Every time that I pick up my mail there is always a pile of flyers if that’s what you call them.
They’re always from places of business in Prince George. Yesterday there was 10 in my mail box.
I just wonder how good they are for us in the Lakes District and Burns Lake. It was rather a shock to find out how many folks shop in Prince George.
A couple of parties told me it pays to shop in Prince. The savings we get pay for our fuel etc.
So far it’s a free country so I guess you can shop where you please. But I feel it takes away business from the little one horse towns big time.
Birthday bash
On Wednesday noon the Keefe family held a 90 year birthday dinner for Edith Bond.
It was held at Mulvaney’s. They put on a very nice lunch and a good variety. Edith’s brothers and sisters plus her family were all there.
Some came from Calgary, Prince George and Smithers. It was such an enjoyable afternoon. Lots of visiting and talking about the old days.
I just wonder what parents John and Alice Keefe are thinking when they left behind such a close and wonderful family.
Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. A family is very precious and I feel so fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful and close family.
Good friend
On Saturday last there was a get together in the Grassy Plains family music centre to remember the late Fritz Wurster. Many many good friends and neighbours enjoyed getting together and see pictures of Fritz and his life companion Edith.
Fritz and Edith spent many years in the Tatalrose district. They had such a pleasant and friendly home on the shores of Francois Lake.
They were very close friends of Jo and I. We always enjoyed our visits with them. It was all very informal and so friendly. Vero Boeker gave a good write up of Fritz’s life and yours truly read a poem he had written for the occasion.
Mills parts
For the last while I have noticed all the machinery, including mill parts etc., coming over the lake on big trucks. This is all coming from the Cheslatta mill on Ootsa Lake.
The idea was great but it went flop. I guess this is the last large sawmill on the Southside.
Such a big country with so much but one more industry gone by the wayside.
There is a sawmill owned and operated by John Clark located about two miles west of the landing, on the former Mike O’Meara’s ranch. John cuts lumber and does special orders for customers.
This is a far cry from the 50s and the 60s when there used to be over 100 mills operating on the Southside and 100 lumber trucks hauling. Granted there were some small mills, but there were also some pretty big ones operating on Ootsa Lake and in the Uncha valley.
Everyone was working and the country was prosperous. I just have a rough count of the sawmills on the Northside of the lake. I have come up with about a dozen give or take a few.
All these mills no matter how small generated pay loads with the sale of the lumber and railway ties plus wages. They were good times, everyone seemed to be working, maybe in time things will come back, hard to say.
During that time most of the income stayed in Burns Lake and it was a very prosperous little town. Two sawmills in town, thousands of railway ties loaded out onto railway cars, this was a big thing.
Big stockyards as lots of cattle and sheep shipped out. Large CN freight shed, seven taxies all busy. Three car dealers, hospital with a surgeon in residence so folks were able to stay in town for medical care and having babies.
Must not forget a CN station with a resident agent. A couple of gambling joints doing a big business. I could go on and on.
It’s a good town in a good location the very hub of the Lakes District and the Gateway to Tweedsmuir Park and that’s a plus.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is behind us now, leaving lots of pleasant memories.
Always lots to eat and family coming home to share lots of good old stories. It’s really a special time. It’s great for us to be thankful because we do have a lot to be thankful for in Canada.
When we see and hear what’s going on in most of the world it’s a pretty sad situation and is not improving much. Yes, we have a lot to be thankful for and I hope we remember it too, as well as appreciate it.
On the prairie we would be right in the middle of threshing and it was a great time.
Combines came along after and did away with the big threshing machines, with stock teams sometimes on the big outfits would have six or seven teams.
Wagons hauling grain from the separator to the elevators. When I was about nine or 10 my dad lifted me up onto a big wagon with one of our large teams of horses pulling 60 bushel of wheat to the elevator.
Dad’s last words were “Your on your own kid, take your time on the horses as you are pulling a big load.”
They were good days and I look back with such wonderful memories. I very often wish my kids could have enjoyed those old prairie days, they were hard but they gave us a great feeling of learning how we used to live. There must still be some old boys that still remember those old threshing days.
Just heard the long range weather forecast last night and they say we are due for the coldest winter in 20 years. That’s not good news.
A little story
Two fellows were at a cocktail party with their wives. One said to the other “You wife sure does brighten the party.” In a minute, he said again “Her mere presence is electrifying.” Her husband replied “Everything she is wearing is charged.”
Take care for the week and always remember God loves you and so do I.
