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- Callow Veterans and Invalids Welfare League
- Callow Coaches
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The Walter Callow Wheelchair Bus service for the disabled, one of the first of its kind, began in 1947 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, under the name Callow (pronounced Ka-loo’) Veterans and Invalids Welfare League. The founder and designer, Walter Harrison Callow (1894-1958) was a handicapped veteran of the First World War, part of the Royal Flying Corps who was injured in a plane crash during training in 1917. He designed a new type of bus to accommodate wheelchairs and stretchers, and with the League’s help raised funds by public donation to have the first bus built by West Pubnico Bus Builders in Pubnico, NS in 1947. All from his bed in Camp Hill Veterans’ Hospital in Halifax NS. The League’s mission was to provide transportation for incapacitated persons to attend church services, sporting events, concerts, fairs, and other entertainment events, for free. Incorporated in Nova Scotia in June 1948 as a non-profit organization, the first Executive was Walter Callow, President; R.W. Harris, First Vice-President; G.J. Churchill Second Vice President; J.E. Godwin Third Vice President; G.F.H. MacIntosh, Treasurer; and G.E. Herman, Secretary. In 1953, they incorporated as a national charitable organization, and by 1966, had two self-sustaining branch offices in Lethbridge and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In 1992 the name was shortened to Callow Wheel Chair Buses. In December 2018, the organization ended its bus service due to financial constraints and re-organized itself into the Walter Harris Callow Foundation.
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Created 2023-05-23 Karen White
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Sources
Contents of the fonds.
Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics database accessed on Nov 29, 2018 https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/
1921 Census of Canada accessed on Nov 29, 2018 at Library and Archives Canada
http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&id=e002906703
Callow Wheelchair Buses organization website accessed Oct 31, 2019.
http://www.waltercallow.ca/
“Callow wheelchair bus service to cease operations” article in The Chronicle Herald for December 11, 2018 accessed on October 31, 2019 at https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/local/callow-wheelchair-bus-service-to-cease-operations-267474/