Vern Vogel grew up around McTaggart and Weyburn. Living on a farm meant that he had numerous chores, but also took him into cart racing with horses, and eventually led him to teaching.
On the farm he enjoyed working with the cows, turkeys, ducks, geese, and especially the horses.
"I grew up the oldest of eight and I have six of my own so I know kids and now I've got 18 grandchildren, so I say I've had an interesting life," Vern explained.
One of the most enjoyable things for Vern during his early years included racing horses.
"I raced horses at Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg, and all through Saskatchewan," Vern said.
"It was a busy life, of course we raced at night in the big places, we raced under the lights. It was long hours by the time you got your horses warmed up and cooled out, everything. And up again at six in the morning to train."
Vern went on to explain how a race might typically be done: "Gilbert and his brother [Frazer] used to start us with his car, there was a gate behind the car and Gilbert used to sit in the back, the lid was off the trunk and you'd just gradually take off. When you got to the wire you'd be going full tilt."
"It could be dangerous because in the early days you'd go away with the car in a cloud of dust, so you had to kind of juggle your position and watch out for other horses which was very difficult in the dust and what not. Because you could do loop de loops too, you know. Sometimes they went down. Sometimes they fell. They'd get tangled up in somebody else's something so it could be dangerous too. I never went down in a race, had some things happen, but never went down."
During his time racing he would head out east which is where he met his wife.
"This fellow said, 'I have a girl you should meet.' I wasn't really looking for a girl, but anyway he asked me a second time, I had been sick the first time, he asked me the second time if I would go. I thought I can't refuse him this time or he'll never ask me for anything again so I went to meet the girl."
"Our first date was on New Year's Eve. We went out, and then we dated, and then somewhere around [March] I came home from the east and [I went down in May].
She came [out in July]... then we got married in September."
This Vern laughed calling it a whirlwind relationship, but one very that has lasted throughout the years as he and Brenda Roberts (his wife) will have been married for 48 years this September.
At 20-years-old Vern went to Teacher's College in Moose Jaw and would go on to work across the southeast.
"I taught mostly, here I taught grade three, and in Weyburn I taught 5 and 6 for ten years," Vern explained.
"I enjoyed the kids, that was my favourite part actually, of course you should eh. I don't know whether I really liked them or whether I didn't know any better [because he had seven younger siblings, and would have six children himself]."
Teaching is actually what brought him to Stoughton, where he taught for 15 years after starting in 1977.
Prior to coming to Stoughton though he worked for a time at Outrum, which is where his sister taught with him for a year, but one of his favourite stories developed as well.
"We had no facilities for a graduation, but there was high school there so we had to have a graduation. Anyway we had a good year and we had a graduation in Estevan to go on with that because there were no facilities in Outrum," Vern said. "Catholics couldn't eat meat on Fridays so it was on a Thursday night and we came home late, I guess we got into bed about three o'clock and had to teach school the next day."
"Jeez. So anyway, I woke up in the morning, I looked at the clock, I said, "Joan! It's 20 after 10!" And one of my girl's was very responsible, she had gone over and had taken over my sister's class. Both classes were singing at the top of their lungs... and I don't think anybody knew, we told them all not to tell. So, they were singing at the top of their lungs and lucky for music because I taught a lot of music eh, singing and dancing and stuff like that. I guess all the teachers were kind of sleepy like us so it didn't matter."
Though this is one of the stories that came to mind instantly for Vern, he still has many more which he shares with his family and friends when they come to visit, which he is happy to say happens often as they all live quite close.
