Dennis Bender poses with the May 31, 1944 edition of the Medicine Hat News that features his birth announcement. The amateur historian came into possession of the paper in a circuitous fashion.--News Photo
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews
Stars aligned to connect Hatter Dennis Bender with a copy of the Medicine Hat News from the day he was born, 79 years ago today.
The local retiree and amateur Germans-from-Russia researcher has among his prized artifacts the News edition, dated May 31, 1944.
That includes Bender’s birth notice that morning (it was the afternoon edition) and some reports from the European Front during the Second World War. The D-Day invasion was launched three days later.
But his parents hadn’t saved the edition as a keepsake.
He obtained it in 1995 when a co-worker asked him out of the blue for his father’s name. Her son had found papers in an attic during renovations, and the birth announcements listed proud parents.
Soon, a swap was negotiated with Bender putting up five tins of salmon from his fishing trip to British Columbia that spring.
“We both got a pretty good deal, in my opinion,” he said.
As for content, Bender, who grew up in Hilda, was most interested in ads and especially movie listings – featuring Gene Autry and Bing Crosby titles among others – because a trip to the cinema was a big deal back then.
