Charles Ross McKnight was born May 18, 1928 in Rosetown, Saskatchewan to Ross & Ida McKnight. His early years were spent on the farm at Gunnworth, Saskatchewan. He loved to talk about those early days, growing up with 2 brothers and four sisters. Life on the farm was not easy and many sacrifices were made just to be able to put food on the table. He learned the meaning of Hard Work.

His Mother told of the time when Charles was just a baby and had his first experience with the perils of life in the form of a hailstorm. What happened was that Mom has just laid both Charles and his sister Marjory on the floor for their afternoon nap. Dad was in the field with the four-horse team when suddenly, a fierce looking summer storm arose. Mother could see dad unhitching the horses and beginning a quarter-mile run for the barn shelter and also noted that the barn door was only half open, not nearly wide enough for four horses! She quickly ran from the house, opened the door just as the horses and the hail arrived together. Mother and Dad were trapped in the barn for several minutes til the hail ended. She returned to the house to discover that the hail had broken a window and the shattered glass lay all around, and upon Charles, but he never suffered one scratch!

He also began taking instruction in one of the pleasures of life at the age of 6: smoking. His uncle Bruce, being four years older and very worldly wise, taught Charles and his sisters Marjory and Pearl how to make a cigarette from straw! Of course this had to