Pat Bamford very popular Chapleau High School teacher active in community dies in Timmins

Claude Fortin with Pat CHS reunion 2012

Pat Bamford, a very popular former teacher at Chapleau High School died in Timmins last week, with the mayor of the city George Pirie issuing a news release hoping that all those grieving "will find ways to connect, remember and celebrate the truly wonderful man he was." The flag was also to be lowered to half staff at Timmins city hall in his honour,.

And Pat was a wonderful man. I taught with Pat at Chapleau High School arriving there just after he did, and we have remained friends ever since although we did not see each other very often, In fact the last time was at the 90th anniversary reunion of CHS in 2012.

Louise Tremblay's popular Chapleau History and Genealogy page on Facebook came alive with Memories of Pat from his former students from Chapleau sharing stories about him.

Pat still stayed in touch and students from his Grade !! Geography class have actually held reunions every five years.   I hope I got that right.

Pat was very active in Chapleau life particularly sports. As the CHS curling coach in 1972-73, he coached a team skipped by Claude Fortin to first place at a bonspiel held in Marathon. Other team members included Maurice Tremblay, Irene Johnson, and Mona  Rioux.

A member of the Chapleau Junior "B" Huskies executive, he established the Pat Bamford Trophy for best defenceman. He succeeded me as manager of the Chapleau Midgets 

In due course Pat left Chapleau to teach in Timmins. but was actively involved in the city.

“It is with deep sadness that we learned of Pat’s passing yesterday,” said Timmins Mayor George Pirie in a news release. “Pat served our community with true dedication and commitment for many years, and he will certainly be missed by all who knew him. We would like to extend our most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends during this truly trying time, and it is our hope that all those grieving will find ways to connect, remember and celebrate the truly wonderful man he was.”

Bamford had a 35-year career in education, the last 10 of which were in administration at Roland Michener Secondary School, the news release said. After retiring, he represented Ward 4 in Porcupine on Timmins council for 12 years. 

“Pat’s just one of those guys that was in it for all the right reasons,” said Steve Black, a former Timmins mayor and councillor in a tribute to Pat in The Daily Press. Mr. Black summed up Pat.

“He didn’t have any personal motivations. Sometimes in politics you see ulterior motives to some things, but Pat just genuinely wanted to do good for Timmins, and see Timmins and the East End he represented, do well and take an active role in the community.

“Definitely a man with a very solid heart for the community and the people he served within the community.”

.Mr, Black said in his interview: “Me and Pat kept in touch. I considered him a true friend. He’d always be very happy to share stories of his former students, from his previous career, and how well they were doing in life. You could tell he was really passionate about that, and the students that he engaged with throughout his life, and his own family.”

I extend my most sincere sympathy to Pat's family and friends. May he rest in peace. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

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Dr Karl A Hackstetter, John McClellan and Michael on overcoming hate

With a federal election looming on the horizon in Canada, and the politics of hate on the rise, not only here, but in other countries I decided to wade into the issue based on one of  the most significant events in my life. I overcame hate.

Before going any further I need to make it clear that hate of any kind is not part of my life, and other than one attempt at it when I was in Grade Nine at Chapleau High School, it has not played a role.

Those of you who have read 'The Chapleau Boys Go To War" which I co-authored with my cousin Michael McMullen, may already be aware of my "hate event" described in the chapter "Dr. Karl A Hackstetter, John 'Mac' McClellan and Michael" will be aware of it.

I quote from it as I share my story on hate.

Dr. Hackstetter arrived in Chapleau in 1954 to teach at Chapleau High School, nine years after the end of World II. I entered Grade Nine in 1955, and although Dr. Hackstetter was a most intimidating person, from the first day I planned to hurt him.

Dr. Hackstetter had been an officer in the German Army during the war and my father. Jim Morris, as many of you know was killed on active service in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1943. Needless to say perhaps, I was a hurting kid, and he was going to share it ----- even though I thought he was a great teacher.

One day, it struck me how to do it. I would place a photo of my father in my binder, and when Dr. Hackstetter stopped by our desks to look at our work. he would see it. So I placed the photo, and sure enough he made his rounds. As he peered down, I moved my arm so he could see the photo of my father in uniform.

He asked, "Who is that man? I do not know that man".

Dr Hackstetter far right leaving field behind CHS

"My father, I replied. He had fallen into my trap. 

"Where is he?'

"He is dead. He was killed in the war".

Dr. Hackstetter never said a word. He looked at me for a moment, and now I was terrified. He walked over to the window, looked at me again, then looked off outside. He shed a tear and then left the room abruptly.

Dead silence in the classroom.

Moments later, John McClellan, a veteran of World War I, the school principal entered the room and said quietly, "Come with me Michael ."

We went to the office and as best I could told him what I did. He then said, "Dr. Hackstetter wonders if you would be willing to have a talk with him."

I agreed, terrified as I was, in tears as I am at this moment all these years later as I type. Dr Hackstetter and I had a great chat and then Mr. McClellan returned and the three of us went down to the landing where the memorial wall of photos and plaque honouring the 17 high school students, including my Dad was.

Ad there we were side by side: World War I veteran John McClellan, me and former German army officer Dr. Karl A. Hackstetter. We stood in front of the plaque in silence for a few minutes, and then quietly went our separate ways.  I was 14 years old and had just learned a lot about forgiveness.

From that day forward Dr. Hackstetter and I were friends, even though I was never very good in Mathematics! In fact at a school dance in June 1957, he came over to me and said, "Morris, you are a lucky ******. It is a good thing I like you,"  We both understood.

1956-57 l to r G. Mino, G. Lemon, J. Riordan, G Bowles, C Fiaschetti, Dr Hackstetter

Dr. Hackstetter left  but returned a principal from 1963 to 1966. We stayed in touch f or many years.

I leave it to Carole Futhey and the staff of CHS yearbook AD ASTRA to sum up Dr. Hackstetter

The Chapleau High School yearbook 'Ad Astra' paid tribute to departing principal Dr. Karl A. Hackstetter for setting a high standard for students and "trying to kick us over it."

The editors of 'Ad Astra', led by Carole Futhey dedicated their yearbook to Dr. Hackstetter as their way of saying thank you for setting high standards, expressing the hope that "we hope that we will not disappoint him. They were exciting years."

The tribute said that Dr. Hackstetter "terrorized and goaded us, stretched us and pushed us. The experience often left us limp, but it also left us stimulated.

"Because he immensely enjoyed every activity, he tried to teach us to find satisfaction in everything we did. He not only tolerated non conformity, he loudly demanded it.

"The greatest crime was shoddiness. the most prized qualities were originality and a sense of style."

Vote as you wish but there is no need to hate!!!!  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Top students, bowling team winners and retiring teacher all honoured at Chapleau High School assembly at end of 1961-62 school year

Mrs Bowles

As the 1961-62 school year ended at Chapleau High School ended, the final morning assembly became a special occasion, according to a Sudbury Star article.

School principal Luther P. Emerson  announced the Principal's Honour Roll while members of the school's bowling team and a retiring teacher were also honoured. As an aside, those of us who attended the "old" high school on Pine Street where the Chapleau Civic Centre now stands will recall that each school day started with an assembly.

Mr. Emerson congratulated the honour roll recipients, all of whom had achieved an overall 75 percent average.

They included: Faye Andrews, Alvina Beaudry, Karen Broomhead, John Henry, Anita Joyce, Susan Lane, James Lapp, Linda Marchioni, Jacqueline Marcil, Patricia McGoldrick, Eric Morse, Bruce Pellow, Shane Wright, Stephen Alexander, Claire Fortin, Donald Fortin, Roland Laferriere, Evelyn Lemieux, Sila Rantamaki, Ronald Doig, Howard Higuchi, Hugh McKechnie, Shirley Petrunka, James Pullen, George Ritchie, Bernard Pilon.

Linda Marchioni had obtained the highest average of the year.

Student council president Gary Schafer presented the Student Council Trophy to David Mizuguchi who was president of the Chapleau High School Bowlers.  David was also very active in 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps.

Presentations were also made to Frank Bignucolo captain of the winning team as well as to Jacqueline Bertrand and Shane Wright for highest averages for the year. Maureen Murphy and Bruce Pellow also received awards for high averages.

Mrs. Gladys Bowles was honoured on her retirement from the teaching staff after six years of service. She noted that she started as a part-time teacher but became full-time. Mrs. Bowles started teaching at the school in the 1950s when I was a student there.

Phys Ed class. Dr Hackstetter on far right

When Mr. Emerson left a year later, Dr. Karl A. Hackstetter, who had taught at the school from 1954 to 1957 returned as principal. As enrolment increased with students from the post World War II "Baby boom", more space was required and plans were developed to build a new school on the hill. It opened in 1966 but Dr. Hackstetter did not stay as principal.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Michael reflects on past 50 years realizing "It's all storytelling you know"

MJ with Gus 2018

May it be a wonderful year for you. Stay safe and peace be with you!  Happy New Year!

As the new year gets underway, it suddenly struck me that it was 50 years ago in January 1969 that I left the daily newspaper business and started teaching at Chapleau High School. I was home visiting my mother Muriel (Hunt) Morris, and thinking about how I would get to Vietnam to cover the war there or to the Middle East to write about drug smuggling from Beirut, Lebanon into Europe and on to North America.

Fifty years later I have never been to either place because George Evans, the late longtime assistant principal and history teacher at Chapleau High School phoned me and asked if I would replace a teacher who had become ill. I expected to be there six months and then back to the newspaper business. 

MJ in 1970

After almost 20 years at CHS, I moved to Cranbrook BC to join the faculty of College of the Rockies, taking early retirement in 2000 after helping to found the first college graduate program in New (Social) Media Communications in Canada.

However, even though I never returned to the newspaper business full time, it was in Chapleau that I covered two of the major stories of my career.

The first was the presentation of eggs to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at the Chapleau CPR station in 1982. I covered it for CBC Television News,

MJ on left Ernie Lepine with PM Trudeau

It turned out that Chapleau was the only community that provided some "respite" from angry protesters who greeted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as he travelled across Canada by train in August 1982.

In an article on August 22, 2016,years later  by Tristin Hopper carried in the National Post and other Postmedia newspapers he noted that "Only the Ontario town of Chapleau provided some respite. There, poultry farmers banded together to present the prime minister with a gift basket of fresh  eggs."

Actually, Ernest Lepine of Chapleau, upon learning of the reception the prime minister was receiving as he travelled with his three sons Justin (now our prime minister), Alexandre and Michel, visited the Valentine Poultry Farm and arranged to get eggs to present to him when the train stopped in Chapleau. The farm was and still is owned by Ross Broomhead.  

Mr. Lepine, in making the presentation to Mr. Trudeau said "Here are some Chapleau eggs for you. We're not throwing them at you. We're giving you a feed of eggs".

At College of the Rockies I was asked one day who was the most famous person I had ever interviewed. I replied without hesitation, "Pierre Trudeau". I knew some doubted me so I put a photo of me with the prime minister on my office wall. I was never questioned again!

The other was a test of the nuclear winter theory at Chapleau in 1985. I covered it for UPI. I have always thought it was so cool that Bob Fife, a former student at Chapleau High School and great friend, would be responsible for getting me an assignment as a reporter, particularly on such a major assignment as a test of the nuclear winter theory. He had worked for UPI.When he was a student at CHS, Bob would pepper me with questions on everything -- a certain clue that he was headed for a distinguished career in journalism.He also was active in many productions as well as serving as student council president.

Robert Fife  The Globe and Mail

 Bob is the son of the late Margaret and Clyde Fife of Chapleau. He is now the Ottawa Bureau Chief of The Globe and Mail.

The story for UPI reported , "a helicopter was to drop a napalm-like substance on the area near Chapleau, 400 miles north of Detroit, to set fire to thousands of fir trees killed by a budworm infestation that began in the 1960s

.Andrew Forester of the University of Toronto who organized the project said  he hoped when the blaze fanned out, it would create a 20,000-foot convection column of smoke, ash and gas to simulate some effects of a nuclear explosion. He described the fire as a "partial representation of one aspect of a nuclear explosion" without the blast or radiation.The helicopter was to carry a "flying drip torch," moving in concentric circles to drop an oil-based substance on pre-selected spots--literally dropping fire on the forest.

High in the convection column, scientists expected to see a ring of ash that would filter down, said Brian Stocks of the forest fire research unit at the Canadian government's Great Lakes Forest Research Center in Sault Ste. Marie. Above the ash, scientists expect gases and condensation that could trigger firestorms, Stocks said, according to the Los Angeles Times/ UPI report.

I recall flying over the test area into the mushroom cloud and one of the scientists excitedly proclaimed, "We've got it."

Back to Chapleau and hockey.. Let me share an anecdote about my coaching debut which was actually with a Chapleau Midget team in Timmins in 1969. I can't remember how I ended up filling in for someone but there I was. During the game a fight broke out and upon our return home, within a few days a letter arrived from Jim Aspin, the longtime secretary manager of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association accusing the Chapleau coach (me) of encouraging his players to fight.

A meeting was called to discuss the matter and we met in the basement of the old Town Hall. The letter alleged that I was yelling from the bench, "FIGHT, FIGHT." Of course I denied it and after much discussion, Earle Freeborn asked me if I had yelled anything from the bench. I thought for a moment and suddenly it struck me. Bob Fife, was on the team and in the midst of the fight. I said, yes I had been yelling for Fife to come to the bench. And I was yelling "FIFE, FIFE" which sounded like "FIGHT! FIGHT!!!!

A letter was sent to Mr. Aspin explaining what I had been yelling and it was accepted. I lived to coach another day!!

During my years at CHS i directed many plays at CHS/ESCHS but let me share a bit on the wonderful Peter Colley play, "The War Show: You'll Get Used To It." It was the last production in which I was involved at CHS/ESCHS

Cast of You'll Get Used To It - The War Show

Writing in The Daily Press, reviewer George Evans, said that a "wonderful thing" happened at ESCHS. "For the older people there was bittersweet nostalgia for the years of World War II, and for the younger folk there was the impact of seeing war as it really was for the 1939 generation of teenagers. From oldest to youngest, the audience was caught up in the banality, the humor, and ultimately, the irreversible waste of war."

After each performance the company received a sustained standing ovation. We too the play "on the road" to Wawa wher it was performed at Michipicoten High School.

The outstanding company included Marcel Morin, Michel Sylvestre, Derek Lafreniere, Dean Harvey, Jeremy Comte, Christopher Ivey, Tara Leigh O'Hearn, Anita Hoffren, Andre Bourgeault, Kyle St. Amand, Gerry Servais, Kyle Videto, Laurianne Martel, Desmond Larocque, Donna Old, Annalisa Meyer, Michelle Meyer and Lori Brunette.

Margaret Rose (Payette) Fortin, of the ESCHS teaching staff, did an incredible job as the music director, with Mrs. Ruth Godemair as the pianist. Members of the ESCHS Chorus included Gabriela Dell, Carolyn Hryhorchuk, Gerard Lalonde, Juliette Payette, Dave Fagan, Yvette Joyal, Desmond Larocque, Mike Holgate and Alison Wedekamm. George noted in his review that it was "impossible to overestimate" the contribution of the chorus to the emotional impact of the production.

Also greatly contributing to the success of the production was the awesome use of sound and lighting particularly in the battle scenes in the very capable hands of William Mitchell, Sylvain Bernier and Scott Keech. Video was done by Derek Woods. Costumes and makeup were looked after most capably by Yvette Joyal and Lisa Martel, and I must add that Mrs. Joyal pitched in to help with every aspect of the production. She was always available to help. 

Set design was by Roxane Duhaim, while official photographer was Michael Heintz, prompter was Yvonne Ranger, and properties and stage assistant was Allison Berry. Rick Dell and Crystal Collins produced the program.

As I reflect on the past 50 years, I have so many fond memories from Chapleau High School and College of the Rockies, as well as being able to continue writing. My most sincere thanks to Mario Lafreniere, publisher of the Chapleau Express for letting me share Chapleau Moments weekly for almost 10 years. 

I also so much appreciate hearing from so many of you over the years, and no, I never had a "bad" student at CHS/ESCHS or COTR!

I leave you with a comment from Tom Brokaw:  "It's all storytelling you know. That's what journalism is all about."   My email is mj.morris@live.ca