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.
Mike came to Flin Flon from Melville, Saskatchewan via train in 1935. He was hired on at HBMS and worked underground for six months when he signed up to go to war. Mike trained as a navigator in Brandon and at Pearce, Alberta where he graduated as a navigator. Mike went overseas on the Queen Elizabeth's maiden voyage along with 22,000 other armed personnel. The ship was 11 stories high. They had just left Halifax, (about four hours out) when a huge storm came up. "We were under orders not to return to Halifax, so we had to weather the storm," Mike said, adding that the huge ship "rocked and rolled". "There were six of us to a cabin. We weren't allowed out of our cabins and we were down in the bottom of the ship. All of us were sea sick. The storm lasted about twelve hours." They finally arrived at Garroch, Scotland. "That was the worst experience of the whole war!" Mike smiled. From Scotland, Mike's division was stationed at Boormouth, England for almost two years. He would fly sorties in the Lancaster on bombing missions over Europe. Mike said that where he was stationed, right on the coast of the English channel, they could see the German Metzersmits flying over on bombing raids heading for London. Their division was often bombed as well, especially when the Germans were going back to Germany, they would drop any bombs they had left. Mike came back from the war to Flin Flon in 1944 and was officially discharged in 1945. In the meantime, a young woman named Edith Almas had come up to Flin Flon in 1942 looking for work. She hired on at the Flin Flon Post Office. She met Mike and the rest, as they say, is history! They were married in 1945 in the United Church by a minister by the name of Carlisle Parker. They lived at 39 Main Street for about six months and then they bought 25 Main Street where they lived for about eight years, before they tore it down and built an apartment block. They lived there till they built their present home on Hapnot Street which they moved into in 1985. Edie was a "stay at home mom" raising five kids while Mike worked at HBMS where he worked underground for 25 years. Mike worked under Jim Watt and Sandy Morris and with guys such as Fred Lloyd, Clarence Ulinder, Nick Putko, Bruce Moore, George St. Pierre (Mike's partner) and Garnet Eidt to name a few. They did high raise blasting and worked in scrams. They'd blast at the end of the shifts, which were eight hours. There were only two shifts back then Ð days and nights. "Working underground was a dangerous job and you needed to be careful," stated Mike. "We'd watch out for one another!" After his years underground, Mike went to the Mill where he worked for another 13 years. He worked under Ed Van Dorn and Wilf Burrows and worked with Clarence Goodwin, Clarence Sharley, Grant Cassan and Joe Howatt, just to name a few. During those years, Mike did a lot of fishing at Beaver Lake with his three sons Bob, Wray and Rick. He taught his sons the lake so well that they hired on as guides from time to time. Mike retired in 1978 from HBMS, but he didn't stop working! His love of working with stone kept him busy. Joe Skoda taught Mike how to do stone work, especially with limestone, and Mike did a lot of work at Beaver Lake. He made the three beavers on the sign at Beaver Lake, out of limestone. As well, he did a lot of limestone work on their summer home at Beaver Lake (which they had since 1951), as well as on their new home on Hapnot Street. He loved that hobby and became very good at it. During his working career, Mike was chairman of the HBMS Health Scheme, he was on the board of the Co-op and as well he sat on the board of the United Church. He was on the church board when the decision to sell the two United Churches in Creighton and on Green Street were made. Some of the United Church ministers that Mike and Edie recall were: Carlisle Parker, Garth Nelson, Rupp, Foster, Penfound, Bigelow, Hazel Heffren, Lambert, Rutley, Freeman and Wyman (in no specific order). Mike and Edie did a lot of traveling when they were able. They have been to two Silver Brooms and even went to a World Series in Detroit. Laughingly Mike relates, "We thought the people in the States were so friendly waving at us with our Canadian license plate as we were driving along, only to realize that we were going the wrong way on a one way street!" They've traveled to B.C. many times and to Hamilton, Ontario where Mike's brothers live. When asked if they would ever leave here, the answer was an unanimous "No way!" Their eldest son, Bob, lives in Nanimo, B.C. Wray is a postal carrier here in this area and their youngest son, Rick, works for HBMS. Their daughter Myrna is a nurse in Fruitville, B.C. and their daughter Kathy works at the Co-op as the manager of the bakery/deli. Mike and Edie have seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren. They are very content with their life here in Flin Flon. Mike is now 90 years old and still has a great memory, especially with a little prompting from Edie! Thanks so much for sharing your story with us! It was a great visit and lots of fun.
