Con Schmidt and Gordon Jones opening arts and crafts fall fair among highlights of 1977 in Chapleau

With a little help from Con Schmidt and Gordon Jones, the executive committee of the Chapleau Arts and Crafts Fall Fair officially opened it in 1977.

Con, who was active in the Chapleau Chamber of Commerce and other organizations and Gordon Jones, who at the time was the popular host of the CBC Mid-Canada AM Radio program did the ribbon cutting honours. Other executive members present for the grand opening included Kathleen and Walter Broomhead, the fair's founders; Jeanne Seguin and Eleanor Thomson.

In fact, Con was chamber president when Mr. and Mrs. Broomhead presented the fall fair idea idea in 1973 Con was also very involved in the work of the Chapleau Rotary Club.

Going through my boxes of newspaper clippings, I came across an article from The Chapleau Sentinel  which mentioned some of happenings in the community in 1977. 

So, even though it is not yet the dog days of Summer yet when such articles are usually commonly used, here are some more of the 1977 highlights. See if you remember when!

Township council approved  the "new" Chapleau Civic Centre and Chapleau Recreation Centre, and construction was underway by the Summer. Chapleau Senior Services approved Cedar Grove Lodge and construction was also started on it. They all opened in 1978.  Wow! Thirty six years ago!

Bill Scheer won the Northland Intermediate Hockey League scoring title for the 1976-77 season, but the Chapleau Intermediate "A" Huskies were once again defeated by the Timmins Northstars in the league semi-finals. They finally beat their archrivals in the 1978-79 season. Bill, in his first year playing in Chapleau, was also the team's most valuable player in regular season, most sportsmanlike player, rookie of the year and leading scorer.

Despite the Timmins-Chapleau rivalry, the mayor of Timmins, Mike Doody, was guest speaker at the Huskies awards banquet

Plans were being made for the expansion of the Chapleau Municipal Airport, now the Eugene (Gene) Bernier Airport, and the project was completed in 1979. 

The Chapleau Rotary Club raised $2,000 in its Walkathon. "Rain fails to dampen spirits", the Sentinel reported.

In July, after nearly  13 years as publishers of the Sentinel Tom and Leah Welch retired. Both had been very active in community life, and Tom, with Keith 'Buddy' Swanson and Lorne Riley were instrumental in the founding and success of the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies of the International Junior "B" Hockey League in the 1966-67 season --- just after artificial ice was put in to the Chapleau Memorial Arena.

In January 1977, the Sentinel reported that "flames could be seen for miles around and when daylight dawned the smoke billowed high into the air for many hours as fire struck the old Moose Hall on Lorne Street..."

Foster Hewitt

Peter Bernier was chair of the Chapleau Recreation Committee that year and succeeded in bringing hockey icons Foster Hewitt, Frank Selke Jr, and King Clancy to the community as part of the Canada Day Celebrations. They were in Northern Ontario to promote Canada Day activities.

For those who may not know who they were, Foster Hewitt was the play-by-play announcer for Toronto Maple Leafs games for years on CBC Radio Hockey Night in Canada, famous for "He shoots, he scores," and when the Leafs lost, he would often say on radio, "The score was no indication of the play" by his beloved Leafs. He later broadcast games on television.

Frank Selke Jr. was a hockey executive and sports broadcaster, however he also became involved with the Special Olympics and greatly assisted that organization

King Clancy

Francis Michael "King" Clancy did everything in hockey -- professional player with the old Ottawa Senators and the Leafs, referee, coach and executive. When he visited Chapleau he was with the Leafs as an executive

Finally, for 1977, the first baby of the year was Joseph Samuel Clifford, son of Joe and Suzanne Clifford, born on January 7. 

These  are just some of the highlights of the year. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Chapleau a busy place on many fronts enjoyed 'banner year' with approvals given projects, and others completed in 1972

G. Evans, G. Higuchi, D. Vandal, fr. M.Blais, R. Petrunka, D. Doyle

Forty years ago as 1972 drew to a close, it seems like Chapleau had been a busy place on many fronts with Maggie Costello calling it a "banner year" for the community. 

Approval had been received to replace the horseshoe bridge with a new one plus a pedestrian overpass, and the Ontario Municipal Board had approved a new water treatment plant, a subject of much debate and controversy for many years. Planning was also underway for a landfill disposal site to replace the town dump.

The geared-to-income housing project on Pine Street had been completed, but in the process, the Convent of the Sisters of Ste. Marie, built in 1928, was torn down to make room for it.

Expansion of Chapleau Public School had been substantially completed with only a slight disruption in classes at the start of the school year, and by year end, classes had been moved from the old Chapleau High School to the main school building. Work had also begun on expansion of Our Lady of Fatima Roman Catholic Separate School.

Convent

At Chapleau High School, there were more than 400 students, a record. An addition had been completed in 1971 The school had opened in 1966.

On the sports scene, the Chapleau Junior "B' Huskies of the International Junior "B" League had an outstanding year winning eight of 13 league trophies and having Earle Freeborn named Coach of the Year by the league.

During the year, 96 building permits were issued for work valued at $1,707,625 including a new business office for Wesmak Lumber Co. Ltd. on Pine Street and the Northern Pottery plant on Highway 129 as well as new ski chalet.

Service clubs were active with the Chapleau Rotary Club giving great support to the Crippled Children's Fund, its main project,while the Chapleau Lions Club brought the CNIB Mobile Eye Unit to town.

Branch Number 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion conducted the annual Remembrance Day service as well as its annual Safety Week.

The Chapleau Boy Scouts and Girl Guides under the leadership of Manlio Spessot and Valerie Jackson, respectively, hosted a rendezvous at Wakami Lake Provincial Park with about 500 in attendance. 

Under the auspices of the Opportunities for Youth Program there was a very successful summer carnival and other projects, all under the direction of Tom Corston, who was a student at Lakehead University at the time.

There was also a successful Chapleau Winter Carnival.

Fire chief Adam Andrews reported there were no major fires in town or in outlying areas serviced by the local fire department. The Ministry of natural Resources reported there were only 12 forest fires with only 35 acres burned, perhaps a record low.

The Lady Minto Hospital Building Fund grew from about $150,000 to  over $248,000 as a result of an aggressive fund drive. Approval was received from the Ministry of Health to proceed with plans for a new hospital.

Under the presidency of Helen Tebbutt, the Lady Minto Hospital Auxiliary was one of the largest contributors to the building fund, plus making a pledge for more fund raising. 

Chamber of Commerce president Matt Castonguay reported that it continued its active promotion of Chapleau and cooperation with the municipality on projects.

Just for the historical record, the Chapleau Midget "B' hockey team I was coaching made it to the NOHA Finals in Capreol, but were overwhelmed by their opponent. Garry Prusky, who was the team manager, and who was also playing for the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies and I had some great laughs reminiscing about "the Midgets" at the Chapleau High School Reunion.

George Evans, assistant principal at Chapleau High School, who arrived in 1961, returned from a one year sabbatical, which had included a visit to his beloved Greece. George also resumed his duties as staff advisor to the school chess club.

Rev. Murray Arnill who had been a very popular minister at Trinity United Church for several years and active in many aspects of community life, moved to Kapuskasing. Murray had also established a coffee house in the church basement for the community's youth and it was the place to be on weekends -- for teachers and others too! The coffee house would often continue into the wee hours of the morning around Murray's kitchen table.

In the 1972 municipal election, Terry Way-White was re-elected reeve while F.A. 'Nick' Card, Dr. G.E. Young, Ernie Gilbert -- and me -- were elected to council. 

I am always open to ideas for Chapleau Moments columns so please do not hesitate to contact me, and thanks to all those who have. My email is mj.morris@live.ca