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.
Roy Hammerstad was born to Gunnar and Karen Hammerstad in the Robinson Hospital (about where the Co-op is now) in 1933. Roy's parents had come over from Norway in 1929 and Gunnar had started work in Winnipeg at Otis Elevators. Shortly thereafter in the same year, Gunnar came up to Flin Flon and got a job with HBMS. When Roy was born the family lived in a small log house on Ross Lake Island, just below where Mike's Ice 'n' Burger Hut is now. There were only three homes there at that time. There was only a foot bridge connecting the island to the rest of Flin Flon. In 1937-38 a small bridge called King Edward the 7th Bridge was built connecting the island to the rest of the community. Roy stated, "The bridge came out where the farmer's market garden is now and then there was a footpath up through the rocks leading to uptown." "In Ross Lake during those years there was one grocery store, a tailor shop run by 'Pete the tailor' and a motorcycle shop that sold Indian motorcycles," stated Roy. The family moved to Hudson Street, where Gunnar had built a house in 1940. Roy's younger sister Joan was born by then (she now lives in Airdrie, AB). Roy recalls that Flin Flon was a rough town, "Well, it was a mining town with lots more men than women and people divided themselves into groups. There was Finn Town, Swede Town, Ukrainian Town and the Red Light District on North Avenue (where even some of the big shots from HBMS took these girls as their wives!)." See 'Went' P.# Con't from P.# Roy started school at Main School and remembers one of his teachers as a "Baldy" McLennan. Some of his chums were Bill Middagh, Bob Hopkins and Ed O'Neil. After four years at Main School, Roy went to Ross Lake and by then "Baldy" was teaching there. As a youngster, Roy was very active in the Scout movement and on February 28, 1949 he was awarded the Letter of Commendation announced by the Governor General of Canada, Lord Alexander of Tunis, for his quick action in connection with a chimney fire. Some of the leaders in the Scout and Guide movement at that time were Neil McLennan, and Vic Hook. In grade 7 the kids went to Hapnot for junior high and some of the teachers were Jean Champagne, Rita Kelly, Mrs. Waddell and Mr. J. B. Allen with Mr. Kines as principal. During those years Roy played softball in the junior league at Jubilee Park (now Rotary). Then later he played hardball at Foster Park. Roy also played hockey. Some of the teams in 1950 were: in Midgets, the Surface Guards, the Kinsmen, the Legion, the Elks, the Army Cadets and the Rotary. In Juvenile the teams were Channing, Oddfellows and the Kacees. Some of the guys playing at that time were Hedman, Foster, Hoglander, K. Allen, Redahl, Grimmelt, Bryson, Hillier, L. Schmidt, E. Watson, Norm Akert (goal), Andrews, N. Petrychko, Floch, Smale, Switzer, Munro, Strom and Hammerstad, just to name a few. Roy also curled and in 1954 he was with Blaine McLuckie, Ron Redahl and Ron Thompson and Roy. Other entertainment in those days was the Jubilee Jive on Friday nights with Wes Vickery's band, as well as Phantom Lake where everyone spent lots of time swimming, picnicking and just having a good time. During his school years, Roy was a ticket taker at the Northland Theatre that at that time was owned by Hugh Summers. Also working there then was Helen Rogers (later to marry Ev. Smallwood from CFAR) as ticket seller, and ushers were Lula and Norma Saddlemeyer. The kids would also hang out at Milt's Sweet Shop after school and on weekends if the weather wasn't good enough to be at Phantom Lake. When Roy finished school he got a job with a construction outfit from Winnipeg to build the Federal Building where the post office is today. Then he went out to a trades school in Winnipeg for a year and while there he played hockey with the Winnipeg Royals. Then Roy came back to Flin Flon to work with Frank Smerch, who built the first "Motor Boggan" in Flin Flon, which later became known as the Bombardier. "This motor sat in the back instead of the front and Frank later sold it in Meadow Lake along with the patent," recalls Roy. Then Roy hired on at HBMS in 1951 in the Zinc Plant. Later he received his apprenticeship in welding, taking it in three years because he got credit for the one year in trades school in Winnipeg. As a welder, "I spent a lot of time working out of town in places like Chisel Lake, Stall Lake, Island Falls working on the new unit and then back to Snow Lake in different projects for the Mechanical Department, then to Dickstone and various mines like Coronation, Birch Lake, White Lake and then North Star. I was asked to stay in the shop but I preferred construction, and so I worked many jobs outside for HB!" Then when the strike broke out in 1971, Roy stated, "I ended up becoming the strike captain. Which meant running a crew of about a dozen people and making sure that people didn't cross the picket line and if they did we'd just take their names, we didn't do anything to them." After the strike was over Roy went on to say, "I became a negotiator for the Trades union negotiating the contract in the mid-70s and got an increase for pensioners as well as getting the second Monday in June off for what was called then a fisherman's holiday, now it's called something else, but the men still get it! "Then I transferred to Projects, installing the new pipeline to the reservoir at Cliff Lake working with Harry Joyner, Doug Slater and Terry Leefe. "Later I transferred over to Snow Lake as project coordinator building the new mill working with John Veilgut, Matt Rainey for a year and a half. "And then I came back to Flin Flon and became the foreman for the Smelter Mechanical Department, and it was there I decided to take early retirement." After his stint at HBMS, his working days were not over, as Roy helped Richard and Dorie Murray with their business. Then he left Flin Flon for Calgary, where he worked for Iko making shingles and paper products for seven years. He retired for two days and then went to Geco Steel as superintendent on fabrication for the oil fields for a year and a half and then retired and wintered in Texas, coming back to Flin Flon every summer. Roy bought a permanent home in December 2003 at Denare Beach and plans on staying put. As he say, "All my friends are here, I go hunting with the Evans' and fishing with the Chretiens and I have lots of time to relax now." Roy has two daughters and one granddaughter. Thanks for sharing your story with us Roy... lots of great memories!
