Personal columns in Chapleau Press of 1962 part of community life, now we 'facebook' and 'tweet'

After receiving the Personals column from the Chapleau Press of October 11, 1962 recently, it struck me that the news about the comings and goings of citizens and their visitors was a very important part of community life, and yes, it sold newspapers too.

I learned first hand the importance of social news and personals columns shortly after i became a newspaper reporter in 1964 at the Daily Press in Timmins. Most contributions were handwritten in those days and quite often news reporters were called upon to type them out into a news story. And woe betide if you made a spelling error in someone's name. Actually it was a great experience in "getting the name right" one of the first principles young reporters learn, made more difficult as you had to transcribe all manner and forms of handwriting.

But the Personals column and other social news were a very popular section of the newspaper, maybe even moreso than sports or comics. I realized quickly that "hard news" was not always the main reason people bought a newspaper.

Doug Greig sent me the clipping on the very day that Bill McLeod sent out a news release announcing the launch of his new book 'Chapleau: A Retrospective on LIfe in an Isolated Northern Community.' Doug had coincidentally received the clipping that day and Bill and I are mentioned in the Personal column.

Bill advises that he will hold a book launch in Chapleau on Thursday, September 30 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Chapleau Public Library.

It read: "Michal (sp) Morris and Billie (sp) McLeod students at Waterloo College were home for the Thanksgiving weekend." Of course it should have been Michael and Billy, but those were the only misspelled names in the column that I could detect. And yes, Bill and I attended Chapleau Public and Chapleau High School in the same grade and also attended the same university, now Wilfrid Laurier in the same years, different progams.

Here is a sampler of moments in the lives of some Chapleau citizens as reported in the Chapleau Press in the fall of 1962.

Mary and Grant Campbell were busy.

"Mrs. Mary Campbell, Worthy Matron of Melba Chapter 313 was the delegate from Chapleau to the 7th Annual Session of the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star of Ontario held in the Royal York Hotel. Mrs. L.T. Green also attended."

"Mr. Grant Campbell left for Halifax where he will be the delegate from the Royal Canadian Air Force Association Wing 423 to the R.C.A.F. convention. Mrs. Campbell accompanied him."

Frank Coulter, who served many years on the public school board was off to a convention. "Mr. and Mrs. Frank Coulter spent the week in Sarnia where Mr. Coulter attended the public school convention as the representative from the Chapleau Public School Board."

On a business trip: "Mr. Ovide Cote and Mr. George Collins were business visitors to Montreal where they had the opportunity of attending the Shoe and Leather Fair held in the Mount Royal Hotel which proved very interesting. Mrs. Cote and Mrs. Collins accompanied their husbands and had an enjoyable time sightseeing and shopping."

Meanwhile, "Mr. and Mrs. Mel Richardson and son Paul have returned after a pleasant motor trip to Toronto and Montreal", and "Mrs. Agness Freeborn has just returned from vacation in eastern parts of Ontario and Quebec."

Visiting Chapleau, "Mr. Alvin O'Hearn of Burlington was a visitor with his parents Mr. and Mrs. George O'Hearn", and "Mr. and Mrs. Joe Shannon of Falconbridge were visitors to Chapleau." Mr. and Mrs. Shannon had been long-time employees of Smith and Chapple Ltd.

You don't see Personal columns as much now in the newspapers -- now we can "facebook," "tweet" and send email to each other!

DAVID McMILLAN AT THE BEACH

"Just finished reading your article on the beach area and, in doing so, learned for the first time of the major role Dr. Young played in its development. If I remember correctly, a lot of us learned to swim by initially dog paddling with those rectangular boards held out in front like surf boards as we kicked furiously in order to keep our faces from going under. As we grew older ( unfortunately not wiser ) I recall taking part in a bicycling exercise that was the brainchild of one of my peers that entailed riding your bike off the high diving board. Granted, there wasn't much time or room to get up a good head of steam before you rode your bike down into the water but it was an exuberating couple of seconds and well worth the effort required to haul the bike on your shoulder up the steps to the upper level. We did, however, use our grey matter by remembering to tie ropes to our bikes for retrieval purposes. These events always took place after lifeguards Babe Chambers and Jackie Poynter had left the beach area at the end of their day and if further elaboration is required I'm sure Howard Goheen or Timmy Goodwin could help out in that regard."

HENRY 'SONNY' THERRIEN DIES

I recently received word that one of Chapleau's great hockey players, Henry F. Therrien, "Sonny", 76, Kaukauna, died at Theda Clark Medical Center on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010, with family by his side. Henry was born on July 17, 1934, in Chapleau, Ontario, Canada, son of the late Frederick and Adrian Anne (Levesque) Therrien. He played hockey growing up in Chapleau then attended St Michaels College in Toronto, where he played junior hockey prior to being drafted into the USHL, where he was a two-time league goal scorer for the Indianapolis Chiefs.Prior to representing the U.S. in the 1966 World Hockey Tournament in Yugoslavia, he joined the Green Bay Bobcats. He was also an honorary member of the Flying Fathers Hockey Club in Canada. My sympathy to his family.

Finally, the Chapleau Press was the immediate successor to Mid North News, and was followed by The Chapleau Sentinel. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Three running for mayor of Chapleau position

When nominations closed on September 10 for the 2010 municipal election for the Township of Chapleau, there were three candidates for mayor, and six in the running for the four councillor positions.

Andre Byham, Kimmo Keski-Pukkila and William Pellow are running for mayor to replace incumbent Earle Freeborn, who is not seeking re-election.

Candidates for council are Rose Bertrand, Lisi Crichton, Doug Greig, Laurent (Larry) Lacroix, Pierrette Ouellette and Ron Yurick.

Armand Garnet Ruffo award winning movie A Windigo Tale' selected to be shown at two Ontario film festivals this Fall

Armand Garnet Ruffo's award winning film, A Windigo Tale which deals with the intergenerational impact of the residential school system in Canada, fram ed as both a mystery and a ghost story of sorts, will be shown at two film festivals in Ontario this Fall.

On September 22, it will be shown at the Cinefest Sudbury Film Festival (http://cinefest.com/films/windigo-tale/) and in Toronto on October 24 at the ImagineNative International Film Festival. (http://www.imaginenative.org/


Born and raised in Chapleau, Armand now is a professor at Carleton University, and in an email says he did "A lot of moving around, different schools and jobs, constantly writing," after leaving his home town.

"Then in 1989 I got a scholarship to attend the writing program at The Banff Centre in Alberta, and that more or less gave me the encouragement (and courage, I guess) to continue. I'm still at it after all these years supplementing my income by teaching literature and creative writing at Carleton University in Ottawa. And now the film stuff… on thing leads to another.


"Most recently a poem of mine will appear in the 2010 Best Canadian Poetry anthology (Tightrope Books)"

"Although both my parents came from out of town, my mom from Biscotasing and my dad from Metagama," Armand said, "I grew up in Chapleau and did my primary and secondary schooling there. For a kid growing up in the 70's, it was a marvellous place that offered the kind of freedom few kids in the city can even imagine. What comes to mind are the amazing lakes we have up there -- I probably spent just as much time in the water as I did on land. (If I wasn't in school I was probably out fishing!)

"And yes, as you noted, (in an email to him) I played some hockey like most kids in town, but for me it was mostly on the back river or midnight at the arena. This brings me to the friends I had growing up and the sense of community. In this regard, Chapleau was second to none. It is these things that I continue to carry with me through life.

On Nativewiki.org an entry reveals that Armand has also taught creative writing at both the Banff Centre for the Arts and the En'owkin International School of Writing in Penticton, British Columbia. (http://www.nativewiki.org/Armand_Garnet_Ruffo)

It adds that he is a a former director of the Centre for Aboriginal Education, Research and Culture and his work is strongly influenced by his Ojibwe heritage. "His first collection of poetry, Opening in the Sky, reveals an abiding interest in the complexities of Aboriginal identity in a multicultural society. His second book, Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney, further 'raises difficult questions about voice and identity, aboriginal culture, human rights and the environment.' His third collection of poetry, At Geronimo's Grave, employs "Geronimo's life as a metaphor for the many abandoned native people on this continent, trapped in the slow-moving vehicle of another culture which is taking them nowhere.

"His latest book in progress, Norval Morrisseau: Man Changing Into Thunderbird, is a creative biography of the renowned Ojibway painter and founder of the Woodland School, Norval Morrisseau, Copper Thunderbird. In addition, he has written plays,stories and essays, which continue to appear in literary periodicals, including Red Ink, Rampike, CVII, and absinthe, and anthologies in both Canada and the United States. "

Armand first wrote A Windigo Tale as a play in 2001winning a CBC Arts Performance Award. Then he decided to turn it into a movie, which he wrote and directed.

Armand explained in a recent email to me: "As for the movie that I wrote and directed, it is called A Windigo Tale, and it essentially deals with the intergenerational impact of the residential school system in Canada. As you probably know from the numerous reports culminating in the Prime Minister's (Stephen Harper) apology in 2008, for the longest time what went on in those schools was Canada's dirty little secret. Generations of Native children were literally torn from their families and forced to assimilate, most often brutally, into Euro-Canadian society. Stories of physical and sexual abuse are rampant.

"Anyway, my story takes its title from the evil Windigo manitou, which according to Ojibway mythology is an insatiable cannibalistic creature, because I think what went on in those schools was a kind of consumption of the human spirit. Of course, I didn't simply want to write a didactic expose so the story is framed as both a mystery and a ghost story of sorts.

"Due to financing issues it took much longer than expected to finish it -- making a feature film in Canada is no small feat. But it is now finished and has been garnering attention and even winning a few awards. It won Best Picture and Best Actress (Jani Lauzon) in Edmonton (at the Dreamspeakers Film Festival) in June, and it was recently selected to close the ImagineNative International Film Festival in Toronto in October."

He added: "I could go on and talk more about the film and what made me want to make it, but I think it is best simply to see it. Lastly, I should add that although my parents have passed on, I still have family on Fox Lake Reserve, and I try to get up there and onto the lakes whenever I can."

Armand mentioned playing "midnight" hockey in the old Chapleau Memorial Community Arena. Let me explain. Armand was a member of the 1970-71 Chapleau Midgets hockey team that I was coaching, and I had made it clear that the players were to be on time for practice at eight a.m. Saturday morning. It was amazing. When I arrived shortly before eight, there they were all dressed sitting in the dressing room ready to go.

Some time later Jamie Doyle, the team captain told me that they arrived at the arena around midnight, entered through a back door and played shinny all night, adding this way they were sure to be on time.

Congratulations to Armand on his literary achievements and I hope that if any readers are in Sudbury or Toronto this Fall when A Windigo Tale is being shown, they will attend, and yes as he notes, Chapleau was "second to none" as place to grow up. My email is mj.morris@live.ca