INTERVIEW – January 10, 2015

Born and raised in Alberta, Gloria Ellis has spent her whole life here as well! Earlier on her husband was a catskinner / large equipment operator and so they have lived in a lot of different communities, including Virginia Hills, Whitecourt, Edson, Rocky Mountain House, Drayton Valley, Stony Plain and Red Deer. They have raised Simmental beef cattle on the ranch where they have lived for 45 years, in Carnwood, AB.

Gloria and Ron have been married for 54 years, so congratulations from the Magnolia Community Club!

When Gloria was growing up, her family, including 11 kids, were very musical. Gloria played guitars and the banjo. She also played quite a bit of ball. She and her sister entered a “Search for Talent” contest at a hall in Thorsby when she was younger. They both sang and played guitars. One of the songs they sang was “I Heard the Bluebird Sing” and they ended up winning 2nd prize.

She met her husband, Ron, while skating. She eventually taught him to play the Spanish guitar. He already played the Hawaiian guitar before they met, as well as the fiddle, banjo and mouth organ.

One evening, Gloria and Ron were traveling to Rocky Rapids to play cards and stopped at Denpro where they passed by the hall there. They heard music coming from the hall and saw that there were quite a few people there. It turns out that there was a Jamboree going on! They decided to stay and listen to what was going on. The next time there was a Jamboree at Denpro, Gloria and Ron took their instruments and started sharing their talent with the others. They started attending other Jamborees as well, at Entwistle and Magnolia, and continuing at Denpro.

Gloria and Ron have since made very close friendships with people involved in the Jamborees, which have been a very strong influence in both of their lives.
Some of Gloria’s favorite artists are Kitty Wells – video of her singing,
Emmy Lou Harris – video of her singing,
and Hank Williams, – video of him singing.

Some of her favorite songs are “Be All Smiles” – video by Carlene Carter
and “How Far is Heaven” – video of Kitty Wells.

Gloria’s motto in her life is: “Hard work and a positive attitude gets you through”.