Al Oeming’s Game Farm

After retiring, my dad’s brother, Uncle Clayt and his wife, Aunt Doris enjoyed travelling extensively locally and internationally. When exploring Alberta, they would load their camper onto their half-ton truck, turning it into a comfortable home on wheels. I think it seemed so remarkable to us because our family didn’t travel. They never had children so occasionally, one or more of us nieces and nephews would get an invitation to join them on a road trip. The one I remember the most was in 1962, to Al Oeming’s Game Farm near Sherwood Park, which had first opened its gates in 1959. Not only did we get to check out the legendary camper, but we cruised in the truck that hauled it; talk about double-decker excitement! Honestly, to us it was like hitching a ride with a rock star on wheels.

It was a long trip (to us). Aunt Doris drove and brother, Alex and I sat in the middle of the bench seat and Uncle Clayt sat by the passenger window. They would each point out interesting sites along the way (unless they were talking about something else and missed it). The rest of the time, Uncle Clayt spent the miles loudly singing “Ramblin’ Rose”, his voice echoing through the truck like a one-man concert. You know when a song gets stuck in your head and you can’t shake it? Well, that was what was happening to him; except this was less an earworm and more a full-blown musical infestation, I mean presentation!!! We became dead silent, as if someone pressed the mute button on reality. By the fifth repeat, his voice was fading in and out, and Alex threatened to ride in the back just for some peace and quiet (under his breath of course, we weren’t allowed to speak disrespectful to adults). Uncle Clayt continued his “rambling” with Ramblin’ Rose insisting it improved “her” driving. After all, nothing says ‘Canadian road trip’ like a chorus echoing through the miles of highway. Aunt Doris just rolled her eyes and said nothing.

We were excited when we arrived at the Game Farm, and the tour was quite educational, seeing all those animals we had never seen before. My favorite animal was the giraffe. Alex’s was the pet cheetah. We walked for a long distance that day and spent many hours there.

The ride home was much the same, Aunt Doris drove and Uncle Clayt sang “Ramblin’ Rose”. Halfway home, we stopped at a restaurant along the highway for a lunch. Alex and I got to order a bottle of pop with our lunch which was a huge treat in those days.

As I was trying to remember more about Al Oeming’s Game Farm, I googled an article that was in the Globe and Mail in April 2014. It says he had Siberian tigers, lions, cheetahs, snow leopards, jaguars, and pumas. Al Oeming’s trademark was a cheetah named Tawana that he took to Canadian high schools. (If you want to read some entertaining stories about Al Oeming and Tawana visiting schools, check out “Provincial Archives of Alberta”, postings on Facebook and possibly other media.)

The Game Farm was also home to musk ox, European bison, alpacas, llamas, vicunas, and guanacos, huge mountain gorillas which ran around a walled compound, wolf pack, and a colony of prairie dogs. The article said the Game Farm was believed to be the world’s largest private animal collection, drawing thousands of visitors.

Al Oeming was a zoologist, and the game farm also had breeding and research programs for rare wild animals. At a time when urban zoos crammed animals into small enclosures, Al Oeming took great pride in his large compounds. His open spaces alone were 500-acres.

I wonder how many young adventurers who visited Al Oeming’s Game Farm or received a visit from him and his cheetah at their school, decided to be a zoologist when they grew up. Maybe I’m talking about you, dear reader. Share your story.