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John Einarson was born to Oli and Constance Einarson in 1924 in Winnipegosis. In 1928 John's mother passed away and he and brother Malcolm went to live with his grandparents and then later John lived with an aunt and uncle in Winnipegosis. In October of 1932, John left Winnipegosis accompanied by one of his dad's partners, Leo Hjalmarsen, on the train headed for Flin Flon. The railway station went as far as the HBMS Machine Shop in those days. They got rooms above the Golden Gate Caf on Main Street and stayed there till spring. Then, they moved in with Bill James and his wife whose home was built on the high outcropping of rock just south of Hapnot Lake. Bill had horse barns in the area of the road that goes to the South Main shaft. In that same area, Harold Palmer had his first ice house at the west end of South Hudson Street were it connects with the Creighton freeway. In the early years ice boxes were the only way people could keep their milk and other perishables from going bad and thus blocks of ice were delivered to every home on a regular basis. Harold even supplied the CN railway with ice for their refrigerator cars when the train came into town. Harold's business was called North Star Fuel and Ice and it was thought that at first Harold got his ice from Hapnot Lake and then later from Spirit Lake. See 'Horses' P.# Con't from P.# Many men had teams of horses that they would hire out to haul wood and other essentials around town. Some of these men that John recalls were: Paul Prew, Mr. Jalbert, Mr. Marko, Fred Thompson and George Bleky. John and his family settled in the area across from what is now known as Creighton's Pizza. The family lived in a tent until the land was cleared and a house was built. John recalls some of the neighbors as: Lars Larson and his family of three daughters and three sons. They had come from Rose Valley, Saskatchewan. There was Ralph Gardewine and his family of two sons, Marion Rogers with her three daughters and Grandpa Rogers who could often be seen walking along with his "squirrel gun". There was also John Elander and his family of two daughters who had come from the Sturgis or Preeceville area in Saskatchewan. John had a dairy farm. Later there were Cliff and Audrey (nee Rogers) Buchanan; Bill and Frances Winters; George and Irene Hutton and son Elden; Mrs. Lockhart and sons; Mike and Katie Dubinak with three sons and one daughter; Joe and Mrs. Gorki who had a market graden where the Creighton ball diamond is now; Dr. and Mrs. Penneck along with their two sons and three daughters. They were American and Dr. Penneck was a chiropractor. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Thompson and their three sons and two daughters had moved in from Kelvington, Saskatchewan, right next to the John Einarson home. "There were friendships that developed amongst us that have lasted a lifetime," stated John. "We were always trying to figure out ways of making money and in the summer we would pick blueberries, clean them and sell a 10 pound pail for 50 cents! In the winter we would take orders for Christmas trees. One winter Roy and Nelville Thompson and myself decided to cut wood and we sold it to Jack Sturley for $5. By the time we paid Mr. Thompson $2 for the use of his horses and sleigh, we each had $1 and thought we were rich!" laughs John. Some of the kids John remembers going to school with (Main School being the first one located where the General Hospital is now) in those years were: Joyce Johnson, Joyce Swick, Ted McKonka, Tony Macoo, Ted Sparling, George Avison, Christine Cadotte, Bill Maluta, Bruce Weiss, Emile Arsenault, Walter Kittle, Alice Orr, Walter Bowes, June Penneck, Gordon Waldmo, David Swedberg, Hans Bergstrom, Helen Peterson, Ruth O'Brian, Dorothy Young, Donald Lavis, Bill Styba, Rene Flock, Eric Chayko, Walter Hicks, Kay Cook, Murray Bell, Jim Burkett, Alvin Schiltroth, Louie Valance, Jack Noble, George Struch, Madeline Keks, Gordon Kelly, Walter Genovy, Margaret McLean, Bernice Johnson and Alex Krassilowsky. Some of the teachers John recalls through the years: Audrey Hall, Frank Bothe, Sandy Morris, Miss Greenway, Freda Shack, Ruth Betts, Mr. Brisbane (principal) John Wilson and Ernie Butterworth. In 1934 John's father remarried, Edna Anderson, the daughter of Sam Anderson of Cranberry Portage and later of Millwater where he operated the Aberdeen Lodge. Over the years the family built a total of nine homes in that area. In 1934 a 30-foot boat was built by a craftsman from Gimli along with John's father and his uncle Leo. The boat was then transported by rail to The Pas, where they stayed for about a week and then proceeded up the Saskatchewan River to Moose Lake to set up a store and buy furs. Their first stop on the Saskatchewan River was at Tom Lamb's Trading Post. Traveling the Saskatchewan River was quite a feat because of the wind and the boat began taking on water. John, his mother and brother Malcolm had to stay in the bow of the boat while the men were kept busy bailing the water. John only recalls two families at Moose Lake. They were the Monias and Tobacco families. In 1939, during school break, John went to work at the fish camp on Beaver Lake, taking his school books with him and not realizing at the time that he would not be going back to school. The hours they worked were long and there were no days off. They got paid $30 a month plus room and board. While on route to the camp John spent the night with Gisli and Lily Norman at Beaver Lake. During that time frame, John relates how four Einarson cousins came up from Winnipegosis. They were Sigurjon, Mindy, Leo and Malvin and they became part of the summer and winter operations, (commercial fishing) on Beaver Lake, Ballantine Bay on Deschambault Lake, Jan Lake, Mirond Lake and Sisipuk (meaning duck in Cree). The fish from the winter operations was both fresh and frozen and was transported mostly by truck. The summer catch was flown by air and packed at the Einarson packing plant at Douglas Lake. They also packed fish for other commercial fishermen. See 'Tennis' P.# Con't from P.# Around 1940 Jack Einarson decided to venture out on his own fishing and trading at Deschambault Lake and after many years he moved to The Pas. During this time John's father and Leo formed their own company calling it Hjalmorson and Einarson Limited. They continued to fish and trade, having posts at Birch Portage on the Sturgeon Weir River and at Jan Lake. People living at Birch Portage at the time were Walter, John and Noah Custer and their families, and Jim Sewap and Charlie Halcrow and their families. John said, "I recall one trading expedition involving a trip to south end of Reindeer Lake during the Treaty time but I can't remember the year. We left Beaver Lake with two 19-foot freighter canoes and a crew that consisted of Sigurjon, myself, Mike Dubinak and Clement McNichol. Of all the portages on the trip the toughest one was called Steep Hill Portage. The marks are still on the trees where the block and tackle were tied to help pull the york boats up the hill. When we arrived at our destination we found that Steve Russick had set up camp for the same purpose. He had commercial fished and traded for furs. Around that time we also met Harold Jacobson who was stationed at South End where he regulated the water flow for the hydro plant at Island Fall." John went on to say, "During the Treaty times which were always on July 1st, the Natives would receive a few staples such as flour, sugar, bacon, etc. and a five dollar note. I use the term Native not in desrespect because they were the first inhabitants of our country and I have deep feelings for them and have known many who I would not hesitate to call my friends!" In January of 1944 John relates, "We moved from Beaver Lake to Sisipuk and lived in tents for the remainder of that fishing season." During those years they relied heavily on horses, but in 1945 they got a 1/2 ton and a 3/4 ton truck that had disc ploughs attached to the front. (the discs had been recycled from farm machinery). Then in 1947 they purchased a Bombardier and found this to be a very remarkable machine, so they bought two more. These machines enabled them to fish 50 miles from camp. "We worked hard, 12 hours a day, seven days a week," John recalls. In 1941, Kay Locker enters the picture when her life's journey brings her to Flin Flon along with her family. Her dad had taken a job at HBMS working in the smelter as well as being the secretary for HBMS on the Labour Board. Mr. Locker was only in Flin Flon a few years when he entered into business (in 1943) for himself calling his business Locker's Insurance which was situated about where Jack's Computer store was. Kay's mother Kate and her brother Don also worked in the business. And a lady by the name of Mrs. Johnson was their secretary. Kay was 17 when she arrived in Flin Flon. She was in grade 10. Kay also went to Main School. Kay recalls going to school with David Tettoff, Melvin Berg, Dorothy Young, Loretta Kerschtein, Bella Manns, Betty Sedlack (Figura), Wilhemina Houston and Lawrence Halddorson. Some of the teachers Kay remembers were: Miss Hayes, John Wilson and Mr. Butterworth. In 1943 after Kay finished school, she got a job at HBMS in the zinc plant, (the men were off at war), shovelling dross into the dross plant. She worked there for two years and then met and later married John Einarson. Kay was and still is very interested in sports. In 1940 she played ball on a team called the Aces with Tom Dobson as their coach. Some of the team members Kay recalls were Ruth Jarvisand and Eunice Thompson. There were five girls teams such as the Rogues and the Vics. Kay can't remember the other two just now. Kay played tennis. She remembers that there were five tennis courts at Phantom Lake and during the Trout Festival there would be tournaments held. Kay won two of those tournaments. John and Kay were married in 1945 in the United Church, which is now the Labour Temple. Stated John, "My cousin Mindy was best man and Eunice Thompson was the bridesmaid. Jean Price played the organ and Dorothy Young sang 'Because'. Our reception was at the Legion Hall." See 'Church' P.# Con't from P.# In 1946 they started a construction business and built 15 homes in the Willowvale area and the first Creighton School. For the HBMS they built a dormitory and cafeteria for North Star Mine, as well as a changehouse, shop and a residence for HBMS. Company employees on the site at that time were Del Hedman who worked in the cafeteria, Lloyd Kreller and Howard Jessup who hauled goods with a Fordsome tractor that was fitted with Bombardier tracks. They built 18 homes at Island Falls for Churchill River Power as well as two garages and another residence in Flin Flon for HBMS. Said John, "After building a home in Creighton for Howard and Mary Lyons, I left the company of Hjalmarson and Einarson in 1956 and started working for HBMS. I worked for many out of town projects for HBMS such as the Island Falls addition to the power plant, dismantling the Brittania headframe at Snow Lake plus working on other buildings at Chisel Lake and Anderson Lake mine sites, Dickstone Mine, Flexor Mine, Schist Lake Mine and Coronation Mine. In 1973, I transferred from Construction to Security and retired from HBMS in January of 1986." In October of 1960, John goes on to say that "the congregation of the First United Lutheran Church on Second Avenue started construction of their new church, from porperty that they had gotten from HBMS. The property was known as the Holy Smoke mining claim which was a mountain of rock. We had the good fortune of having the use of a compressor Caterpillar tractor, backhoe and jackhammers plus hoses owned by Sig Corbett who had been doing highway work for the Provincial Government. "HBMS provided the power bucket, cement mixer, slag for fill, dried steel and the sharpening of the same as well as dynamite and caps for blasting. All this was provided at no cost. All the work was done by the men and women of the congregation with the exception of the masonary work, the concrete block and brick. The Church was dedicated in the fall of 1961." In the fall of 1969, the Einarsons leased a lot at Beaver Lake, later purchasing the property and building themselves a pleasant place to retreat to, over a period of 20 years, with the help of family and friends. Although John and Kay still use the property, they have passed it down to their kids with the eldest son taking possession of it. Kay also took up curling in 1944, curling first with skip Isobel Ketchen, along with Donelda McIaasc and Bella Manns. In their first year of curling they never lost a game and ended up winning the Royal Cup (which was emblematic of the City Championship then). Later Kay went on to skip her own team curling with many people such as Sadie George, Sadie Engel, Sadie Milne, Lena Boychuk, Marlene Poirier, Marilyn Romphf, Isobel Phillips, Gerri Kostuchuk and, on her last year of curling, her team of Vera Bell, Marilyn Reader and Betty Ramsay were the first team at Willowpark to get an eight ender in 1983. During her 20 years of curling, Kay served on the Manitoba Curling Association for two years as well as serving on the excutive of Willowpark for many years. Kay also golfed and was Club Champion one year. She has been a member of the Rebekahs for 50 years. John and Kay both taught sunday School for 25 years. They have also travelled extensively going to the Bahamas, England, France, traveled to Arizona for five winters and still make trips to Prince Albert and Winnipeg. John and Kay have raised three children: Kathy who lives in Winnipeg with her family, Larry who lives in Radium Springs and Lorne who is presently residing in Flin Flon. They have six grandchildren and one great grandchild who lives in Flin Flon, much to their delight! John and Kay would like to thank Flin Flon for giving them such a good life and they defintely have no plans on leaving here! Thanks so much for the memories and the incredible history lesson!
