Elfrieda Baumung (maiden name Schappert) will turn one-hundred years young on December 10th, 2020. Elfrieda is a resident of Langenburg but hails from the MacNutt area originally.
2020 is a year where we can learn lots from those with such valuable life experience.
One piece of advice she tells her great-grandsons when they come to visit, is that she feels sorry for them; they are into farming and it’s so stressful being a farmer now-a-days. She says, “We worked harder, but it was less-stressful.”
“The worst years were the 1930’s. There was no money to buy gas. My dad had a Model-T car but we couldn’t drive it. Then, they made the Bennet Wagons, and all we got from the government was a barrel of apples. We had to eat apples all winter, and they didn’t spoil.”
Elfrieda’s grand-daughter, Susan Schmidt, told a comical story about how engaged Elfrieda is with her iPad. After having it for two days, Susan asked her grandma, “How’s it going?”. “Not good,” was Elfrieda’s response. “I sat up and played on my iPad until 1 o’clock [A.M.].” For someone in their late 90’s to pick up new technology and just go with it, this shows the centenarian’s ability to adapt with the times.
Elfrieda’s humour continued to shine as more memories were shared. One time, she fell to the floor and was unable to get up. After help arrived, Mrs. Baumung was not too impressed, mainly because she missed the Lutheran Hour. She told Susan, “I slipped out of my chair and I can’t get up, and I didn’t get my breakfast…and I didn’t get to listen to the Lutheran Hour.”
To celebrate the big occasion, Elfrieda Baumung set a lofty goal. She aimed to crochet one hundred dish clothes to celebrate her one-hundred years. Susan Schmidt also wanted to organize a project for the occasion.
Susan offered on Facebook, “This sweet lady will be turning 100 years of age on December the 10th. She is an amazing soul and deserves a big celebration but as so many other things in 2020 that can’t happen. She is as sharp as a tac and still living on her own. I want to make her 100th birthday as special as I can despite Covid. It would be greatly appreciated if any family or friends that know her would graciously send her a birthday card and write a note of a special memory, how you met her, or just send her greetings. I guarantee she will read each one many times over. She was so excited about turning 100 this year. In March when covid hit she started knitting dishcloths to give out at her birthday in December. She wanted to make 100 dish clothes….she had them made by April! At almost 100 she could crochet in her sleep. So please pass this on to others who might not be on Facebook. Please mail cards to Elfreida Baumung, Box 92, langenburg, sk, S0A2A0. It would be awesome if she would receive 100 cards from people she has known over her blessed 100 years. Thanks from her family!!!!”
Elfrieda was inspired to complete the dishcloth making project after getting a ton of yarn for her last birthday.
She said, “Last year on my birthday, I got a lot of yarn. I said that I’m going to knit 100 dishcloths and I have them all done now.” She is now giving them out to those she is able to connect with.
Elfreida Baumung was surprised to hear she received birthday greetings from many different people, ranging from local leaders like the Mayor of Tantallon, to world leaders such as the Queen. A statement from the letter from Queen Elizabeth read, “Mrs. Elfreida Bauming,
I am delighted to hear you are celebrating your 100th birthday. I send you warmest congratulations on this happy occasion and good wishes for an enjoyable day.
Elizabeth”
Elfrieda was very pleased with the letter and responded to it with, “I should write her. I would like some of her hats.”
The letter is a sweet reminder of when the Langenburg resident was able to see the Queen first-hand.
In 1939, when Queen Elizabeth was about nine years old, she came to Melville for a visit.
Elfrieda quipped, “The crowd was so big in Melville we couldn’t see anyway. The guys had to lift us up on their shoulders to see her.”
She has had her fair-share of hardships, yet Elfrieda is still grateful for the life she’s been fortunate to live. She admits, “To tell you the truth, this is the worst year in my one-hundred years that I’ve had so far.”
This remark comes from a lady who witnessed the falling of the Twin Towers and experienced the ravaging effects of polio.
“Polio, that was bad.” She continued, “We had to all drink the brown liquid. My best friend died; she was twelve years old when she had polio.”
Elfrieda has a remarkable memory of many of her life experiences.“100 years is a long time. I can’t believe I remember what I did when I was five years old,” stated the centenarian.
She draws on her past experiences when comparing to the current pandemic.
“Now they tell you, ‘everybody stay at home, don’t go any place’.” Back then, she adds, “They didn’t tell us anything. We were allowed to go out.”
One of the hardest times for Elfrieda Baumung was during wartime.
“The worst time was before the second world war started. We had lots of snow that winter…the sky got all red, before the war came…it was a sign that the war was coming. That night, there was no moon, and by midnight everything was red. We were all scared, wondering what’s going to happen, but nothing happened. Then the war came. Then we had to worry about who was going to go to the war.”
Elfrieda had two brothers who went to Regina to be departed for the war, but they were able to come home due to health concerns. Mrs. Baumung joked that she was glad they came home since she would have had to clean the barn.
She painted the Twin Towers with talents she learned starting at the age of 65. Bob Ross gave painting lessons on TV and utilized an oil painting technique. “You needed turpentine to wash the brush. I painted my last picture when I was 91. I quit painting because I couldn’t get the turpentine to clean my brush.”
Music was another pastime Elfrieda appreciated. Wilf Carter and Hank Snow are two of her favourites. She can play “You’re My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine” on her harmonica after training herself to play the instrument. She also played the banjo in her youth while her sister played the guitar. Elfrieda mentioned she remembered the duo singing when she would come to visit. She played the banjo lots, until “the kids buggered it up.”
Hard work is essential while developing a farm. One year, Mrs. Baumung planted two-thousand trees in spring. That year, it was one of the driest years she could remember. “In 1960, the kids had to help me water them.” The crew carried water all summer long and their efforts led to them saving all the trees except one or two. The PFRA provided the sprucelings. It was a big thing then to plant shelterbelts around farms that trap snow, possibly stemming from the dirty-30’s view where farmers built shelterbelts to preserve water.
Elfrieda Baumung grew up on a farm; she moved to another farm when she married another farmer and the pair raised their family in MacNutt. She was from the north side of MacNutt while her husband lived on the south side. They lived right along the railway track. “The railroad went from Yorkton to Russell. We had to cross the track five times to get to MacNutt,” Elfrieda added.
Remembering how prosperous the community of MacNutt was in her day, she compared it to Yorkton. Unfortunately, during the MacNutt fires, quite a few businesses burned down. MacNutt was a thriving town where “Everybody went to town on Saturday night. The men went to the pub and the women visited outside. The women couldn’t go into the bars, only the men.”
At the time, the community had a theatre, all kinds of restaurants, even a pool hall.
The street would be packed with cars on both sides on Saturday evenings. There was late-night shopping and the weekly event was everyone’s chance to socialize.
Elfrieda was married on November 2nd, 1941 to Rudolph (Rudy) Baumung. “We were going to get married a year sooner; but on the first of July we had Sports Day, and we had a cold wind and a heavy frost that froze everything. The crops froze and everything, so we had to postpone our wedding another year; that was in 1940.”
Speaking about one of her secrets to relaxation and a long life, Elfrieda mentioned that before she goes to bed she enjoys a bit of Baileys.
She has earned her ability to sit back after a life of working hard. “My fingers are crooked, I had a lot of milking to do.” Her farm had everything her family needed to be self-sufficient. She milked eight cows, twice a day.
Her brothers helped to build her toughness while she was growing up. A story was told about how she was put in a tire once and rolled down a hill. She reminisced, “They put me in a tire and rolled me down the hill. My toque got a hold of the barbed wire.”
Speaking about the technology change she has witnessed, Mrs. Baumung mentioned, “It’s surprising. We needed a camera to take pictures, then we paid to mail them to get them. Now, they have their phones; they can take a picture and send it all the way to Alberta. Which was better? Now they’re always on their phones.” She added that many are attached to their phones and questioned how they will remember everything while relying on technology. Elfrieda is always stimulating her brain, whether it’s through painting or knitting, word searches, etc.
One landmark milestone was the event of electricity coming to the community. She remembered, “We had no electricity. With coal-oil lamps, we would have to go to bed early.” The power came on in 1956 and the centenarian mentioned everyone loved to be able to switch on electricity. “When the kids were growing up they would run through all the rooms and switch the lights on.”
Elfrieda utilized an ice house under the grain bin to keep food cold. Her family would put saw dust down, lay the ice on and add straw on top; it would stay cold all summer long. The farm girl would have to go to the river to cut the ice. Some of the ice she cut from the riverbank would be two feet thick, which helped it last even through the hotter months.
In 1935, the black-top highway was built leading to Roblin from Yorkton. There was a big picnic the day the highway opened. On that day, an event unfolded that burned into her memory. “The police man’s wife came out and shot him. And then everyone just ran, went home and were scared.”
She did a lot of horseback riding and wanted to be a cowgirl or a lawyer when she grew up.
She painted many photos, including Peggy’s Cove as well as the Twin Towers. Elfrieda talked about the 2001 attack in the United States. She stated, “That was a sad year too.”
Elfrieda is very engaged in politics. She shared many views on different world leaders, but gave a specific insight into the US election. “They’re going to build all electric cars, and poor Canada won’t be able to get rid of her oil. Will you be able to afford an electric car?”
She ended off by saying, “I hope this sickness is gone before long.”
The Langenburg resident and centenarian offered a refreshing view on the topic of mask wearing, debating the pros and cons, giving insights from decades of life experience, experience that include seeing other health pandemics such as polio. Elfreida offered that swallowing your own bacteria continually on a day-to-day basis from wearing a mask is not healthy.
The family would like to thank everybody for their birthday wishes and the cards sent to Elfrieda Baumung (maiden name Schappert).