I was 5 years old when our family drove out from Ontario so Dad could start his doctoral work at the University of Alberta. It was September 1967 and we were one of the first families that moved into Michener Park. There was no lawn in place yet and many of the units were literally still being built around us.

I remember that November the Right Honorable Roland Michener came to officially open his namesake. I was impressed by all the big black cars, police motorcycles for the motorcade, flags, and also a couple of Mounties in their red serge. There were lots of speeches which I had no recollection of or interest in. However, I do remember when Roland Michener eventually spoke he noted that the students living here were far away from home and they should think of him and his wife as their substitute parents while here. As he spoke his wife was surveying the crowd of families that had gathered for the ceremony and then tugged on his sleeve. She said, “Roland, do you see how many grandchildren we have?!”

I’m not sure how the adults felt about the place, but Michener Park was absolutely perfect for children. Everything was small and compact and best of all there were kids everywhere! You didn’t have to call anyone to make a play date. You just walked out the back door and there would always be someone to play with. It was awesome!

We lived in the 400 block and I recall on pleasant days several of the moms would regularly sit together outside for mid-morning coffee to chat. They would not only share news, but occasionally set up events and outings for us. They also seemed pretty organized when it came to block parties. As the evening would progress and children were eventually sent home to bed the party would continue with the adults. Every half hour a patrolling pair of different moms would make the rounds of everybody’s units to make sure the kids were all in bed and safe.

One signature feature of the units in Michener Park was that they had very colourful doors. When you talked about another kid you would quite often note the colour of their door too. Oh that’s Chris in the blue door or that’s Jerilyn in the yellow door! Many years later I mentioned to my mother that Michener Park had painted all their doors brown. Her first reaction was, ‘How will the children find their way home?’

I recently dropped by Michener Park while on a walk. In a lifespan of just over 50 years it has no doubt hosted thousands of families and created many more cherished memories. The old section is now fenced off and the unit windows boarded up. It really wasn’t the old Michener Park I remembered. However, just before I left I noticed an abandoned toy tractor lying out in the middle of the lawn bearing a unit number written in black marker so you know where it started its journey. I hadn’t thought about this in years. Of course, with all the kids came the inevitable sea of toys strewn everywhere! Yes, this was definitely once my Michener Park.

In 2018 my sister I visited our old unit in Michener Park. It was interesting to see where we had spent part of our childhood. Knowing that Michener Park was about to close we requested the number plate of our old unit and those of a few of the other units in the 400 block where we had kept in touch with some of the other first-time residents. We’ve managed to distribute those number plates to the original occupants.

• Photo 1: Elke and Dietmar (Edmonton)
  The Kennepohls (430 – blue door)
• Photo 2: 2018 Photo of Elke Kennepohl visiting 430 Michener Park
• Photo 3: 1969 Photo of Evmarie (Mom), Elke and Dietmar at 430 Michener Park
• Photo 4: Ann and Terry (Sherwood Park)
  The Harrisons (424 – black door)
• Photo 5: John and Bob (Arizona)
  The Garfields (433 – black door)
• Photo 6: Jerilyn (Oklahoma)
  The Kisabeths (431 – yellow door)
• Photo 7: Jack, Alison, Jenny, Sue and Chris (Toronto)
  The Chambers (425 – blue door)