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Looking back with Emily and Ervin Hilliard

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.

Emily Bogash was born on a farm near Buchanan, Saskatchewan to Alex and Nellie Bogash in November 1934. Alex came to Flin Flon looking for work in 1935. His first job was at Floch's Bakery. About a year later he was hired at HBMS and worked as a miner. Nellie, along with her children Joey and Emily, came to Flin Flon in 1936 to join Alex. The family first lived on Ross Street later moving to Third Avenue across from the Candy Bar. Emily's younger sister Gaye was born in 1939 and her brother Allan was born in 1943. Unfortunately, due to a tragic accident, Emily's older brother Joey was killed by a bus at the age of nine years in 1939. The family moved to Hapnot Street for awhile and then to Callinan Street in about 1947 and the kids were raised there. Neighbours there at that time were Dowhans, Willeys, Mel Pearson, Cipricks, Porters, Norm LeClerc, Wiebes, Budlongs, Carruthers and Gibneys. Emily started grade one at Hapnot School on Hudson Street, having Miss Anderson as her teacher. Then she went over to Main School (next to the old General Hospital) and for a few years in about 1944, grades three to six, the kids had to go to school in shifts because there weren't enough classrooms. The morning class shift was from 8 a.m. until noon. The afternoon shift was from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. Mr. McLellan was principal and some of the kids were Jim Barr, Rosemary Pickworth, Joan and Canny Ross, Harley McDougall, and Gordie Redahl. See 'Icicles' P.# Con't from P.# Emily laughs, "As kids we'd climb up and down the rocks at Rotary Park like Billy goats and in the winter we'd spend hours sliding on them. I never told my mom and dad what we were doing!" Emily went to Hapnot for grades 7 to 11, having teachers such as Miss Rex (Connor), the Hayes sisters, Miss Champagne, Mr. Allen, Mr. Joyce, Mr. Alpert, Miss Kiernan, Mr. Marshall and Mr. Gordon. As teenagers Emily hung out with her friends at a confectionery store in Ross Lake owned by Harold Wiig (where Vic's Decorating Supplies is now). Emily recalls, "He had the best French fries ever!" During the summer months the kids would walk the footpath to Phantom Lake almost every day and they'd play tennis. Another popular hangout was the Gateway Drive-In which had "car hops" and the best foot long hot dogs in town. It was owned by Jim and Lil Puritch. Emily played basketball in what was known as the "Glamour League". There were about six to eight teams, all having a sponsor. Her team was sponsored by Dembinsky's. She said, "We played in the old community hall and the locker room was so cold in the winter that there were icicles hanging from the shower heads and the uniforms were almost frozen!" See 'Company' P.# Con't from P.# Emily also played on the Hapnot Kopper Kweens and in the 1950-51 season, the team went on to win the Provincial Championships and they were inducted into the Manitoba Basketball Hall of Fame. Upon returning to Flin Flon a parade was held in their honour! Team members included Velda Porter, Ivale Constable, Norma Duncan. Evolda Hampson, Angie Kyba, Eleanor Kepper, Betty Nisbet, Germaine Floch, Enid Simms, Joan Ross, Doreen Nomeland and Emily. The coaches were Bud and Jim Rheaume. Emily and her friends such as Norma Duncan, Audrey Abar, Elsie Dowhan, Marilyn Martin, Irene and Audrey Mearns, Karen Neilsen and Dorothy Shomperlin would often go to the shows at the Rex and Northland theatres, often going to both shows in one evening. Emily met Ervin Hilliard in grade eleven. He was a hockey player at the time. After graduating from grade 11 Emily went to work at the Flin Flon Clinic in 1952. The doctors on staff then were Dr.'s Johnson, Stephansson, McNicol, Wilson, Redpath, Milanese, Campbell, then later Shnider, Premachuk, Killoh, Watson, Warma, Nugent and Cancilla. The nursing staff included Addie Plummer, Grace Wigington, Helen Neufeld, Norma Green (later Bell), Stella Locker, Donnie Jobin, Marg. Vance, Jessie Shepperd and Jean Van Nes. In the dispensary were Fred Grey, Gordon Martin as relief, Allan Forshaw, Fabian Wong and later Murray Davidson, with Greta Redahl and Dorothy Adams as assistants. In the main office at the clinic the staff were Madge Glover, Dorothy Low, Connie Sorette, Marge Brumwell, Veronica Stone, Mavis Hilliard and Emily. Emily started curling in about 1954 at Ross Lake Curling Club with Gwen Stevens, Dorothy Adams and Mavis Hilliard. The following year she went to Willowpark and through the years she curled with Ruby Evans, Phoebe Turcotte, Rosemary Reynolds, Wanda Ginnell and with the team of Arlene Lowton, Linda Guthrie and Bev Beever they won the Zones in 1978 and went on to play in the Provincials. Other people Emily curled with through the years were Anna Cook, Mary Windjack, Isobel Connor, Gaye Sewell, Gladys Struch, Shirley Payne, Joan Rink, Judy Perpeluk (later Burrows), Betty Ramsay and Vera Bell. Ervin Hilliard was born in 1935 to Elsie and Henry Hilliard. The family first lived at the bottom of Sipple Hill where the pump house is now. The family later moved to Lakeside where Mavis (born in 1936) and Darlene (born in 1939) were born. All of the Hilliard children were born in the Robinson Hospital and delivered by Dr. Guttormsson. The family later moved to 6 Evans where they were raised. Erv started his schooling at Birchview School until grade 6, then he went to Willowvale for grades 7 to 9. After that he'd walk the hills to Hapnot morning, noon and night until he graduated in 1953. Some of his teachers through the years were Miss Able, Neil McLellan, Mr. Bolton and Mr. Hurd, who, as Erv says, "was an excellent shop teacher!" Some of Erv's chums then were John Borud, Merle Sproxton, Don Oulette, George Bryson, Garry Overland, Bill Wilson and Charles Myrvold. Erv played hockey most of his life starting with Pee Wee on Saturday morning with the Bouteiller brothers, Roy Hammersted and Terry O'Kane. As he grew he played on the Birchview Bearcats team sponsored by Johnny Boychuk, original owner of Johnny's Confectionery. In those days the kids used to play outdoor hockey on a rink that was situated where Bernie's Service Ñ now Northland Ford Ñ is situated. Some of the guys who played were Bill and Ken Reader, George Bryson and Merle Sproxton. During the Midget years Erv's coaches were Ken Hoffman and Johnny Meyers. In Juvenile, Erv played on the Oddfellows team with Terry O'Kane, Bill Reader, Harley Hamilton and George Bryson. They had Bill Tishko and Don Busch as coaches. Erv started curling in junior high at Willowvale School, curling at both Willowpark and Uptown curling clubs. He curled with Allan Forshaw, Ken and Bill Reader, George Bryson, Terry O'Kane, John Roche and Roy Last. When Emily and Erv started dating they hung around with Ken Allen, Norma Duncan, Audrey Abar, Irene and Audrey Mearns, Elsie Dowhan, Ken Reader, Doug and Ron Hutchinson, Howard Noah, Dorothy Shomperlin, Marilyn Martin and George Bryson. The couple, along with their friends, would often go to dances at the Jubilee Hall or the Lobstick Dine and Dance in Channing. "Afterwards we'd all go to the Company cafeteria for fries and gravy," states Emily. Erv hired on at HBMS right out of school in 1953 and began a power engineering apprenticeship along with Bob Ash. They were the first two to take the apprenticeship taught by John Ash. There were only four others to take this particular apprenticeship at HBMS and they included Bill McDougall, John Lengyel, Irwin Drinkwater and Bernie Van Bentham. See 'Trip' P.# Con't from P.# Emily Bogash and Ervin Hilliard were married in August of 1956 and their first home was a suite on Church Street in a house owned by the Sorhays. Then they moved to a suite on Hapnot near the Legion. In 1960 the family bought a home at 187 Centre Street, later moving to the Company apartments in 1973. Their neighbours were the Vances, Budlongs, Stephanssons, Laurie Johnson, Roy Bunns, John Ross and the Van Nes family. Through the years Erv was a member of the Elks and a member of the volunteer Flin Flon Fire Department along with Fred Livesay, Don Still, Don McLaren, Lawrence Morran, Jim Finucane, Reuben Hagan, Mike Garuk, Mike Trubiak, Erhart Dzubiak, Barry Dickens, Jack Larsson and Cliff Clark. Erv was also a curler and through the years curled with several teams. Some of the guys he curled with included Norm Rudd, Joe Chudy, Don Burnett, Al Lindgren, John Hill, Don McLaren, Jim Cook, Brian Murphy, Merle Sproxton, Einar Crone, Chris Bannick, Gar Einarson and Len Bolton. Erv continued to play hockey, playing with the Old Timers from 1979 until 1993. During that time he played in many tournaments in such places as Vancouver, Saskatoon, Toronto, and Anaheim, California (with the wives and kids going to California in a tournament package that included tickets to Disneyland!). They also travelled to smaller places such as Swan River, The Pas, Prince Albert, Tisdale, Melfort and Winnipeg. The team coach was Alec Huston and team members included Jim Senka, Lloyd Young, Harry Gummerson, Jack Turner, Don Playford, Jerry Hamm, Dennis Mansell, Larry Scully, George Chigol, Glen Johnson, Tom Davie, Hugh Meikle, George Barbanoff, Len Bolton, Gord Redahl, Mel Pearson, Paddy Hamilton, Vic Poirier, Denny Bouden, and later joining the team were Roger and Ray Crone as well as Larry Edworthy. See 'Summers' P.# Con't from P.# In 1986 the team played against a team of priests who called themselves the "Flying Fathers". The Whitney Forum was packed for that game. The Rammer International All Stars came to play the Flin Flon Old Timers and on that team were Steve Shutt and Guy Lefleur (who was Erv's hockey idol). Erv also stated, "Another highlight in my hockey career was playing hockey along with Roger and Ray Crone after curling many years with their dad Einar!" Erv retired from HBMS (the first time) in 1988 after working with such guys as Frank Gummerson, Jake Adams, Stan Curran, Cyril Steventon, Sid Hudson, Stewart Evans, Roy Bunn, Marv Zimmer, Larry Coles, Bob Lau, Barry Aimoe, Ray Mullaney, Dennis Chlan, Rick Lytwyn, Vic and Walter Bowes, Jim Beilby, George Hillier, Glen Bryson and Don Alexander. As it turned out, Erv's first retirement from HBMS lasted one weekend. Because of a window that came open, "I made sure I had other employment in Lanigan, SK before I took the offer. I retired on a Friday and rehired on the following Monday to work for HB for another 5 1Ú2 years. During the years in Flin Flon, Erv did a lot of fishing and golfing with such people as Gord Brown, Don McLaren and Lawrence Morran. Emily worked at the Flin Flon Clinic from 1952 until 1958. She became a "stay at home mom" after the birth of her four children. First was Cheryl in 1958, then Wanda in 1959, Paul in 1961 and Karen in 1963. In 1964 Emily went to work at the Flin Flon Clinic until 1971, and then from 1972 until 1976 she would work for the opthalmologist, Dr. Milanese, for three weeks in the fall when he came back to Flin Flon to see patients with eye problems. Emily laughs as she states, "In 1967 we purchased a 16-foot travel trailer and we packed up the kids and were off to Montreal for the 1967 Expo. People thought we were 'nuts' with four kids ranging in age from four to nine years at Expo. But we had a ball and we continued from Expo down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. "Then in 1969 we took the kids right out to the West Coast to Victoria in our trailer!" In 1977 she hired on at the Flin Flon School Division where she worked half time at Hapnot along with Sandy Gummerson and Clara Quinn. Mr. Rudd was the principal and the teachers were Mr. Smith, Mr. Russell, Mr. Wallace and Mrs. Lytwyn, and Mr. Dougall was the superintendent. Then Emily went to work at Parkdale School as secretary for Mr. Antoniw who was the principal, and the teachers were Dick Osika, Gladys Neufeld, Diane Robertson, Gail McKenzie, Angie Willis, Eleanor Sparling and Velma Foster. The custodians then were Stan Fisher and Dana Dadson. Later principals were Brian Wallace, Barry Bayne and Brian King. Emily retired in 1990. Erv retired 'again' in 1993 from HB and soon realized that retirement just wasn't for him. He saw an ad in the newspaper for a chief engineer for a vegetable oil processing plant in Altona. He applied and started work in November of 1993. "I thought I'd get work out of my system in another year, but I am still there!" Emily moved to Altona in 1994 once it became obvious that Erv's job wasn't going to be temporary. Emily smiles, "It is like the best of both worlds, Erv gets to work, and Altona is a nice community and we get to come home to Flin Flon every summer from May until September staying at the cabin at Denare Beach! Our kids come back every summer and now our grandchildren. They love fishing, water-skiing and they all took their swimming lessons here and later went on to lifeguard at the beach." The Hilliards' kids all graduated from Hapnot and then went to Alberta to further their education, thus meeting their prospective spouses out there, and now have settled and make their home in Alberta. Emily and Erv spend their Christmases and New Years in Alberta every year. They live in Altona in the spring and fall where Erv continues his retirement job. They spend two to three months in Barbados in the winter where they have many new friends. They said, "We island hop so we have visited Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Bequai. But the best part of the year is coming back to our cabin at Denare Beach and visiting with old friends and having our children and grandchildren to visit us!" Thanks so much for sharing your story with us! This will bring lots of great memories back!

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