Ed Swanson chairs Chapleau's first Summerfest while Lise Lafreniere wins Queen contest and Malaysians entertain with dances and songs in 1973

Chapleau's first Summerfest, a three-day carnival held on the Civic Holiday weekend in August was termed an "outstanding success", with a varied program offering something for everybody, young and old, and in between, according to Margaret Costello in the Sault Star.

Although Chapleau had celebrated Beach Day for many years, in 1973, the program was expanded running from Friday night until the "last dance" at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall on Monday night.

Ed Swanson was the first chairman of Summerfest which eventually became part of Festival Chapleau, and he was ably assisted by secretary-treasurer Margaret Rose (Payette) Fortin. Chatting with Donald Swanson, Ed's son,  at the Chapleau High School Reunion, he recalled, "There were sure lots of meetings around our kitchen table" as plans were made for the weekend.

The committee included Annie Bowland, Peter Elliott, Earle Freeborn, Manlio Spessot, Greg Lucas, Raoul Lemieux Jr, Jim Mulligan, George Travis, Graham Bertrand, Wally Clarke, Janet Tokarchuk, Ken LeClaire, Bill Ritchie, Mark Mizuguchi, Denis Ladouceur and Richard Ladouceur.

Orville Robinson was the Master of ceremonies for the Talent Show and Crowning of the Summerfest Queen Program held in the Chapleau Public School gymnasium on opening night.

High in interest was the selection of the Summerfest Queen from three contestants for that honour. Lise Lafreniere was crowned with "due ceremony" by chairman Ed Swanson. The other contestants were Catherine Welch and Maureen Lavoie.

Maggie wrote that contributing to the success of the talent show were the Malaysians who were spending the summer in Chapleau as part of a Canada World Youth program. "With their colourful and beautiful costumes, graceful and charming dances and songs" they were an "opening gun" for the weekend.

Also on the talent show program were local favourites Leslie Andrews and Jody Theriault, accomplished young pianists; Heather Scott and Nelson Wright, Mary Whitney and Eleanor Creighton, songs with guitar accompaniment; James Henry, songs and guitar. After the show, the first dance of the weekend was held in the town hall basement. 

An outdoor beer garden was held behind the town hall with dancing in the basement while bingo players had their "innings and winnings" at the Legion hall on Saturday.

The  highly polished and trained Levack-Onaping Pipe Band gave a concert in the public school gymnasium which was a "rare treat" for those who loved the pipes.

Matt's Track was the place to be on Sunday for the motorcycle races with contestants from Chapleau, Timmins, Sault Ste Marie and Sudbury. Back in town there were volleyball and basketball games at the public school gymnasium for the youth.

Monday was the big day, all day, starting with "one of the biggest and best parades seen around here in many a day," according to Maggie Costello. "Bands, boy scouts, bright costumes galore, decorated bikes and baby carriages, floats -- on they came all around the town." Margaret Rose (Payette) Fortin chaired the parade subcommittee. The Chapleau Town Band and the Levack-Onaping Pipe Band were also in the parade

Prize winners in the parade were Sean Sweeney, Andy Mahan, Shelley Joly. Tate and Chad Westerman, Myrna Fortin, Dean Fortin and Tina Tangie. Judges were Colombe Champion, Jim Walsh and Cpl. Jack Hatch.

The Malaysian Wedding and Chapleau Recreation Committee were float winners.

During the parade, when the convertible carrying the Summerfest Queen Lise Lafreniere and runnersup broke down in the middle of the route, they were quickly transferred to the back of a fire truck, and the parade went on with little disruption.

Baby carriages filled the area around Renison Hall at St John's Anglican Church as mothers brought their offspring to enter the Baby Show. The show was run by Eva Lester, director of nursing at Lady Minto Hospital, assisted by Alice Martin of the nursing staff. Winner in the birth to six month old category was Shelley Fortier, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Renald Fortier. In the six month to one year category Angela Bazinet, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Bazinet won, while Nancy Tremblay, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Girard Tremblay, was the winner in the 12-18 month age group.

In the all day fastball tournament on the field behind the old Chapleau High School, a Chapleau team came off the winner against Wawa. 

There were also other activities at the Beach area including swimming races, water bombing, and the ever popular children's races and games of chance. 

Beginning at nine p.m. to close the three-day weekend was a dance at the Legion featuring the Rhythmaires.

Looking at the program for the weekend, there were 54 businesses and individuals who contributed prizes to Summerfest activities with a sincere vote of appreciation to J..E. Martel and Sons Lumber Ltd., A and L Lafreniere Lumber Company, Chapleau Lumber Company, the Redwood Dining Room and the Bridgeview Motel for their "special contributions" toward the success of Summerfest.

Also assisting the committee were the Opportunities for Youth, "Summer Chapleau' participants Jamie Doyle, Maurice Blais, Richard Desbiens, Catherine Welch, Michael Paquette, Peter Freistatter, and Robert Petrunka as well as the recreation committee summer staff of Eileen McCrea, Joan Warren, Denis Foran, Patricia Fortin, William Brady, Keith McAdam and Mary Lou Futhey.

The Summerfest Committee slogan was "Support us in '73 to bring you more in '74". And they did! My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Six Chapleauites including reporter Maggie Costello ride Highway 101 to Timmins for first time in 1961

Shortly after Margaret 'Maggie' Costello arrived in Chapleau in 1949, she started reporting on the life, times and people of the community, and as part of her experience became the first woman to travel over Highway 101 to Timmins in 1961.

For more than 25 years, Maggie as she was fondly called, became a fixture at all things Chapleau, arriving in her Volkswagen Beetle with her camera, and reporting on them first for the Sudbury Star in her Chapleau Scene column and in news stories, then with the Sault Star where she wrote Chapleau Hi-Lites and reported the news from her adopted community. 

Maggie was born in Pennsylvania, and after settling in Chapleau with her husband Bill, first worked at the Chapleau Clinic and for the Township of Chapleau, but she was a newspaper reporter, first and foremost.

She had been a reporter in the United States, and was also a professional actress, something Chapleau  learned when she played a leading role in the Chapleau Little Theatre's 1969 production of Kay Hill's comedy 'Three to Get Married'.

Maggie was also active as a member of the board of the Chapleau Community Credit Union, the Chapleau Chamber of Commerce and Lady Minto Hospital Auxiliary.

Doug Greig recently sent me some of Maggie's columns including the one 'Six Chapleauites ride Highway 101 to Timmins -- for first time' from December 1961.

She wrote they were looking at a map spread out before them and "can hardly believe it happened -- but it did. Six went all the way to Timmins."

On the expedition over the new highway with Maggie were Reeve D.J. 'Jim' Broomhead, Marcel Bourgeault, Roy May, Gilles Boisvert and F.B. 'Casey' Nowakowski, and she was most gracious in extending thanks to them for having asked her to accompany the delegation determined to see Highway 101 opened and available to all in 1961.

Commenting on being the first woman to travel over the new highway from Chapleau to Timmins, Maggie wrote, "We've never been one to shout from the housetops that we were first in anything - but we are, we are - and being the first woman that's something no one can take away from us -- we were the first woman to drive over Highway 101.

Just a note on Maggie's use of "we" when referring to herself.  "We" can also refer to the group so it can be a bit confusing. Maggie came from the school of newspaper reporting and column writing where the use of "I" was not permitted. Even though I am (we are) a product of the same school of journalism, after all these years of more personal journalism, it took me a few moments to adapt to Maggie's style, although the use of "I" should still be avoided. The third person should be used, and enough already of a lesson from Journalism 101.

Stuck in mud on Highway 101

Although Maggie was proud of the group's accomplishment, she wrote that "further keeping the ego in check the successful trip owed its success to the assistance of the department of highways equipment over the one and only bad part of about 50 feet some 30 miles between Chapleau and Foleyet. 

She added that about noon they reached the stretch of swamp and muskeg that had not been completely filled in and the ground was soft and mushy and the "wheels of the vehicle sunk in but good."

It was lunch time, she noted, but as soon as the highway crew returned, the two car caravan received all kinds of co-operation, and "after being set on more solid ground by bulldozer operator Lloyd Eaton of Foleyet, we rolled merrily the rest of the way."

A short news story about the historic trip noted that "residents of Chapleau and Timmins joined hands over a new stretch of road in jubilation. Highway 101 was finally a reality."

The official opening ceremonies of the highway took place with a huge celebration in June 1962.

About 10 years earlier, a Chapleau delegation chartered a plane and flew to Timmins for highway discussions with the Porcupine Chamber of Commerce. The flight took 52 minutes compared to  a return trip of about 19 hours by train at that time. Accompanying Reeve B.W. 'Bubs' Zufelt were Arthur Grout, Albert Evans, Charles W. Collins, Gordon Bailey and Wilf Simpson.

Margaret 'Maggie' Costello, who was predeceased by her husband Bill, died in 1983. She had retired in 1977. A memorial service was held at St. John's Anglican Church. 

Thanks to Doug Greig and Anne (Zufelt) McGoldrick. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Alfred 'Alf' Comte with the landmark crooked tree in front of his barber shop saw main street change to busy thoroughfare with music also very much part of his life in Chapleau

When Alfred 'Alf' Comte retired in 1961, he was not just remembered for his barber shop on Chapleau's main street, but also for the music that was very much a part of his life.

Arriving in Chapleau in 1911, at the age of 17 from Thouars, France, Mr. Comte became the Chapleau boys' best friend from childhood up, first working in Richard Brownlee's barber shop, then taking it over from him. He decided to stay: "It was young, it was colourful, it was growing," he said of Chapleau.

"Over the years he made a host of friends," Margaret Costello wrote in her Sudbury Star column, marking Mr. Comte's retirement. "Among the very young, when he first clipped hair from the heads of tiny tots, and turned them in real boys, and from there on men of all ages."

However, music was very much "part of the scheme of things" Mrs. Costello wrote, "and he played the violin well, so well in fact, that he taught others" as well as playing in a popular local orchestra.

Although at first he did not speak English, he soon met D.O. Payette, who became his interpreter as well as his first best friend in the new country. A bit later they formed Payette's Orchestra, and were in great demand for all kinds of functions at churches, concerts, dances and benefits.

While working at Mr. Brownlee's shop, he met Herb Lucas, who worked with him for 32 years, and also played in the orchestra. Other early members were Tommy Rose and J.N. Burns.

Blanche Vaillancourt came to Chapleau to visit with her sister Rose Sauve, met Mr. Comte, and in 1914 they were married.

At a retirement stag held for him, Mr. Comte recalled the early main street scene in Chapleau when in front of the barber shop grew a crooked tree, adding that it was a landmark from coast to coast.

Mrs. Costello wrote: "Passengers on trains during the wait at Chapleau divisional point who hankered for a supply of short snorts to continue their journey, were directed to the liquor store, next to the barber shop with the comment, 'You can't miss it. It's right by the crooked tree.'"

The Crooked Tree (www.chapleau.com)

Mr. Comte recalled that in those early days the only traffic marks along main street were wagon wheel ruts. Over the years, looking out the big picture window of the barber shop he saw main street change into a busy thoroughfare with new enterprises to meet new changes and the demands of Chapleau's growing population.


At the head table with Mr. Comte were some of his old friends including Mr. Payette, George O'Hearn, Hiram Paul, Ben Vezina, J.N. Burns, James Encil, Thomas McKee, John Reid, Chapleau Reeve D.J. 'Jim' Broomhead who also played a mean sax in the orchestra, and sons Raoul and Gerard Comte, and his grandson Lawrence.

At this point, I extend my thanks to Lawrence, who we called by the nickname 'Ton' for providing me with information on his grandfather. I decided to reach out to some others to share their memories of Mr. Comte, and here are some of the replies I received. Thanks to all.

Harry "Butch" Pellow
"I recall many instances when I was directed to the barber in anticipation of such things as special school events, choir and church proceedings and other such activities requiring neatness of and
presentation of countenance. As I recall I would often arrive in the barber shop after school ... maybe way after school... sweaty and in my woolen breeches covered in snow and damp- (and smelly too) and told to sit on the ice cream parlour chairs against the wall to await my turn in the chair. I recall waiting sometimes for a the big very long time while more recent arrives in the shop (adults) would precede me.

"Only later did I appreciate that the snow covered clothes, sweaty and smelly breeches and a restless young boy were the last thing wanted before the shop closed for the evening. I and you will recall the big picture window, the dark snow covered streets and that the barber shop was the last place you would want to be when you could otherwise be playing hockey on Aberdeen Street.

"Do you recall the glass case against the inside wall of the shop, the mirrored back wall, the linoleum floor covering water soaked and spotted by the snow that was tracked in, the wire backed, ice cream parlour cane seating, the picture of the dogs playing poker, and the long calendar with a rural scene of somewhere none of us had ever been?

"Do you recall the aroma of the after shave and the smelly stuff they sprinkled on your hair; and do you recall that you always preferred Mr. Comte to do your hair after he set you up on the board he suspended between the arms of his chair and mostly because he would put you at ease with his quiet, personal conversation, and very personal and friendly questions about yourself and your family.

"Sweet memories for me for sure. And he never forgot my name."

Ian Macdonald"Just fond recollections of the very pleasant distinguished man in the third chair. My recollection was he was a great and sympathetic listener."

Charlie Purich
"Ritual to get a haircut there. There were usually two barbers and back then you would request who you wanted. (And wait for that barber.) Mr Comte specialized in brush-cuts and he had this special goo he would add after the cut was done. Kept your brushcut on end for at least a few days.

"Also recall the board they would place across the seat for young patrons. Can't recall too many conversations between the patrons or barbers because the shop was a sombre place--you went there for a haircut or shave- period. Not too many smiles--just business!

"The shave was a hot towel affair and then out came the straight razor. Glad I didn't have whiskers back then!

"Back then you could get a haircut, have a milk shake at the Model Grill, get a mickey at the LCBO and play a game of pool upstaris at the pool hall, all in the same hour!!!"

David McMillan on Mr. Lucas
"Right off the top of my head I remember his chair was the one closet to the window and when he was in the process of giving you a haircut he'd forever be waving as people walked by on the sidewalk. I was also fascinated by the shaving procedure .. the head over the sink, the towel wrapped around the face and the straight razor that he periodically used to hone its edge."

Merrick Goldstein

"One Sunday my dad (J.G. 'Jiggs' Goldstein) decided to give me a haircut cause mom had been given a pair of little hand clippers. I dont remember how old I was but old enough to realize what a poor job he had done. I waited on the step of the barber shop before school til Mr. Comte opened up and told him what had happened. As I recall , Mr. Comte in a very polite manner suggested that my father should not quit his job at Collins Store."

Dr W.R. "Bill" Pellow

"The barber shop had changed drastically by the time I was going there for my monthly haircut. Different from the pioneering days when I was a boy going not to Brownlee's barber shop but to Comte's barber shop. . In the early days when Mr. Comte would have just arrived in Chapleau the barber shop was the transitional shop that was frequently used by the lumberjacks.

"My Dad relayed the stories that the lumberjack would arrive in town after a full winter in the bush and head directly to Smith and Chapples and buy "birds eye" Mackinaw pants , new knee length
boots and socks and new shirt head to the barber shop where he had a hair cut, a steam towel hot shave and shampoo and in the back room there was a tub where he could bathe. He cut the bottom 12 inches off his pants and was supplied brown paper to wrap his old clothes in and he changed into a clean shaven respectful citizen.This package of old dirty clothes were burnt in a barrel in the back yard. Then he headed next door and remained in the bar and stayed drunk, until he was broke. Then headed back to the lumber camp to sign on for another season. A
small sad circle of frivolity and waste. Truth or fiction.

"As a young boy I always wanted Mr. Comte to cut my hair. He was a gentile man and always of even temperament. His chair was the furthest from the front door. Herb Lucas 's chair was next to the window where he could wrap on the window with his comb with one hand and keep on cutting with the other. Then there were two more chairs that were manned by the "transient " barbers.

"Mr. Comte had a muscle ball on his right forearm that was created by hours of using the scissors with his arms elevated. He always cut your hair as you wished, or as directed from afar by your parents.

"During the war years he could be found each Friday in the basement of the town hall playing his violin accompanied by Mrs. Stancil (Pelllow) Rose on piano and Jim Broomhead on sax. The music was music of a generation past but a delight to dance to. An orchestra to dance to even a three piece orchestra was a treat for any Chapleau teenager.

"It is amazing how one small statured man can bring back memories of a life time ago, memories of deportment, dignity, grace and talent." My email is mj.morris@live.ca