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 and Anne Chrupalo are proud and grateful to have called Flin Flon their home for decades. One of 10 children, Mike was born in 1932 in Winnipegosis, where he was raised on a farm. "We had hard times, but good times," recalls Mike. "I think as kids we appreciated what we had a lot more than kids of today." He recalls back to mealtimes at home with a laugh, noting that "there was no such thing as seconds or 'please pass.' You just grabbed as the pot went by or else." Mike remembers well having to walk four miles to and from school every day in clothes not quite as warm as made today. The farm was a place where kids had chores such as milking the cow and hauling wood. "Everybody was expected to pitch in. That was just part of our daily life," says Mike. After high school, Mike began working for the Highways Department. His life would change forever in 1952, when he met Anna (Anne) Kshywiecki. Anne was a tad younger than Mike, having been born in 1934 in Pulp River, just east of Pine River. She was also raised on a farm and, coincidentally, came from a family with 10 children. "I was lucky we lived only a short distance from our school, so I didn't have to walk very far," Anne recalls with a laugh. "But we too had our chores of milking cows, etc. The wash day was a heavy day." It wasn't like today when washing clothes involved throwing piles into a machine and pushing a button. Back then they had to haul water, heat it on the wood stove, and use a scrub board. Clothes were hung on the line year-round. Anne and Mike were wed in Winnipegosis in 1955, the start of a long and memorable union. By 1957, Mike had had enough of the highways, so the couple came to Flin Flon looking for work. Long Trip It was a long trip north. The drive lasted 17 hours on Highway 10. The highway was being worked on at what was known as "the bog," and at times vehicles were pulled through by a tractor. "After we arrived and opened our trunk in the car, you couldn't tell what anything was because the contents were covered in dust," recalls Mike. Mike soon landed a job at the HBMS smelter, where he worked with the likes of Lou Kryzak, George Rideout, Merv Harmon, Peter Popp, and boss Alfred Ash. See 'Couple' P.# Con't from P.# The couple rented a suite on Longmore Ave., but the setup didn't last long Ð two nights, in fact. "The curtains were blowing in the room from the wind, and the windows were closed," recalls Anne. "We wondered what it would be like there in the middle of winter and immediately found another place." They rented a spot on Main Street, where their first child, Michael, was born. While renting a place on Steventon Boulevard, their family was completed with the arrival of daughter Marlene. Some of their early neighbours included George and Ros Struch; Walter and Josie Kensick; Steve and Ethel Bazarynski; the Al Abar family; and the McPhails, Mahussiers, Foxes, Hansons, Nelsons, Burlings, LeClercs, Rainvilles, Hyskas, and Manzuiks. During their first years in Flin Flon, the couple followed the Flin Flon Bombers whenever Mike's shift work would permit. Up until Michael was born, Anne worked for Ray Hicken at 'The Dog House.' Like most other women at the time, she was then a stay-at-home mom. Mike notes that on some shifts, "I hardly saw the kids because if I wasn't working, I was trying to get some sleep." "I never got weekends off till I, like everyone else, had to, built up seniority," he continues. "Then when I finally did get weekends off, there was always someone wanting to trade days off." Mike would spend 35 years at the Smelter, working in every department, from the fuming plant to the bag house. He said he worked when the anode plant started up to make 99.9 per cent pure copper bars to be shipped to Noranda in Quebec. During his lengthy career, he spent time as a shift boss in the reverb as well as a night foreman and general foreman. He retired in 1992. Integral Role Church plays an integral role in the couple's lives. Mike has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for the past 47 years, while Anne has for 42 years been a member of the Catholic Womens' League (CWL). Anne recalls the early years when the CWL would cater some big events, including the main curling banquets and the local medical staff's Christmas party. "In the early years, it was a chance for women to socialize because we never worked outside the home," recalls Anne. "This way we got to visit with our friends in the league." Anne also served on the Flin Flon General Hospital Board for 11 years. The couple also belonged to the Old Tyme Dance Club as well as the Old Bastards Club. They liked to go camping and fishing with the kids and, later, grandkids. They now have three grandchildren Ð Gerri, Michael in Dauphin and Daniel in Flin Flon. Mike and Anne still enjoy the community and their friends, church activities, gardening, and occasional fishing and camping trips. They have spent the past three winters in Osoyoss, B.C., but are always happy when the time comes to go back home. Thanks for sharing your memories, Mike and Anne.
