Yellow Grass seniors trade memories of Canada's hottest day
Last Updated: Thursday, July 5, 2007 | 4:07 PM CT
CBC News
It was mighty hot in Yellow Grass on Thursday, but it was nothing like the brutal scorcher of a day that put the small Saskatchewan town in the record books 70 years ago.
On July 5, 1937, the mercury hit 45 C — that 114 on the Fahrenheit scale that was used back then.
Shirley Lund, who was playing baseball in nearby Lang on July 5, 1937, stands in front of the Yellow Grass sign commemorating Canada's hottest day.
(CNC)
That was a national heat record — matched the same day at Midale, 80 kilometres away — that remains unbroken seven decades later.
Some folks in Yellow Grass, a town of 580 located about 90 kilometres southeast of Regina, told CBC this week they can remember exactly what they were doing on that day.
"I definitely remember it," said Bing Jaster, 88. "I was working in a garage. It was awful hot. … I got a pretty good sweat up."
Fred Malley, 89, recalled he and his brother were in the fields with horse-drawn farm equipment on that July day.
"We never had beer, we never went swimming," Malley said. "If we had ice cream, we had to make it."
Unfortunately, he said, there was no ice available for that.
Shirley Lund, who was 15 that summer, said the heat didn't stop her and her chums from playing baseball in nearby Lang on July 5, 70 years ago.
There was no shade on the field, so everyone made trips to the water pail to stay cool, she said.
"We all shared the dipper," she said, adding that quitting the game wasn't considered.
"We were so engrossed in this darn ball game … I don't know whether we won, lost or tied."
It was in the high 20s C in Yellow Grass on Thursday.
Lund and Malley said they planned on passing some of this summer's remaining hot days playing cards at the town's seniors drop-in centre.
It's got air conditioning.
