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.
At 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 12, friends and neighbours of an original Snow Laker gathered at the Seniors' Center in order to say goodbye to Terry Polec. In over a half a century in the community, she has made a good number of friends and has seen many of them come and many, who like her, eventually leave. Terry moved to Snow Lake, with daughters Jano and Shirley, in 1950. They came to be with husband and father Johnny, who had moved here the previous year and was working as a miner at Howe Sound's Britannia Mine. When Terry first came to the community, the family lived in a tent with a wooden floor situated up around the area that is currently the number one hole on the Snow Lake Golf Course. They later moved, with another family, into a house on Larch Street. She will continue to live in that same house until her departure from Snow Lake on the 20th of this month. Once everyone had arrived, the ladies of the Seniors' Center put out sandwiches and dainties, and made sure everyone's coffee or tea cup was full. About a half hour into the farewell, long time friend Norma Johnson called for quiet and presented Terry with a bouquet of flowers, a small stuffed dog, and a photo album chalked full of memories and familiar faces from her time in Snow Lake. Terry leaves Snow Lake for Brockville, Ontario, where she will take up residence with her daughter Jano and husband Kelvin. After 54 years in the community, she will no doubt miss it. And as those who gathered on this day expressed, the community and those within it will miss her as well. On another matter, last Sunday, September 6, close to 20 paintball competitors from Flin Flon joined 20 from Snow Lake in a successful tournament at an abandoned gravel pit about three kilometers outside of Snow Lake. The pit is used on a continual basis by local paintball enthusiasts and is set up with cover throughout and forts for each side. Rick Stabback, one of the competitors on the Snow Lake side, stated that he was quite impressed with the organization of the event and the number of people who attended. He also said that he was stricken by the flourish with which the Flin Flon team arrived. "They pulled up in a large Wonder Bread van and all came rushing out of the back with their gear on and markers in hand," said Stabback. Stabback also stated that the local squad won the competition and that he hoped these get-togethers would continue to happen on a regular basis. That sentiment seems logical; Snow Lake's facility is well laid out and ideal for competition. Additionally, the community is central to The Pas, Thompson, and Flin Flon. This game, which simulates military combat, is very popular locally and throughout the North. It certainly has come a long way from the 1970s when foresters used the markers (guns) to spot certain trees (for research, planning trails), and farmers used them to mark cattle.
