Chapleau $1.7 million water treatment plant officially opened in 1976 replacing pump house and water storage tank

Joe Clifford, Graham Bertrand, Clem Bernier,- water plant employees

Official opening ceremonies for the new Chapleau water treatment plant were held on October 21, 1976, although it did not go into full operation until January 25, 1977.

The plant, built by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for the municipality at a cost of $1.7 million, replaced the pump house which had been built circa 1910. In due course, the pump house became the home of the Chapleau Air Cadets.

At the same time that the plant was being built, $500,000 was spent replacing old water mains, according to William Gibson of the ministry. Murray Cheetham of the environment ministry was master of ceremonies.

With the launch of the new water treatment plant, there was no further need for the water storage tank located on the hill on Elgin Street, near the CPR station. It was demolished but not before it buckled in some places, causing a scare in the community in 1977.

Floyd Laughren the NDP MPP for Nickel Belt which included Chapleau, was present to participate in the opening ceremonies.

The water plant project was initiated in 1967 when T.C. "Terry" Way-White was the reeve, and by 1972 an agreement had been reached between the province and the municipality which was confirmed by the Ontario Municipal Board.

Clem Bernier, First water plant superintendent

Mr. Laughren said he was pleased to be in Chapleau for the water plant opening, adding that he had attended a recent Habitat conference in Vancouver where "pure water" was felt to be the greatest need of people.

Rev. William Ivey of St. John's Anglican Church and Rev. Donald Maclean of Trinity United Church offered  prayers.

Clem Bernier was the first superintendent of the water plant while Graham Bertrand and Joe Clifford were the operators.

The water treatment system for the community provided for 1.2 million gallons a day, with the three reservoirs able to hold about three quarters of a million gallons in case of an emergency, which would last about four hours.

The plant included its own generator which started automatically in case of an electrical power failure.

Water was taken from the Kebsquasheshing River into a raw water well inside the plant.

The plant was staffed eight hours a day, and for the remaining hours the equipment operated automatically. In the event of an emergency, alarms would sound and staff contacted immediately.

Tours of the new plant were popular for school children. They would be conducted by the plant employees. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Tony Fraser, Grant Campbell, Anicet Lafreniere work to resolve Chapleau water crisis when diesel system fails in 1973

G.Campbell, (right) K. Stone, A. Lafreniere

When a major water crisis faced Chapleau in February 1973, Tony Fraser, Grant Campbell and Anicet Lafreniere, who were not employees of the municipality, worked tirelessly to restore full service.

It all started on Wednesday February 14, Valentine's Day when pump house attendants noted that the pumping pressure had dropped at the old pump house, which was diagnosed as caused by a break in a water main somewhere in the community. It was not known where as water had not surfaced above ground.

The electric pumping station was turned off as it could only supply 550,000 gallons pressure daily, which was sufficient to keep Chapleau well supplied but with the break, it could not cope with the situation.

Immediately, the auxiliary diesel system that could supply quite adequately the needs of the town plus the water main break was put into action, and this worked quite well for two days when the 27-year old diesel system sputtered and died.

Tony, Grant and Anicet, described as "diesel experts" in the Chapleau Sentinel were brought in to determine the problem.

They worked non-stop for about 24 hours until they found what they thought was the problem.

Parts for the obsolete diesel were found in Toronto and at this point the Ontario Provincial Police were contacted to assist. Sgt. Ron Young contacted Insp. C.G. Wilkinson in Sudbury and  relay of OPP cruisers was set up to bring the parts to Chapleau. Sgt. Young sent a    Chapleau cruiser to Sudbury for the final leg of the journey.

F Card, T Way-White, Dr Young, MJM, E Gilbert

Despite working non-stop, by Monday morning it still would not work so Reeve Terry Way-White called an emergency meeting of township council for 6:30 a.m. at the pump house. The full council of Councillors Dr. G.E. Young, F.A. 'Nick' Card, Ernie Gilbert and me were present.

Council declared a state of emergency and schools were closed while large users of water and residential ater users were asked to ration their use.

Bob Smith of Dominion Road Machinery in North Bay was contacted and he immediately travelled to Chapleau to help resolve the problem. Twenty-fours later it was determined that the injection system would have to be replaced, and Mr. Smith was able to find one in Toronto.

This time, George Elliott, Chief Forester of the Ministry of Natural Resources at Chapleau provided assistance by placing a Twin Otter aircraft at the municipality's disposal to rush the new injector from Toronto, and it arrived early Tuesday afternoon.

"At exactly one minute before midnight Tuesday (February 20), the diesel system was returned to duty and is now supplying the town with its normal pressure," the Sentinel reported.

And the break that started it all? After it was found, it was repaired and water thawing at homes affected was underway, although some with plastic pipes had to wait as they could not be thawed electrically.

Although all's well that ends well, there was considerable discussion at township council when meeting when Councillor Gilbert complained that as chairman of the public works committee he felt he should have been informed about the crisis when it first started rather than hearing about it on the street.

Councillor Card, who was a CPR engineer at the time, said he was told about it in Cartier, while Councillor Young and I agreed there should have been better communication with council.

Chapleau's new water plant opened in 1976. 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

Chapleau reeve Terry Way-White created colourful totem pole from old log as project for Canada's centennial in 1967

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While fishing at Seven Mile Lake in 1966, Terry Way-White, saw a pole at the bottom of the lake, dragged it out, took it home and put it in his basement to dry out.

In May, 1967, as Canada was celebrating its 100th anniversary as a nation, and after eight months work, Mr. Way-White and his friends who had helped him, raised a colourful totem pole at Chapleau's Centennial Park, on Monk Street.

Larry Carroll, Mr. Way-White's nephew helped him get the log home and into his basement, while his friend and neighbour Jack Whitney, carved two of the figures that appeared on it during the eight months it took to transform it from an 17-foot long old log to a colourful totem pole.

Part of totem pole in Chapleau Heritage Museum, 2011. Courtesy Doug Greig

While working on his personal Centennial project, Mr. WayWhite, who had been a township councillor, became the reeve in January 1967. As he was finishing work on the totem pole and preparing for Chapleau's celebration of Canada's Centennial, he was also occupied with the devastating forest fire of June 1967, when he had to give the order to evacuate the municipality. He served as reeve until 1973.

Included on the colourful totem pole were a thunderbird, bear, native spirit, Expo 67 Logo and the Centennial Maple Leaf. Also engraved were the Latin words, "Ad mari usque ad mare" meaning from sea to sea, which were emblematic of Queen Victoria's words apparently used when she chose Ottawa as Canada's capital, and was quoted as saying, "You shall have dominion from sea to sea."

Twenty-five years later, on July 1, Mr. Way-White, now retired from the Canadian Pacific Railway, was at the Centennial Park and the totem pole was cut down as the wood had been deteriorating for several years.

When it was placed in the park in 1967, Mr. Way-White had put a time capsule in the base, however, over the years the glass jar had broken and some of the contents had been destroyed. In a glass jar were stamps, centennial coins, a Chapleau newspaper and a note from Mr. Way-White as reeve. Those salvaged were placed on display in the museum.

In an article in Algoma Hi-Rail, Marg Byer told about Mr. Way-White's project. He told her it was easy getting the log into his basement compared to getting it out.

"We had one helluva time getting the pole out. We didn't think about that once it was carved with wings and what not it was wider than before."

But they managed and the totem pole stood proudly in Centennial Park for 25 years.

In the same article Marg Byer also noted that Mr. Way-White was on duty with the CPR in 1939 when the Royal Train with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on it arrived in Chapleau about two a.m. He noted that he had to wear a special armband and security was provided by the RCMP and CPR Police.

Since I wrote in a recent column about Chapleau Reeve George Fife paying a visit to the train to meet the Royals, it seems that Chapleau was awake for the early morning train stop.

Elizabeth Austin advised that her father Jim Austin was a member of the Chapleau High School Cadet Corps who were on hand for the visit, while June Marie (Charette) Charlwood wrote that her grandfather Edward Woodard had been an engineer on the Royal Train. June Marie's father, Maurice Charette, was part of the CPR Police security detail for the Royal Train, as was Jim Morris, my father.

My thanks to Dave Way-White, Terry's son for providing information on the building of the totem pole. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Forest fire evacuation of Chapleau in 1967 called 'masterpiece of planning' even though roast found in with the shoes

As Chapleau life returns to normal after after the power outage of 2010, it was in June 1967, 43 years ago, that a forest fire resulted in the evacuation of about 90 percent of the community's residents.

(See end of story for map explanation.)

Charlie Purich, who was working as a purchasing agent for the department of lands and forests recalled that the fire in 1967 that evacuated the town was called 69-8. 69 stood for the District and 8 was the eighth fire that year. The fire started Friday June 2 just north of Montreal Lake and Mosquito Lake in 13G township and its perimeter as of 21:15 June 3 was 3250 acres and On June 4 at 11:00 hrs. it was 3300 acres. Then it spread to 3550 acres by 14:00 hrs. Then to 4450 acres by 17:00 hrs. Then to 5000 acres by 17:30 hrs. On June 5 at 07:15 it was 5800 acres and then it started to die.

Charlie added that it started in 13 G Township and followed the west side of Sideburned Lake and the east side of Highbrush Lake crossing Highway 101 and continuing on a direct path toward the town. The fire broke out about 12 miles southwest of Chapleau on the south side of Highway 101 west.

Reporting on the fire in its June 8, 1967, edition, the Chapleau Sentinel said that tractor trailers loaded with bulldozers and other equipment were rushed to the area to create fire breaks. However, by Sunday morning at daylight the fire aided by higher winds had jumped Highway 101 and was headed to Chapleau.

District Forester Jim Keddie had advised Reeve T.C. "Terry" Way-White of the situation and a meeting was held in the Town Hall at 11 a.m. attended by the council and other citizens as well as lands and forests personnel and Ontario Provincial Police. The decision was made to evacuate the municipality and the order was given by Mr. Way-White. The exodus began on Sunday afternoon with between 800-900 vehicles beginning the trek out of town after the signal had been given to evacuate. There were 90 boxcars in the CPR yard and a hospital train had left Sudbury to assist with the emergency. At its peak, nearly 400 firefighters were on the scene.

The Sentinel reported that even given the awkwardness of the old horshoe overhead bridge the traffic flow was steady and even and no tieups occurred. The newspaper referred to the evacuation as a "masterpiece of planning" with a committee headed by Mr. Way-White with J.M. "Jack" Shoup and township clerk Ollie Carlson assisting with general directions. Other members included Gene Bernier, communications; Roy May, transportation; Jim Broomhead, those in hospital and in need of special care; Con Schmidt, the contact for reception of evacuees in other communities; OPP Cpl. Ron Lewis and Fire Chief Ad Andrews, policing and safety. George Nutkins and Doug Kavanaugh of the CPR and Chief Forest Ranger Lawless Cecile and Deputy Chief Ranger Lloyd Woods also played major roles during the emergency.

For the record, Charlie and others have been providing me with details on this fire for some time before the power outage caused by a forest fire near Wawa.

Charlie also noted that "When the town was evacuated we assisted the OPP with our Lands and Forests trucks, patrolling the streets and it was an eerie feeling late at night."

By Monday, some rain had fallen and the evacuation order was lifted. Chapleau residents began to return home.
I posted a request for memories from the 1967 fire on Facebook and here are the responses:

Hugh McGoldrick "Michael, I will always remember Veda Warren saying,"I'm not leaving town 'til the walls of (her) house get hot." I guess she never did leave, but it sure sounded funny to me that this sweet little defiant lady was going to 'stand up' to the fire. She clearly had a pioneer spirit.

"Meanwhile, the McGoldricks and the two Jardine families on Grey St. (Doug and Don) were somewhat less defiant and we all went to Least Lake. I think we stayed at Mammy and Pappy Jones' camp. When we arrived there was a duck in the camp that had pooped everywhere. So we had to clean the camp and then find sleeping arrangements for the 15 or so of us. It was cozy but fun.

Ann (Card) Morin: "Since I was only 11 yrs old it seemed more like a camping trip, although we a knew that the town was in grave danger. I also remember feeling pretty important that our town was mentioned in the House of Commons. In the end I was just pleased to have an early start to summer and return to town to find that my new bicycle had not perished in the fire...important considerations for an 11 year old.

"I remember we went to Mulligan's Bay, Uncle George and Auntie Olive's (Boucher) Camp ...mass confusion my mother packed me all tops no bottoms ... we found the roast in with the shoes. It was scary because my Dad had to stay home with the fire department... we could see the smoke from the camp."

Suzanne (Comte Weber) "My grandfather said that the wind would change and the town will be ok. So our family, probably one of the few didn't leave town. I remember walking around town , it was so deserted, hoses all over. houses being watered down. What a memory it was."



Kate Laframboise " I remember strong smell of smoke and the sky was gray.My sister Janet drove us to Timmins, with the exception of my two eldest brothers and my father Bucko. We stayed in a hotel for a couple of days and then heard everything was okay to return."

Eugene Bouillon "I remember a bunch of us kids riding around on our bikes, with bandanas on our faces, covering our noses from the smoke. The smoke was so thick, sometimes, you could not even see the Ball park from our place. Embers were falling all over King Street and even over to Elgin Street. We went to Foleyet, and stayed with some people there."

Joan Lapointe Gauthier "I remember the fire very well. We were living on King Street and my grandfasther kept hosing down the house because of the live embers. I had a Uncle Tom who had had a stroke and was in hospital and we took him home with us. My mom Evelyn Lapointe was working at the hospital and they were delivering a baby when the alarms sounded. I packed as much of the personal belongings as possible into our car. I'm not sure as to what happened to Uncle Tom but if my memory is correct I think he was taken to Sudbury by train. My grandfather was adamant about not leaving the house and we stayed that night after the evacutation order but did go to Foleyet the next day and came home that evening. You could hear the bulldozer as clear as a bell cutting a fire break into the bush behind the houses on the bush side of King Street."

Johanne Wilson: "Roger and other men were helping to put people on the trains. I took my Dad's car and loaded the 3 boys along with some valuables, and so did our neighbour at the time and ,we drove to Sudbury. Waited there for our husbands to come... " When it was safe, we returned home, all ended well."

The Sentinel was also reporting that Eddie Shack was in town the weekend following the evacuation as guest speaker at the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies banquet as part of their celebration on winning the NOHA Junior "B" championship, and the Scouts and Cubs were holding their annual Father-Son banquet. Life returned to normal very quickly. In years to come, I am sure many stories will be told about the great power outage of 2010. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

p.s. I was working in Toronto at the time of the  1967 fire but my mother, Muriel E. Morris was in Chapleau. Mom refused to leave her home.

 MAP PROVIDED BY CHARLIE PURICH  It is the actual map prepared by personnel at the "Point" during that fire.


Colours showing spread of fire:
Red----------June 2

Yellow------June 3
Blue---------June 4
Orange----June 5