High scoring trio of Pat Swanson, Ernie Chambers, Garry Prusky lead Junior 'B' Huskies to first place early in 1970-71 hockey season

Many played later for Junior "B" Huskies (David Mizuguchi collection)

The Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies were off to a fast start in the 1970-71 season finding themselves "all alone in top spot" after two weeks of play in the International Junior "B" Hockey League, according to Keith 'Buddy' Swanson, who doubled as hockey writer for the Chapleau Sentinel and team manager at the time. 

The Huskies had four wins and no losses after defeating their archrivals the Wawa Travellers at the Chapleau Memorial Arena 7-3, followed by a "thrilling" 5-3 win in Wawa on Sunday afternoon on the first weekend in November.

Both wins were "keyed up by their already high scoring trio of Pat Swanson, Ernie Chambers and Garry Prusky" who accounted for 10 of 12 goals, Buddy wrote.

Buddy also gave credit to the blue line brigade which was outstanding with lapses being few and far between.

As I read Buddy's coverage of the games 43 years later, I could not help but recall our road hockey games in the general environs of Aberdeen Street where he would play and do the play by play at one and the same time.

Also, I was refereeing in the International Junior "B" League  and Buddy and I played a little game with each other. As long as he was in the stands commenting on the general lack of quality of my officiating, even though he was the team's manager, there was little I could do about it.

However, one night, he made a mistake and went on the bench where he picked up his usual refrain, and very quickly I gave him a game misconduct, forcing him to the team's dressing room  for the rest of the night. We remained friends!

Those really were great days and a cavalcade of cars would leave Chapleau for games on the road especially to Wawa.

Back to the action! Buddy noted that the line of Allan Pellow, Richard Lacroix and Jim Morin had their moments in the Saturday night matchup but with no luck around the net in either game. The third line with "hustling" Maurice Blais skating between wingers Steve Prusky and Terry Bryson more than held their own any time coach Earle Freeborn sent them over the boards.

David McAdam gave the Huskies steady goaltending and in the second game of the weekend Billy Westerman played admirably when called upon.

Garry Prusky was the "spark plug" on Saturday as he "cashed two shots to put the Huskies ahead 2-0 after the first." Brother Doug Prusky picked up assists on both of the "picturesque plays". Ernie Chambers connected early in the second frame. 

Pat Swanson and Richard Lacroix upped the Huskies margin to 5-1 before the second ended while Jim Cannon scored for Wawa.

Garry Prusky finished off his hat trick 25 seconds into the third. 

Steve Prusky scored his first Junior "B" goal when his 70 foot slapshot zoomed past Real Samson in the Wawa goal. Over the years Steve became famous for his zooming slapshots after he started playing defence.

In the 1970-71 season Steve also played for the Chapleau Midgets where brother Garry was the manager. I was the coach and we had to plan Midget games around the Junior "B" schedule, but it was never a problem.

In the Sunday match in Wawa, Pat Swanson continued his "torrid scoring pace" and "blinked the light twice" in the first period giving the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

Ernie Chambers rammed home Chapleau's third goal  for a 3-0 lead but Gary Varin responded for Wawa.

With mere seconds left in the second period trouble erupted, and when it all cooled down, the Huskies were minus Garry Prusky and goaltender David McAdam with game misconducts. Buddy described it as a "violent fight" behind the Huskies goal.

The Travellers stormed to the attack with Gary Varin scoring two more goals but the defence of Wayne Murphy, Doug Prusky, Terry Higuchi and Tom Laframboise held their ground.

Richard Lacroix made one of his patented end to end rushes, passing to Ernie Chambers who scored and then followed up as he skidded a backhander the length of the ice to clinch things for Chapleau with 33 seconds left.

The Junior "B" Huskies started play in the International Junior "B" Hockey League in the 1966-67 season when they won the league and Northern Ontario Hockey Association championships. Lorne Riley started as coach with Buddy as manager but they reversed roles when Lorne was unable to continue. Tom Welch was the other founder of the team.

Teams for the 1970-71 season were Chapleau, North Shore, Soo Rapids, Soo Indians, Elliot Lake and Wawa.

Those really were the days, and on those cold winter nights in the Chapleau Memorial Arena, the community came together with crowds of 1,000 plus very common. 

Thanks to Doug Greig for sending me Buddy's account of the games. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

'Chapleau 2012' highlighted by 90th anniversary reunion festival of Chapleau High School

Graham speaking, MJ right back committee on left

As I have been reflecting on the year past, perhaps best simply described as 'Chapleau 2012', it struck me that it was Grant Henderson, a 1927 Chapleau High School graduate who summed up so well why so many of us went back for the school's 90th anniversary reunion.

In a poem for the 60th anniversary in 1982, Grant wrote in part, "Perhaps those days through memory's haze take on a richer hue" adding that "perhaps that's true but ... this I know. And I've wandered up and down. Were I to pick my bringin' up place. I'd choose the same old town."

Like Grant, I too have wandered up and down, spending moments and at times much more than a moment in places from Ontario to British Columbia, and in my daily newspaper reporter years, back and forth across this vast and magnificent land with side trips to the United States. In fact, I thought about this column while spending time at Cocoa Beach at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where Michael Pelzer, my good friend, and extremely talented photographer and videographer was doing a shoot.

However, from the moment I learned that  the CHS reunion festival was being planned, I knew as did Grant 30 years ago when he wrote his poem, that I would return to my "bringin' up place" for it. Grant died in 1994.

Soon afterwards I received a message from the organizing committee asking if I would serve as the Master of Ceremonies. Most kind of them to invite me to participate, and I thank them again so much.

This put me back in regular touch with George Evans, my friend, CHS colleague and member of township council when I was reeve of Chapleau in the 1970s. Like everyone, I was shocked and greatly saddened when George was tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident before the reunion.

But, in his memory, Chapleau did the right thing  by naming the library after him. From the day he arrived as a young teacher at CHS, George was a staunch supporter of the public library -- and worked to improve the one at the school which when he arrived in 1961 was located in a tiny room on the second floor of the building on Pine Street.

I was delighted that so many of my growin' up in Chapleau friends also planned to attend, and once we met, it seemed like only yesterday since we  were hanging out in the Boston Cafe, or driving aimlessly around town on a summer evening, never straying far from Main Street, just in case something might happen downtown and we missed it.

It was great to go around town and end up at the Boston Cafe, now Hongers Redwood again, and visit with Yen, Jean and Jim Hong. 

We talked about school and Teen Town dances, going down the lake by one of two rivers to a bay called Mulligan's, or over the gravel road to Racine Lake to awesome get togethers at Martel's.  We reminisced about skating on a Friday night by the light of the silvery moon in the old arena and the old old one, both on Lorne Street, and yes, always so important, hockey, on the ice and on the road and on the rivers.

And the central place for the reunion was at the Chapleau Recreation Centre, opened exactly 34 years ago on June 29, 1978, as pointed out to me by co-chair Graham Bertrand. Earle Freeborn, a reunion committee member and former Chapleau mayor was the arena manager at the time. 

Tom, MJ, Olive McAdam, Bob, Marg Fife, Bill Pellow, Sonia Schmitwilke

For many of us John 'Mac' McClellan, the legendary principal of CHS, and Dr. Karl A. Hackstetter, as teacher, who a few years later returned as principal, defined CHS. We were members of 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps, and for me, it was so great to see Neil Ritchie, Jim Hong, Jim Evans and Ian Macdonald, all of them officers when I was in cadets. I even finally told them how they terrified me, except for Jim Evans, who advised he preferred a "gentler touch."

Regrettably our good friend David McMillan, cadet officer, actor, hockey player and inspiration, who had looked forward so much to attending, died before the reunion.

For those of us in her CHS class, our good friend Pat (Purich) Russell made and presented each of us with a school banner. In my case, she made a special one in the old and new school colours as I had attended and taught at CHS. Much appreciated Pat and it hangs above my desk in place of honour.

While I so much enjoyed spending time with old school friends, I was so pleased to chat with  former students from my years as a teacher at CHS. And yes, we talked hockey and school plays, and "stories by MJ". Great to see all of you again and get caught up.

On a very personal basis, the most touching moments of the reunion were during the wonderful ecumenical service presided over by Rt. Rev. Thomas A. Corston, Anglican bishop of Moosonee, known to so many of us simply as "Tom". Growing up in Chapleau, Tom is the son of Frances (Jardine)  and the late Henry 'Chicken' Corston.

Sitting beside me on the stage was Robert Fife, now the CTV News Ottawa Bureau Chief, but to me simply "Bob" or more commonly "Fife".  Bob is the son of Margaret and the late Clyde Fife. 

As the service progressed, I looked out at the faces of over 400 people, all of whom defined Chapleau in one way and another from its beginnings in 1885 to the present day.

In my remarks near the end of the service I tried to capture it all when I commented that before me I saw the history of Chapleau and I did, but after relating that I had been on a morning walk to the Memegos property, my favourite walking place, I started to lose it -- one of those emotional moments -- and I thank Bishop Tom for rescuing me.

And so, Chapleau 2012, is coming to a close, but for the more than 1,000 who registered for the reunion, the precious moments of once again being home, I am sure,  will remain with us forever.  A school reunion, as my former newspaper colleague Derik Hodgson once noted, is often "the binding that holds the town book together."  This one sure contributed whether we still live there or have wandered up and down, and ended up in some other place.

Like Grant Henderson, I would not have picked another place as my home town, even if I had been given the choice. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Reeve B.W. "Bubs" Zufelt crowns Betty Ann Payette as Winter Queen at opening of Chapleau Memorial Community Arena in 1951 as 2,200 fans roar approval

Betty Ann Payette was crowned Winter Queen by Reeve B.W. "Bubs" Zufelt as one of the major highlights at the official opening of the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena on February 3, 1951.

The new arena was opened almost 50 years to the day after Chapleau had been incorporated as a municipality, replacing the "old rink" on Lorne Street and built at same location. Dedicated to Chapleau citizens who lost their lives serving in Canada's armed forces in World Wars I and II, construction had started in October, 1950, and was completed before the end of the winter.

The Chapleau Post reported that that Betty Ann was greeted with the applause of 2200 enthusiastic fans "ringing in her ears" when it was announced that she was the winner of the Winter Queen Contest. She was crowned by Reeve Zufelt during the official opening ceremonies.

The day's activities started with a noon luncheon at St. John's Anglican Church catered to by the ladies of the church for local and visiting dignitaries who included Sudbury MPP and mines minister Welland S. Gemmell, municipal affairs minister George Dunbar and CPR superintendent Fred Donegan. Arthur J. Grout was general chairman for the day's actvities.

The $50,000 memorial arena was to be financed through a $25,000 debenture, a $5,000 provincial grant and fundraising in the community. The CPR provided heat for the arena.

A finance committee report said that, "...it is a big undetrtaking, a great project where enthusiasm, loyalty, and appreciation can all express themselves".

"Sparked by a wide awake and active citizens committee the new arena was built through the combined efforts of almost every resident of the community...." the Chapleau Post reported. A board of management would assume responsibility for the operation of the arena including citizens and members of the township council. D.O. Payette became the arena manager.

As part of its fundraising pitch, the committee said, "This is no time for a silver collection. We need real folding money."

A colourful parade of floats, dog teams and decorated cars, led by the Chapleau High School Girls Bugle Band, moved off from the Town Hall at two p.m. in bright winter sunshine, following the luncheon, for the arena, where activities would get underway.

First prize in the float contest went to the Chapleau Boy Scouts for their traditional scout sceneof tent, camp fire and scouts on guard while another winner was the Department of Lands and Forests depicting a trapping scene. The Chapleau Figure Skating Club was another participant and Pat (Purich) Russell was able to provide a photo of her on it. The float had been designed by her sister Stella. In front is her brother Charlie in Maple Leafs sweater. Others not known.

Pat's father, Jimmy Purich was the parade marshal.

Among the afternoon activities was a broomball game between the Kormak Lumber Kings and Chapleau All Stars. Kormak won 1-0. There was also figure skating by Chapleau and Coniston skaters.
Reflecting on the Fifties in Chapleau, and into the Sixties, hockey and broomball teams from communities along the CPR main line between Biscotasing and White River were regular visitors to Chapleau and the memorial arena. Everybody travelled by train.


At eight p.m., Reeve Zufelt led the dignitaries to a platform at centre ice for the official opening ceremonies.

More than 50 members of Branch Number 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion were on parade for the dedication ceremony conducted by Rev. E. Roy Haddon of St. John's Anglican Church assisted by Msgr. Romeo Gascon of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church and Rev. H.A. Strapp of Trinity United Church.

Following the opening ceremonies, interestingly, the major hockey game was between the Coniston Aces and Windsor CPR, which Coniston won 5-0. When Windsor came to Chapleau, they travelled on their own private railway car which was not uncommon in years gone by. Chapleau teams also had one at times. No idea why Chapleau was not playing. The day's activities ended with a mocassin dance on the ice surface.

An article in the Chapleau Post paid special tribute to Mrs. A.W. Moore for her fundraising efforts and another noted that the canvassers who went door to door included Edith "Teddy" Schroeder, Gertie Turner, Joe Ladouceur, Leslie Westerman, Ken Lajambe, Henry Therriault, Jack McNeil, Ed Lee, Basil Collings, J.O. Cahill and Toddy Collinson.

In 1951, along with Reeve Zufelt on the council were Arthur Grout, J.M. Shoup, George Young and E.J. Lepine.

Summing up the opening, Mr. Grout commented that "the great community spirit of the carnival days is still here." With the new arena he looked forward to the community reviving the great carnivals of the past. And, the community sure did!

My thanks to Doug Greig, Anne (Zufelt) McGoldrick, Ann (Card) Morin, Pat (Purich) Russell, Juliette (Morin) Payette for their research assistance. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Remember the moon at the end of the arena and this song "By the light of the silvery moon. Sung here by Doris Day

Chapleau honours popular citizens Mrs. A.W. Moore as Queen Mother and Layton Goodwin as King at 11th winter carnival in 1962

Mrs 'Hockey' Moore (courtesy Chapleau Express)

Chapleau held its eleventh winter carnival in 1962 and paid tribute to two of the community's most popular citizens. --- Mrs. A.W. 'Hockey' Moore and Layton Goodwin.
For the first time in Chapleau carnival history a "Queen Mother" was crowned and selected for the honour was Mrs. Moore who was known throughout the community for her continuous and untiring efforts to raise funds for hockey teams and the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena.

Layton Goodwin (courtesy Dr Bill Pellow)

The carnival program said that Mrs. Moore "has been an ardent and zealous supporter of the Huskies hockey team, and no doubt, in the fullness of time, will help obtain the reality of having artificial ice in our arena."
In 1965, artificial ice was installed in large measure through the efforts of Mrs. Moore. After the memorial arena was opened Mrs. Moore set out to ensure that one day, artificial ice was installed. She raised over $12,000 herself for the project, a huge sum in those years.
It should be noted that over the years Mrs. Moore supported other hockey teams including her beloved Trappers, and in 1958, for example, Doug Sleivert, president of the Chapleau High School Hockey Club wrote her a lettter of thanks on her assistance with a bingo held by the team.
In 1978, the township council, named the arena portion of the Chapleau Recreation Centre, the Mrs. A.W. Moore Arena in her honour. She was present for the occasion.
Layton Goodwin, the Carnival King, was also no stranger to Chapleau citizens and a popular choice as he had been involved in community activities for many years. Most recently he had been the manager of the memorial arena where he was very well liked with his special interest in the "young fry."
Born in Nova Scotia, Mr. Goodwin arrived in Chapleau in the Spring of 1912 at the age of 22, and took up a position as a telegrapher with the Canadian Pacific Railway.
In 1956, after retiring from the CPR, Mr. Goodwin joined the Chapleau Rotary Club and being fond of children and deeply concerned especially for those who were habdicapped, he took charge of the club's program to provide them with assistance.
Mr. Goodwin also served as master of the Masonic Lodge in Chapleau in 1938.
He said that he was proud of Chapleau and never so happy as when he was making himself a useful citizen of the community.
Jack Sawyer, who had moved to Chapleaun in 1952, and had been a driving force in establishing the Chapleau Mercantile Hockey League in the Fifties was the chairman of the 1962 winter carnival. Jack had also helped establish the Chapleau Juvenile Hockey Club that won the North Shore championship in 1959-60. He also served as secretary of the Pony Baseball League in 1962. The vice chair of the committee was Henry Therriault who was well known for his commitment to Chapleau and was most active in sports and Branch Number 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion.
Jim Lane, who was prominent as a Master of Ceremonies at many Chapleau events was once again in that role at the 1962 carnival.
Thumbing through the carnival program is a nostalgic trip back in Chapleau's history and seeing who was involved. For years J.M.Shoup, the long time principal of Chapleau Public School was in charge of races at both winter and summer events. At the 1962 carnival Mr. Shoup was in charge of the carnival queen contest along with Ross Perrigard and Hank McEachren, and dances, while Foy Wright, his successor as public school principal was looking after the skating races.
Hockey, of course, from the Huskies playing for the Sonny Bignucolo Memorial Trophy to minor hockey teams and and all girls game were on the agenda as well as a special feature -- the Chapleau Knights of Columbus doing "battle" with the Chapleau Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The program says "this game will no doubt supply many interesting sights and scenes along with a dash of some old time hockey finesse."
I had come home from attending Waterloo Lutheran University, now Wilfrid Laurier University, as a "neutral referee" for the Sonny Bignucolo Trophy games and from the mothballs of memory I remember the KC - Odd Fellows game and being so impressed at how good some of the "oldtimers" were. I have no memory, which is perhaps just as well, as to who won the game.
As I was working on this article I noted that my good friend Ken Schroeder was in charge of ski races so I contacted him to get his memories. He recalled that Ross, Frank and Karen Broomhead as well as Sonny Larush were the big winners, but Ken also received a trophy and he wasn't sure why, although he still has it.
Out of town visitors were also a big part of the winter carnival scene -- and so important that a welcoming committee would be at the CPR station to greet arrivals from The Canadian and The Dominion daily and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the Budd Car.
Parades were always a highlight of Chapleau carnivals and a highlight was a torch parade to the Bonfire Sing Song, Sleigh Rides and Mocassin Dance at the Chapleau High School grounds on Pine Street. Dancing was free but a sleigh ride would cost you 25 cents.
In 1962, Chapleau phone calls were still handled by the telephone operator and here are some of the numbers you may have called: Jim Hong at the Redwood, 1; Tee Chambers, 38; Len's Taxi, 149;Au Coq D'or restaurant, 19; Dick Hoath, 27; Angelo's Variety Store, 187 and Sportsman Hotel, 356.
D.J. "Jim" Broomhead was reeve of Chapleau and council members were Marcel Bourgeault, Fred A. "Nick" Card, F.B. "Casey" Nowakawski and W.D. Collings.
Now, here is a challenge and I hope someone will email me with the name of the winner of the Carnival Queen contest in 1962. Despite best efforts, unable to come up with the name of the winner and a photo. The contestants were Shirley Donivan sponsored by Chapleau and District Lumber Companies; Barbara Gervais, sponsored by Chapleau High School; Anita Laferriere sponsored by Stedmans and Roseanne Wright, sponsored by Smith and Chapple Ltd. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

UPDATED WITH PICS!! Heading uptown or overtown to get downtown using back yards and lanes bring back priceless memories of Chapleau life and vegetable gardens too

Ken on left, wife Siggi and friends

UPDATE ON AUGUST 13, 2012 to include photos from Ken Schroeder taken at the CHS Reunion. Although no back lanes in photos, many "backlaners" are and hopefully some will share memories. Thanks Ken!!!!!!

In a recent email from Ken Schroeder who lived one lane and a back yard away from me on Aberdeen Street, he recalled the role of back lanes and back yards in our lives when we were growing up in Chapleau.

For me to go to Ken's house on Aberdeeen Street South, I would go out the back door of our house on Grey Street, walk through our back yard to the lane, continue through the back yard of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Riley, go across Aberdeen and arrive at Schroeder's front door. If I was going to visit the Goldstein family I would go down the back lane and walk through their back yard, entering the house by the back door. Through all my growing up years I doubt if I ever entered Goldstein's house by the front door or Schroeder's house by the back door -- unless I was already there playing in Anne Marie, Dawn and Merrick's front yard or Ken's back yard.

Heading to Butch Pellow's house, I would go through Merle Davis or Collings' family back yard to his place at Aberdeen and Birch.

To get to the old Chapleau Memorial Community Arena when it was 50 degrees below zero Fahrenheit early on Saturday morning for hockey practice, I would take take the same route through Ken's yard, then Braumberger's, across Lansdowne Street to Tommy Theriault's and there I was at the arena on Lorne Street. In those days nobody ever thought it was trespassing, although there were a few yards you avoided.

However, if I was headed uptown to Chapleau's downtown, I would walk up the lane to Birch Street and head uptown, and coming home I would be headed down Main Street.

At the Redwood (Boston Cafe)

But if I was off to visit my friend Harry Richardson who lived at the intersection of Grey Street lane and Pine Street, I would be going up the lane to Birch Street and then down it the rest of the way to his house. So, you see, in Chapleau, you can go up and down the same lane and streets in different directions.

Now, as regular readers know, my grandparents Harry and Lil (Mulligan) Morris lived on Elgin Street, and I always arrived at their front door to visit. But, if I went to visit their neighbours on Queen Street - Wedge, Hands, Mitchell or Austin families - I would go out the back door of my grandparents' house and go up and down the lane to their respective houses for my visits.

When my Morris grandparents were going to the post office, they would go out their front door heading overtown to get downtown. Instead of a lane, they would walk over the old overhead bridge, but my grandmother had a running feud with the CPR police officer as she liked to take a short cut across the tracks. She was never charged but warned on several occasions.

Enough already! If I keep this up, I will not only have confused you about my travels in the back lanes of Chapleau but will have lost myself and have to visit Google maps to figure out where I am.

After my email exchange with Ken, I put out a message inviting others to share their comments, and here are some of the replies received.

Ian Macdonald, now retired from his position as a professor of architecture at the University of Manitoba, put the back lanes of Chapleau into perspective. Ian wrote that Chapleau back lanes were established in the original survey plan of Chapleau produced by the CPR. Most of the properties are 50 ft. x 120 ft. backing on to 14 ft. service lanes. The residential streets are all 60 ft. in width. This was an appropriate plan concept for 19th century Chapleau.

"Most of the homes at that time were heated by wood stoves and/ or furnaces and the wood was more easily delivered to the rear of the properties where it was cut and stored in wood sheds. It was also far easier to pick up garbage from the back lane and you may recall the days when the garbage was picked up by horse and wagon.

"Another interesting aspect of the Chapleau system of lanes was that at least half of them functioned as the front street as they constituted the shorter path to downtown. My house on King Street, for instance, faced south and I had to walk north to go to school or downtown. It was a shorter route, therefore, to proceed down the back lane from our back door. When it was sub zero in Chapleau, the shorter route mattered. We seldom used the front door at all whereas the families on the opposite side of the street used the front door heavily."

Ian added that he was not sure of the genesis of the back lane although the original streets in London, England were probably not much wider than our back lanes ( contributed to the spread of fire in the Great London fire ).

In the The City of Winnipeg where he lives Ian says there is an extensive system of back lanes. "A number of my colleagues who lived in the older River Heights area of the city used to organize 'lane walks"' for our students because the 'lanescape' was much more interesting than the 'streetscape'. The streets are far more interesting when seen from the lane perspective." Ian talks more about the buildings of Chapleau in a chapter in Bill McLeod's new book, coming soon.

Bill Hong, shared a memory from the Birch Street lane: "We used to make a ramp in our back lane and jumped our bikes over empty dry cleaning fluid barrels . Donald St. Germaine holds the record. I believe he cleared 14 barrels and then got wedged between Mrs. Longchamps fence and a telephone pole. The crazy things we remember. Memories are truly priceless !"

Eugene Bouillon who lived on Elgin Street recalled: "Well Michael, I remember our lane very well... When I was young I remember going down to Creighton's where the horses were, there was Crooks behind us in the Lane, I am thinking they called it Queen Street lane, even though we lived on Elgin. At the end of the Lane was Thibeault's, Pepin's, Landry's and Gionet's. Even further, you were at the back end of Grinton Park and of course, 1st rock, heading out to 2nd rock.lol..so many memories."

Interestingly, Eugene thinks that it was the Queen Street lane, while I recall it as the Elgin Street lane. I do recall Mr. Bill Creighton's stable near the intersection of Elgin/Queen street lane and Ash Street. I will leave it to those who lived on Eugene's side of town to figure out first and second rock, etc.

Derek Lafreniere remembered that "as kids the back lane was a great place to raid gardens from. I think we raided ever possible garden...lol." His grandparents lived on Aberdeen Street so if any recall their gardens bing raided some years ago, maybe ask Derek about it.

On a similar note Charlie Purich wrote: "Because the lanes bordered back yards, one could enjoy the fantastic vegetable gardens. Of course visions of grabbing a few carrots were always tempting. Also there was an array of 'collectibles' in each laneway backyard. They were also used for a shortcut to and from school. Something you don't see in modern society is the backyard. Back then they were open to all for their viewing pleasure."

Lance Collings recalled "a very good memory is of milk being delivered house to house... I remember the milk truck coming down the back lanes as not too many people used their front doors as the main entrance back then.... Hard to believe that something as simple as getting milk used to be so exciting. Was almost as exciting as when they had private garbage collection and imagine that you didn't even have to put your garbage at the curb for the birds to eat. The garbage man would take the garbage right out of your bin and he didn't care how many bags you had."

Keith (Buddy) Swanson noted: "Back Lanes are certainly a big part of our family history as we lived in three different houses in the lane including our present secondary residence at 11 Grey South. Before that it was Aberdeen and Lorne lanes. When I was young it was a little spooky going home at night. There was a distinct aura about them and quite a few trysts took place there after dark too. They made great cover when stumbling home from the bars. They provided great access for raiding gardens too."

Bev (Swanson) Hamilton remembers attending a back lane concert put on by Sharon Swanson and Betty and Florence White. "They used the porch as their stage and we the audience sat on a board in the lane..." Bev lived on Lansdowne Street with the arena across the lane from her family home and said she would walk up and down the lane any time day or night without a worry. She especially liked looking at Chambers' garden. They played a lot in the lane, especially when Mrs. Doyle had rooms to rent. It was an old barn of a building. Eddy Morita had a shoe repair in the front of the house, and the Honda and Higuchi families lived there at one time, Bev recalled.

Yvonne (Fournier) Kohls wrote: "Our house on Beech St. abutted the barn of the Boucher family. The horse stable was directly on the lane. As kids we took great pleasure to scare the horses the Boucher's used for work. So at least once a month these horses would break out and terrorize the town people much to our giddy antics. As kids we were not nice people. Today Ì would tan someone`s behind if my children would have done this and we probably did get tannings but we did think it funny at the time. I also remember that the Boucher`s took in beer cases for a dime a case. I remember some of the town boys taking these cases out of the barn and reselling them to the Boucher familly. Can`t remember who the boys were however. Lanes were shortcuts to wherever we wanted to go and also used to avoid the town police if we were out after curfew. Great places those laneways ."

Michael McMullen recalls life in Chapleau celebrating hockey victory, earning 'real money' setting pins and listening to popular radio shows

MJM and Michael McMullen, co-authors 'The Chapleau Boys Go To War' 2015

UPDATED ON SEPTEMBER 5, 2015: Michael McMullen is the co-author of 'The Chapleau Boys go To War'.

The book is available in Chapleau at the Chapleau Village Shops, on amazon.ca, amazon.com and Kindle.  Key words: 'chapleau boys war'

Michael McMullen's memories of growing up in Chapleau in the early 1950s won him the first annual Buckwheat Award for most popular story on the blog. The award is named after my beloved cat Buckwheat, who died in November 2009 at 20 years and two months old.. MJM

Michael McMullen lived in Chapleau from 1952-54 when his father Keith came to work for the Austin Lumber company, but his roots in the community go back to 1885 when his great great uncle Patrick Mulligan (and mine) arrived and opened one of the first general stores, called Murrays and Mulligan General Merchants.

After reading Michael's family history of his grandparents, William and May (Mulligan) McMullen, both of whom lived in Chapleau in the early years of the 20th Century, I asked him if I might share some of his recollections of life in Chapleau. He agreed and his recollections capture much of life as it was for us growing up in Chapleau during the early Fifties.

Book presentation to Donald White, 102, World War2 vet from Chapleau

"I have fond memories of that time and still have many friendships that have endured since then," Michael wrote. "More importantly, I met my wife, Alison, during this period. She is the daughter of Leslie and Margaret (Jack) McMillan and sister of David McMillan. Les was a CPR locomotive engineer who operated out of Chapleau for over 25 years, retiring in 1966." Mr. McMillan also served as a member of Chapleau township council.

After arriving in Chapleau, Michael and his parents lived for a time in the offices of Austin Lumber on the second floor of the building at the northwest corner of Birch and Young Streets. Their bedrooms were in two of the separate enclosed offices. "There was a Dominion store on the first floor. (later the Bank of Montreal). Years later I would discover that this was the building that Patrick Mulligan had rebuilt in 1895 following a fire at his original store on this site."

"I remember the good times that a kid could have, particularly in a small town. There was a ball field behind the high school where everyone played ball on a summer evening, the natural ice arena, which was the place to go for skating on a Friday night and to play hockey on a Saturday during the winter.

"We also played road hockey on the snow packed, icy streets, particularly on Aberdeen Street, not with a ball, but with a real puck.

"I remember playing bantam hockey for the Chapleau Huskies team when we won the first Broomhead Trophy in 1953-54... It was an exciting 4-3 victory in overtime over the IOOF team.... We went to celebrate at the Boston Cafe where Harry (Boo Boo) Hong, one of my teammates got his mother to open their family restaurant for our celebration. That game is still mentioned among those of us who played."

(In the photo are in  back row from left Basil Collings, Mike McMullen, Mrs. Broomhead, David McMillan, Richard Pilon, Tim Goodwin. Front row from left Charlie White, Ken Schroeder, Harry 'Boo' Hong  In the ball photo, Michael is at bat and his cousin David Curry  is the catcher.)

He also recalled that it was on an empty lot to the west of the Boston Cafe that he first participated in building an outdoor skating/hockey rink. "Boo Boo Hong asked me, and several others to help him and his brothers (Yen and Jimmy) to do this." This was where the Bridgeview Motel until recently owned by Yen Hong was built. It was also location where Patrick Mulligan had built a warehouse and post office.

Michael noted that when they first arrived in Chapleau they stayed at the Rectory of St. John's Anglican Church where Reverend E. Roy Haddon (the Rector at the time) and family lived at the southwest corner of Pine and Young Street with a tennis court beside it. The Haddons were on vacation at the time. The house was nearly opposite the church... To the right (east) was the Town Hall and then beside it was Chapleau Public School which he would attend. To the left of the church on the west was Chapleau High School.

"I would discover that right beside the high school was where Alison and family lived."

He would learn later that the original Anglican church in Chapleau was built in 1885 on the site where the tennis court was located. "I would also appreciate that my father and most of his siblings, if not all, were baptized at the current St. John's, which was opened in 1908, and went to the same public school I did"

As an aside, it should be noted that Michael's father Keith, and his grandfather, William McMullen, both served as Wardens at St. John's. His father was People's Warden when Mr. Haddon was the Rector and his grandfather was Rector's Warden in the time of Rev. J.N. Blodgett.

In photo are from left Michael, his parents Margret and Keith McMullen and me, taken in 1955


Michael recalled earning "some real money" for the first time in Chapleau. Mrs. Elsie Wilkinson, the widow of Dr. Steve Wilkinson paid him 25 cents to cut the grass on her property on Beech Street with her hand mower once a week.

"I was a pin boy at the bowling alley for probably 15-20 cents an hour. I was down at the end of the alley where the pins were placed. My responsibility was to properly position the pins during each frame, and to put the balls in the track to return to the players. As I recall, I was looking after two lanes at one time. You had to be alert because of where the pin could go after being hit. There was a foot slot at the end of the bowling lane that you stepped on that pushed the pins up from the floor for each of the five bowling pins to be placed on."

The bowling alley was located across on Birch Street across from the Chapleau News Depot store.

Michael also helped Raymond Soucie a number of times to pick worms to sell to fishermen for about 25 cents a container. He noted that in the early 1950s, 25 cents went a long way, as admission to the theatre was only 15-20 cents. Michael and I also delivered flyers for Simpsons order office which had been recently established in Chapleau.

"In the days before television, a radio was a great thing to have," Michael recalled. Radio was non existent during the day until the CBC installed repeater stations, but "... as the sun was going down the reception started to come in and after sundown the reception was really good, particularly for powerful stations from cities in the United States, such as Fort Wayne (WOWO), Pittsburgh (KDKA) and Boston (WBZ)."

Michael remembers some of the popular radio shows such as the Lone Ranger, Jack Benny, the Green Hornet and Inner Sanctum with "its scary squeaky door at the beginning of the program. Canadian shows such as Wayne and Shuster, and the Happy Gang were very popular. We got the Saturday night hockey games, usually from Toronto with Foster Hewitt and the Toronto Maple Leafs."

He liked listening to baseball games particularly his favorite team at the time, the Brooklyn Dodgers. They were on WMGM, 1050 on the dial from New York and the sponsors were Lucky Strike and Schaefer beer. Vince Scully was the junior announcer and he is still calling games for the Los Angeles Dodgers. On weekends there were baseball games on the United States Armed Forces Network on short wave radio with Dizzy Dean and Buddy Blattner.

After moving to Toronto in 1954, Michael did not return to Chapleau until the Chapleau High School reunion in 1997. Many changes had taken place in the 43 years since he left. The old Patrick Mulligan store was gone as was the natural ice arena on Lorne Street replaced by the Chapleau Recreation Centre on the other side of town. The movie theatre had closed, and the YMCA was gone as well. The ball field that was behind the high school was still there but the school had moved. The Chapleau Civic Centre was in its place.

But some things had not changed for him. The Boston Cafe, which had become Hongers, was still there and still owned by the Hong family. Chapleau Public School was in the same place and to him it appeared the same inside and out.

Before leaving Chapleau in 1954, Michael remembers going to the old Protestant Cemetery on Birch Street with his friend the late Harry (Boo Boo) Hong.

"(Boo Boo)... asked me to help him do some landscaping at the grave of his father. We got a wheelbarrow, two shovels and went there. The plot had sunk and needed some earth so we went to a nearby field and hauled earth back to do the work.

"While repairing the site, I browsed at the nearby plots and to my surprise, one of the plots close by, at the back fence, was the location of my grandfather William McMullen. It needed the same work as the Hong site. So, we hauled more earth and put both plots in a condition, which pleased us both."



Michael and his parents appear to have been the last of his McMullen line to live in Chapleau. However, some years ago, Dr. Bill McMullen from Sudbury was one of the medical doctors who came to Chapleau on a periodic basis to provide medical services. Bill is the eldest son of Hugh McMullen, his father's older brother. I am the last of the Patrick Mulligan line to have lived in Chapleau. My grandmother, Lil (Mulligan) Morris and Michael and Bill's grandmother May (Mulligan) McMullen were sisters.

My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Teen chats with DON CHERRY and loses job

Billy Steele, 17, was a volunteer cameraman at General Motors Place in Oshawa ON until he spoke to Don Cherry, the host of the popular CBC program Coach's Corner during an event at the centre on January 14, according to the Toronto Star.

By speaking to Cherry, Billy broke the 'no talk' to a celebrity rule in place for employees at the centre. Now Billy has been banned by the arena operator Global Spectrum from working on Rogers TV broadcasts there, the Star reports.

To his credit, Cherry tried to intervene on Billy's behalf but apparently to no avail. Billy is out.

In a world that I often think is on the verge of madness, this incident ranks up there with the worst examples of corporate ineptitude I have seen in ages. You fire a 17-year-old teen, who is really a volunteer with a huge media organization, who speaks to the best known figure in hockey in Canada. And Cherry loves talking to kids.

When I was 17, I sure as hell would have spoken to one of the hockey idols of the day if he had shown up in the old Chapleau Memorial Community Arena.

The Oshawa Civic Centre is actually owned by the city of Oshawa and I encourage you to send an email to the mayor expressing outrage at this incident. He is Mayor John Gray and his email is Email: jgray@oshawa.ca His office phone is 905 436 5600.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/582675
Click here for the Toronto Star article
Leave comments or email me at mj.morris@live.ca

MORE ON SUNDAY FEB 8!
The Oshawa Express in an editorial today calls for cooler heads to prevail in the dispute over the firing of Billy Steele, 17, a volunteer cameraman ot Oshawa's GM Place who lost hbis job because he broke a 'no talk' to celebrities rule and chatted with hockey icon Don Cherry.Here is the link to the editorial.http://www.oshawaexpress.ca/story1489.htmlCongrats to the Oshawa Express