Remembering our past – -George & Alice Booth
John Godsman
Times Contributor
In 1918, George’s father emigrated from England to Verdun, Manitoba. It was there that they purchased land from Soldier’s Settlement. George was born in 1939, and went to school in Manitoba. Alice’s grandfather George Rouse came to Canada by ship from England in 1899, and settled in Bradwardina, Manitoba where Alice was born at the home farm. She says no one went to hospital in those days for childbirth. Her grandfather was well known in the Manchester area of England, as a cabinet and coffin maker. George and Alice met on a blind date, arranged by her cousin. They were married in 1961, and moved to Calgary in 1966. As you can, see they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2011.
At this time, the pipeline business was just starting, and George got a job with Hunset Pipeline in Verdun. In 1966, the pipeline business was starting in Alberta, so George transferred here, and continued to work for Hunset. In the late 1960’s both George and Alice learned to fly, and started Booth Construction Ltd in 1969. George went on to obtain a Commercial Pilot’s Licence. This permitted them to fly to any location where their employees were working. Their construction company used heavy duty earth moving equipment, for developers, municipalities, farming and ranching. A major project was the extension of the long runway at Calgary International Airport, Runway 16/34, and construction of Hwy 1 to Banff, along with many other highways.
In 1979, they purchased the old Beck Farm, located between Cluny and Chancellor, just south of Hwy 561. Their original intention was to move their business from Calgary to the farm, but no one had ever heard of running a home-based business at that time. So, they had to keep an office open in Calgary. Their farm land included about 50 years worth of old farm equipment, a very old barn and an 1800’s homestead house. When the CPR was selling farmland in the mid-1800’s, to prospective immigrants from Denmark, France and Germany, every quarter section included a house and barn. After moving George and Alice built their house, upgraded the barn and shop, built a runway as well as three hangars to provide shelter for their planes. In the late 1990’s they tried their hands at gold mining in the Cariboo, before taking up full residence at their farm. Booth Construction Ltd was sold in 2004, just before George had his stroke in 2006, which ended their travelling days.
Looking back over their aviation life, few people realize George and Alice were founding members of “Country Club of The Air” in Airdrie. This included introducing students of Airdrie Elementary & Junior High Schools to flying.
They also initiated a course to teach the wives of pilots how to take over control of the aircraft, should their spouse suffer a heart attack or other medical condition. They introduced discussion and training sessions with controllers from Calgary International Airport, which alleviated problems between Air Traffic Control and mainly light aircraft pilots. Other achievements of this club includes hosting the 1973 Great Belvedere Air Dash over a distance of 6,200 miles from Fort Langley, B.C. to Halifax, N.S. and arranging for the participation of 21 Canadian Light aircraft in the Opening Ceremonies of the 1974 World Fair in Spokane, WA.
After George’s stroke, Alice ran for councillor for Wheatland County, and she became a councillor in 2007. She is now on her second term in office. She also serves on the Gleichen Fair Board and is current president of the Gleichen Community Association.
When I enquired what changes they had seen in this area over the past 33 years, they both replied simultaneously that the small family farms are being taken over by large conglomerates, and wind farms are appearing everywhere.