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.
Russ Cassan arrived in Flin Flon on June 1, 1936 along with his dad, Jim, his brothers Bob, Garnet and Dan. Russ was about 19 years-old at the time. His dad had bought the old Channing Hotel. As he thinks back, he smiles, "Yeah, I brought the very first new truck to Flin Flon and we hauled wood from the end of Schist Lake in the winter and in the summer we hauled gravel." "Garnet and I worked together with dad. My other two brothers didn't stay here," he added. In about 1940 Russ and his dad took a job with R.M. Smith Construction at Dawson Creek and drove trucks up the Alaska Highway delivering fuel for the American Army. They had big camps all the way up the highway. Russ took the job as the foreman for the tire repair shop and he worked in a massive garage (for that era) of 400 feet long. Russ said he noticed even then the amount of "deadline" along the highway. (Deadline, he explained to me, was heaps of used and broken truck parts). During the early 40s Russ came back to Flin Flon and worked for Palmer's Ice and Fuel. "I was wheel barrowing coal that weighed more than me," he smiles. The ice house was out at Spirit Lake and the ice was brought in by horse and wagon, and delivered to the homes. (In those days everyone had ice boxes, certainly not refrigerators). The kids used to run behind "stealing" the ice chips. See 'Water' P.# Con't from P.# "We also delivered the water in buckets, sometimes up many stairs, it was damn hard work!" "So when Doxey offered me a job driving bus and told me the heaviest thing I'd have to lift was a two dollar bill I jumped at the opportunity," he laughs. Bus driving had to be in Russ' blood because he showed me a picture of Cassan's Bus Lines in Brandon, Manitoba that his dad owned in 1925. Russ had tried to enlist in the Army and had actually joined up three times and three times he was discharged because of his eyes. Russ says, "Would you believe I drove the Alaska Highway and all over hell for years without glasses and less than half sight! I didn't realize how bad my eyes were till I got glasses in 1945 and all of a sudden I could see 100 per cent! What a weird feeling, before my glasses I couldn't even see the vehicle in front of me. Here I was half blind and didn't even know it. I drove hundreds of miles half sight and no accidents. When I got my glasses, I could see so good I had to close one eye," he laughs. "I figured since I wasn't going to get to be in the Army, I may as well get married and settle down," he laughs. So on June 1, 1945 he married Faye Yelland. Faye was a lady from Porcupine Plains, whom he met while she was visiting her aunt and uncle, Alec and Beulah Chisholm, in Flin Flon in 1943. Russ drove bus for Doxey till 1947 when the bus service of six buses was bought by George Evans and was later sold to Henchcliffe from Winnipeg. However, during a labour dispute, Henchcliffe decided to get out of the business so Russ bought the bus service and renamed it Flin Flon Bus Lines. Russ said, "I worked six days a week, sometimes driving for fourteen hours and then I had to be the mechanic as well!" "So one Friday I sold the bus service to Peter Heibert and started to work for him on the following Monday. I didn't take any holidays. By then I had two girls, Lena and Lana, and young Bob had come along." "Pete changed the name to Northern Bus Lines. He was the best boss I ever had," smiles Russ. In the early years the cost of bus fare was 10 cents for kids and 15 cents for adults. Buses would even go out to Phantom Lake in the early 50s every time there was a special event such as July 1 celebrations. "It seemed that everyone in town was out there," he said. He remembers how bad the roads used to be, "all gravel with holes six inches deep, they would jar the buses something terrible!" The first bus routes went to Mile '84 and then to Birchview. They didn't go to East Birchview, Lakeside and Willowvale till a few years later, he recalls. When asked what he did for entertainment when he was a young married man, he said, "I didn't have much time for any. We would go on the odd picnic." Then his eyes lit up and he says, "You know, one time we went on a picnic out at Hanson Lake and I was just sitting on a folding chair eating a sandwich, when a little bird landed on my hand and started eating my sandwich. Imagine that!" Russ can't remember many of the drivers' names he worked with but he does recall a man named Gordie Barge who drove with him. He also remembers Tony Zimmer and Jack McDonald who were mechanics who worked on the buses through the years. In the years when he worked for Doxey, Russ said that Doxey used to give the test for people who wanted to get their driver's licenses. When Doxey was away, the job fell to Russ. Russ relates how one day this lady came in to have her driver's test. Russ said, "I told her to back up to a post that was at the end of the driveway. She did and he told her, "Fine, you've passed your test!" She replied amazed, "That's it?" Russ replied, "Well if you can back up, you should be able to go forward!" For anyone who knows Russ, you will know he has some of the neatest sayings. For example he was talking about someone who had really ticked him off and he said, "I cursed him up and down, I told him where the bear slept!" Russ recalls when Jack Freedman was mayor and the signs that Jack would put out on Main Street. At 90 years of age Russ still lives in his own home. His wife Faye passed away last year, 2003. Russ is very proud of his 36 years of driving bus and never having an accident. He actually just recently received a letter from the Motor Vehicle Licensing Bureau stating that because of his exemplary driving record they have given him the lowest fee they could. Of his nine siblings, only his brother Garnet and sister Pearl are still surviving. His daughter Lena (recently widowed) lives in Winnipeg, Lana lives in Beausejour and his son Bob lives in Creighton. Russ has five grandsons and one granddaughter. He takes the odd to trip to Winnipeg to see his girls. He is really looking forward to his family reunion at Clear Lake this year. He says he plays a few card games, watches T.V. and does a bit of yard work to pass the time. He says he also loves to go fishing when he gets the chance. What a pleasant interview, with such a wonderful person. He still has that mischievous gleam in his eye and loves to laugh when he is reliving his many wonderful memories. Thanks for sharing some of them with us, Russ.
