Harry 'Butch' Pellow recalls Chapleau in Winter and Hockey on its Rivers about entertaining ourselves, laughter, being out of doors, pushing limits, building relationships

See names at end.Click image to enlarge

Harry 'Butch' Pellow is one of my oldest friends and recently I sent him an email asking if he had any memories of us playing hockey on the front river as opposed to the 'pond' on the back river. As he notes in the following reply, not too long ago we had chatted about hockey on the pond. Now he takes us to the front river.

Imagine how wonderful it was to grow up in a place with two rivers on which you could play hockey, and you could go "down the lake" by either one to a bay called Mulligan's. In Chapleau, you could go from your home as Butch notes through other people's back yards, up or down back lanes as the case may be, across lanes to that place simply called "the arena" or if you were old enough to recall, the old old arena was "the rink".

Harry is a member of one of Chapleau's early pioneer families, and was the architect for the Chapleau Civic Centre, Chapleau Recreation Centre, Cedar Grove Lodge, Chapleau General Hospital, the golf club house and the Trinity United Church. He is also a great storyteller.

Here is Butch with Chapleau in Winter and Hockey on its Rivers. Thanks Butch for the memories.

Chapleau in Winter and Hockey on its Rivers

By Harry 'Butch' Pellow

Not that long ago we chatted about hockey on the pond over the old wooden bridge and across the back river, over a hillock and north of the old sewage treatment plant. Who can forget it when your best recollection was that your hands were blue, your laces were frozen (maybe from Saturday morning’s practice) and your skates unrelentingly accepted your now almost frozen foot. But it had its moments and the braver amongst us endured. I have said before I was not one of the brave.

Harry Pellow 2012

But there was another venue too and it was on the front river just west of the concrete swimming pier where so many gathered this past July during the Chapleau High School 90th Anniversary Reunion to celebrate the homecoming and watch the fireworks. 

Like the pond, it arrived when the ice did but it was far more accessible, and collecting a group required far less planning and organization to pull together enough players for shinny. It was often after school and on weekends and as you recall surfaced one Christmas holiday and maybe because “Ice” Sanders was unable to make a rink on the ‘clinker’ surface of the public school grounds. 

Pickup included anyone who could get enough equipment together to make it worthwhile and at the same time wear warm clothes. Warm clothes because the west wind, however mildly blowing, was cold on that open river front and by the end of a school day or an early winter weekend evening the sky was grey, sunless and foreboding; and, had it not been for wild enthusiasm why would anyone choose the river over The Boston Café?

Harry 'Boo' Hong, Roger Mizuguchi, Butch

Well the Hong brothers did as you and I did Mike, and what greater motivation should there have been than that?

What made river hockey exciting was its spontaneity, the boundlessness of the perimeters of the playing surface, the almost undefined roll of scraped-off snow and ice along the edges; and that you always had to watch out for the ripples that had been created in the surface by the last breezes that sculpted the ice before it froze.

Boo and Butch 1947

Think of that slap shot by Hong, Hong, Hong, or one of the really big guys when it accelerated over the ice ridges and soared away out over the river; or at you directly, then veered away as it embraced the ripples. Can you recall the sound of the skates cutting through the crisp surface as they raced for the puck, can you recall the whack, slap, and clicking of sticks on each other and on the ice? 

What about the yelling and chanting and the code words that defined the play. “..over here” “…pass it, pass it”; “…go, go go”; “he scores!” etc….; wild enthusiasm and true abandonment because it would be dark very soon and there were very few lights to mark the way home.

Tee Chambers, Butch, Aldee Martel 1954

There was a collective enthusiasm to make the most of every minute and everyone was in sync.

Remember how difficult it was to take a breath in the cold air, how your breath made fog as you skated up the ice or paused for ‘a breather’? Wow! Your eyes were often half frozen shut and the ice crystals on your mitts made it impossible to swipe your nose. Never to be forgotten.

Do you remember how the Hongs played hockey and skated? Yen sprinted, was light on his feet, very fast and dipsy-doodled like no one else (except maybe Max Bentley). He even bore the nickname “Ziggy”. Jim was a powerful steady and fast upright skater and a great stick handler as I recall; and our friend Boo skated low, took long steady deliberate strides and always made skating fast look easy; he also had his skates rockered so there wasn’t more than a couple of inches touching the surface.

Butch and Boo

When you think of the sound of skates on natural ice, you can’t help imagine these really great players doing their stuff can you? Wouldn’t it be great to experience it all again?

I recall one other particularly relevant experience on the front river Mike and that was when I was in grade seven or eight. There had been a fast freeze, the ice was smooth and crystalline, there was no snow, and along with a few others including Tiny Martin, Charlie White, maybe Boo and you too, we all ventured onto the ice oblivious of the danger. It was the beginning of an event that could have been catastrophic if one of us had walked too close to the edge and what a sad night that might have been.

I vividly recall Vern Goldstein clambering down through the snow from the Town Hall office where he had seen us from the Clerk’s north-eastern window and then called us off the ice and sent us home. I knew we had done something wrong but it was the threat of Police Chief JackAngove calling my home that gave it meaning. This was an experience I have never forgotten and the beginning of a long list of confrontations with nature that have caused me to be very respectful of it, and the dangers that lurk in its beauty. 

When I got home that evening Wilf Simpson had called my mom, Jack Angove had called my mom, and she was prepared for me when I arrived very cold, very afraid and very apologetic. I’m pretty sure that was a Friday evening because I have a vague recollection of being told “no more hockey unless..” as I dressed for practice the next morning before making my trek in the dark through Evans' backyard, through McKnight’s, down Lansdowne, through Therriault’s, and to the front door of the old unheated arena for a much different experience.

The wonderful thing about river hockey in Chapleau that I think we all need to think about a lot as we get into the season of joy and remembrances is that it had no religious, racial, language or nationalistic perimeters; there were no upper town or lower town distinctions and I don’t recall there being good players or bad players; albeit there were little ones and big ones too. We were all players and it was a game, a spontaneous moment, a gleeful opportunity to engage in role playing and in doing what northern boys and girls and their parents had done for decades before us. It was about entertaining ourselves, laughter, being out of doors, pushing the limits and building relationships.

Was it Joseph Conrad who said

“youth…. the glory of it!”?

A few names who might have been on the river ice at any time: Jim Evans, Boo, Jimmy, Yen, Ian Macdonald, Dave McMillan, Gilles Morin, You, Me, Jack Poynter, Terry Shannon, Tony Telik, Leo Vizena, Charlie White, and more.

(Note: Likely all the players on the 1956 CHS hockey team in photo, at one time or another)

A highlight of the year for the Chapleau High School team of 1956 was a trip to Terrace Bay. Back row from left: David McMillan, Doug Sleivert, Stan Barty,Thane Crozier, Clarence Fiaschetti (teacher and coach), George Lemon (principal) Second row: Doug Espaniel, Roger Mizuguchi, Bill Cachagee . Front are Jim Hong, Bert Lemon, Harry Pellow, Ken Schroeder, Robbie Pellow (Mascot) Marc Boulard, Harry Hong, Jim Machan, Ron Morris. Most would have played river hockey.

Thanks for the memories Butch. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

BUTCH ON ROAD HOCKEY  http://michaeljmorrisreports.blogspot.ca/2010/03/harry-pellow-recalls-enthusiasm-at.html

BUTCH WITH MEMORIES OF 'THE BIG ROCK' http://michaeljmorrisreports.blogspot.ca/2012/11/harry-pellow-shares-memories-of.html

A potpourri of stories from working with Tee Chambers to Junior Red Cross play at Chapleau Public School plus the 'devilish deed' and more from Chapleau

Let me begin with a definition. As I was going over my notes for this column, I immediately thought of 'potpourri' but wasn't exactly sure what it meant. I recalled that the late J.M. "Jack" Shoup, the longtime principal and teacher at Chapleau Public School, township councillor and veteran of World Wars I and II, once wrote a column with that title in the Sudbury Star.

I went to dictionary.com and the first definition I saw said it was a mixture of dried petals of roses or other flowers with spices, kept in a jar for their fragrance. That wasn't the definition I was looking for. The second one came closer: Potpourri is a miscellaneous anthology or collection: a potpourri of short stories...

So, with thanks to Mr. Shoup for the idea I am going to share some of the stories and comments I have been receiving recently from readers of Chapleau Moments in the Chapleau Exoress and my blog plus the story of the "devilish deed."

WORKING WITH TEE
Michael Cecile, formerly of Chapleau, now living in Calgary wrote after seeing the column with his sister Susan's comments on rock and roll and a photo of Garth "Tee' Chambers with Harry "Butch" Pellow and Aldee Martel.

Michael wrote: "Like all the others I’m really enjoying your articles!

"You’ll be pleased to know I get the Chapleau Express by a method something like a portaging trip on the Chapleau River. Marie Fortin has the Express sent to John Champion. He passes them on to me when we meet in a park, walking our dogs in NW Calgary. Not technically sophisticated like email, but it works, and I get to talk with John, his family and friends (he's a Grand Dad now!!).

"I really enjoyed the ‘53-‘54 picture of Tee Chambers! I worked with Tee’s Cartage one summer (like many others). We unloaded box cars and transported goods to the Dominion Store.Then we delivered groceries to Dominion customers around town. If you worked for Tee you’d know he had a great sense of humour and I was the recipient of one of his favourite jokes. We had formed a chain, moving boxes person to person from a box car to his truck. When we came to heavy cases with cans, Tee (next to me) called out “Heavy”, and again “ Heavy”...etc. I of course adjusted my catch-lift accordingly.

"Then Tee called out “Extra Heavy”, I adjusted my lift even more and ended up smashing the box of Kleenex, or something
lighter, right into my face. Of course we all had a good laugh, especially Tee!

"I also enjoyed reading a quote from my sister Susan’s article on “ the mostest rock and roll”. Your readers might like to know that Susan had a stroke in December but is recovering very well with great support from her kids."

Thanks Michael and all the best to Susan.

Louis Fortin's sister Muriele wrote to provide interesting comments on her brother working on the ice gang and Dr. Bill Pellow's memories of the ice house in the winter. Louis worked on ice gangs in the summer and Bill spent winter weekends at the old ice house across from the Boston Cafe. Both graduated from university.

THE RACONTEUR
Muriele wrote: "Mike you are such a great 'raconteur'. As I'm reading Bill Pellow's and Louis' details of ice gang and pre ice work, I'm thinking what physically demanding work that was for young people. Is it any wonder they and many others went on to futher education and successful careers, less physically demanding. For several years I raised my two sons in a rural setting where their summer jobs entailed washing milking cows, haying, cleaning barns etc. I believe it was during those gruelling summer jobs that they decided to pursue higher education. It happened. I'm happy. They are happy."

OFF ON A GOOD TALE
Steve Degeer, a former student from my time at Chapleau High School wrote after paying a recent visit to Chapleau. "I just recently returned to Chapleau for a visit with my parents and I read your article in the paper and I love it! I can remember that you loved to tell us stories about the old days! Someone would bring you a Mars bar and start talking about hockey or chapleau and you would go off on a good tale! You were one of my favorite teachers! And that's to date! Well I'll be looking forward to your next article! Keep up the good work!!!"

Thanks Steve, and yes, I have enjoyed stories and story telling for as long as I can remember. Since I was a child growing up in Chapleau has been central to me whether I was playing in the living room or creating my own plays for the Junior Red Cross Society performances in Grade four at Chapleau Public School. If I remember correctly Alison (McMillan) McMullen, Ted and Brian Demers starred in the first play I created. We rehearsed in the basement of Demers' home on Beech Street at the time.

Thanks to my mother, Muriel E. (Hunt) Morris, who instilled a love of stories in me before I could hardly walk, and gave me the freedom to explore all the great children's literature of my time, story has been the place where I have lived. And I very much appreciate all the kind comments that I receive from so many of you who were her students over the 32 years that she taught at Chapleau Public School.

Michael Cecile shared the following about his mother Renee Cecile who also encouraged a love of reading and music and recipes in her children: "Some parents balked at their kids reading Classic Comics and comics in general but Renee was happy to see us read and encouraged that too. She liked to try new foods and recipes but my Dad was only liked well-done meat and potatoes, but she did experiment on us!" Those of us who worked with and knew Mrs. Cecile, through her years of devotion to the Chapleau Public Library and as school librarian are well aware, of her love of books and music.

FROM MID NORTH NEWS TO THE INTERNET
Little did I realize that my experience as the Chapleau High School reporter (with Joy Evans) for the long gone Mid North News, and a television program on CHAP TV in 1957- 1958 (with Phyllis Chrusoskie, Bill Mcleod and others) would lead to story telling and talking about the stories of others in classrooms in Ontario and British Columbia. And people even got me to write stories about people and events in daily newspapers, for television, in magazines and the internet and books.

THROUGH THE EYES OF A KID
Yvonne (Fournier) Kohls, sent me comments from her brother Rene Fournier who also loves storytelling. Rene wrote in part to his sister: "Thanks for sending M.J. Morris's stuff, I enjoy some of these that I can connect to. The Yen Hong and family article was interesting because Dad was close to the elders and of course I was the same age as Yen's sister (Jean). In fact at some tender age I asked dad if I could marry her. He suggested I should wait till I was ten, but it was O.K. with him if it was O.K. with her mother....

"I will say this, I actually do tell stories about life in a small town through the eyes of a kid such as the morning all the men and boys of Chapleau went to the freight shed to see ten wheel truck unloading. A huge Event! On par with the day the King and Queen's train passed through Chapleau. (they slept while we watched the silent event with our hats off)"

Thanks Yvonne and Rene. Great memories. The Yen story to which he refers is the one about the seven members of the family appearing on the game report of a hockey game at one time and the game played in the Boston Cafe.


THE DEVILISH DEED
The other day Hugh McGoldrick posted on Facebook that he had been talking with Lynn Hazen about the possibility of reunion in 2011 of the the 1976 graduating class of Chapleau High School. I immediately thought of a story that Lynn told about me in the newspaper marking the 75th anniversary of the school in 1997.

Lynn wrote in part that in 1972, two grade niners who had never done anything wrong took the plunge. "When Mr. Morris momentarily left the classroom, the wall clock came down. As they turned the time forward, it slipped from their hands and landed in several pieces on the floor. The two niners slinked to their seats just before Mr. Morris came through the door.

"The longer he grilled us about who had done the devilish deed, the more we dug in our heels and adhered to a new found code of silence. We all stayed for detention. We were together on this one."

To this day I have no idea who did this devilish deed. Perhaps if I attend the reunion, someone will confess.. Contact Hugh or Lynn for more information on their plans.

Chapleau Hockey Moments when "Fife, Fife" became "Fight, Fight" and the 1954 Bantams

Coach Tee Chambers with Harry Pellow and Aldee Martel of Chapleau Bantams in March, 1954, Sudbury Arena

By 1890 likely at the latest, Chapleau had its first outdoor skating rink located on Lorne Street across from the Canadian Pacific Railway shops and the YMCA, and by 1904 it had been enclosed and roofed, which seems to have marked the official start of organized hockey in the community. The earliest photos I could find were dated circa 1905, and by 1911 teams were competing for the McEwen Cup, donated by Robert McEwen, emblematic of hockey supremacy in Chapleau.


The rink on Lorne Street, with many renovations and different ownership over the years served the community and was the focal point for many outstanding winter carnivals until replaced by the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena in 1951, The memorial arena built on the site of the old rink was replaced by the Chapleau Recreation Centre which included the Mrs. A.W. Moore Arena in 1978. Mrs. Moore singelhandedly raised thousands of dollars to put artificial ice in the memorial arena in 1964.

Looking at photos of the earliest hockey teams is a real trip into the history of Chapleau as the players also had other roles in the life of Chapleau, and I remember some of them as "oldtimers" when I was a kid. Some were Ovide Payette, Simon Kruger, Omar Royal, Tommy Thompson, Gordon Sheppard, George Collinson, Herb Merrick, Harry Chartrand, Bill Morrison,Tom Godfrey (sr), and yes, even my grandfather Harry Morris. (As and aside I never knew that my grandfather played hockey in Chapleau. He would tell me stories about playing hockey on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa with "King" Clancy later with the Toronto Maple Leafs though.)

Not too long ago, I was talking with my friend Anita on Facebook about Chapleau hockey but reminded her that I did politics in Chapleau too.

"I know you did politics but really you did hockey." she replied quickly. And, you know, she has a point. I was never a very good ice hockey player (road hockey was a different story) but I started my involvement in hockey in the old rink as a goal judge as a kid for the old town league, played Bantam, became a referee and after returning to Chapleau to teach in 1969, started coaching.

Let me share an anecdote about my coaching debut which was actually with a Chapleau Midget team in Timmins. I can't remember how I ended up filling in for someone but there I was. During the game a fight broke out and upon our return home, within a few days a letter arrived from Jim Aspin, the longtime secretary manager of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association accusing the Chapleau coach (me) of encouraging his players to fight.

A meeting was called to discuss the matter and we met in the basement of the old Town Hall. The letter alleged that I was yelling from the bench, "FIGHT, FIGHT." Of course I denied it and after much discussion, Earle Freeborn, now the mayor of Chapleau, asked me if I had yelled anything from the bench. I thought for a moment and suddenly it struck me. Bob Fife, now the Ottawa Bureau Chief for CTV News, was on the team and in the midst of the fight. I said, yes I had been yelling for Fife to come to the bench. And I was yelling "FIFE, FIFE" which sounded like "FIGHT, FIGHT".

What a sigh of relief. A letter was sent to the NOHA explaining it all and it was accepted. I survived to coach another day.

As I was looking at Chapleau hockey photos I came across one declaring that the Bantam Huskies had won the Algoma Dairy Trophy in 1954 which was presented by Mrs. Broomhead. I know the players on this team well, and understand that through the years when they meet, winning this trophy counts among their great moments in Chapleau hockey. Basil Collings was their coach, and the players were Michael McMullen, David McMillan, Richard Pilon, Tim Goodwin, Charlie White, Ken Schroeder and Harry "Boo" Hong.

In those days when a team travelled to Sudbury to play hockey, as our entire Bantam team did, the CPR on at least one occasion, gave us our own railway car, attached to one of its transcontinental trains. "Tee" Chambers and L.D. "Don" Card were the coaches, and we stayed in the Coulson Hotel, and as the old saying goes, "a great time was had by all." My only memory of the game is that I actually got on the ice for a couple of shifts, managed not to score on my own goal, and completed a pass to Charlie White, who was the star of the team.

There are so many great moments in Chapleau hockey starring the incredibly great players from "Lowertown", the tournaments at carnival time for the Ernest "Sonny" Bignucolo Trophy, the NOHA playoffs, the Chapleau Huskies and their championship year of 1967 in the International Junior "B" Hockey League, the Intermediate "A" Huskies of the Northland Intermediate Hockey League, and so much more.