Chapleau General Hospital efficient, amenable and embraces full potential of beautiful site, according to professor of architecture

At the annual meeting of the Lady Minto Hospital in 1974, the major point of interest was the progress being made on the provision of a new hospital for Chapleau.

Harry Pellow, who was the lead architect on the project, and a Chapleau native, was at the meeting with Peter Manson-Smith of Searle Wilbee Rowlands, architects, to go over the plans in detail, and answer questions.

Although final approval had not been given by the Ministry of Health for the new hospital, Harry reported that plans had been submitted to the ministry for approval. 

Harry Pellow at CHS Reunion 2012

Maggie Costello reported that the new hospital project had been "an uphill fight since the beginning" but progress was being made.  Construction costs had been rising because of inflation and while the building fund had shown growth, it had not kept pace with the escalating cost of construction.

Back in 1968, hospital administrator Leo Walzak had told the board that a new hospital was needed to replace the Lady Minto Hospital which was opened on April 18, 1914, and was described as "a splendid institution" in a Chapleau Headlight editorial. At that time it was the only hospital between Sudbury and Fort William, now Thunder Bay.

As the hospital board moved forward with its plans for a new hospital, Ian Macdonald, now professor emeritus and former head of the department of architecture at the University of Manitoba, wrote in a monograph, Mile 615.1: Building a Northern Community that the location of the new hospital would be on former farmland donated by the Broomhead family.

Ian, who attended Chapleau Public and Chapleau High schools,  noted that the well drained gently sloping site provided excellent soil conditions for construction and generous space to accommodate an accessible single storey health care facility.

At the 1975 Lady Minto Hospital annual meeting there was an atmosphere of "mission accomplished" as board chair J.B. Walsh reported that Gennan Construction had  done initial site preparation before snow came and had been stockpiling materials there ever since.

It was hoped that the new hospital would be completed by 1976, and it was as the Chapleau General Hospital replaced the venerable Lady Minto Hospital which had served the community so well.

At the 1975 annual meeting, Alcide Small, superintendent of the CPR Schreiber division, and a Chapleau native attended to present quit claim deed on four remaining lots at the site of the Lady Minto Hospital.

Alcide explained that two of the lots were deeded by the CPR to the Lady Minto Hospital on November 24, 1913 for the sum of $1.00 and on January 6, 1926 two further lots were deeded to the hospital with the proviso that they would revert to the CPR if they ceased to be used for hospital purposes.

Also, CPR had included a covenant that the land owners could not sell liquor. This was common in those days.

Con Schmidt had initiated negotiations with the CPR to get clear title to all the property on which the old hospital stood. This was important as the lots could be sold and revenue derived added to the building fund.

Commenting on the Chapleau General Hospital more than 30 years after it was opened, Ian Macdonald said that it was "... both efficient and amenable and embraces the full potential of a beautiful site. ... the building remains an exemplary example of quality health care facility."

Harry was also the architect for the Chapleau Civic Centre, Cedar Grove Lodge, Chapleau Recreation Centre and the golf clubhouse as well as Trinity United Church renewal.

In March 1998 the Bignucolo Residence, a 25-bed long term care facility was opened, and the Chapleau Medical Centre is also on the hospital site.

It seemed somehow appropriate to do a column on the Chapleau General Hospital with the arrival of Dr. Doris Mitchell, Dr. Kendra Saari and Dr. Stephen Saari in the community, although they are really coming home.

I was so delighted to chat with "Dr. Doris' at the Chapleau High School Reunion, and thanks Doris for your kind words. I have also heard from Kendra with news about the move she and Stephen have made to Chapleau. Thanks to you too Kendra. I appreciate the commitment you have made to complete your studies in medicine, and Chapleau will be so well served by each of you. Congratulations Dr. Doris, Dr. Kendra and Dr. Stephen, and all the best! 

Thanks to Harry Pellow and Ian Macdonald for research assistance. Ian's monograph is in Chapleau retrospective on Life in an Isolated Northern Community by Bill McLeod. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Premier Bill Davis visits Chapleau working the room with constituents even while enjoying ice cream cone on downtown walking tour

Premier Bill, MJ, Willie Memegos, Clare Hoy in cap

Bill Davis, who was Ontario's second longest serving premier from 1971 to 1985, held a cabinet meeting In Kapuskasing, called a provincial election while in Timmins, and made his first campaign stop Chapleau in August 1975.

Although Chapleau council presented a brief to the cabinet meeting in Kapuskasing, Mr. Davis decided to visit the community to discuss local priorities. 

The major priority at the time was to complete the new Chapleau General Hospital, extend services to it and realign Teak Street, but the needs of the elderly were high on Chapleau's list of priorities.

With a reduction in  beds at the new hospital, there was a great need for a facility for the special needs of the elderly. In the brief, there was a request for an extended care facility to be located at the hospital. In due course, Chapleau was told there was no funding for such facilities, and that was how Cedar Grove Lodge came into being.

In 1998, the Bignucolo Residence was opened -- about 23 years later.

By 1975, the airport was open with norOntair service daily but the airport commission led by Gene Bernier and Yvon Martel, wanted the runway extended and paved to bring it up to standard and stimulate the economy. Mr. Davis was told that a Ministry of Natural Resources water bombing base should be built at Gala Lake. Chapleau was an ideal location for the base.

Council had also started planning for a civic centre to replace the Town Hall, as well as for a new sewage plant and system as it had reached its optimum use.

Get this one!!! Council was asking for an "immediate" feasibility study to pursue improvements to the connecting link between Highways 144 and 129, commonly called the Sultan or Ramsey Road. 

The brief to the premier argued that "the opening of such a link (as a provincial highway) would greatly reduce travel time to and from the community and is necessary for increased economic activity in Chapleau."

So much for that one. Forty-two years later, as folks were travelling home for the 90th anniversary reunion of Chapleau, they were asking on Facebook, "How is the Ramsey road?"We avoided it by coming via Highway 129 and returning by Highway 144.

While in Chapleau, Mr. Davis visited the Chapleau Centennial Museum, and was taken on a tour of the new hospital site by William Memegos, the township public works superintendent, then off to the downtown area, where, always the politician he did some mainstreeting. First, he picked up an ice cream cone from Walter Broomhead at the Algoma Dairy, which gave the travelling press a photo op.

As an aside, it just struck me that in 1984, I think, Mr. Broomhead presented a dozen eggs to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau when the prime minister's train stopped in Chapleau. That's a story for another day.

While mainstreeting, Mr. Davis met a family from his Brampton riding, and he spent time chatting with them. Always work the room when your constituents are around, even if it happens to be downtown Chapleau.

Mr. Davis attended a coffee party at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall where the highlight was the presentation of a plaque to Mary (Muske) Campbell for her outstanding work for the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.

A couple of days later, a column by Clare Hoy in the Toronto Sun was headlined "Backwoods Bill" and questioned why the premier would visit a place with only one flashing street light (at Birch and Lorne) and so on on the day he called an election. Not really complimentary to Mr. Davis or Chapleau. Chapleau citizens were not impressed and for a time the Toronto Sun was banned from Pearl Freeborn's corner store.

When I was editor of the Cord student newspaper at Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University), Mr. Davis was Ontario's education minister and was awarded an honorary degree by the university. It bothered me for the longest time that I ran the Davis story as the headliner on page one, instead of something more radical in keeping with the sixties. But I was a good Progressive Conservative in those days, so I went with it.

As education minister from 1962 to 1971, perhaps his most lasting legacy was to establish community colleges in Ontario, a first in North America, a move that was much criticized, but they are still around. 

When I was news editor at the Brampton Times newspaper responsible for the front page in 1967, we ran every word Mr. Davis ever uttered on the front page. I didn't have to question myself at all as the paper totally supported him, and I simply ran the stories. Mr. Davis was also the consummate riding politician and never missed an opportunity to talk about Brampton -- or chat with constituents as noted on his visit to Chapleau.

Overall, Mr. Davis helped Chapleau. As premier, many considered him very bland, but he had a way about him -- a sense of common decency, so rarely seen today in our politicians that he stands out as one of the most memorable politicians I have known.

Stephen Lewis, who was at one time the Ontario NDP leader sent the following message to Mr. Davis to mark his 80th birthday, three years ago:
"You made politics an art that was at once humane, generous, respectful and urgent. We often disagreed but there always remained a quality of shared regard and friendship, how astonishingly different from the politics of today." Mr. Davis still lives in beloved Brampton. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Willie Memegos rose from labourer to Chapleau public works superintendent as well as being winner of winter carnival backpack contests and tour guide for Bill Davis

Bill Davis (hands in pocket), Michael, William Memegos (white hat) and reporters

When William "Willie" Memegos and his brothers started as employees of the Township of Chapleau about 1949, they were working as labourers on the installation of the new sewage system. The pay was twenty-five cents an hour and in those days there were no coffee breaks.

Years later, after Willie became the public works superintendent, he would share stories of those days with me always paying tribute to J.M. "Jack" Shoup, a member of council and public works committee chair, who would bring the work crews jugs of water on a hot summer day.

Willie's brothers Baptiste and Adam also worked for the municipality for years, and in the view of many, Baptiste was the best grader operator there ever was. I can still hear the sound of the grader moving snow, clearing the roads in the middle of the night during the winter months. He could also perform his magic with a backhoe.

 Someone once told me that Baptiste was able to "manoeuvre this machinery with the precision of a diamond cutter" and it sure was true

When the Memegos family first arrived in the Chapleau area early in the 20th Century, they lived along the Nebskwashi River, an area where I loved to walk, and I have always felt privileged that Willie had once told me, "You can walk on my land any time."

I used to spend countless hours walking in the bush which some may call the forest, or the woods, but to me it will always simply be the bush. I had started going there  as a young boy, with my grandfather, George Hunt when he would take me along blueberry picking. It continued as an adult. The Memegos family always watched out for my grandfather who was still picking blueberries into his seventies.

For my walks I would leave from our home on Grey Street, go over the "Indian Bridge" across the "back river" (Nebskwashi River) and head off to Pellow's Field  or Corston's Farm, or just walk in the bush.

Rene Serre, Willie Memegos

Shortly after I became reeve of Chapleau, we needed a new township public works superintendent and were not satisfied with the applications we had received. Councillors Ernie Gilbert and Dr. G.E. Young suggested to me that we ask Willie if he would like the job.

Ernie was the legendary public works committee chair of his day on council, who would never hesitate to arouse me on a cold winter's night to accompany him to a home where the water had frozen, and the public works crew was on hand at maybe 50 below F. Willie was always on the scene.

Willie had not applied but when we asked if he would like it with the option that he could return to the position he had as foreman at any time, he accepted the position. And Willie never returned to his old job!

Willie would come to chat with me almost every day that I was at the Town Hall/Civic Centre, and gave me the benefit of his wisdom and guidance on all manner and sorts of things. He was a man of few words but he was always right on.

He would also lobby in his own way for projects like doing sidewalks and having a township crew undertake the installation of water and sewer, and a new road to the new Chapleau General Hospital.

Willie convinced me and council agreed to let the township public works department assume responsibility. The plan had been to contract it out.

One day Willie came into my office and said I had to stop construction according to the engineer's drawings because they were wrong. A change must be made. This led to a flurry of phone calls between us and the engineer's office, and it turned out that Willie was right and the engineer wrong! When I asked him how he knew, he replied simply, "I have a good eye."

Willie and his brothers worked on the original installation of the sewer system in Chapleau  and over the years had become experts from practical experience.

When Ontario Premier Bill Davis visited Chapleau in 1975, Willie conducted the tour which included the premier, members of council and hospital board as well as many members of the provincial news media. The media was really along because Mr. Davis had announced a provincial election that day in Timmins, and then flew to Chapleau for a visit. We did get some coverage in the Toronto newspapers as a result.

Willie and his family members also loved sports and for years totally dominated canoe races and other water sports. Willie also would win the backpacking contests at the winter carnival where participants started with a large canvas pack and walked a set distance where more weight was added. He long outwalked all other participants with weights the most could never lift let alone endure.

They also enjoyed broomball and hockey and one time played on a team called Robin's Hoods. Willie was also an outstanding fastball pitcher.

Although I had walked on the Memegos family land, I had never asked permission to do so. So one day when Willie and I were out on a tour of the municipality I asked him and he gave permission.

On  walks when I would reach the crook in the road entering the Memegos family land I would  think of Robert Frost's poem 'The Road Not Taken' and reflect on  the poet's words that "two roads diverged in a single wood" and think that so often we take  the road less travelled by, and that makes all the difference in our lives.

The contribution of Willie Memegos and his brothers to Chapleau,  made all the difference in the lives of citizens in all kinds of weather. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Harry Pellow recalls enthusiasm at 'critical pitch' during Chapleau road hockey games of the Fifties

Butch at CHS Reunion 2012

By Harry "Butch" Pellow

I only recall the famous strip between Birch and Cedar but I did play on the pond on the back river once or twice. Both times I froze my toes and fingers and decided that it was too cold for me.

But on Aberdeen Street it was warmer and much closer to home to play road hockey. Frequently, snow piles were pretty high; often stained with dog urine and rarely without many deep holes in them where the pucks had been lost and had been recovered either by probing sticks or urgent kicks from various team players.

Players were randomly gathered either by purposeful visits to the destination or picked up on the way by. The skill level was indeterminate but the enthusiasm was always at a critical pitch.

Frequently the more proficient and sometimes the more senior amongst us effected a team selection process which created a lop-sided weighting of skill and ability resulting in long periods hen goals were only scored from one direction. By the way, I was not one of the more senior amongst us if you know what I mean.

Sometimes the call of nature shortened the attention span but then there was always the back of Schroeder's porch, Evan's barn or Mcleod's hedge available for relief. Not infrequently if the call was more urgent there would be knocks on adjacent doors (usually Evans or Schroeder’s) asking for use of the facilities but this was rare because it could have called an end to the game if dinner was seen to be on the table.

There were several constants including Mike Morris, Bill McLeod, Ken Schroeder, Jim Evans, Butch Pellow, Charlie White and Buddy Swanson. Down the block and around the corner players would be attracted by the shouting or previously having been invited to bolster a losing run. They included Tony Telik, Joey Steen, Mansel Riley, Mark Boulard, Tommy Jordan, Tim Goodwin (yes even that far away), and Gunner Collins and and and………………

Games usually started immediately after school and lingered well after the merchant families parents arrived home from work. Some evenings that was quite late. Generally speaking though darkness imposed a limitation and there were very few lights on the street to create a safe level of illumination. Especially low in fact as I remember because once the puck was lost, it remained lost until the next morning. In the absence of a puck there were alternative missiles however including a half size can of Carnation milk, Klick or Spam cans, other similar sized items from the nearest garbage bin, frozen ice balls, horse dung in various states of compression (frozen or not) and now and then, even gloves, shoes or rubbers.

Skates were never worn, we were generally wearing pretty warm jackets and they became sweaty, only the goalies wore pads, many wore hockey gloves and as often as not the sticks were retreads or broken.

I recall MIlton Schroeder often calling ".. Kinny, get in here for dinner", Zita arranging for communication to Jim for the same purpose and I was always under threat of 'no dinner' if I didn't know enough to come in from the cold.

Mcleod, Evans, Schroeder and I even think Mike Morris took turns in net. Mike later took up officiating as we know. The rest of us barrelled along the snow tracks left by the sleighs and the infrequent car or truck and now and then would do our best to shovel a somewhat level playing surface that would quickly become snowed over or covered in disturbed snow bank residue after searches were made for lost pucks. To say there was no contact would be an untruth. The reality was that all of us endured pain masked by the cold, many bruises, black eyes and very sore fingers. It was fun but it was rough and it was dangerous.

Once inside of course it wasn't easy to get back out again on school nights although it was different story on weekends when the games started immediately after hockey practice on Saturday mornings and continued until it was Hockey Night in Canada. Sundays were generally a replay of Saturday with the added flare of one or other of us posing as a "best player" from last night's game or attempting to interpret Foster Hewitt's description of a play that until the late fifty's was as exciting as it could get without a picture. Even when TV arrived it was grey and snowy on Doctor Young's cable line or and we relied on Foster Hewitt or Danny Gallivan to bring it all to life.

Note: Harry "Butch" Pellow, was born and raised in Chapleau, Ontario, a member of one of the community's pioneer families. He founded Pellow + Associates Architects Inc., of Toronto, in 1978. Harry was the architect for the Chapleau General Hospital, Chapleau Recreation Centre, Chapleau Civic Centre, Cedar Grove Lodge for Senior Citizens and the golf club house in Chapleau.

Finding 'the good stick' while walking in the bush

W Memegos with Premier Bill Davis and MJ, 1975

Years ago, when I was still living in Chapleau, my favorite place for a walk in the bush, some may call it the forest, but not me, was on the road leading to the Memegos property. I first started going there with Grandpa Hunt as a child to pick blueberries and continued until I left Chapleau over 24 years ago.

I did take a walk there with Michael McMullen, my cousin, and Ian Macdonald, my friend, when were were home for the Chapleau High School Reunion in 2012.

For my walks I would leave from our home on Grey Street, go over the "Indian Bridge" across the "back river" (Nebskwashi River) and head off towards Corston's Farm. On one particular day I recall that I had been trudging along for about three hours going here and there, and was now heading toward the Memegos family's land. My good friend, the late Willy Memegos had given me permission to walk on their land any time, and I will tell you more about that kindness later.

As I walked along the road, coming towards me was a man who I had often seen go by my house, but I did not know him. As he approached, he said, "Where is your good stick?", stopping to explain that he always carried a "good stick" with him. He moved it from hand to hand, he told me and it served to strengthen his arms and upper body.

"Maybe some day you will find a good stick too," he said smiling, and off he went, adding, "Maybe you will also see the wolf. It's auburn. Don't be afraid. He won't hurt you." I never saw the man again, or the wolf.

Shortly thereafter I came across a stick and picked it up. It wasn't as sturdy or straight as the one the man was carrying, but crooked as it was I had found my good stick. My good stick became my travelling companion helping me cross a beaver dam and walk along the edge of a pond. When I became tired I leaned on it and took a rest, and when I stumbled it helped me keep my balance, and aided me as I climbed a hill.

My good stick was very powerful indeed, and long after I lost it I thought that if that old piece of wood from a dead tree could have been so much help to me as I wandered along, giving me confidence to surmount minor obstacles, maybe the man I met on the road meant much more with his comments than maybe I would find a good stick and even see the wolf that would not harm me some day.

Let me return to my friend Willy Memegos and his family for a moment. Shortly after I became reeve of Chapleau, we needed a new township public works superintendent and were not satisfied with the applications we had received. Councillors Ernie Gilbert and Dr G.E. Young suggested to me that we ask Willy if he would like the job. Willy had not applied but when we asked if he would like it with the option that he could return to the position he had at any time, he accepted. Let me just add that Willy's brothers Adam and Baptiste also worked for the municipality, and bar none, Baptiste was the best grader operator anywhere! And Willy never returned to his old job!

Until I left office in 1980, Willy would come to chat with me every day that I was at the Town Hall/Civic Centre, and gave me the benefit of his wisdom and guidance on all manner and sorts of things. Willy was a man of few words but he was always right on.

An example. Willy convinced me and council agreed to let the township public works department assume responsibility for the installation of the water and sewer services to the "new' Chapleau General Hospital on Broomhead Road. One day Willy came into my office and said I had to stop construction according to the engineer's drawings because they were wrong. A change must be made. This led to a flurry of phone calls between us and the engineer's office, and it turned out that Willy was right and the engineer wrong! When I asked him how he knew, he replied simply, "I have a good eye."

Willy and his brothers worked on the original installation of the sewer system in Chapleau back about 1949!!!

The Memegos family also watched out for Grandpa Hunt who was well into his seventies and still picking blueberries.

I met Willy as I walked along to the road towards his land one day, and asked his permission to walk on it. "You can walk on my land any day," he replied. When I would reach the crook in the road I would always think of Robert Frost's poem 'The Road Not Taken' and realize that so often I took the road less travelled by, and that has made all the difference in my life.

But people like Willy, and so many others that I have met along the way over the years, became "the good stick" and made the journey easier. May each of you find your Good Stick!

I am so indebted to Willy's nieces, Anita and Joanne, for kindly agreeing that I may refer to their uncle and family. Thank you.