stumps. Gradually the farm took shape. A small house was built and added onto. Eventually there was a barn, two chicken coops, a toolshed/blacksmith shop, and a brooder house, complete with a rounded brick oven to keep the chicks warm. Many, many fruit trees and a large vegetable garden were planted. The family relied on a herd of five cows and about 1,000 chickens for income. Frank was an early adopter of ecological farming practices. To keep the water table pure, no bulldozers
were permitted to mix up the gravel and soil. Everything was done by hand. Frank used vine maples woven through barbed wire for fencing. The bedding for the chicken coops was sawdust from the old Collinson Sawmill on the corner of Peach Road and Keith Wilson. Frank and Elsa were, like so many settlers, known for the way they helped their neighbours. During one winter snowstorm, Frank and Frank Jr. rescued Duncan Dundas, a First World War veteran. They tied themselves together with rope to walk to the Dundas house, where
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Frank Jr. married, an acre of land was given to him. This has now been developed into Vedder River Estates. When Margaret married John Nowell in 1947, she was also given an acre of land, where John built the house still standing at 44884. Frank died quite young, in 1951, and Elsa rented the farm to the Westberg family and lived with Margaret and John until her death in 1971. The farm was eventually sold to the Gregory family, who pushed a road through and created a mink ranch closer to the river. The farm was eventually
sold to the Department of National Defense. The memory of the Strecker farm is still strong for the Nowell family. Marge (Nowell) Kern and her husband Bob still live on the remaining 1.5 acres. Marge remembers fishing for bullheads from the log jam and harvesting the hay in the big wagon. Frank and Elsa’s great-greatgrandchildren still climb the crooked tree, and still pick the blackberries growing on the back fence. The few stumps that were left have mostly rotted out, but the memories still remain.
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Mr. Dundas had only some newspapers to burn for heat. He stayed with the Streckers until the weather got warmer. In the winter of 1949-50, a snowstorm prevented the milk trucks from making their rounds for a week. All available pails, pots and pans were full of milk waiting to be shipped. At that time, Camp Chilliwack was running short of food. Suddenly there were cases of food parachuted onto the camp and the farm, soon collected by the soldiers. Frank and Else were greatly helped by their children, and when
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A 1946 photo showing one of the many stumps that needed clearing on the farm.
The Strecker Farm, with woven vine maples as a fence, as viewed from Keith Wilson Road.
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