Re: Ski Factory Ski Hill and Hostel and assorted topics re Nipigon
|
Mrs.
Avaline Larsen |
March 23rd, 2006
May 5th, 2006
June 20th, 2006
I came in 1944 to teach Grade Two. It turned out to be Grade 2 and 3 and we had
big class rooms at that time. You
usually had forty. When they were
building Pine Portage I had fifty-four students all crammed in and there was
nothing you could do. And they used –
where the Mrs. Harbinson’s house is, well that was the Red Cross Centre during
the war and my husband’s father gave that property to the Red Cross because his
house burned down. When I came here his
house was there and it burned in 1946.
Now there is a thing up there saying it was the Ski Factory. That was husband’s father. I had a class of about forty some and it was
a mixture of senior primer and Grade two, which was the advanced Grade One kid
that didn’t make it the first year in Grade One and had to have a little bit
more background. And after that I only
had Grade Two. One year I had Grade One
but usually I had Grade Two. I taught
for seven years that’s all. I taught
once in that Red Cross Center after my father-in-law’s house burned down and he
was next to the lumber lot yard so they couldn’t get any insurance. Well it was so high it was prohibited. That
was just the beginning of the war and stuff.
The insurance was very high because they piled all the lumber in the
empty lot next to his. It’s where Home
Hardware is today and it was Beaver Lumber and they bought that lot for those
purposes. And the wino guys used to go
and drink and smoke there and my mother-in-law always said she was afraid it
was going to burn and sure enough the lumber yard caught on fire one summer day
and burned their house down. And they
didn’t have any insurance. So he gave
the land to the Red Cross because he was very patriotic and they built the Red
Cross building on there and I taught in there.
When the school got so full when they started to expand to Pine Portage
and make the dam up there we just couldn’t house them at all in George O’Neill
school it was small then. I came before
they put the addition on to it. It was
only four rooms upstairs. So my
father-in-law built a house up here on McKirdy Avenue two doors down from
Bernice Laurila. He had a sawmill
business as well as the ski factory which was a side line that he had. Actually the rough lumber in this house is
all from his sawmill. We built this
house in 1951. This was already McKirdy
Avenue was just starting to open up a bit and Anne Moore’s house was there five
or ten years before. Domtar had built a
few houses along here; I think it was called Domtar or whatever it was called
then. We bought this house and then we
added on to it – my husband put this addition on. We got married in 1947.
Well
when you get out of Teacher’s College you apply and you couldn’t get into the
city very easily. Just like Lillian she
went to Hurkett first. I had put out all
kinds of applications for positions and got a lot places like Red Lake and I
thought Nipigon its closer. I was lucky
I got the job here. Then I married and
worked for seven years, then I supply taught for a while. I have a genetic sight impairment that wasn’t
too. Well it didn’t hamper me too much
until I was a forty or forty-five it was progressive and it’s called retinitis
pigmentosis. Those guys on the motorcycles
ride for that but mine is the atypical type in so far as that the central
vision is damaged. It’s the retina of
the eye that gets holes in it and its not something lacking in the genes. It deteriorates the retina. And so usually though people with retinitis
pigmentosis have tunnel vision, their peripheral is all wrecked first well mine
is the opposite and I went to the Mayo Clinic they told me that. Its not too common type I have. We haven’t traced in the family except that
it could be a mutation – because my mother was RH negative with a strange
factor and my dad was RH negative and it just could be that sometimes you get
mutations. The gene is only passed
through the woman – they only discovered that gene. For certain diseases they can only be passed
through the female because my sister has it too and when her son was getting
married about ten years ago we were getting the genealogy all checked out at
the Sick Children’s Hospital because he didn’t want to have children that this
would be passed on to. They told him
that only through the female – the mitochondria gene – that’s the only one that
be passed by a woman. It started to get
bad when I was around fifty. I used to
have to use a magnifying glass then I couldn’t even use that. Luckily I have four boys because I wasn’t
aware of that at the time – I have only one possibility that it could passed on
and my daughter is fine and I have one granddaughter and she says she has no
plans to get married or have children.
They are now starting to do surgery in the last few years in Singapore
where they put paper thin tissue in behind and something like a microchip and
that has made new retina for people. And
then at the Mayo Clinic they’re doing something with stem cells but then Bush
came in and wouldn’t let them do the research anymore because they were doing
something with injecting stem cells in the eye.
But I think I’m kind of old – I’m going to be 82 April 3. I think I’ll just live with it. Well if it something I knew that I could go
and have done but to go and experiment – I don’t know and its sixty thousand
bucks an eye but that will probably come down and it would be worth it anyhow
if it would give you sight out of one eye.
And in another ten years there will be something to help.
When I came to Nipigon it was a very
flourishing town. It was lively and I
liked it here a lot. We would have dances and lots of fun going and bowling. And hiking – nature is so nice here. So then I lived with Lillian Wolter for a
while. Teachers usually lived together
and we had an apartment above the shoemaker’s shop. The cobbler was a real cobbler from Finland,
Mr. Tuomaala and he made the boots for the bush guys. Really good boots and he made them from
scratch. He was a real shoemaker. We enjoyed living with them. There were Finnish people in Thunder Bay but
not as many as here and there weren’t very many Swedes here. Actually when Ron’s mom came, Ron was two
years old and his dad had been here. Ron
was born in 1923 and his dad was there for his birth in April and then he came
over here and he worked. The first place he worked was building the Chalet
Bungalow Lodge for the CPR. He was a
carpenter and then he got into woods business after. He came with relatives in the States. A lot of them had moved to Lundsen and around
North Dakota. So he came there first and
then he came to a relative in Thunder Bay called Johnson and he built where the
Funeral Home right now. That was his
Uncle that built that. It was funny –
kind of ironic his sister died a few months after Ron died. April 14th last year and his
sister – she lived in Thunder Bay and she wasn’t looking too well for a while
but anyhow she died in September. It was
awfully short to me – and she’s younger than I am.
So
then Ron’s sister – she had made her own funeral arrangements and then the
Funeral Director and she were talking and it was her uncle that had built the
Habourview Funeral Home. Eric Johnson
was his name and that’s where he had his apartment house and then it became the
Institute for the Blind after that and they added on to it and then it’s become
Harborview so it was kind of ironic that she was in there talking and she
didn’t know the history. The Funeral
Director will never forget her because she had gone over so many times to make
sure everything was right for her funeral – every detail – she was a
perfectionist.
We
called the school – Nipigon Consolidated.
There was a good mix of kids because we had Catholics and Protestants
together and that was very good I thought and even the kids thought it was
because there was no division. They all
experienced school together and we had a few from the reserve, quite a
few. There was a school on the reserve
but some kids came to our school. Maybe
they lived down at the landing closer to town.
And there were lots of kids with a mixed population here like there were
some Ukrainians. After the war we got
more kids and they bused the kids from out in the country like Cameron Falls
road. The children would have their
lunches too. I enjoyed it and we always
had mostly single women teaching. That
was the day when – just getting over during the war, they wouldn’t let married
women teach. They didn’t want them and
married women teachers were pretty well the last resort. The women were supposed to be home with their
kids and raise them up so they wouldn’t be bratty in school. We had to teach the Lord’s Prayer that was
mandatory. We had to have opening
exercises and we had to include the Lord’s Prayer and a hymn. Mandatory was the Lord’s Prayer and God Save
the King. And the strap, you gave it on
your own. If you thought it was
appropriate then a teacher would take that action. I think I gave the strap once it wasn’t my
favorite type of punishment. I sometimes
took it out and showed it to the students – especially those wild boys. I think I was such a little thing that –
there I am in that picture with the gun…see how small I was. So I was pretty small – I weighed a hundred
and eight pounds and I was eighteen years old.
The
first time I saw my husband to be I taught his brother Kenny and he was in
Grade 3 I guess that’s when I had the Grade 2 and 3 classes. I was very patriotic too so I put red, white
and blue streamers all around the black bulletin board. I think I had an ulterior motive though. So all the gals would come in to see who was
good looking and take a look at all the brothers and male relatives that would
come in to look at these streamers. I
think I was the only one that did that.
Anyhow Ron Ruth was a friend of his so I thought the other guy was
better looking actually but my husband was real fresh and I met him because I
ordered some skis from the ski factory.
And he had a look at me and he offered to deliver them for his dad and
his dad thought it was kind of unusual.
He had never offered to that before.
So he delivered my skis to the shoemaker shop and I remember him
bringing them up and being very gentle with them. So that was the first time I saw him! And then we went skating at the outdoor rink
which was over on First Street right where the old curling rink was – pardon me
it was next to Beaver Lumber. He had his
eye on me so he skated with me, took me out for coffee after and that was the
beginning.
We
used to go to lots of dances. They had
dances at the drop of a hat with good bands.
The guys always had their bottles – there was no official drinking but
not too many of them had something to sip on.
We didn’t know about it but we got suspicious after a few dances. The guys around Nipigon always went to the
bars. The bars were thriving. The men always went there after work no
matter where they worked they congregated – they were young – in their 20’s and
that. That was the place to go! There was the men’s bar and women’s bar –
they were separated. I never went to the
bar in Nipigon at that time – I wasn’t interested and teachers didn’t do
that. And if you smoked you kind of hid
it too. I never smoked a lot but I had
to look like a movie star. We were very
much influenced by the movies. We used
to call the theatre the Blue Lagoon. It
was down where Mike’s Mart is – that was thriving. That’s where we went for our movies and it
was a pretty shaky outfit. You know bad
chairs to sit in and you know these types of things. We called it the Blue Lagoon because it was
painted blue inside – I don’t think it was blue on the outside. That’s where we had all the dances at the
theatre. The bands were pretty good – the
music was modern peppy – swing stuff.
And somebody would always sing.
The musicians weren’t too bad actually.
We got
married in Thunder Bay because my family was in Thunder Bay. I went and visited them as often as I could
when I was teaching. We would go home on
the train. The train was wonderful and
so often we would go on the train.
Lillian had a car often because she was married to a fellow from Hurkett
and if not we would take the bus or a train.
The train would stop and pick up people at McKenzie and stuff like
that. I lived right off Oliver Road when
I was young – it was called Wright Avenue next to the Oliver Road Centre. That was a big field when I was there with
birch trees.
My
cousin worked up in Geraldton during the thriving period. I used to get letters from her. Cooks from Thunder Bay had a restaurant – they
had a grill there. They had one Thunder
Bay. She used to work as a cook in
Thunder Bay and so she went to Geraldton and she stayed there until after the
war when things started to change. Then
she went to Toronto and she just died last year. She was much older than I was. She was eighty-eight or something like
that. Look at Anne Moore isn’t she doing
great? She’s an inspiration. She walks and she has good muscles.
I did
go back to work after I got married full time for a few years – about three
years. I got married in 1947 and we
built this house in 1951 and that was the year I retired. And even when I was here a teacher had a
nervous breakdown and I went then for six months just to help. Beryl Tuomaala didn’t come from England – she
was supposed to come for September then I went in. I was always pregnant when I went in for
those situations. The School Board lady
was a doctor’s wife along the street.
Dr. Jefferies wife – she would come over and help. And then I had Ron’s mother along the street
and she would always help me out so that was OK.
Ron
worked for his dad at the sawmill – he didn’t do much at the ski factory, he
did the sawmill mostly.
We sponsored Isadore Wadow’s art show
and he was selling his painting for $20.
We looked at them and all admired them and you know how famous they are
now. None of us like Lillian Wolter and
a bunch of us were all strictly along with families buying houses and stuff. We
didn’t buy any of those paintings. Then
when I heard about Isadore and he was painting, I thought I would go and ask
him if he would paint a picture for me, so I went down and I think Bernice
Laurila took me. He had moved here from
wherever he came from – he would be all around.
He used to tell us where he was but I can’t really remember the places
where he lived but they trapping and he slept out in tent in the bush at forty
below. So I went there and unfortunately
I didn’t realize his father had just died and it was kind of a funeral thing
and they were all out in the yard and I was kind of embarrassed when I found
out that his father had just passed away.
But he was very friendly – and he came and talked to me and said he
would come and see me after and I told him where I lived. He came, he was always coming downtown and he
came up here. Then I got him to paint
these ones on the plywood. And so he did
those and I have quite a few of his actually.
He used to come here because he liked to get a ride home from Ron. Ron would be watching TV and there would be a
knock on the door and there would be Isadore all loaded and then he would come
to bring pictures too when he needed money for something. Some of them were excellent and some of them
weren’t so good. He would be drinking
and that was his ambition to get a painting sold for more drinking money. So we got to know him very well because my
husband used to drive him home. Then he
would come over sometimes when he wasn’t out drinking and on that one over
there, the snake – he didn’t put the egg on it and he always used come here and
say “I’m happy you hang my pictures”.
Then he said “you know I forgot the egg on that one” – I didn’t have it
here then. He said “You know that snake
I didn’t have time, I ran out of paint – didn’t do the egg”. And I said “oh well then I have to have the
egg Isadore”. So I set him all up in the
basement and painted the egg on.
And I used to write for the
newspaper. Comical Urinal! That’s in bad taste (laughs)! Sometimes I forget to call it the Chronicle
Journal because I’ve referred to it as the other name for so long. So I wrote for a long time for the Chronicle
Journal – I did articles on Isadore Wadow and the history of the Prince of
Whales when he had gone to the Chalet Bungalow Lodge and he fished when he was
here in 1919. And it was in the museum
for a long time but I think it all burned up – I’ve got all my articles. I have a lot of history in interviews. I’ve done lots people that are gone now including
the curator of the museum – the initiator Buzz Lein. I have his interview! I have lots of tapes. I do think these should be in the museum –
maybe there could be a little audio corner of some kind. I have them saved and I hope they’re still
good. I saved them because it was all of
interest to the history of Nipigon. I also
have the history of the Loftquist family of Loftquist Lake. When I sent articles into the paper sometimes
they published but I do have the originals.
I had a wonderful picture from Mr. Everett – he gave to me. I was a good friend’s of Mr. Everett too
because I taught Wallace his son and so he gave me a copy of the Prince of
Whales. It’s a wonderful picture, the
Prince is in a trench coat standing in the canoe and I was to dumb not to know
– in those days we weren’t printing any pictures at home there was no
computers. I trusted them, I sent up the
picture and it wasn’t a negative. And so
when I asked Gerry Poling, my stuff came back with my pictures and negative and
everything once a month – there was no picture of the Prince of Whales. So I phoned Gerry and I said “where is my
picture of the Prince of Whales?” “Oh
must be around here somewhere, I’ll look it up”. Never found it – somebody snitched it. That was madding! You learn the hard way. Helen my sister-in-law would know a lot – she
had a lot of pictures and she was going to show them to people and label who
are in the pictures. Ron well he had
Alzheimer’s, just for about a year. I
don’t think he really had Alzheimer’s anyhow – I think he had mad cow
disease! Ron liked steak and we were in
England at that time – I don’t know but it wasn’t typical Alzheimer’s. Even the doctor said he thought it was a
number of strokes or something because he always knew, he hallucinated though. He had something wrong with the brain neurons
that weren’t going right. Even my niece
that is a nurse said it was so a typical of Alzheimer’s. They misdiagnosing Alzheimer in the states
like crazy and even in Canada.
I’m
a vegetarian. I eat free ranging turkey
that my son-in-law gets. I eat white
fish once in a while. My son was here
for dinner so he ate most of it. That’s
why I take quite an array of vitamins.
I’m also part of the book club. I
have a friend who comes and picks me up.
The
Chalet Bungalow Lodge, well my father-in-law worked on that. I’ll tell you that was a wonderful classy CPR
Lodge. They had white linens and silver
and the waiters dressed up, it was just like an extension of their first class
on the train and their first class hotels – Prince Arthur and all those. The Kellough brothers came at one time and
stayed there. It had a beautiful
fireplace. All the ritzy rich people
came to go fishing up the Nipigon River and they had their guides. But you got off at the station – they didn’t
get off at our regular Nipigon CPR station.
They had a central station across the river and it was well built little
station and they got off there. Now do
you know where that station is today?
It’s right on Hudson Street – and it’s a little wee house – Toivo
Laurila owned before and it’s gone through a few hands since then. Its three rooms – it’s a tiny little
house. Going down Hudson Street on the
left hand side you know who lives in there are Dabbas I don’t know if you know
them. Its right at the – there’s a big
house facing Fifth Street, the very next one.
That was the old station. Its
well built I’m sure because they wouldn’t have moved it across the tracks. Its still there and it has no basement but it
has a little living room when you go in because it was a just a waiting room, a
little kitchen behind and on the left hand side was a little bedroom. Toivo Laurila when he and his wife separated
bought that house and he lived in there.
He left her the big house up here on the hill.
You
should ask Anne Moore of the “ladies of the night” that were here. She’s told me about it! I don’t think she’ll probably tell you. She showed me where the house was down where
Riverside goes down that house – right behind the Main Street, where there’s
some houses there. One of those
houses! We had prostitutes here for sure
because the bush men came in. And of
course they lived in Thunder Bay too.
And when I was growing up I used to hear my mom whispering about “old
Mags”, she lived right where Intercity, just where you cross that bridge on
Fort William Road. We used to look at it
when we would be on the street car we’d have to change in Fort William when
they were two cities. We would have to
get off and wait for another train and that was “old Mags” house and that’s
where the prostitutes live. It was a
great brick house right across the bridge and everybody knew where that
was. It was a thriving business. And she was quite the woman – I guess they
got stories about her in the old museum there in Thunder Bay.
When I
was doing research on some of the stuff here, Cynthia and I went over to the
Thunder Bay museum and we talked to the curator (Tory) there and he was so
disgusted with Nipigon. He was so mad
because they buried the powder house and that was during Brennan’s time – they
put that turbine right on top of it from Cameron Falls. Avery said it’s a good thing they buried it
because probably it would have been knocked down. When I first came here we used to go and sit
in there – the old Powder House.
Everybody went there, and Molly Kingston said they all went and played
in it too. They did the archeological
dig for two years and then there was more work to be done and Tory was very
disgusted with Nipigon because he had approached Jerry Brennan once and the
answer was no. There are so many missed
opportunities. We could have integrated
with “old Fort William” and stuff like that because we were a viable part of
the fur trade here. They should have
done something to the Powder House burying it was a big mistake. We can still do something…I think we should
integrate with the First Nation. If we
could get together and even use the old theatre or something and do
something. Everything is crumbling away
– its so discouraging.
After
my father-in-law finished at the Chalet Lodge, he went to work at Cameron Falls
building houses and stuff. And he
brought Ron and his mom here the next year.
He came in 1925. Ron was born in
Sweden. They came on the CNR. They came across on a boat to Halifax and how
good the nurses were that meant the immigrants.
They were volunteers I guess, Salvation Army and different ones to
help. They took the baby away and
cleaned him all up and then she got on a train and in Sweden where she lived
they had bathrooms and electricity and everything and she thought the cities
didn’t look too bad but then when she started heading into the north. It was all trees and no lights, she thought
“oh my god, where am I”? And so when
they took her off the train – she was supposed to go to the CN station down
there and Poppa was there with the Ole Taxi they had. It was called Maki…I forget his name, anyhow
he had the taxi down waiting for her but the conductor felt sorry for her
because she had this baby and she was so lost looking, so he said “well here is
Nipigon”. She couldn’t speak any
English. “I’ll put you off right here
the town is right here” rather than taking her down to the station which was
out of the town. So she was put off
there on the banks down there by that bridge that goes across to the Marina and
she said she saw little First Nation kids looking from the banks at her and she
was all terrified. There was nobody to
meet her and she was put off in the bush – it was all bushes around there then. And then her husband inquired at the train
where she was and the conductor told him that he had put off there because he
thought it was handier for her. So he
got this Rinta Maki’s Taxi came speeding up and she saw this big cloud of dust
coming, she was so happy to see that taxi which was the only one in Nipigon in
1925.
They
lived in a little rented house that was the RCMP house, behind where the Legion
is now. It was a little two room house I
guess that the RCMP lived in. The RCMP
fellow was responsible for Nipigon then.
They moved the RCMP to another building, I think up across from where
Dr. Harvey’s office was at the end of the street on Fourth Street up from the
Home Hardware. So then they rented that
for a couple of years then Poppa (Eric) built the house that got burned
down. She said there was no running water,
no telephones like they had in Sweden, no electricity – so it was pretty hard
to adjust to. Then she had Mrs. Ahl who
was a neighbor and they were Swedes too.
She started to learn English from Mrs. Ahl and Poppa would come home and
she would say “I know how to speak English now”. He would ask her what she could say. She would say “stoven”; she added an “n” on
everything! The Swansons were Swedes and
they had a mink farm and they were very good friends. Everybody got along! And Petersons were another family, and Torey
Petersen married a Finnish lady. The
Finns and Swedes always had a bit rivalry anyhow and the Norwegians thought
they were the top and the Swedes thought they were better than the Finns etc.
So we
went to Sweden three times and we went to Finland too. It was wonderful because Ron had a lot of
relatives there and we still keep in touch.
We also took the children when they were young. We went to England one summer and stayed for
six weeks in London. I have relatives in
Jamaica so we went there often. My
cousin was Prime Minister. He’s the
opposition now I think. His mother is my
mom’s first cousin. My mother came from
Jamaica actually. We have ties there so
off we went. It’s not a good country if
you are a socialist they were very conservative and lots of money there. I couldn’t live there without making
changes. Its such a beautiful country
and its so exploited.
Guess
we started the hostel here. We had a
woman at the hospital and she took the place of Judy Tines – she worked at the
hospital. Anyway her sister was lady
from Terrace Bay – Dr. Aidy was there during that time. So one of his daughters Pamela was on our
hospital committee and we had Conference in Sault St. Marie and so we picked
her up in Terrace Bay. When Ron was sick
this lady took Judy’s place over at the hospital and she was looking after Ron
and then she’s head of the placement – the extended care unit of the
hospital. And she was talking to me and
that she grew up around here and she now lives in Rossport and drives everyday
to work. But she told me she grew up in
Terrace Bay and I said “oh I only knew one person in Terrace and that was
Pamela Aidy. She replied “that’s my sister”. Apparently Pamela lives in Schreiber now and
is married and has children. I remember
when we brought Pamela home; she said “you know what I really enjoyed traveled
with you people so much because you don’t fight”. She meant my husband Ron and I, we never
fought! How Pamela got involved with the
Hostel because her mother used to go down from Terrace Bay to the highway and
look for people to give sandwiches and stuff.
Like young hippies traveling and she said that she took many of them
home to the basement to sleep. So she
was doing the same thing that we were and that’s how Pamela got involved. I really want to write about it, when I’m
back on my computer. That house is weird
– it doesn’t leak but the basement is falling from under it and I mean it’s
really sad. But that roof never leaked –
it’s made by Finn people. They made that
metal roof and I think that’s the first go round for metal roofs. So Mr. Everett said he would rent it to us
and we had all the paper work done for the little group. And then he called me at home and said “Mrs.
Larsen I’d be proud to rent it to you because I’m a good liberal.” But he said “I have hostility from my people
living here, they don’t want the hostel across from us”. He had a little encampment (rental house
place at Everettville) at that place right across from the house we wanted. Mr. Everett went on “because they’re afraid
of the hippies and all this stuff”. I
said “well Mr. Everett we have everything ready”. So I asked him “will you sell it?” He said “ya I’ll sell it”. He said I don’t that house anyhow because
it’s a lot of work and he just liked his Everettville. So I said “I think I’ll buy it”. I can’t remember what he charged for it but
it wasn’t a lot and we bought it. Mr.
Everett was renting it up to that point.
We were able to function in that house.
We had an outhouse and then the government paid for a new out house
there. And we had a well. It also had kitchen and they had to take
turns. Well it was just like sandwiches
they made and coffee, and there were benches and picnic tables to eat on. I hope I can find some pictures of the
hostel.
We
had that “tent city” was down below and we had to have someone there
twenty-fours a day. Well at night for
security – but no we never had any incidents of anything. Even when the motorcycle gangs came one time,
they came there and we were kind of afraid but I mean they weren’t that
bad. They didn’t do anything they just
had a cup of coffee and moved on.
The
Hostel moved to Cameron Falls for one year because of the Deschamps lived there
with two little children. The hostel
closed around the end of September and they had wanted to rent for the winter
and I said well you will have to look again in the spring. Housing was hard to get believe it or not! And too expensive housing – and he worked she
didn’t. So when the spring came they
couldn’t move because they couldn’t find another place and they had two kids so
then we had to look for another place.
And it wasn’t so handy on the Cameron Falls Road. We had to put a big sign and a lot of them
went there. It was the Lanko’s house
there, and the father was in the Extended Care Ward. We had a big field there for all those who
came but it was off the beaten track.
People had to walk down the Cameron Falls Road and there weren’t any
cars to give them rides so it wasn’t very convenient. Then the next year it went back to the
original house and then for two years it still operated. Then there wasn’t any more funding and the
hippie generation. They all cut their
hair and changed their professions (laughs).
That’s how my daughter met her husband – he was coming from California
where his sister had been and he went off and left his father an Anglican
Minister in downtown Montreal. He has
St. John’s the Evangelist, one of the biggest and oldest churches there and the
parents were very straight and very fussy about their own son. They had three girls and one son and Chris
rebelled and ran away. His sister was in
clothing or something in San Francisco and he hitch hiked down there and let
his hair grow and away he went. He was
on his way back to Montreal when he stopped here. Cynthia was working at the hostel and he must
have fallen for Cyn and her for him. One
of the helpers – Susan Wheeler had to vacation with her parents and we needed
extra help at the hostel and so Chris offered his services. And he stayed and worked for a couple of
weeks here and then he moved to Nipigon because Cynthia was here. Eventually they got married but it didn’t
last too long. He’s back in Montreal now
and his dad is retired. They’re a
wonderful family but just so intolerant of anything – they wanted their son in
the church. There were lots of these
rebellious kids around. They had an
outlet that way (hostel).
When
I came to teach here in 1944 – there was no Terrace Bay and Marathon was just
starting up. I went to a Teacher’s Union
Meeting and we went on the train and there was no road to it. There was a big school in the community just
coming up in 1945. There wasn’t a
Women’s Teachers Federation and we started talks for that. Bernice Laurila was on that committee and we
went anyhow for the meeting. It was just
mud and new buildings so they knew too that they were a hole in the woods. Same with Manitouwadge! People went in there I don’t think with long
term expectations. Of course they
thought the mines were never going to close and I guess they didn’t think much
of the wood ever going either because there wasn’t clear cutting that
time. It was select cutting. Once the resource is gone – it is gone and
it’s the same thing with Cameron Falls.
My husband’s group they’re nearly all
gone. Johnny Ahl is three years younger
than my husband and even Ron there were older ones. He and my husband grew up together. Well there was a small Swedish community here
and Mrs. Ahl was my mother-in-law’s good friend and neighbor down there. Ron lived where the old Ski Factory was and
Ahls lived right down where the church is (Pentecostal Church). They skied – on the other side of the river,
right across that hill; well it used to be all and looked like it got a haircut
over there and its all grown up now. The
entire bush around this thing was all cut and people would ask why is that all
cut? It was a good ski hill and we used
to ski across the river. Now because of
Cameron Falls has opened it up like it has now.
It froze over then it doesn’t freeze now – it’s changed its course. The river wasn’t that wide and we could cross
over on our skis. We used to go after
four, down there ski across and we had to climb up the ski hill. There were three levels and the top was
really a challenge. The only time we
could come down from the top was in February when it was a melting day you know
when you’re skis stuck. Usually most
people climbed to the second level because the top one was quick and then you
leveled off up there. Then the other one
was a little higher and the bottom was a nice gentle slope. And you always to be sure you cut that you
could turn at the bottom because you would ski into the trees and the river was
beyond you. The river was covered over
with ice of course but anyhow there was a bunch of trees there and we had to
learn how to stop on a dime. It was
fun! There was a little ski shack there
with a stove in it. We had a ski
club.
Nipigon
was a very lively town. My goodness! There was always a dance every week and
social activities. The dances in the
school were good, and the plays. There
was a theatrical group but we called it the Drama Club. We had Margaret Banning and she had been on
the stage in Scotland or something. She
was a war bride and she knew a lot about the theatre and she was good. Margaret was a moving force in the Drama Club
and she just got people who liked acting and we had a group that put on plays
and she directed. And we brought in a
director from Thunder Bay. It was fun
and everybody would come out for the plays at the George O’Neill School
although it wasn’t a really good stage.
And before that before I ever came they were doing it in the old Finn
Hall too.
Custi
Lespi would have a lot of history. He
was pretty famous. He was gone when I
moved here but I heard all about him before I ever saw him. I never watched hockey. Well of course we couldn’t watch it on
television then.
