By Garth Stouffer, April 10, 1970.
Sun Associate Editor
Frigid Manitoba weather blew Michael Kaiser of Wheeling, West Virginia,
back to the southland on Wednesday of last week. But before he left, it
was discovered that there are two Grand Valleys on the continent.
The story started a couple of weeks ago, when Mr. Kaiser, who is group
manager for Great West Life Assurance Company in Wheeling, spotted a
story in a magazine called the S and D Reflector.
The magazine is the publication of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer
Rivermen, and the story was a brief reference to the find¬ing of the
buried remains of the old Empress of Ireland (Assini¬boine Queen) in
the banks of the Assiniboine River just east of Brandon last fall.
Roy Brown, Grand Valley coordinator for the Brandon Chamber of
Commerce, was the man who located-the hulk of the Queen and who
harnessed the energies of a group of Brandon Jaycees in retriev¬ing the
paddlewheel assembly and a few other odds and ends. Mr. Brown wrote a
book which traced the story of the boat and of her buildermaster Capt.
H.J.R. Large.
It was a reference to that story that appeared in The Reflector and
attracted the attention of Mr. Kaiser.
The man from Wheeling advised that he would be visiting the Winnipeg
head office of his company this month, and a telephone invitation was
extended to him to visit Brandon as well and to pay a visit to the
regular monthly meeting of the Assiniboine Historical Society.
The invitation was accepted. Mr. Kaiser arrived in Winnipeg to be
greeted by a busy schedule in the Great West headquarters.
MOTHER NATURE DIDN'T AGREE ..... Mr. Brown drove to Winnipeg on Tuesday
night, intending to pick Mr. Kaiser up in the late afternoon to head
for Brandon and the historical society meeting. But Mother Nature
stepped into the game, blasting Manitoba
with howling northerly winds, slush, rain and snow and turning Winnipeg
into an isolated island of storm.
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