Garnet Donald Reynolds June 24, 1942 – Oct 3, 2020 (age 78) Garnet was born June 24, 1942 at the Foam Lake Bray Avenue Hospital to Raymond Albert and Catharine Tressie (Duck) Reynolds. By three years old, Garnet was already extra helpful, pocketing the nails and running off with the hammer while Ray’s brother Evans and crew built the new house on the farm. His whole childhood was spent within the Foam Lake area. Entertainment was playing with friends and cousins, holidaying at the Aunts and Uncles (the ones with boy cousins at least), and usually attending everything with his Mom and Dad including box socials, dances, whist drives, and summer picnics at all the local country schools which were still open until the late 50’s. The highlight of every year were the March Agricultural Society Rally, the Leslie Beach Co-op Picnic, local weddings of relatives & family friends, and the 3 day Agri Fair Ball Tournaments. Movies came to Foam Lake at the Town Hall in 1940 before the Narfasons opened their theatre 1950 and the Reynolds family were there every Saturday for the Matinee (well from Harvest thru til Spring anyways), they just couldn’t miss the “serial” whether it was Roar of the Iron Horse, Sir Galahead, or many others. Garnet grew up early – working side by side with his Dad running the mixed farm – Holstein milk cows, hogs, poultry, cropping, haying, fencing, cutting and hauling wood when they weren’t calving. The farm was still transitioning from horse power to mechanical power. When they got the first tractor in 1948, Garnet was instantly fascinated. His early mechanical training came with servicing and repairing the Minneapolis Moline Z. Power came to rural Foam Lake in 1956 and they finally bought a car. As a child, Garnet never had the luxury of a telephone or TV in the house. Education was important to his parents. Some years he got perfect attendance (even managing to get chicken pox over Christmas holidays). Garnet took all his education in Foam Lake, receiving his diploma and graduating with the Class of ’60. His Dad drove the kids to school or they walked until Garnet took over driving the horses. They would deliver the cream in the morning and return each evening with drinking water. His was the last family still using the school barn before rural bussing was commonplace. Busses were initially only for the local high school students and closed country schools. Myrna got to ride first in Grade 9 before one of the school trustees made it his business as to why the bus only picked up 1 child when there were 4 of them going to Foam Lake schools. Through grades 11 & 12 Garnet worked for Taylor’s Transport before getting his chauffers license and started to drive with “old” Taylor. His first out of province trip was to Creston, BC. Garnet might have worked as a truck driver to earn money but his first and lifelong love was mechanics and tinkering. Garnet was never one for formal education so most everything he ever learnt about mechanics was by studying himself how things worked. Once you understand how it worked or should work, fixing it was easy. He bought his first tractor, a JD Waterloo Boy when he was 14 at a neighbour’s auction sale and dragged it home – not running. He spent all his free time working away at it after his chores were done until a few days later, and after his Mom & Dad had already gone to bed, he got the first snort and roar of life out of it in the yard just outside their bedroom (they weren’t as thrilled about it as he was). Garnet accumulated how-to books and manuals for all kinds of machines and equipment. Most machines work on similar principles and if it was already broken – why shouldn’t he just take a look at it? As one to never back down from a challenge Garnet made a name for himself in the logging camps and mines along the coast in BC by working on machines that others wouldn’t. To help round out his knowledge and learn new skills he would often work with other mechanics that he thought to be intelligent and skilled. While the Waterloo Boy was his first tractor, he bought his first of many vehicles at 12, a 1927 DeSoto Coupe followed by a 1945 Chev Sedan at 16. After his sisters double wedding in ’64 he decided to get away from the farm in his early 60’s beat up old Ford car for adventures in BC – he was going Logging and Road Building on Vancouver Island. No story would be complete without a couple travelling companions; his brother Duayne and cousin Leonard were game and went along as well. Garnet was a valued employee anywhere he worked willing to pitch in and run any piece of equipment as well as fix it as the need arose. From running the yarder and moving logs to working on the light plant outside the kitchen (which floated on a barge in the inlet) to operating dozer and cutting roads on the side of mountains he was always interested in learning new skills and changing things up from working in the shop of course. While he would work out there he still had the love of farming, returning home each spring and fall to assist on the farm with his Dad. Garnet, forever, relived tales of those days and acquaintances he had made with anyone who took the time to listen – his glory days and stories from Effingham Inlet, Whitehorse, Franklin River, and Hackett Bay among others from ’64 until ’73 when he returned home to farm full time. After that he would work more seasonal jobs at a more reasonable distance from Foam Lake; Andersons Paving in Saskatoon, Woode Construction in Moose Jaw with his brother-in-law Eric, with his last “job” being at Foam Lake Motors working for Carl and Fred. In the years following he would pick up work here and there for local farmers and business owners unless of course, he couldn’t refuse the offer of shooting coyotes and eating Mynra’s home cooking. These weekend visits usually resulted in 3 weeks of repairs to Myrna and Jims equipment before getting away again as his own crop would need tending. Those last years he would only take the time to help out friends or when referred to get older machinery running once again for their day in the sun – the favorite – the auction sale. In 2002, Garnet sold off his other 3 quarters keeping only the home quarter so that he could “take time to be retired”. As he wasn’t working on keeping his machinery operational anymore he had more time to socialize. While stopping in town to coffee with the then senior neighbours was enjoyable, his favorite social event of the week or maybe several the same week were the sales. Garnet’s love of the auction sale is well known throughout the area. He knew every auctioneer and every auctioneer knew Garnet. His gridroad map had a 60 mile radius circle drawn on it and if the sale was within that circle, you were pretty much guaranteed to see him there. Occasionally he’d round up a companion, either Ernie Springer or Nestor Kokosky and make a trek outside the circle, sometimes even as far as the Manitoba border. At the regular scheduled sale at Frontier Auction in Wadena you would find him wandering around and inspecting the goods with hopefully, the #1 bidding number carefully tucked into his pocket. His only other reserved number was with Ukrainantz Auctions where there he was #13. It was always entertaining to hear he would be attending the livestock auction in Wadena as they sold all kinds of exotic birds and animals though he never actually brought any home, he sure did like to suggest he might. Garnet would buy anything and everything at his price. These gems all got lovingly hauled home and tucked away. He loved to share the exciting tale of how and when he acquired different pieces of his collection. Quite often he would leave the sale after lunch if there was nothing he was interested in for sale. Trips home usually including stopping in at different friends places for coffee and sometimes supper. However, if not he’d get home at dusk with his horses standing up at the shop calling for him and he’d laugh that they’d all get the same supper. Them some oats from the bin by the corral and him a bowl of oat meal as it was too late to make anything else. To fill in his time between sales and to give him a reason to get up in the morning, Garnet bought himself a horse. Magnificent was a black Morgan horse. They got off to a rocky start… right to his face. While attempting to lead home this frisky filly, Garnet rode on the tailgate holding the lead rope while Lorraine Barry drove the pickup the 1-1/2 miles to Mags new home. Things were trotting along when suddenly Mags decided she wasn’t going any further and threw on the brakes – dragging Garnet off the tailgate onto the road spread out flat on his belly with his hands over his head and his face in the gravel. She even managed to break his glasses! Garnet didn’t hold this against her though and spent the next couple years training her to both harness and saddle riding. He rode her all around the home quarter and within about a 4 mile radius (he claimed he didn’t want to have to walk home further than that). By the time he retired from riding, the pair had put on an estimated 1500 miles over about 6 years. But as every horse person knows, if 1 horse is good, then 3 are better. Babe a Morgan and Red Boy a registered Quarter Horse came to the farm in following years but were there more for his enjoyment and companionship than any type of work. His Dad had worked with leather, making and repairing bridles, harness and all horse related items so Garnet now had a reason to pickup and dust off this old knowledge. While it was nice to work with new leather that he would get different acquaintances to pickup when in the city, he bought every pair of used leather boots he could get his hands on and turned them into beautiful braided reins. These reins he even had on display and for sale at the Hitching Post in Yorkton for a time. Only dear friends and family received some of these heirloom items from him otherwise. But they were not just to have, he expected you to use them and wouldn’t hand them out to people without horses! Garnet mastered the art of living alone later in life than most as he lived at the farm with his Mom and Dad until after his Dad passed and his Mom moved into town in 89. He raised and processed his own beef, canned all kinds of meat in his pressure cooker, grew enough potatoes, carrots and onions to last an entire year, baked pies, cakes and biscuits from scratch (continually modifying his recipes to refine them) and had a whole production line of bread makers. He often boasted of having not bought a loaf of bread from the store in the last 30 years even though he ate bread with most meals. The bread makers took a little bit to get onto though as the manufacturers recipe didn’t quite work the way advertised at first. That’s ok though, he just threw those first few loaves over the fence and let Robby Barrowman pick them for rocks the next spring! Garnet was a walking talking history book. He had an excellent memory of who was related to whom and the family trees of most people who had settled within a 20 mile radius. One winter his reading project was the history books from Foam Lake, Elfros, Emerald, Theodore and Invermay. Projects went on hold when there was an unread book. While he would sometimes visit the library, he would much prefer to buy a box of westerns or horse magazines. For years he subscribed to the Western Producer – circling ads for items he might want to sell one day from his auction sale collection. Garnet spent much of his life as a bachelor and never had children of his own. However, he always took delight in teasing kids wherever he went whether they were nieces and nephews or any of the pack of children that would happen to want to pet his friend – King Rat or Cuddles the toy poodle that he would take everywhere with him on his “string” in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. From 1994 on, Garnet spent considerable amount of time with Mildred, Bruce and Don – working together on their respective farms – even putting up with Mildred and Don while “whining & dining” them from Winnipeg thru to Greenwood, Nove Scotia and PEI to attend Bruce’s wedding as Don covered the lodging, Mildred the car and fuel, and he the cost of the meals. For a gruff farmer he always had a soft spot for all his animals and as surely as you could count on him to show up, his collie and its dog house were along for the visit. After the passing of Garnet’s brother-in-law, he took his nephew Don under his wing. Teaching him about the equipment and how it worked, an apprentice. For years when talking to Don, Garnet would continue to discuss mechanics and fundamentals of how different equipment would operate. When Don completed his Heavy Duty Mechanics Apprenticeship and received the Top Apprentice Award for Alberta; Garnet’s reply – “Why wouldn’t he? I taught him everything I know!” As time progressed and he bought newer trucks, they also came with newer problems – electronic problems – that he was unable to fix. While loath to ask for help, eventually he would complain about the problem enough that Don would bring the parts and help him fix it. His love for Dodge trucks not withstanding, it was a love hate relationship once fuel injection and electronic controls came to all vehicles. During Garnets last summer he had coffee with friends Ian and Rhoda Shurgot, and true to form, they started teasing him about his crappy old 91 Dodge and how he should get something more reliable before the upcoming winter. In response, Garnet gave Rhoda a list of requirements for a truck that he figured there was no way she would be able to find. V8, Red, 4 wheel drive, Regular Cab, Regular Box and none of that chrome everywhere. The next day she showed Garnet that it was indeed possible to get that truck. Now he had to put his money where his mouth was so on his next call with nephew Don he put in the order to him. Find me a truck like that. A brand new Dodge truck was found, test drove and purchased from Edmonton. Delivery was arranged and a date set. Talk with friends and neighbours was afire with discussion of his new truck the for following several weeks and finally the day arrived. Garnet passed away peacefully in his home on the farm near Foam Lake on 3 Oct 2020. His new truck was delivered on the morning of the 3 rd of Oct 2020, unfortunately he never got to see it. Garnet was predeceased by his parents Raymond and Tressie, brother-in-law Eric Woode and infant nephew Gerald Woode. Left to cherish Garnet’s memory are sister Myrna (Jim) Cannon, Dale (Marsha) Cannon, Frank (Caroline) Cannon, Joslin & Chanel (James Turnbull), Carla (Brian) Bartlam, Kathryn & Kenneth, sister Mildred Woode, Bruce (Tera) Woode, Emma & Reagan, Don (Diana) Woode, Eric, Evan & AJ, brother Duayne (Mary) Reynolds, numerous cousins, extended families and friends.