BILL GROVES WITH IT's BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS AND THE HOLIDAY SEASON

It's beginning to look  like Christmas and the holiday season when Bill Groves of Chapleau sends along one of his wonderful series of photos for us to enjoy. Here is another outstanding selection from Bill.  Thanks so much Bill and it was so great to chat with you and Barbara at the Chapleau High School reunion.

JOYEUX NOEL/MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!  mjm

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!   ... mjm

Thanks for hockey memories from back in the day and best wishes to all for Christmas and holiday season

MJM at Cocoa Beach FL By Michael Pelzer

It's amazing the things one thinks about while relaxing in a lawn chair at Cocoa Beach, Florida, watching the sun set on the Atlantic Ocean as the last of the surfers ride the waves, a cruise ship passes by slowly, couples walk along the beach, and I end up thinking about hockey in Chapleau from 40 plus years ago.

Only I could start out intending to come up with my last Chapleau Moments column for 2012, with a focus on Christmas and the holiday season, and end up on hockey.

Anyway, my thoughts turned  to an email from Henry Byce about a "blast" from his hockey past, and a follow up from Mark Dillon, about a tournament in Senneterre, Quebec, and later "The Chiefs" hockey team on which both of them played.

In his email, Henry advised that he couldn't recall how they did in the tournament, but "I know we had fun." He also included a photo of the team, noting that I had coached and taught "most of us" in the team photo. And I had at Chapleau High School.

He added: "As a kid watching the (Chapleau Intermediate 'A') Huskies was one of the greatest memories I have, and to have two great players as our coaches was awesome".  The coaches to whom Henry refers are Pat Swanson and Paul McDonald, both of whom as he says were "great players" on the Chapleau Intermediate A Huskies of the Northland Intermediate Hockey League from 1975 to 1979, a team I also coached and managed, sharing those duties over the years with Doug Prusky who was mainly responsible for the team's on ice success.

Senneterre team See names below

In a message Mark Dillon clarified that in the Senneterre tournament "we were in the 'B' Division, which was above us,( I think we were 'C' back home) and we lost in the final to Val D'or before a packed house. We were a contact team and unaware that Quebec wasn't. After a few (french term)  'Placage' penalties we took the contact out of our game lol. Great showing by all made it very memorable for me."

Mark also commented on the 1982-83 Midget Chiefs who also played in the local town league.  "I was lucky to play with you guys since there was no midget team in minor hockey to play for that year."

Referring to a team photo, Mark added"  "I always  laugh at the picture. Jamie (Doyle) is holding my hair back after my mom complaining about the bangs in my eyes. I believe we won the regular season but lost to Swanson and the guys in the playoffs." Yes, we lost in the playoffs to a team composed mainly of former Intermediate 'A' Huskies.

Midget Chiefs 1982-83 names below

I felt really honoured that they named the team with my nickname. Let me explain for those who don't know how I came to be called Chief. It's not a name I heard too much since moving to British Columbia but at the Chapleau High School reunion, it was commonly used by those who knew me back in the day so to speak.

I got the name from the 1970-71 Chapleau Midgets with Garry Prusky as manager, who was also starring at the time as a player with the Chapleau Junior 'B' Huskies of the International Junior 'B' Hockey League with Earle Freeborn as the coach.

One day at practice, Keith McAdam called me "MJ", and having become "Mr. Morris" by virtue of now being a  teacher at Chapleau High School, I appropriately lost my temper, letting the team know I was Mr. Morris to them, and I stormed from the dressing room downstairs in the old Chapleau Memorial Community Arena. I was not a Mr. Morris during my years as a daily newspaper reporter.

Through the door I could hear the players discussing the situation when suddenly Lionel Corston spoke up. 

"I have it,"Lionel said, "we will call him the Chief. We are the Indians and he is the Chief." (I use the word Indians in the context of this anecdote.)

The players agreed, and led by team captain Jamie Doyle, they came through the dressing room door and each one in turn with a smile on his face, said "Hi Chief". What could I do? The kids had won a big one and they knew it. The name stuck.

So, sitting on the beach, with the help of Henry and Mark's messages which I looked up later for this column, out of the mothballs of memory came  memories of those most enjoyable years I spent in hockey, all thanks to Garth 'Tee' Chambers and L.D. "Don Card in the 1950s who knew I loved the game but didn't play it very well, so with their help I became a referee.

I became a coach in 1970-71 when those wonderful kids led by Jamie Doyle reached out and "hired' me which is a story for another day, but for which I shall always be grateful. 

Thanks guys for the memories that all happened years ago now in the cold winters of Northern Ontario, far from Cocoa Beach at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

And thanks to all of you who have been in touch and contributed to Chapleau Moments, and for your kind comments when I was home for the CHS reunion. My very best wishes to all for Christmas and the holiday season.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

The 1982-83 Chiefs:  MJM, Gary Murphy, Doug Hong, David Freeborn, Jamie Doyle, Mike Payette, Jean Marie Besnier, Rory Foran, David McAdam playing out, Donald Omer Landry, Armand  Bellevance. Kneeling Shawn Russell, Mark Dillon, Shane Gilham, Barry Hong. Missing is Billy Scheer. Note Jamie and Mark's bangs. Armand was team sponsor

The Senneterre Team:  Back row (l-r)  P.Swanson(coach), D. Desbois, D. Morrison, D. Dionne, D. Lafreniere, C. Vezina, T. Broomhead, J. Rioux, A. Barsalou Middle row M. Dillon, K. Dillon, M. Houle, P. McDonald(coach) Front row A. Madore, R. Martel, M. Lingenfelter, T. Sawyer, H.Byce, J. Castonguay, D. Vandal

This post will also appear in the Chapleau Express on December 22, 2012.

'Chapleau 2012' highlighted by 90th anniversary reunion festival of Chapleau High School

Graham speaking, MJ right back committee on left

As I have been reflecting on the year past, perhaps best simply described as 'Chapleau 2012', it struck me that it was Grant Henderson, a 1927 Chapleau High School graduate who summed up so well why so many of us went back for the school's 90th anniversary reunion.

In a poem for the 60th anniversary in 1982, Grant wrote in part, "Perhaps those days through memory's haze take on a richer hue" adding that "perhaps that's true but ... this I know. And I've wandered up and down. Were I to pick my bringin' up place. I'd choose the same old town."

Like Grant, I too have wandered up and down, spending moments and at times much more than a moment in places from Ontario to British Columbia, and in my daily newspaper reporter years, back and forth across this vast and magnificent land with side trips to the United States. In fact, I thought about this column while spending time at Cocoa Beach at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where Michael Pelzer, my good friend, and extremely talented photographer and videographer was doing a shoot.

However, from the moment I learned that  the CHS reunion festival was being planned, I knew as did Grant 30 years ago when he wrote his poem, that I would return to my "bringin' up place" for it. Grant died in 1994.

Soon afterwards I received a message from the organizing committee asking if I would serve as the Master of Ceremonies. Most kind of them to invite me to participate, and I thank them again so much.

This put me back in regular touch with George Evans, my friend, CHS colleague and member of township council when I was reeve of Chapleau in the 1970s. Like everyone, I was shocked and greatly saddened when George was tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident before the reunion.

But, in his memory, Chapleau did the right thing  by naming the library after him. From the day he arrived as a young teacher at CHS, George was a staunch supporter of the public library -- and worked to improve the one at the school which when he arrived in 1961 was located in a tiny room on the second floor of the building on Pine Street.

I was delighted that so many of my growin' up in Chapleau friends also planned to attend, and once we met, it seemed like only yesterday since we  were hanging out in the Boston Cafe, or driving aimlessly around town on a summer evening, never straying far from Main Street, just in case something might happen downtown and we missed it.

It was great to go around town and end up at the Boston Cafe, now Hongers Redwood again, and visit with Yen, Jean and Jim Hong. 

We talked about school and Teen Town dances, going down the lake by one of two rivers to a bay called Mulligan's, or over the gravel road to Racine Lake to awesome get togethers at Martel's.  We reminisced about skating on a Friday night by the light of the silvery moon in the old arena and the old old one, both on Lorne Street, and yes, always so important, hockey, on the ice and on the road and on the rivers.

And the central place for the reunion was at the Chapleau Recreation Centre, opened exactly 34 years ago on June 29, 1978, as pointed out to me by co-chair Graham Bertrand. Earle Freeborn, a reunion committee member and former Chapleau mayor was the arena manager at the time. 

Tom, MJ, Olive McAdam, Bob, Marg Fife, Bill Pellow, Sonia Schmitwilke

For many of us John 'Mac' McClellan, the legendary principal of CHS, and Dr. Karl A. Hackstetter, as teacher, who a few years later returned as principal, defined CHS. We were members of 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps, and for me, it was so great to see Neil Ritchie, Jim Hong, Jim Evans and Ian Macdonald, all of them officers when I was in cadets. I even finally told them how they terrified me, except for Jim Evans, who advised he preferred a "gentler touch."

Regrettably our good friend David McMillan, cadet officer, actor, hockey player and inspiration, who had looked forward so much to attending, died before the reunion.

For those of us in her CHS class, our good friend Pat (Purich) Russell made and presented each of us with a school banner. In my case, she made a special one in the old and new school colours as I had attended and taught at CHS. Much appreciated Pat and it hangs above my desk in place of honour.

While I so much enjoyed spending time with old school friends, I was so pleased to chat with  former students from my years as a teacher at CHS. And yes, we talked hockey and school plays, and "stories by MJ". Great to see all of you again and get caught up.

On a very personal basis, the most touching moments of the reunion were during the wonderful ecumenical service presided over by Rt. Rev. Thomas A. Corston, Anglican bishop of Moosonee, known to so many of us simply as "Tom". Growing up in Chapleau, Tom is the son of Frances (Jardine)  and the late Henry 'Chicken' Corston.

Sitting beside me on the stage was Robert Fife, now the CTV News Ottawa Bureau Chief, but to me simply "Bob" or more commonly "Fife".  Bob is the son of Margaret and the late Clyde Fife. 

As the service progressed, I looked out at the faces of over 400 people, all of whom defined Chapleau in one way and another from its beginnings in 1885 to the present day.

In my remarks near the end of the service I tried to capture it all when I commented that before me I saw the history of Chapleau and I did, but after relating that I had been on a morning walk to the Memegos property, my favourite walking place, I started to lose it -- one of those emotional moments -- and I thank Bishop Tom for rescuing me.

And so, Chapleau 2012, is coming to a close, but for the more than 1,000 who registered for the reunion, the precious moments of once again being home, I am sure,  will remain with us forever.  A school reunion, as my former newspaper colleague Derik Hodgson once noted, is often "the binding that holds the town book together."  This one sure contributed whether we still live there or have wandered up and down, and ended up in some other place.

Like Grant Henderson, I would not have picked another place as my home town, even if I had been given the choice. My email is mj.morris@live.ca