Page 20 - 90 Years of Harper's Tire

1950 POPULATION: 132,000
In 1950, the Stampede Corral was built and with its 6,492 shiny new seats it became the largest arena west of Toronto. The following year, wrestler Stu Hart and his wife Helen paid $25,000 for a giant house in Patterson Heights. Hart started training wrestlers including his own sons in the basement, known as The Dungeon. In 1956, Sandy Beach and River Park along the Rideau River finally opened to the public after eight years of infighting and indecision at City Hall. Speaking of City Hall, Harper’s Tire landed a big contract retreading tires for the City buses.
“ Stan was the first of the Harpers that I met and it was at Sunalta School. I got to know him a little better in high school and even better when we started dealing with Harper’s Tire. We, and the next two generations of Campbells, are customers to this day. In our mid-life,
we were two of a four-some in golf, comprising two other graduates from CCI, our high school Central Collegiate Institute, sometimes referred to”by jealous (I’m sure) others as Calgary’s Collection of Idiots.
Don Campbell
“ I graduated high school in 1954. I grew up with Stan and I’ve been dealing with Harper’s Tire for years and years. And my kids too. I am in the local retail business myself and it’s about how you treat people. When people treat you nice
you treat them nice. It’s a two-w”
ay street. A lot of people in the retail game don’t realize that.
Graham O’Connor