Karen Smith recalls bringing the band to her house the Sixties for a 'jumping' Christmas party, with furniture pushed aside, and then the phone rang .. plus Ian Macdonald on toyland; Mike McMullen, Ken Schroeder at church

House parties over the Christmas season are always popular but one held in Chapleau during the Sixties still brings back memories as a live band had the place jumping in no time after it arrived at the home of Karen Smith.

Andre Renaud had mentioned the party to me some time ago when I was researching 'Phoenix Rising' a band in which he played drums for a time. The band also went under other names. So, as i was looking for some different Chapleau moments at Christmas, I was able to contact Karen for some information about bringing the band to her home to play for a party.

Karen wrote: "The heroes of this tale are my Mum and Dad. My brother Brian and I were home for Christmas. A bunch of us had gone to the show and were returning to our place when someone mentioned the band was practising in the basement of the town hall. I think it was Ken Braumberger that talked them into playing at our place."

Karen and Brian's parents were Cecil and Ruth Smith and they owned the Fox Theatre in Chapleau. To the real oldtimers, at first they had the Regent Theatre.

"In no time we had the band and their instruments loaded in trucks and cars and and set up in my parents family room," Karen continued. "Carpets in the living room and dining room were rolled up, and furniture pushed aside.

Peter Simpson and Sean Henry

"We did have a piano at our place and Peter Simpson tickled the ivory . That piano never sounded so good. The band had the place was a jumping in no time. Guitars, drums, horn, piano and even Frankie (Bignucolo) singing his heart out. "

Then the phone rang....

"Expecting a noise complaint I answered," Karen said. "It was our neighbour Mrs. Pineault concerned that someone was snooping around our garage. She could see the lights going on and off and was sure someone was sitting in the car. Out we went to investigate.

"There sat my Mum and Dad. They had arrived home to find their house filled with teenagers dancing to the music of a live band and could not hear themselves think. Dad had made a dash into the kitchen poured them both a stiff drink and there they sat, in the car in the garage waiting for the party to end."

"Learning that it was Mum and Dad sitting in the car, Mr. Pineault came over and invited Mum and Dad over to the warmth and peace and quet of their place.

"I have no idea how long the party lasted but by the next morning all the furniture was in place nothing broken and everyone had a great time.

"God Bless Mum and Dad. They had their home invaded by teenagers more than once," Karen added.

(As an aside, on a personal note, I thank Karen for her kind words about my grandfather Gerge Hunt and my family at St. John's Church.)

Andre Renaud picked up the story by recalling that it was Peter Simpson who made the arrangements with Karen " I was fairly new in the band at that time. I remember Peter saying to me," Andre we have a Christmas party to play at..It's at Karen Smith's place..

Peter told him they needed about 20 songs asking if he thought he could do different beats because he knew that in a small area the mistakes stand out and it's hard to keep the drum sound low. "You mostly use brushes or the stick on the rim and use he high hat rather than the big cymbals...."

Andre remembers that the place was packed, and it went over real well."We had a great time and there was no trouble at all..Karen was a great hostess and she paid us real well for those days..I remember $5.00 each..

"My drums were new and they were like a blue sparkle..Peter would alway say when the guys helped me move them around..Watch the bluey guys... watch the bluey.LOL. Peter had a nickname..A lot of people called him Simmy I always called him Pete."


While we were chatting Andre recalled another popular feature at Christmas in Chapleau. "I used to like going downstairs at Smith and Chapple's and look at the toy display..Also the train display they had there every Christmas.Nice place to duck into on the way to school when it was real cold..Warm up for a few minutes and keep going the rest of the way..LOL"

I remembered that Ian Macdonald, now retired as professor and head of the department of architecture at the University of Manitoba, at one time had a connection to the Smith and Chapple train display, so sent him an email for details. As always Ian replied promptly with details.

"My Dad looked after the Smith and Chapple hardware department including "toyland". It was set up in the lower level at the east end of the building under the Grocery department. The toyland display always included two electric train layouts. One was an American Flyer and the other was a Lionel.

"I had the nonsalaried assignment to oversee the operation of both of them which I gladly did. It was the only job I ever had at Smith and Chapple aside from occasionally delivering flyers.

"Several years later I began firing for the CPR and had the opportunity to actually operate full size locomotives hostling at Cartier. Most of my subsequent Christmas holidays were spent in a CPR locomotive cab substituting for running crews who were booking off. It paid a lot better than the Smith and Chapple assignment but I'm not sure it was ever quite as much fun."

Ken and Mike about then!!!

Michael McMullen, my cousin, and Ken Schroeder, my good friend, shared their exchange of emails about their role at the midnight service at St. John's Anglican Church where Michael had to fight an itch.

Michael asked Ken: "Do you remember the Christmas Eve service (midnight I believe) in either 1952 or 1953 that you and I were charged with standing in the middle aisle and determining when people could go up for communion? As I recall the church was packed. One reason that I remember it so vividly is that I had to scratch the back of my leg and was too embarassed to do anything about it while on duty (and display). The relief to do that downstairs afterwards has been etched in my mind ever since!"

Ken replied: "Funny how some things just stick .." Ken advised us that he has now been promoted to stand guard at the foot of the two steps at their church here in Hamilton. "Sigi (his wife) lets them out, one side at a time, and I wait to catch  anybody that falters on the steps .....good job ....."

I think the service was in 1952 when Rev. E. Roy Haddon was at St. John's. I recall the packed church. As an aside, at that time Michael's father Keith, was the People's Warden and my mother Muriel, and Ken's mother, Edith "Teddy" Schroeder, were in the choir.

Ian Macdonald recalled his role: "As an aside, my assignment at St.John's for the Christmas Eve service was operating the chimes. It was a job I inherited from Bob Linklater  who was then studying for the ministry at U of T. You may recall that  the chimes were actually a recording which was played on a set of large speakers in the St.John's belfry connected to a record player and amplifier in the ante room off of the Vestry. There was a real bell in the belfry in addition to the "virtual chimes" which I heard only on very rare occasions. I'm not sure but I think that Miss Herner donated the  sound system. You probably know better than I.

I believe she did along with her sister, Mrs Nettie Grout



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

Chapleau folks share memories of the season from Christmas market in Germany to church pageant and Santa Claus at Smith and Chapple Ltd.

Lorne and Jackie Riley with Erin, Patty, Loreen, Lorne at Christmas

Lorne Riley shares memories of Christmas songs from home countries while June-Marie Charlwood remembers the crisp cold snow and Ken Schroeder plays Santa Claus. It is the Christmas season and time once again to bring you moments from here and there and indeed everywhere.

Lorne Riley writes from Dubai where he is head of corporate communications for Dubai Airports that he lived overseas for 10 years now in three different countries and, "despite this, have managed to more or less maintain a 'Canadian Christmas'. It typically means flying home for two harried weeks jam-packed with dinners, lunches and get-togethers as we struggle to see as many people as possible in a very short time frame."

However, his favourite overseas Christmas experience was in Frankfurt where "we used to have a staff party every year to celebrate Christmas in the German tradition."

Lorne explained that typically it "started in the Christmas market in Hauptwache at the centre of the city with cups of mulled, sweetened gluhwein or beer (the best in the world I might add) and snacks like bratwurst or kartofelpuffer (potato pancakes and apple sauce). It would end with a merry, multi-cultural group primed with Pils, gathered around a heavy wooden table laden with goose, rotkraut (red cabbage) and knoedel (a doughy dumpling the size of a baseball) in a smokey restaurant singing Christmas songs from our home countries."

He also recalled very fond memories of Chapleau Christmases..."ham and perogies were the tradition at Christmas Eve at the Riley household, lovingly prepared by my mother (Jackie Riley who is a great cook...hi Mom!).

"In my teenage years our gang of friends (some of us from the NOHA Midget C Champion Chapleau Huskies...John Bernier, Pat Payette, Randy Carroll, Tim Morin, Donald Swanson, Mario Lapierre, Alain Bouillon and Paul Martel to name a few) would gather at the Payettes for some Christmas cheer and a singalong."

Just to interject a bit on the champion Midget C Huskies, they won the NOHA title in 1979-80 in Blind River in a nail biting series. The coaches were Jamie Doyle and Mike Tangie, and I was there on the bench with them. Also, Lorne's father, Lorne Sr., coached the Chapleau Midgets to an NOHA title in the Sixties which led to the founding of the Chapleau Junior B Huskies. Lorne Sr was the first coach of that team which won championships in 1966-67, its first year. When Lorne became ill, Keith "Buddy" Swanson, the manager took over as coach.

And most importantly Lorne shares: "I still remember waking up Christmas day to the smell of turkey roasting, opening the treats in our Christmas sock which was pinned at the foot of the bed (a clever ploy by my parents to keep us entertained in our rooms so they could catch an extra hour or two of sleep) and looking through a thickly frosted window to see if sliding at Second Rock or on Hospital Hill was in the cards...that is if Santa brought the Krazy Karpet I had asked for....

"While I haven't made it back to Chapleau for Christmas in a very long time, and I rarely get to see my very good friends from back in the day, I'd like to send everyone back home best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and safe, healthy and Happy New Year."\

June-Marie Charlwood, a member of one of Chapleau's pioneer families wrote that the one memory she had of Christmas in Chapleau was the Christmas Pageant by the St. John's Anglican Church Sunday School and singing The Huron Carol.

June-Marie is the daughter of the late Bessie Woodard who was born and raised in Chapleau. Bessie married Maurice Charette and they lived in Chapleau in the early Fifties.

"Then we went to the Zufelts (Elsie (Hunt) and B.W. "Bubs" Zufelt lived on Beech Street at the time) and walking home in the crisp cold snow and watching the beautiful aurora borealis light up the sky....I believe I was 7 which would make it 1952..."

When June Marie mentioned 1952, it rang a bell and I went to my book 'Sons of Thunder ... Apostles of Love' to see what was happening at St. John's. I noted that at Christmas 1952 when Rev. E. Roy Haddon was the rector, the largest congregation ever recorded at a service to that time in the history of the parish was on Christmas Eve with 267 people in attendance. There were chairs in the aisle on a beautiful Winter evening.

June Marie also recalled getting a book called 'Fifty Famous Fairy Tales' that year which she still has and "read to my children and grandchildren. ....Wow Michael you have brought up some very special memories to my heart..."

When I received an email from my lifelong friend Ken Schroeder with some memories, I actually did recall when he was Santa Claus at Smith and Chapple Ltd.

Ken wrote: "I remember being a Chapleau 'Santa Claus' at Smith and Chapple one year, music was big ..nice and loud ....kids enjoyed... Jingle Bells... etc....Art Grout always was happy about these good times ....people smiling . Good times ...." They sure were great days Ken.



FROM MY EMAIL BAG

Vivian Edwards wrote about my article on John 'Mac' McClellan. "That article on Mr McClellan was so excellent. When I wanted a job at the Chapleau Telephone Co. I gave Mac as a reference and Mrs Delaney phoned him and he said hire her. It changed my whole life. I Joined his bugle band but he let me be in it but told me not to blow the bugle as I couldn't carry a note. I took the bugle home gees I was proud and was in the marching band but messed up as I swung my arms the same way. Poor guy he was so tolerant. When my brother Tom quit school he called my mom and said this boy was to carry on in school. Over the years I am sure he helped countless students. Great men happen only so often and he was one of them . Good job Michael."

DR. YOUNG MEMORIAL
I have been advised that the Queen's University Alumni Review will run a memorial article on Dr. G.E.Young in its Winter issue. Dr. Young graduated from Queen's in medicine in 1942.

Please feel free to send along your Christmas memories and/or photos. My email is mj.morris@live.ca
or see me on Facebook!

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 ."