The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Freda McIntosh was born in the Robinson Hospital in 1931 to Fred and Mabel McIntosh. Fred McIntosh had come to Flin Flon in 1930 to work at HBMS. He began his work by working on the barge that came from Cranberry Portage to Flin Flon until the railway was completed, and then he became the locomotive engineer on the 'dinky' trains. Mabel had two children from a previous marriage, George and Muriel Avison. When the family first came to Flin Flon they lived on Main Street in amongst the muskeg along with all the new settlers at the time. Their home later became the property of the Flin Flon Daily Reminder. Fred built the family a home on 16 Hill Street, which was Freda's first home in Flin Flon as she arrived shortly thereafter. Freda lived there throughout her growing years and she recalls playing on the sewer boxes vividly. Also, having the time of her life on a chunk of cardboard sliding down the rocks at Jubilee Park off Hill Street. As she grew she remembers skiing on Second Valley along with her friend Jackie Martin and she laughs, "One time we decided to take a toboggan down that hill and almost killed ourselves! We'd often toboggan off the rocks onto Hapnot Lake as well! I remember my mother trying to grow a garden in town and the smelter smoke would get it, then she moved further out to Douglas Lake and be darned if the rabbits didn't eat it!" See 'Shack' P.# Con't from P.# She goes on to say, "I played basketball, golfed in the summer, and went to Phantom Lake a lot, even after I grew up." As a young girl Freda also belonged to the Brownies and Girl Guides having a Mrs. Luthwaite as a leader. She remembers spending many summers at Camp Whitney along with Ruthie McIsaac. Some of Freda's girlfriends growing up were: Marilyn Burrows, June Bowes, Maureen Hagan, Joyce Guymer, Annette Lavergne, Ivale Constable, Toddy Murray and Joyce Gummerson. "We spent a lot of time at Beaver Lake. In those day everyone had 'shack tents' along the Main Beach. Some of the neighbours were: Phillips', McDougalls, Bowes', and the Snelgroves. There were lots of people but they are the ones I remember!" Growing up on Hill Street she recalls other families such as the Gauthiers, Hunters, Sizers, Finchs, Mardis', Keppers, Cutts, Dankos, and the Sorensons. Freda went to McIsaac School for the primary years (it was where the General Hospital is now) and then she went on to Hapnot where Ruth Betts School is now. She graduated in 1949 along with Clara Baker, Louis Floch, Lula Saddelmeyer, Leon Clarkson, Mary Kada, Connie Dylane and Joyce Guymer. In the summer of 1949 Freda took a summer job at the fish filleting plant at Beaver Lake. Along with her were Marilyn Burrows and Maureen Hagan. Other years while she was still in school she worked at Moodie's General Store at Denare Beach. Once Freda graduated from school she went into nursing at the Victoria in Winnipeg and she graduated as a registered nurse in 1952. Her first job was in Dauphin for six months, then on to the Flin Flon General Hospital for three months when Freda took a position at the Company Hospital in Flin Flon. She worked with such nurses as Gladys Martin, Hazel Baxter, Carolyn Roch, Lois Kryschuk, Marj Johnson, and Mrs. Akert and Mrs. Mearns who were "special nurses". In those days it was not uncommon for people who had had surgery often to hire special nurses who looked after them only! The doctors then were McNichol, Wilson, Johnson, Killoh, Louis Floch, Ron Watson, Stephansson, Cancilla and Premachuk. Freda continued to be active in sports, playing tennis at Phantom Lake and going for swims after shifts, of course always walking there and back. She lived in the nurses' residence that at that time was above the old Flin Flon Clinic which was on Church Street next to the Company Staff House. In 1948 Tom Edwards came to Flin Flon and worked underground for a year living in the Corona Hotel. Then he transferred to exploration working for HBED. In 1955 Tom and Freda were married in the United Church on Hill Street. Standing up for them were Marilyn Burrows, Maureen Hagan, Buz Claggett and Bill Baxter. For entertainment the couple mixed curled and went to dances at the Community Hall and the Lobstick, with Wes Vickery or the Rhythm Kings (Hugh McBratney) playing live. However, most of their time was spent working, Freda as a nurse and Tom was away from home a lot with his exploration job. Cheryl was born in 1959 and it was around that time that Tom decided he needed to make some plans for a change of lifestyle because his daughter hardly knew him, he was away so much. So, in 1960 Tom went to Teachers' College in Winnipeg. In the summer the couple would come back to Flin Flon where Tom took a summer job with HBMS, Freda nursed and Grandma babysat. Once Tom received his degree, the family moved to Chatfields in the Interlakes for one year, then to Fairfax (near Souris) for two years and then to Neepawa which is still their home now that Tom has retired, in 1987. "Although he did substitute teaching for ten years after that," laughs Freda. Other children born to Tom and Freda were: Maureen who was born in Deloraine in 1963, and Graham who was born in 1970 in Neepawa. Cheryl works in a bank in Souris and has one daughter; Graham is a teacher living in Lynn Lake and is planning to move to Erickson; and Maureen is also a teacher living in Toronto. She teaches music and sings in the Mendelssohn Choir in Toronto and spends her whole summers here at Denare Beach, loves it here and finds solace from the city! The other kids come up when they can. Although Tom and Freda have no plans of giving up their home in Neepawa where they usually spend the winters, they definitely have no plans of giving up their "paradise" that they have found at Denare Beach! Standing in their recently renovated sun porch, breathing in the fresh air, birds are singing and the trees are rustling in the mild breeze, she smiles and says, "Who could ask for anything more?" Thanks for sharing with us Freda!
