Madeline (Perchie) Boyd

Madeline was born in New Westminster, B.C., and arrived in Whitehorse with her mother in the summer of 1934 when she was two years old. Her parents, Howard and Frances, looked after the Braeburn Roadhouse for the White Pass cat trains that were going to and from Dawson and Whitehorse. In December, 1935, they came back to Whitehorse because her mother was expecting a brother, David, in January. Her father worked in the boat building division in Whitehorse where his brother-in-law, Bill Carruthers, was the editor of the Whitehorse Star. She grew up at 210 Wood Street and has continued to live in the Whitehorse area even since.

Madeline attended the old Lambert Street School for grades one to six. After that she went to the Dowell School, a two-storey army building, for grades seven to twelve. With her brother, David, and her best friend, Vimy Yeulet, they would ride their bikes all over the place, downtown and up on the clay cliffs, to the edge of town, which at that time was Jarvis Street. When they heard the blast from the White Pass whistle at five o’clock, they had to get home. Her favourite teacher was Mr. Laurie Todd in grades nine and ten. There was no malicious behavior from the kids, just fun times. The families would look out for each other; everyone knew everybody so it was hard to get into trouble. Some years the Perchie family would return to New Westminster in the winter where they had to rely on ration books. They received free passage with White Pass.

When Madeline was about thirteen or fourteen, she and Phyllis (Lapage) Simpson went over to the place near the old cemetery on Fourth Avenue to rent horses and go riding. No one was around so they went in and saddled up two horses as they had done many times before. When they got back from their ride, did the owner ever give them a blast, but it was not as bad as what Madeline got from her mother when she got home. The girls never did that again.

There were no food rations or stamps in Whitehorse during the Depression. The stores did not have anything frozen or fresh fruit in the winter. Taylor & Drury, and the Northern Commercial stores sold root vegetables, canned and dry goods. In the Burns meat store, meat would be hanging from hooks and bare-naked turkeys hung in the window at Christmas time. Everyone had gardens, hunted and fished for their dinners. All kinds of jams, jellies, rhubarb and berries were put up for the winter. White Pass would bring in large cubes of ice from Bennett Lake and deliver them to households around town for the icebox. When folks were able to get fresh eggs, some thought they were bad as they had not tasted a fresh egg for a very long time.

During the war years, there were soldiers’ tents on the baseball diamond where the federal building is now. The soldiers were coming in on the trains all the time so tents ended up everywhere. On their way to the Lambert Street School, the kids used to steal chocolate bars from the unattended tents. The curling rink on the same property was used for storage and the Athletic Hall became the hospital.

At fifteen years of age, Madeline belonged to the Yukon Ski Runners, a club that was organized at the Ski Bowl across the river behind the hospital. A ski jump was built there by Arne Andersen and John Backie, in 1942. There were no rope tows so a person would only get about two runs in a day. She went to a ski competition in Juneau, Alaska, and missed the weekend when her age group was skiing, so she skied with the Women’s Group.

There were teen parties at the CYO Hall and dancing to records. The young people formed a Young Peoples’ Association (YPA) and had dances every Friday in the YPA Hall located where the T.A. Firth building is now. The Kiwanis Club always sent a chaperone. Jimmy Quong was her favourite chaperone.

Madeline rode a horse called Molly that she rented from Mr. Carmichael. In June, 1950, she asked him if he would take Moly out to Champagne for her to ride in the Champagne Rodeo ladies’ event. She won first prize. Dick Dickson lent her a horse she called Goldie and Mr. Carmichael hauled the horse home for her. Goldie was one of the bucking string and had a big number seven painted on her hip. It took Madeline all summer to get that off.

Madeline’s first job was at Taylor & Drury and she had to promise Charlie Taylor that she would go back to school in the fall. Another job was at the Whitehorse Hospital on Second Avenue, washing dishes for two months at $90.00 a month. It was the worst job she ever had. During grade twelve, Madeline worked at the Whitehorse Star. She graduated in 1951 and attended the Vancouver School of Art for one year. When she came home, she worked for the Air Force as a secretary, typing and using her shorthand in the Supply Department for the summer. Moe Grant taught her how to drive and the police would give the driving tests. They would have the driver go half way up the two-mile hill, stop, and then start again to finish going up the hill. That was the test, always the same test.

Madeline met Clive and they were married in August 1952 in the Old Log Church. His family, Herbert and Catherine, owned a chicken farm out at McCrae. The newly married couple rented a place on Jarvis Street and Second Avenue across from the S&A Restaurant for one year. They enjoyed hunting, and fishing together.

Clive staked out a parcel of land beside the Alaska Highway for them. One year after the marriage they purchased the ten-acre property south of Whitehorse where they built houses and later stables. The property was shared by the two Boyd families as the two best friends married the two Boyd brothers. There was no electric power, only propane for stoves and lights. Madeline washed clothes using two square metal tubs with a wringer in between and a handle that she cranked around. They had a well with a galvanized bucket. There was a barrel of water in the house and chemical toilets. One day Yukon Electric came in, and everybody was hooked up to the power, free of charge. The first electric item she bought was a washing machine.

Madeline and Clive had five children: Karren in 1953, Dan in 1955, Robin in 1956, Clifford in 1957 and Tracy in 1960. That was five children in eight years. Madeline was a very busy woman. Both sets of grandparents helped out and lived to see the grandchildren grown. They were good children and did well. Madeline made quilts and sewed most of the children’s coats when they were young.

Madeline started curling with Doreen Wall and Coreen Cyr in the first International Bonspiel in the new curling rink in Whitehorse that her father-in-law, Bert Boyd, with her father Howard Perchie, Ralph Simpson and Laurent Cyr built in 1954. The club sold shares as the membership, and rock fees of $500.00. Because they all looked the same, the rocks and ordinary kitchen brooms had tassels of different colours tied on them so that the teams could recognize their rocks.

Madeline got her first horse at forty and in 1969, was a founding member and president of the Midnight Sun Trail Riders. On June 21st, there was always a midnight ride. There is a picture of them doing the midnight ride on a magazine cover. With her friends— Enid Tait, Clara Sharp and Carol Couch—they would go on the Mile High trail, day ride up to Fish Lake and then up Mt. McIntyre and back down the other side into Porter Creek. They often went from Wolf Creek to Cowley on the old road beside the White Pass train tacks. The club members started bringing in registered thoroughbred horses, such as Arabians, Appaloosas and Morgans.

In 1976, they changed the name to the Yukon Horseman’s Association. They would have gymkhana events and all her children were involved. She had a Doctor’s single two-seater buggy that she used for parades. Madeline made her own saddle with the help of Peter Horsnell. She carved the leather and sewed the whole thing over a stitching pony and working the stitches with two needles. In Haines, Alaska, Madeline won first prize for her work.

One day a bear came on the property up near the house. Madeline called Clive; he came home but the bear was gone. He got down his 306 hunting gun, told his wife to shoot at the knot on a tree and she did. Later when the bear came back to the house, she shot it. The event was in all of the newspapers across Canada. It was a good shot.

Madeline loved horses and always wanted to ride. When she was little she would put a saddle on a barrel and used a log for the head and a two-by-four for the neck. She would ride her horse everywhere. So later on, there were always a stallion and two mares in her stable for breeding purposes. She raised and trained Arabian horses showing them in Alaska and here in Whitehorse. She spent the summers with the horses and the winters she went curling.

In 1988, Madeline curled for Jean Graham and they won the Ladies’ Yukon-NWT Curling Championship (50 years & over) and this enabled them to go to their first Canadian Senior Women’s Curling Championship in Peterborough Ontario. In 2000, she won the Yukon Masters Curling (60 years & over) in Cloverdale B.C. Madeline went on to compete in twelve Canadian Masters Championships (60 years & over). Madeline curled in eleven Masters Championships. In 2009, the Yukon organized to send seniors to the Canada 55+ Games in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She has since gone on to play in nine Senior Games and won a gold and silver medal in Ice curling. Members of her teams were Jean Graham, Arla Repla, Cathy Dugas, Elaine Sumner and Bessie Friesen from Mayo. She also won a silver medal in Lawn Bowling and a bronze in Bocca, a relaxed but strategic game with an ancient lineage played outdoors on a grass area.

Madeline received a certificate for long-standing participation in the Yukon Team for Canada 55+ Games. Clive also curled, playing against B.C. for entry into the Briar. They were a curling family. National Curling Championships took her all across Canada over the years. On June 17, 2007, she was presented with the Governor General’s award from the Right Honorable Micahaela Jean, for having made a significant contribution to the Yukon.

In November, 2012, Madeline and Clive came home and everything looked fine until Clive opened the door; black smoke came pouring out. They lost just about everything and had to rebuild.

Special times for Madeline are being surrounded by her family. The two families still live on the property today. The landscape is beautifully laid out with spacious lawns, gardens and a greenhouse along with other out-buildings. The huge trees provide shading in the summer and the inviting deck is a sanctuary of peace, with a cup of tea.

Madeline lost Clive on December 12, 2012.

Madeline set up a practice bowling green on her property. She and Arla Repla went to the Canada 55+ Games in August 2016, and they brought home a silver medal in Lawn Bowling. She still continues to represent the Yukon. She received a letter of commendation from the Premier of the Yukon for her accomplishments on the national stage.

The motivation and what is important to her, of course, has always been her family. She has twelve grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Four of her children live in Whitehorse and one daughter married a farmer and lives in Saskatchewan. Family is her reason for staying here in the Yukon.

Madeline Boyd is full of vitality, vigour and strength. She is an inspiration to other women. The Yukon is a better place because of this woman. She has made a difference.

And Madeline says —Just remember to wake up on the right side of the grass.