Don Light doesn鈥檛 seem like a man who would choose to while away the hours. Currently 85 years old, Light walks with a cane loosely-gripped in his hand, 鈥渋t鈥檚 for the stairs鈥� he shares, but this is the only obvious indication that he鈥檚 slowing down some.
His Battleford office is in the home his father built and where his eldest daughter currently lives. The office is in the basement and, as Light switches to tour guide mode, he points out unique features of the rumpus room that have stayed basically the same since his father built it. He adds that his father also dug the entire basement himself, by hand. It鈥檚 possible keeping yourself occupied with projects may be a family trait.
Visitors to Light鈥檚 spacious but crammed office that runs the width of the basement are immediately greeted by a table piled high with papers and odds and ends and surrounded by cabinets full of Battleford records and RCMP history books, while photos of relatives dating back to the First World War and Canadian historical figures take up the rest of the available wall space.
Light鈥檚 interest in local history began sometime during his childhood. What happened, he says, is that his elder brother Doug began collecting historical records of the town after their uncle, Charlie Light, asked him to clear out a few boxes filled with old records from the post office and take them to the dump. Instead, Doug, with Don鈥檚 help, brought the boxes home.
Many of the binders of photocopied historical Fort Battleford records and other documents in Light鈥檚 collection today were first assembled by his brother and given to him by his sister-in-law after Doug passed away in 2008.
Of course, the brothers weren鈥檛 the only members of the family interested in their town鈥檚 history. The Fred Light Museum in Battleford was founded by their father and houses local artifacts, including western Canada鈥檚 鈥渕ost comprehensive firearm collection,鈥� a collection of military uniforms and accessories from both World Wars and the 1885 North-West Rebellion, as well as a replica of an old general store.
It seems likely the Light family鈥檚 interest in local history was due in part to their own rich family history. Light鈥檚 father was born in Fort Battleford in 1908, the son of S/Sgt. Frederick Walter Light, regimental number 2386, who was selected to attend Queen Victoria鈥檚 jubilee celebration in 1897 representing the Mounted Police.
These historical facts and dates about Light鈥檚 own family, as well as other prominent families in the area, come to him easily and without hesitation. Light picks up a large calendar from 1924 with an image of the Selkirk settlers he bought on a trip to Calgary while visiting his brother鈥檚 family. His mother, it turns out, is a descendant of Scottish Donald Gunn, who immigrated to the Red River area, along with other Selkirk settlers, on the 鈥済odship Eddystone鈥� and became the Hon. Donald Gunn of Manitoba鈥檚 legislative council.
From these familial influences, Light says, his own interest in local history followed, as North-West Historical Society president and member, in addition to the work he did 鈥渢o sustain鈥� himself. Doug, meanwhile, made the shared family interest into his career. First in Banff as the Luxton Museum curator and later in Calgary as Glenbow鈥檚 director of collections.
Light is characteristically modest when speaking about his own career accomplishments as a consultant to Senator Herb Sparrow, as well as his business partner, and as part of Ross Thatcher鈥檚 campaign staff.
To hear Light tell it, his start was inauspicious when, at age 10, he started work in his father鈥檚 service station and garage behind the counter.
鈥�(My father) wasn鈥檛 very tall, and like his mother, I think, he had a bad temper, so he wouldn鈥檛 tolerate any nonsense at all.聽
鈥淗e used to say to me 鈥榳ith your height, you have a tremendous advantage, you shouldn鈥檛 be shy. I鈥檒l put you at the cash register, you be polite, I鈥檒l tell you what to say.鈥欌��
A couple years later his father put him in charge of bookkeeping, although Light wasn鈥檛 as confident in his abilities.
鈥淢y dad put me in as the bookkeeper of his businesses, like I鈥檓 supposed to know,鈥� he says, laughing, 鈥渟o what he did, he got Joe Ulmer, who became the owner of Ulmer Chev, and he was working in the office at Boyd鈥檚 shop, so he came over and (trained me).鈥�
After some time working for his father, Light, still a teenager, was looking to head out on his own.
鈥淚 got the notion that working for my dad wasn鈥檛 what I wanted to do, so I went over to Boyd鈥檚 garage and I asked at the office if they had any openings. They asked if I had any experience and I said 鈥榥o, not really,鈥� but then Joe speaks up 鈥榦h yeah he can keep the books for you, no problem with that鈥� so I got that job.鈥�
Sometime later, Light also found himself working for his Uncle Charlie, the postmaster, delivering mail and the Saskatoon StarPhoenix from the Battlefords to the train and from the train to the Battlefords every morning and night. He also had a stint farming a portion of land owned by a wealthy relative.
By the time Light was 20, he鈥檇 been working for 10 years, and was developing an interest in politics.
鈥淭here was a fellow by the name of Herb Sparrow and he was struggling, he was selling cars, so he talked me into helping him, he wanted to be elected.
鈥淪o,鈥� Light continues, 鈥淪parrow and I teamed up on that and then he was elected to council and I went to work for Ross Thatcher, and he was remarkable. I enjoyed that immensely.鈥�
After campaigning with W. Ross Thatcher, who was an MP for Moose Jaw and would later become premier of Saskatchewan, Light again partnered up with Sparrow, this time, for fried chicken.
鈥淪parrow was trying to get Kentucky Fried Chicken going. It was kind of a wonderful time because we got to know the Colonel really well, he used to come and stay with us. He鈥檇 come for the fair parades.
鈥淲e went to Vegas. KFC used to have a show there every year. The Colonel was up there on stage and by this time he was old, he decided he was going to come down six or eight steps and someone wanted to help him and he (shrugged them off) and of course down he went,鈥� Light says, laughing at the memory. 鈥淭hen the old guy brushed off his white suit and carried on.鈥�
Sparrow eventually did get the franchise, the third KFC in all of Canada, and later opened more in Meadow Lake and North Dakota.
For Light鈥檚 next career incarnation he tried his hand at land development, this time with Sparrow and three other partners.
There was an opportunity to buy a farm on the north side of the city but they had no money so, Light says, he went to his father for a $10,000 loan.
鈥淢y dad said, in a word, 鈥榥o,鈥欌�� Light recalls, laughing. 鈥淗e could probably sense that I wasn鈥檛 pleased, so as I was getting up he said 鈥榖ut what I will do is sign your note at the bank鈥� and I said, 鈥極h well, that鈥檚 just as good as far as I鈥檓 concerned,鈥� so we borrowed the $10,000 and we raised the $110,000 at the bank and the five of us bought that Killdeer farm.
鈥淥ver by Country Kitchen, all the area going over west of the railway tracks, we bought 650 acres there. For the first time the City allowed a private developer, so we got it subdivided and started selling lots.鈥�
Eventually, Light and Sparrow had a falling out. Sparrow had bought Light鈥檚 share but the payments stopped after the first two, Light says. At first Light didn鈥檛 push the subject because he 鈥渄idn鈥檛 need the money.鈥� Ultimately Light brought the issue to court and lost because, he says, the statute had expired.
Nowadays, Light keeps busy with his collection, with people often calling for information while researching their family and the area. Lately, too, he has begun a project with the North-West Historical Society to lobby the mayor鈥檚 office to rename streets in honour of Battleford citizens he believes contributed to the town in a meaningful way.
In this way, Light has left his own mark on Battleford history by keeping the family passion for local history alive, to serve not just himself, but all Battlefords residents and their descendants for years to come.
