Proud Blonde!

Edmonton, AB/ March 20, 2006

There has been another suspected gang-related death in our growing city. At about 11:30 pm Thursday night in the alley on 29th street, a young man was stabbed to death. He was 16-year-old Andy Scott, a member of the well-known gang, the Royals.

Scott was found with a 20 cm gash under his rib cage. The autopsy results say Scott bled to death in the alley. It is believed that another gang, the Guardians, killed Scott. These two gangs, the Guardians and the Royals, have long been Edmonton’s largest and most feared gangs.

Scott’s family remembers him as a very well behaved kid, but when he was accepted into the Royals he changed. According to his sister, Amy, Andy was always smiling and laughing before he was introduced to the gang life. Then Andy was always partying and doing drugs, which eventually caused him to drop out of school, and ignore his family.

Anyone with information on who caused the death of this young man is asked to call police as soon as possible.

My great-grandparents, Martha and Metero Radesh lived on a small rented farm near Willington, Alberta with Metero’s parents. Martha’s family, originally from the Ukraine, lived on a nearby acreage. Metero and his parents had immigrated to Canada from Romania just a few short years before.

Ed, Martha and Metero’s first child was born in Willington. Another mouth to feed, and not enough money coming in from their small farm, Martha and Metero knew it was time to move. With the advertisements of better, cheaper land being very inviting, it was decided. This move came in 1944 to a larger farm just south of the tiny town of Vermilion.

Accompanied by Metero’s parents, Martha and Metero brought with them nothing more than food, a couple blankets, some clothes, a few small pieces of furniture, and some farm animals. They traveled the grueling trek by horse and wagon while Metero’s dad went on ahead with the old grain truck. The traveling took about 2 weeks but to the travelers felt like an eternity.

They soon got comfortable in their larger homestead and expanded their family. My grandma and her younger brother and sister were born and raised on this larger homestead.