Call to Arms: The Story of the Royal Albert

My earliest memory of the Royal Albert was volunteering for the West End Cultural Centre's fundraising tag day. My friend and I were assigned Winnipeg Square... on a Saturday afternoon. We wandered the empty underground halls with our equally empty WECC-stickered milk cartons. After an hour of nothingness, my friend said "screw this, we're going to The Albert."

No one at The Albert seemed to mind that we did our fundraising there that afternoon. All of the regulars gave us at least a few cents, most gave us significantly more. Someone bought 15-year-old me my first Standard and I vaguely remember a marriage proposal. I was mildly frightened of the bathroom. It was one of those iconic first introductions that I'll never forget.