It was a shock to our family to read in our last paper the passing of Don Mathews, much too young to go. The Mathews family are like family to us. We know them all so well.
Before there was a school bus system set in place on the Southside the high school students had to stay on the north side and go to high school in town as we had a regular bus service. So the Mathews family stayed with us during the week. This is why it was such a shock to our family to hear Don had left us. This family seems to have had their share of tragedy.
Store closing
Another bit of bad news is the closing of The Bargain Shop. This store we all thought was doing well but I guess not. It seemed to many customers that it got through the mill disaster and all was well but I guess not. Fields store with the thought of closing is back on its feet under new ownership and is a pleasure to shop in, so maybe something like this may happen with The Bargain Shop, who knows.
The closing of the Zellers dept. store in Smithers must have been a shocker to the Smithers folks. The grapevine tells us there will be another big store going to take it over.
Break and enter
Then we read about the break in and the damage to the Immaculata Church. This is the work of some person with a sick mind. In the long run all they are hurting is themselves and will be judged by their actions.
There is some good news in our paper telling us we have a wellness centre online. This will really be a shot in the arm for 亚洲天堂 Lake. Anything to do with our health is a good thing. Yes, we have come a long way in my lifetime.
Stompin Tom
It seems we have lost one our great entertainers, Stompin鈥� Tom Connars. He was a real down home country boy. His songs seems to come right from his heart. I have two of his long play records and now nobody has anything to play them on.
I must have well over 100 long play records. I also have three players stored away. We always enjoyed listening to them. What does a person do with them as some of the songs and music are priceless. Getting back to Stompin鈥� Tom there was a program on his life and they told the number of boards he worn out keeping time to his singing, he was really country big time. All of his songs were down home country, that鈥檚 one of the reasons he was loved by everyone, truly Canadian and we were all very proud of him.
As I sit here getting my news made up and thinking of some of our old time singers came to mind like Wilf Carter, Gene Autrey and so many more good old time western singers. Real country, lots of the songs they wrote themselves. It鈥檚 great to have memories of those good old time.
Otters
There has always been a pair of otters living at the landing but this winter there has only been one. We are wondering what has happened to its mate. To watch them is very entertaining as they like to play on the ice and fish. We hope the other one will come back. We have our share of foxes there too.
As I look back now many years ago I start to compare the kind of entertainment we used to have no TV and just average radio. We used to have lots of fun but we had to make it ourselves. The hall had a badminton court marked on the floor and nets etc. Lots of evenings folks would go up and play. Then once a month we would have a dance with a local band and I was one of them. Then we would have sleigh riding on our local hills.
Once a month there would also be card parties. If it was too cold we would go to different homes. Then we had a rink just north of the present school. Broom ball and some folks would skate. Then there would be hockey games at the Colleymount rink. This was the first closed rink and the only closed one between Prince George and Prince Rupert. It was also built by the locals, this was a real shot in the arm.
Colleymount had a good hockey team too. Sometimes we would have a social evening at the hall, folks bringing musical instruments and one time we would have a play. Peg Deeder would get us together and it would be just lots of fun for young and old. Once we took our play to Prince George and came out second. We also had a sweepstake on when the lake would be clear of ice.
The lake had to be clear from dock to dock. A dollar a guess. Joe Sugden, Capt. McKinnon and my dad. This always caused lots of good guessing. In those days the lake would be frozen over with very heavy ice so there was lots of competition in our district even from 亚洲天堂 Lake.
Maybe someday our home town entertainers will come back as most all our small districts have so much talent among our young folk especially. The last musical evening was in our hall and went over big time. It always amazes me the great talent we have in our districts. All we have to do it make the opportunity to bring it out.
This is a little story
Time creeps up on us and we wonder where it has gone. One day in early summer I was at our store and a lady drove up in a rush. She told me there was a fawn that had been hit by a car or some vehicle and it鈥檚 laying on the middle of the road and its back is broken and its mother is with it. It was between the Brown Road and Peebles road. So I phoned the police and the warden but they were busy. So I took my rifle and found the doe and fawn where she said in the middle of the highway. So I pulled the fawn through the ditch and on the bank. The odd thing was the doe followed me up the bank and stood beside her baby. I could touch her she was so close. I had to watch her as she might strike me with her front feet. I shot the fawn and moved it to a more level place. The doe was so close I could touch her with the rifle barrel. She never left her baby. I just wondered if she wanted me to put her fawn out of its pain. All the time I was there she kept watching me and maybe pleading that I would help her.
Take care, have a safe week, always remember God loves you and so do I.
