The Winter of Our Years Not Quite Yet By Looking Back to Go Forward

It never entered my mind that I may now be in the Winter years of my life until I received an email from a friend recently. She expressed the thought that we are in the “Winter” of our years, and may have arrived there sooner than we thought.

It was a most kind message, but it got me thinking about the Winter years -- was I really there now?

Gosh, it seems like just yesterday that I was cruising the sidewalks of Chapleau on my tricycle, and making the trip up and over the horseshoe bridge to visit my grandparents. Lil and Harry Morris, on the other side of town. That was in the 1940s.

It doesn't seem that long ago since I started in Grade One at Chapleau Public School, and enjoyed every moment of the eight years I spent there. My mother, Muriel E. (Hunt) Morris, who many of you knew, taught at CPS for 32 years and we had an arrangement that I would not bother her with "son stuff" ever, and it worked.

Mom and Maw (Lil Morris) at Healy

Well, maybe one close call, as Mom was my teacher in Grade Six, and treated me like everyone else, even on the day I got the strap for being part of a big snowball fight, and had to enter the room while she was reading the afternoon story to the class. She just continued reading and never mentioned the incident. 

And, it would have been a disaster for me with the other kids if Mr. J.M. Shoup had let me off, particularly because I was guilty. I actually loved snowball fights.

In Grade Four with Alison McMillan, Ted Demers and Brian Demers, I was part of my first drama production, a swashbuckler complete with costumes made by Mrs Marianne Demers to raise funds for the Junior Red Cross Society. Great fun, and I thought about it every time I directed a play.

It was only 58 years ago since I started Grade Nine at Chapleau High School in 1955, and I have fond memories to this day of the positive influence John 'Mac' McClellan, George Lemon, two of the principals, and Dr Karl A Hackstetter and his wife Mrs. Hackstetter, had on me. Roland Michaud and Richard Murchland were two of the best English teachers I had anywhere, and contributed immensely to the "sound of story" being alive in all I have done ever since.  Like every kid I had my favourite teachers and these happened to be mine.

High school days were awesome, and I made many new friends who arrived at the same time from Sacred Heart Roman Catholic  Separate School. The annual inspection of 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps, banquet and dance were highlights of every school year.

And to visit with so many of them again at the CHS reunion in 2012, was a very special moment, as well as seeing students from my years there as a teacher. 

As an aside, like Mario Lafreniere I had to write out lines for some teacher(s) but his sound more difficult than mine were, although Mrs. Hackstetter had us write out new French vocabulary ten times each and then pronounce them correctly.

'Nanny' Edythe Hunt

It seems that it was only yesterday that my cousins were singing 'She'll be Coming Round the Mountain' on the day our grandmother, Edythe Hunt, arrived home from England in 1944 after serving as a Red Cross nurse with the British Army in England since 1939. I told them she was coming from Toronto and there were no mountains on the route.

It was only a moment ago that my mother and I got on the evening Canadian Pacific Railway train for an overnight ride to Toronto to visit family and friends there, or board another train to head into the United States to visit folks there. 

It doesn't seem that long ago since I took my first airplane ride over Pittsburgh in a Piper Cub with Iven Nichol as the pilot, one of my father, Jim Morris' best friends from RCAF days, and his daughter Sandy as the other passenger. That was about 1953, only 60 years ago.

When I am out and about I sometimes still sing 'Heart of My Heart' that our Bantam team sang over and over again in our private railway car on the way to and from Sudbury to play hockey in 1954.

I wasn't a very good hockey player but loved the game so Don and Olive M. Card and Garth "Tee" Chambers made it possible for me to become a referee, even sending me to a school in North Bay. And I remember like it was only yesterday that Sunday afternoon in 1956 when Tee gave me my first referee's sweater and I worked a game with him in the Chapleau Memorial Arena.

My lifelong friend Harry 'Butch' Pellow sent me an email recently recalling time we all spent at the camp my mother and grandfather built at Healy shortly after the end of World War II. Sure I recalled, and I remember learning all about canoes from my grandfather Harry Morris who despised outboard motors.

And going "down the lake" by one of two rivers to reach a bay called Mulligan's was an important part of my growing up in Chapleau years.

I learned to hammer a nail "helping" Bill Pellow build the first of Pellow's Cottages, and my efforts ruled put the possibility of any career as a carpenter,

My old friend Ken Schroeder enjoyed a Chapleau Moments I had written about Arthur Grout, and thanked me for including a photo from his days working in Smith and Chapple Ltd. after school and during holidays. That was about 1958, and I worked there too.

I recall vividly the day my uncle, B.W. 'Bubs' Zufelt and my grandmother, Edythe Hunt,  drove me from Chapleau to Timmins to start my first full-time job as a daily newspaper reporter. I just calculated and that was only 49 years ago now.

Chapleau's own Bob Fife has just become the host of CTV Question Period, and as I write it seems Bob was sitting in front of the teacher's desk in room 104 at CHS  in 1968-1969 when I arrived to teach Grade Nine history -- the British Epic, not so long ago.

Cast of You'll Get Used To It

It is 26 years ago now since we produced Peter Colley's marvellous play about World War II, 'You'll Get Used to It', in conjunction with Branch 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion to standing ovations for the cast.

OK, I admit that I took early retirement from College of the Rockies 13 years ago, and was feeling a little tired when I decided to call it quits after 32 years as a teacher. 

But I enjoyed every day I spent as a faculty member at COTR where they even encouraged me to develop and teach one of the first college graduate new media communication programs in Canada. I taught Writing for New Media (now Social Media) in 1994, just a few minutes ago it seems. I will always appreciate the support and encouragement given me By Dr Wm Berry Calder, the college president.

Dr Berry Calder and MJ in chit chat at COTR

I stopped riding my bicycle a few years ago because I started to become concerned about a tumble. And, I curse the city now when the sidewalks aren't plowed in the winter immediately after a snow storm even though I was raised in a village where side streets may never be plowed.

Yes, I walk by those new tennis courts on Second Street North in Cranbrook BC where I live now and want to go and play just one set for old times' sake but realistically it ain't gonna happen. But I recall so well Eric Young, Greg Lucas, and Rev Frank Leigh who taught me to play on the court beside the rectory at St. John's Anglican Church, starting in the 1950s.

But, I walk about five miles a day, and swim at least 250 metres daily -- well kinda, but I have to admit that I use a noodle for assistance -- but the lifeguards at the Cranbrook Aquatic Centre now think I should spend some time without it. And who am I to argue. Most are about 50 years or so younger than me.

As I reflect on the subject of the Winter years though by looking back to go forward, I can only say, Not quite yet!

Robert Frost, one of my favorite poets ended his poem 'Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening' with

The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

That's my plan too.

Let me leave you with one of my favorite sayings attributed to Etienne de Grellet (1773-1855), a Quaker missionary: 

"I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

To me at least, that's a great way to spend the Winter years. 

My email is mj.morris@live.ca A somewhat different version of  "The Winter of Our Lives: Not Quite Yet!" appeared as a column I wrote for the Cranbrook Guardian.

Min Blackburn brightened lives of Chapleau citizens with her 'zest for life' and leadership of senior citizens club

Min Blackburn, described as a "bright light" in the life of Chapleau, for 15 years participated in the Chapleau Rotary Club's 10 mile walk for crippled children.

But, it was her role as president of the Chapleau Senior Citizens Club in 1973 that really brought her into the community spotlight, first with the establishment of a "Drop-In Centre" in the basement of Trinity United Church, and then for her support of the Cedar Grove Lodge project.

In an article about her, the Chapleau Sentinel said she arrived in Chapleau in 1960 when she married long time resident Peter Blackburn, and from that moment on she was dedicated to "brightening lives of citizens" with her "zest for life".

Born in London, England, in 1907, she came to Canada with her family in 1913 and settled in Fort William, now Thunder Bay.

In the summer of 1973, Mrs. Agnes Freeborn called a meeting, held on the lawn of the old Chapleau High School, where the Chapleau Civic Centre is now, to see if a senior citizens club could be formed. Previous efforts had failed. About 40 people showed up and the group agreed, and by the end of the meeting an executive had been elected with Mrs. Freeborn declining to accept the position of president. 

First meeting on CHS Lawn

Min was elected president while Ernest Gilbert, who as a councillor, also represented the municipality,  became first vice president and Margaret Costello second vice president. Helen Grout was elected treasurer, Charlie Swanson, assistant treasurer, Einar Pearson, secretary and Mrs. Mary Mizuguchi, assistant treasurer. Within a year Mrs. Freeborn had agreed to become a vice president.

Min knew right away that the club needed a permanent home, and space was found in the basement of Trinity United Church. She had the ability to bring people together and by December 1, 1974, the basement had been transformed into the Senior Citizens "Drop-In Centre".  It had become a vital part of community life. 

By 1975, plans were underway for a senior citizens complex and Min gave her full support to the project as did her executive and the club members.

In 1976 as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the incorporation of Chapleau as a municipality in 1901, Min and club members participated in groundbreaking ceremony for Cedar Grove Lodge with the Hon. Rene Brunelle, an Ontario cabinet minsister who gave great support to the project.

MJ, Dr Young, G Evans, Rene Brunelle, W Wilson, E Gilbert, L Viet, Mrs St Pierre, F Card, L Mione, Min

 In 1978, with its completion, Min assisted with the official opening of Cedar Grove Lodge and the senior citizens moved to the Mrs. Agnes Freeborn Memorial Elderly Persons Centre, in recognition of her efforts in establishing the club. Mrs. Freeborn had died on March 3, 1977. Mrs. Freeborn was born in Chapleau, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J.D. McAdam. Her father, a CPR engineer was the third reeve of Chapleau holding office from 1917 to 1919. Her husband Earle, a CPR freight agent died in office while serving as the 7th reeve in 1938. Her son Elmer served several terms on Chapleau council and another son Earle served as reeve/mayor from 1998 to 2010. 

The apartment section of Cedar Grove was named the Blackburn-Crichton Wing after her husband Peter, and Vince Crichton, both contributors to Chapleau over many years.

Jamie Doyle, Min, Peter Bernier (rec committee chair seated)

Min had also donated a trophy to the Chapleau Intermediate "A" Huskies in memory of Peter, to be presented to the player who made the best overall contribution to the team, and she presented it to Jamie Doyle at the opening of the Chapleau Recreation Centre in 1978.

"Min Blackburn was a woman of many accomplishments and many interests with a zest for life," the Chapleau Sentinel article noted, adding, "Min liked people, young and old and won many friends wherever that happened to be."  So very true. She made Chapleau a better place, not just for its senior citizens but for everybody. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Robert Holding like a ghost flits through early Chapleau history after surviving shipwreck off coast of Auckland Islands as young man

Robert Holding, one of Chapleau's earliest residents, and by any measure an interesting personality, was a key mover in establishing the community's first permanent school in 1891.

Although, as J.M. Shoup noted in a report on Chapleau education the first school was established in the vestry of Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School, and then into a tent, by 1891, Holding whose own formal education was lacking as he had gone to sea at age 14, was pushing for a school.

George Evans, based on references to 'Pioneering in Northern Ontario' by Vince Crichton, shared part of  Holding's story, and I have referred to them here except where otherwise noted.

A school board was set up in February 1891 and Holding was elected first chairman of the board. By May 21, 1891 a one room school was opened on Pine Street, next to the rectory of St. John's Anglican Church. There were 19 students. Mr. Shoup's report notes that the first teacher was Miss Charlotte Weller, who later married G.B. Nicholson, a businessman and Chapleau's first reeve from 1901 to 1913.

Chapleau school circa 1891 on Pine Street

In his article George wrote that Holding "like a ghost flits through the pages" of Vince's book, "turning up here and there playing a variety of roles in Chapleau's story."

Born in England on March 17, 1840, George wrote that perhaps the most exciting event in Holding's long life came shortly after his 24th birthday when he was aboard the sailing ship Invercauld. On May 20, 1864, the ship was battered to pieces on the rocky west coast of the uninhabited Auckland Islands south of New Zealand.

Nineteen crew members made it to shore, according to one account, 24 in another, but one year and 10 days later when rescuers arrived only Holding and the captain had survived.

Sixty-one years later while living in Chapleau, Holding typed out an account of his shipwreck and survival used by his great granddaughter Madelene Ferguson Allen in her book ' Wake of the Invercauld'. 

By 1888, with his wife and children Holding arrived in Canada and made his way to Chapleau where he found work as a machinist in the Canadian Pacific Railway shops.

He built a tenement building on Beech Street which became his home and a boarding house. It came to be known as the 'Crusoe House' named after Robinson Crusoe in Daniel Defoe's novel. This house was torn due in about 1958 when Dr. G.E. Young owned the property -- this is when Dr. Young was converting the (white) Austin house on Pine Street into the Riverside Inn.

Crusoe House on Beech Street

At one time, according to Vince, Holding served as Chapleau's "ex-officio" police officer before the municipality was incorporated in 1901.

Obviously Holding still had a sense of adventure in him as early in the 20th century on a July 1st, he organized a re-enactment of the Battle of San Juan Hill, a famous incident in the Spanish-American war of 1898. 

According to Vince/George the hill was to be the north side of the Kebsquasheshing River (maybe landing was to take place about where Dr. Young's boathouse stood)  and the attackers came from the south shore (maybe from about the beach area although there was no beach there in those days).

They used home made cannons loaded with sod and propelled with real gunpowder. Holding commanded a hospital ship and picked up "survivors" from sunk or overturned craft.

As an aside, it just struck me as I type that it is a good thing my buddies and I were not aware of this battle on the river when we were kids in the 1950s. A re-enactment would have occurred for sure --- right guys???

Becoming more intrigued with Holding all the time, I did a Google search and lucked into an article about him from 'The Toronto World' newspaper of May 12, 1919 about his mining exploits.

It said in part: "The romance of mining is perhaps not better exemplified than in the case of Robert Holding now 80 years of age, who after scouring two continents in search of the elusive gold, was at last rewarded and now bids fair to become a millionaire."

The article adds that Holding had been prospecting in the Shining Tree area and may have staked "one of the richest finds in the north country". Apparently Holding staked his claims before World War I in 1911 but waited until the end of the war to dispose "of his interest for a large cash payment and other consideration which will probably net him one million dollars."

Nonetheless, in 1928, now 88 years old, Holding bought the Algoma Hotel (later the Hublit now a parking lot) and started a  new career as a hotel owner. His son-in-law Charles Vice managed it for him.

Robert Holding died at age 93 on June 22, 1933 in Chapleau. He is buried in the old Protestant Cemetery on Birch Street. George provided directions to his grave. After entering through the main gate, "angle off to the right" and you will find his grave.

I am sure there is much, much more to be told about the fascinating life of Robert Holding and I would love to hear from you. My email is mj.morris@live.ca