Many of us remember our first paying job. In truth I often forget mine because I only lasted 3 days at a egg grading station and my pay was 50 cents an hour! I think that I have successfully purged the image from my brain. After that first venture, I worked at the book department at Eaton’s which I quite enjoyed because we could loan a book off the shelves and if we were very careful while we read it, we could do so for free and return the book to the shelf. But the job that I think was most important in my late teens was the job that introduced me to my husband and many life long friends. Nobody knew a whole lot about The Keg ‘n Cleaver (as it was called in those days) when it started to renovate the former Hudson Bay Livery Stables at 115 Garry.  The way it was described to me was as a “copy” of the locally owned Butcher Block restaurant. I learned later that the copying was actually the other way around. No matter, I turned up at the Garry St. restaurant for an interview and a few days later, climbed into a full length skirt to be a hostess on their opening evening. I remember the line up being out the door and spilled onto the front sidewalk. Being a hostess was fun because you stood with the guests at the back of the line and took their name on a clipboard and then waited for the next group to join the back of the line. I thought I had it made in the shade as I just chatted to people all night long and was not only paid an hourly salary but also a share of the tips!

In those days the simple menu was printed on a wooden platter and when the “hunky” guys (don’t laugh- it was a compliment!) were done taking orders at a table, they would slide the menu boards down the back of their pants en route to the waiter station. I remember one waiter in particular, he would come up to the hostess stand and say to me: “Load me up and keep them coming. I will take tables for other servers if they don’t want them. Don’t take me off the clock, I will stay and pick up all the late night diners.” This guy was a serving machine. His name was Tommy Lau.

Fast forward 40 years-yep that is not a typo. We were reuniting with Tom and a couple of Keggers from that time, who had been there at the beginning and still lived in Winnipeg. Tom had brought his wife and two grown sons back to Winnipeg with him. He wanted them to see the city and meet the people that he remembered so fondly.

He left Winnipeg in 1977 and went to study at Confederation College in Thunder Bay. From there he went to New York to spend some time with his Mom on Long Island. Then he returned home to Hong Kong. His first job was working at a Hong Kong TV station as a producer. He moved to another station and married Clara in 1988. In the spring of 1990 he returned to Long Island hoping to spend more time with his mother and brother. TV careers were hard to come by and a year later he as recruited to set up a Cable TV station in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1993 he set up his own TV program distribution business in Hong Kong which he still runs. In 1995 he took up studying Fengshui with a local Master and in 1996 became the Master’s disciple. His sons were born in 1992 and 1995. The eldest has his masters degree in Forsenic Toxicology (hey, that might make a good TV show!) and his youngest is working on his degree in physiotherapy.

When we met Clara, I was struck by how petite and quiet she was-the exact opposite of her husband! Their sons had the most perfect manners and delighted in every little detail that we shared about the time we spent with his Dad.

The owner of the Kegs in Winnipeg who worked with us all those years ago was our host that evening. We sat in a “T” in the room with the most privacy. It is not that we wanted to be left alone, it was the noisy din we created with sharing our crazy stories and memories.

Dinner that evening was stellar. I sampled an item new to the menu-a grilled cauliflower steak which I loved.

I  noticed that Tom order steak and lobster just like the old days (except for the price of course).

A wonderful evening with wonderful friends. Time stood still and we were bag in the 70’s.

Kath’s quote: “I love everything that’s old, – old friends, old times, old manners, old books, old wine.”  –Oliver Goldsmith

Love never fails.

 

 

 

 

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