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Looking back...with Donna and Red Nelson

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.

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.

Donna Emery came to Flin Flon in 1945 from Saskatoon, with her parents Villa and Grant Emery and her sister Sheila. Grant Emery had started a contracting business and was later joined by his brother Jim. They were known as the Emery Bros. Contractors. When they first came to town Donna's family lived in the Como Block (across Third Ave. from the Candy Bar parking lot) in Ross Lake. The first kids that Donna and her sister Sheila met were Jeannine and Marcella Pelletier, Shirley, Spud and Ron McKenzie, and Mavis, Zeke and Dan Hamilton. The Emery family only lived in Ross Lake a short time when they moved to Channing and lived in the Green House which was across the street from the old Channing Hotel. The only houses in New Channing when they moved there were the Vic Lysohirka family, the Channing Store run by Mr. Bracken (a street later named after him), the Yaworski family lived on the corner, then the Munroes, Marchants, Dixons, Lindsays and later more families moved in. Grandma Vancoughnett ran the old Channing Hotel. Donna's dad rented the addition to the hotel as his first shop and the building later became the Channing Dance Hall. See 'Home' P.# Con't from P.# Later, Mr. Grant Emery built the family home with shop attached on the hill with uncle Jim building next door and the Kilfoyles building next to him, and at the end of the street were the Sutherlands, all the original Channing families. Donna was in grade 2 when she arrived in Flin Flon and so she went to Ross Lake School till grade 6 and had Mr. Klym as the principal. Some of her school chums were Merle Riley, Donna Willis, Gail Lockhart, Elaine Schanowski, Bill and Carl Laing, Mel Pearson, Phil Faford, Jim and George Pockett. The Channing kids caught the school bus at the Channing Hotel. "Rain or shine, it didn't matter if it was forty below," remembers Donna. Donna recalls the bus drivers as being Russ Cassan and Jack Ross. Although the kids always took their lunch to school, they would sometimes hang out at Sue's Lunch. Donna went to old Hapnot (near where Ruth Betts is now) for grades 7 to 11 and remembers having teachers such as Archie and Olive Thom, Ina Lel, Isobel Rex, Miss Patterson, Jean Campagne, Mr. Marshall, Glen Nicol, the Hayes sisters, and Mr. Kines was the principal. Throughout her growing up years Donna played baseball. One of her first teams was the Channing Wolverines with girls 13 and under (picture 105 in Flin Flon Visual History book). They played teams from Ross Lake, Mile 84 and Uptown. Later, Donna played for the Channing Clippers and by then Creighton also had a team. Donna remembers playing Dodie Stewart, Jessie Hill, Grace Salamondra and Alpha Nystrom. Donna also remembers, "My first plane ride was with Bob Ferguson in 1948 when he took me and my sister Sheila for a ride." Donna's two younger sisters, Kathleen and Sharon, were both born in Flin Flon. Donna lived in Channing most of her life, even after her first marriage she lived in Wally Heights. After she finished school Donna worked at the Bank of Commerce with Marion McKenzie, Lorna Mansell, Lois Haggarty and Liz Yaworski. Then for many years she worked at home as a secretary recording claims for many prospectors such as Bob Frazier, Jim Campbell and Jack Murray. Later she worked for Kerr Addison Mines for a few years as well as for Lew Parres in the late 60s. Donna worked at the Flin Flon General Hospital for 20 years. As a note of interest, Donna and Red (Harry) Nelson went to the same school (Victoria) in Saskatoon when Donna was in grade 1 and Red was in grade 4 and they only lived one-half block from each other but never met at that time. Red Nelson came to Flin Flon in 1954 to play for the Flin Flon Junior Bombers. He had played for the Humboldt team the year before and the team had lost in the playoffs and Red was picked up to play for the Bombers in the 1953/54 playoffs. So consequently he came to the Bomber training camp the following year and made the team. In those days a hockey player who made the Bomber team was automatically given employment at HBMS. Other guys on the team at that time were: Len Bolton, Reo Touzin, Bill Dobbin, Red McRae, John Dubinak, Cliff Lennartz, Lyle Willey, Dennis Cassidy, Ron Foster and Bobby Kirk was the coach. When Red finished playing for the Bombers, he refereed for 17 years both with the SJHL and the outlawed WCHL. The WCHL were outlawed at that time because they had six overage Junior players and they played in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Regina. Red also refereed for the minor hockey system for 17 years as well. The referee-in-chief was Alex Huston with Metro Lekopoy, Len Bolton, Morris Wynnenchenko and Wayne Kelly refereeing as well. They refereed 470 kids playing in six Midget and four Juvenile teams. Often the refs would go to Thompson on the weekends to officiate games there. Red stated that, "When the IOSC (Roller Goodwin Memorial) tournament was held here recently, I had refereed pretty well all the guys in that tournament." Red worked at HBMS for 33 years starting in 1954 with the Bombers and retiring in 1987. "Long road trip!" he laughs. See 'Painted' P.# Con't from P.# Red worked on surface for five years and then he graduated to the "Paint gang". "Ted Wright was the boss," smiles Red, "and there was Jack Buckland, Reece Romphf, Steve Windjack, Jack scott, Ralph Buckland, Alex Graham and Bob McKinnon." "It was a very dangerous job at times because we painted the outside of the head frames and the cable was only five sixteenths of an inch ? about the same size as a pencil. We had many discussions about the safety of it!" said Red. He went on to say, "I have to tell you this, Reece Romphf was painting the steel up on the high tension lines at Island Falls and he'd start to sing and his voice would float down the line and you'd swear that it was Louis Armstrong." "We had to be very versatile as painters," Red explains. "For example, one day the general manager came to me when I was taking a break while painting the head frame and told me that one of the guys had gotten sick and so that that afternoon I'd have to replace him, so I found myself inside the GM's house painting." Red smiles as he says, "Donna often wonders how I know so many people especially since she has lived here longer than I have. But I have painted every department at HBMS as well as with refereeing hockey, that I have gotten to know so many people!" Throughout the years Red has raised three kids and has six grandchildren and Donna raised five kids and has seven grandchildren and, between the two of them, they have four great grandchildren. Donna and Red started golfing together about 10 years ago and were married in 2000. They spend their winters at Qualicom Beach in British Columbia managing a small eight unit motel and they golf all winter. They had the opportunity to manage the motel all year but they have to come home in the summer! In the winter months as many as 12 Flin Flonners can be seen on the tee. Some of the people who come out there are Rae and Ted Baumgartner, Curly Gummerson, George and Cheryl Chigol, Dennis and Barb Cassidy, Bill and Gladys Martinot, Harvey Flemming, Steve Keddie, Rollie and Linda Chretien. There are Flin Flonners who have permanent residences in Parkesville which is a short distance away and they are: Maurice and Barb Smith, Dwayne McNabb, Bart Longmore, Audrey and George Parker and Paul Rosiak. "We have to come home to our family and friends every summer," they both smile. "We have no plans of ever leaving here permanently!" Donna's mother Villa Emery, who is 93, lives happily at the Personal Care Home. Donna has five generations living here. Thanks so much for a great interview. See you at the golf course!

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