2006

HANK THE HOBO

(NORM MERKLE)

Norman Merkel ( Hank the Hobo) was born in a log cabin and delivered by a midwife at Colinton, Alberta on July 18, l915. He went through Grade 8 but his main hobby was strumming his guitar and singing! He started playing dances at age 14 with local kids and grown ups as it was one way to get into the dances. There were lots of old Swedes around with accordions and he learned to play and mimic their >> accents.  He bought his first accordion, a big white Horner, with the money he earned on a threshing crew. He later bought his first guitar from the Eatons catalog. He left home at age 14 and went to Edmonton and returned home  every six months. He left home for good at 18. At 19 he joined the Clifford Entertainers Vaudeville group. It was then that he started with the character of the Silly Kid and Ole the Swede which was to lead into the Hank the Hobo character. He always said that he learned his timing and stage presence from those "old vaudville performers".  He  was on the first road show to tour through the Peace River District in 1935. He toured the Peace River five times from Edmonton as far north as  Ft. St. John. He toured through Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba until 1940.  In the winter, for 3 to 4 months, when he couldn't tour, he did a 15 minute show every day on radio station CJCA sponsored by the Army  & Navy stores. He also did Sunday night concerts at  the Empire Theatre that seated 2500 people; and they were packed houses.  He moved his family to B.C. in 1941. He joined the army in 1943 and served for 2 1/2 years. He belonged to the Canadian Maritime Army Show for 6 months. They toured around the Maritimes entertaining on  the military bases. At this time he was doing Hank the Hobo routines by himself. Around the late 1940's he started playing throughout the Vancouver  area in Legions and Army & Navy clubs. When the "Sons of the Delta" band was formed the first group was made up of Ken MacLaughlin, Dan Bissonette & Harold (Doc) Gage. He later added Len Ryder & Ernie Straiton.This band also did the circuit of all the local Legions & Army & Navy clubs.  The clubs, in those days were not allowed to have dancing so the venues were all "shows". The group played a good mixture of "Country,  Old Time and Western Swing Music". The "Sons Of The Delta" played the Hollywood Bowl in New Westminster every week-end for about six years. These were some of his favorite years as an entertainer. When the group disbanded he played with many other talented musicians. Just to name a few are Ken Walrod, Stan Findlay, Ed King, Bruce Thompson and Roy Christianson. In the mid 60's he joined Len Ryder playing at "The New Frontier  Club" in Waikiki, Hawaii. Len recalls that Hank absolutely "knocked 'em dead" with his "down home" style of stories and comedy. Returning to the Vancouver area he added Margy Messer & Monty Ray to his group while nearing the end of his career. I am sure there are many more names in the entertainment field that could be been named.  In 1977, he was awarded the "Quarter Century Award" at the B.C. Country Music Awards,  which were then called the "Danny Awards". He was very touched to have received this award.  Over the years, he played for every type of event imaginable from  the far reaches of our country to the balmy beaches of Hawaii, sometimes with a band and many times as a single act. His great love was "pickin and grinnin" and telling jokes. He was a well respected  entertainer and had a great following. Many of the people in this audience have seen his act so many times they knew all the jokes. They just enjoyed his gift for telling these sometimes corny, off colour jokes over and over again. He enjoyed doing his act as much as  the audience enjoyed watching it  In the 1980's as his health started to take a turn, he started winding down but still played the odd job and loved having "jam sessions" with his old pals. Over the past while I've been recalling Hank's life I have heard some pretty funny and outrageous stories about his antics. It seems  that the the musicians and entertainers with whom he worked respected him immensly and enjoyed their association with him. They all thought  he was a great guy and great crowd pleaser.  If he was here tonight to be inducted into the British Columbia  Country Music Hall of Fame he would be truly honoured. He would also be happy to be sharing the stage with these other nine musicians especially Len and Ernie as they go back to the early days doing the Legions, Army & Navys and Hollywood Bowl in the 1950's.  So on behalf of Hank, thank you so much for this honor.  Hank passed away on July 17,1984 one day before his 69th birthday. He is survived by his son, daughter, 5 grandchildren and 9  great-grandchildren.