Rene Hackstetter shares historic photos of Chapleau Public and Chapleau High School plus Town Hall

Rene Hackstetter once again has provided some historic photos from Chapleau, including Chapleau Public School taken circa 1924 with students and teachers in it. Look to top and you will see 1924.  This is a photo with a real story in it about those who attended the school.

HERE IS LINK TO RENE'S EARLIER PHOTO FEATURE http://michaeljmorrisreports.blogspot.com/2010/11/rene-hackstetter-shares-rare-glimpse.html

See the old Town Hall and Chapleau Public School, with glimpses of the by-law office, originally the Orange Hall, and the old Fire Hall with the hose drying tower. There was an apartment above the Fire Hall for the fire truck driver, and in the basement was the town jail.

Great shot of the old Chapleau High School showing the boys' entrance. Yes, for those too young to remember, there were separate entrances for boys and girls and never the twain shall meet -- well, almost never. Always gave me a chuckle that it was OK for boys to use the girls' entrance on school dance nights. Dances were held in the basement gym.

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Thanks Rene for sharing. Dr. Karl A. Hackstetter,  CHS teacher from 1954 to 1957 and principal from 1963 to 1966 is Rene's father.

George Evans on "surprises, improvisations and desperate measures" at old Chapleau High School in early 1960s before new era began on top of the hill

GEORGE EVANS WAS KILLED IN A CAR ACCIDENT ON HIGHWAY 129 ON MARCH 28, 2012.  "Requiescat in pace"


SERVICE FOR GEORGE: THERE WAS  A SERVICE FOR GEORGE ON THURSDAY APRIL 5 AT ELEVEN A.M AT TRINITY UNITED CHURCH, CHAPLEAU. DONATIONS TO ROTARY CLUB OF CHAPLEAU WILL BE APPRECIATED.


HERE IS PART OF THE OPP REPORT ON THE ACCIDENT: On March 28th, 2012 at approximately 10:30 a.m., the East Algoma Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) attended a two vehicle collision approximately 100 kilometres north of Thessalon on Highway 129.The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigation unit (TTCI) is investigating the accident which involved a transport truck and a car. George Evans, 77, of Chapleau was the driver and lone occupant of the car. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.


By Michael J Morris




When George Evans arrived at Chapleau High School in 1961, it was located in a red brick building beside the Kebsquasheshing River where airplanes landing and taking off interrupted lessons on hot, open windowed afternoons in September and May.

Writing in the CHS Souvenir Edition newspaper marking its 60th anniversary in 1982, George, who taught History, English, sometimes Latin, and Phys Ed too, and for many years was assistant principal, noted that from 1962 to 1966 when the present school building opened, they did not have a gymnasium which led to some surprising timetables, where "only in such circumstances would anti athletic I, for instance,  find myself teaching physical education to a group of Grade 12 boys".

As CHS prepares to celebrate its 90th anniversary in 2012, George, who retired in 1989, and lives in Chapleau, is a member of the reunion committee, and active in community life. His article in the 60th anniversary publication captures CHS the way it was in those years when the student population started to increase as the first baby boomers arrived, but I enlisted the aid of Hugh McKechnie, who was a student when George arrived and later returned to teach at the school, to share some memories of "Mr. Evans" who was so much part of the school's history from 1961 to 1989.

Hugh recalls that he met Mr. Evans "one day in August. He was sitting at his desk, planning a unit of ancient history and we, a boat-load of ex-tenth graders, clambered up the wooden steps wondering what was going on at the school in the middle of the summer. 

George with Michael Cecile

"In those days doors were rarely locked, including doors to schools, town halls, churches, rinks, etc. If we could find a basketball, we could play unsupervised, at the school. It had always been that way, and so would it always be in a world where kids needed exercise and facilities were sometimes ready and available. The Law Society of Upper Canada had not yet envisaged the lucrative hockey sticks they would eventually poke routinely into the spokes of a healthy society. It was an era of trust, honour, conscience and passive good-will whose expiry date had not yet arrived."

"We met a youthful blond-fringed man with a winning smile in what would be our home room in September for that year. After handshakes and welcomes he promptly pointed out that he had not had a bath in a week. I invited him to bring his towel to my parents’ place, on Connaught Street. The rest, they say, is history."

In his article, George noted that single teachers "boarded in private homes, but lived at the school, trying to cope with the demands of full and surprising timetables" thus his stint as a Phys Ed teacher.

Despite the lack of a gymnasium, George notes that "following the energetic example of our inimitable principal, Dr. (Karl A.) Hackstetter, who liked on summery afternoons to take the whole school for a stroll to the Golf Club, to terrorize members,.I partially solved the problem by walking my gym class over the trestle to the golf course, for a philosophical pipe."

As an aside, those of us who attended CHS in the 1950s during Dr. Hackstetter's first years at CHS will remember  his Golf Course walks which as I recall were undertaken at a very brisk pace.

L, Terry Way-White, Lucy Bignucolo,Rick Selin, George, 

George  recalled the occupation of the upper floor of the Bank of Montreal, earlier Dominion Store at the corner of Young and Birch streets that Dr. Hackstetter filled with three ping-pong tables, "and all the school learned how to play, Or else'.

George also wrote about the library that "consisted of two or three hundred aging books kept in a narrow dark, stuffy closet on the second floor... Few students or staff realized that we had a library; fewer used it."

His first years at CHS were full of "surprises. improvisations and desperate measures" but the new era began when the high school moved to its new home on top of the hill in 1966. Although for a couple of months they shared the building with the contractors, then, "we had it all to ourselves. The bright classrooms, the spacious gym and the library!"


Rene Hackstetter recalled that, "I remember taking Greek lessons from Mr. Evans! I think I may still have the blue spiral binder with a few Greek words in it!" Dr Hackstetter is Rene's father.

But living in Chapleau has been much more for George over the years than Chapleau High School. He has been, and remains an active participant in community life. 

For example, in 1974, George ran for Chapleau township council, was elected and served two terms before retiring, the last one as deputy reeve.

George on left at Chapleau 75th anniversary

Let me turn  to Hugh McKechnie again, who provides an anecdote about George that sums him up so completely, although I have to admit that I have known George since 1989 when I arrived at CHS to teach and never knew he was a canoeist.

Hugh wrote: "During the summer of that first year, in the early 60s, we stragglers who met George that day took a notion to show him the river. There was one problem. My old canvas-covered cedar-strip Peterborough canoe was full of holes. This was normal for that kind of canoe. The technology of the time offered a perfectly acceptable solution. You set out, allowing the canoe to leak until the cedar has swelled enough to staunch the flow of seep-water. This only worked if the cedar-strips were fitted tightly, and if the canvas had some integrity. Our canoe boasted neither of these virtues. 

"Out came George’s bank book. He scribed a cheque for the full-value of a fiberglass skin, available at Newt Pellow’s Canadian Tire. It was flabbergasting. We have the pictures of the repair work. The canoe trip went forward, all the way to Pickerel Falls. The gesture had happened in the manner of an afterthought, an off-handed response to a question only half heard; it was second nature to this new teacher who would go on to give us so much more for years and years to come." 

And to Chapleau too. Thanks George!


My thanks to Hugh McKechnie, Mac Evans George's brother, to George for writing about CHS and Larry Martel for research assistance. My email is mj.morris@live.ca


Please preregister for the CHS 90th reunion at http://www.chs90threunionfestival.com/

Bill McLeod reflects on going to the Old Fort on a Wednesday afternoon, down the road for a washtub full of raspberries, Highway 129 and Turk Broda and the triple play

Turk Brod

After Bill McLeod read my piece about going down the lake by two rivers to reach Mulligan's Bay, he was in touch with his memories, and also shared his family's trips 'down the road' generally meaning Highway 129 and some side roads. Bill had also earlier shared an anecdote with me about the time Turk Broda brought his ball team to Chapleau in the Fifties for Beach Day, celebrated on the Civic Holiday weekend in August. It is all here!

I invited Bill, who has written three books on Chapleau and area, and has been a good friend since our childhoods -- in fact, Bill lived just down the Grey Street lane from me, although he may tell you that I lived up the Aberdeen Street lane from him -- to be a guest columnist. Bill agreed, and here he is with his memories of down the lake, down the road and the visit by Turk Broda. And thanks Bill too for giving me a vacation -- first week off in two years!!!

Also, as special bonus, see Paul Carson's great video on Mulligan's Bay. Scroll down!

By William E. "Bill McLeod

GOING DOWN THE LAKE

There was another bunch, including us, who also have a bit of "down the lake" history. Like some other families, we didn't have a camp. But we did have what was for the time, a state of the art boat and motor which my dad (Borden "Bordie" McLeod) inherited from John Hun. The motor was a Johnson outboard with the flywheel on top. The boat was a big Hudson's Bay square sterned freighter canoe. We used to go down the lake to picnic and swim at the "Old Fort". Usually it was on Wednesday afternoons but I have no idea why. There were often other Chapleau folks there too. My dad eventually sold the motor to Gussie Evans and the boat to George Corston, mainly because my mother didn't like either boats or the water. (Note: I think it was Wednesday afternoon because stores in Chapleau closed..mj)

DOWN THE ROAD

Going down the road was another matter. We did it often. On Sundays we would go as far as what is now Unegam Lake. Fred and Rose Primeau had a little lunch bar and some cabins, some of which are still there and are called "Sunset View". Mrs. Primeau who was a sister of Joe Steen's mother was a fabulous cook. 

During berry season we would go to about mileage eight for blueberries and on the Nemegos road for raspberries. There was a little nameless lake off the Nemegos Road on the right before you got to the Kennedy Lake road. There were some abandoned lumber camps there and we would have our lunch in a little screened in building that had been the meathouse. I'm sure I could find the exact spot today. One time we picked a wash tub full of wild raspberries.

If we went anywhere on Saturdays we had to get off the Nemegos Road and on to 129 shortly after four in the afternoon. My dad was paranoid about the mad rush from Sultan to Chapleau on Saturdays. They blew the whistle at the mill in Sultan at five on Saturdays (six other days). The guys would dash to their cars and drive like maniacs to get to the liquor store in Chapleau before it closed at six. Sometimes they didn't make it and had to go back to Sultan and pay bootlegger prices for a week.

In the summer we would often go fishing for little brook trout at Poulin Creek. Sometimes, usually with Charlie Swanson, we would canoe up Poulin Creek to what they called the "spring hole". On one of those excursions we saw a cow moose teaching two newborn calves how to eat water lillies. When she realized we were watching she tried to chase the calves into the bush but one was too small and became stuck. So the mother crouched down on her haunches, the calf climbed on her back and away they went.

In the fall we would go partridge hunting almost every weekend. Some times we would take the Nemegos Shortcut from about Mileage 12, drop in to Mike Koski's place for coffee and come back via what was called 118. Perhaps on the same day we would walk in to Five Mile Lake where the Provincial Park would eventually locate. Sometimes we would go to Island Lake and hunt the network of lumber roads near the mill. And, late in October, we would go dip netting for whitefish on the Nebsqwashi River where it narrows near Gravel Lake. To get there you had to go first to Island Lake.

MORE ON THE ROAD

There is so much more to write about "going down the road". The dramatic change in the type of road at Horton Lake just before the road up to the fire tower in Township 9 E. That corner at Horton lake is where Tom Godfrey's efforts ended and the new piece of road built by McGuinty Construction began. The 12 miles of pavement in the middle of nowhere was built by Storm Construction under the supervision of Grant "Grizz" Henderson.

Then there was the section of road on that steep hill down to the Mississaugi River. There were a number of wrecks at the bottom of the hill where drivers had lost control and had a choice of taking the bush or the river. You can still see the "hole in the hill" where that old road started down. There was a Bailey Bridge over the Mississaugi with giant white pine logs for safety barriers. How about that flue where the logs were diverted around Aubrey Falls? And also the hairpin curves around the Mississaugi River. And the Rainer (sp?) dam that backed up the Mississaugi to form Tunnel Lake. They used the same engineering techniques used on the Hoover Dam.

The Griggs from Iron Bridge were distantly related to my mother, I think by marriage. I remember Dougall Grigg, the store and hotel owner One time I asked my dad why he was always so happy to see us. My dad laughed and told me that when we stayed at the Grigg Hotel he always had a bottle of Canadian Club in his suitcase. Mrs. Grigg wouldn't let Dougall drink. So one time they polished off the bottle of Canadian Club and decided to go to the bootlegger in Blind River to get another one. On the way back the fog rolled in and my dad had to get in the back seat, stick his head out the window, watch for the white line and keep Dougall on the right side of it. And they think we were crazy!!

TURK BRODA AND TRIPLE PLAY

(According to Greatest Hockey Legends, regarded as perhaps the best clutch goaltender of all time, Walter "Turk" Broda was "Mr. Maple Leaf" for 16 seasons, with two years lost to Canadian armed forces duty in World War II.)

My Dad was chairman of the Recreation Commission (in the 1950s) and in those days "Beach Day" was a big deal, celebrated on the Civic Holiday weekend. One year they brought in a real bunch of entertainers including some boxers from Toronto. But the highlight was Turk Broda and his Allstar softball team - sponsored by Labatts. They arrived on Train No. 3 which came in around noon.

Broda had ordered a large number of cases of beer and told my dad to have them available at the station as soon as the train pulled in. All clearly illegal of course. (Chapleau did not have licensed premises at that time.) My dad and Bubs (B.W. Zufelt, then the reeve of Chapleau) showed up in our car with the beer in the trunk and me in the back seat. The first guy they ran into was the single O.P.P. Constable in Chapleau at the time. Anyway, nothing happened and the team headed to the Boston Cafe for lunch. I was one of the lucky ones who got in for autographs.

Of course I can't tell you the names of all the players but Broda, Flem Mackell, Leo Labine and Joe Klukay were among them. I shared bat boy duties with Johnny Thornton and can distinctly remember what good ballplayers those hockey players were. They could have really beaten Chapleau but realized they were there to entertain and entertain they did! All I remember of the game was one inning when Broda's gang had a couple of guys on base and one of them hit into a double play. One of the hockey players, I think it was MacKell, jumped off second base in a phony attempt to steal third and Tommy Godfrey tagged him out. TRIPLE PLAY CHAPLEAU!! It was the only triple play I ever saw.