Snow Lake, Manitoba

1948-Snow Lake, in Northern Manitoba was a few hundred miles south of Churchill. Another remote mining community that was growing in front of our eyes daily. We lived in a Company duplex in the beginning and I remember the warning yells “fire in the hole” and rocks raining down on the roof as ditches were being dug for sewer lines behind our house. One day a rock came through the ceiling of my bedroom, and that would be reason enough to remember the blasting. Once or twice a week the “honey wagon” would go by the back lane and collect the chemical toilets. All the kids would run in the other direction to avoid the smell. Water lines were above ground and just the perfect height for us to swing on until one of the workmen would chase us away.

The winters were bitterly cold, but kids don’t care about that. We would go outside after supper and slide on a giant bobsled (Dad built it for 9 little people) down a long, long hill- When we fell off, we would just lay in the snow and look at the stars which were the size of basketballs to a little kid, and we would watch the northern lights flash across the sky. Then we would all pull the sled back up the hill.

We had to wear brown parka’s with fur around the hoods- We hated those parka’s! Not very stylish or comfortable, but they were warm. Years later when I looked at photos of our little faces surrounded by the fur, I thought that we looked pretty cute. Who knew?

In summer we went picking berries and on fishing trips. We would stop over at a lumber camp somewhere in the wilderness, where the cook would feed us the most wonderful pies.

There was still some ice on the lake in June, so I can’t imagine what temperature the water was when we went swimming in July. I don’t remember being cold, but I even scared myself when I dove off a dock in my water wings and was swept under the pontoons of an aircraft. Lessons learned- never dive in water wings and say thank you to Mr. Williams for saving my life.

No paved streets or school buses. When it rained in the spring, we would lose our rubber boots when they got stuck in the clay mud on the way to school or back. When we could wear shoes, we had to leave them at the door, and in the morning, take a knife and scrape & chink off 2 inches of hardened clay off the soles.

Dad “forgot” my birth date so I started Grade One at 4 1/2 years old- There was no kindergarten and I begged to go to school. The only negative effects were; I walked in my sleep for a few months, and I was the youngest kid in every class for life.

There was a community center where I saw my first movie “Billy the Kid” and the projector kept breaking down.

I learned to ride a bike and the best part there were no cars in the town. Well, maybe 2 or 3.

Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip, and I got the much sought after Barbara Ann Scott doll from Santa. We cut pictures out of the Life magazine & Saturday Evening Post (I think) and we pasted all the pictures in a scrap-book and played dress up and Eavy- Ivy- Over. We had a lemonade stand and played marbles and dodge ball.

Here is a Snow Lake site you will enjoy.

http://members.gillamnet.com/mjaxon@gillamnet.com/website

Snow Lake celebrated it’s 60th anniversary in 2007.

Just click on the little photos to enlarge them.

PS: November 8th, 2009

CBC news reports a B I G  Zinc & Gold find near Snow Lake, and growth for the community looks promising. I am sure that all of us “Snow F’lakes” (did I just make that one up???) are grateful that another generation of kids can grow up in such a wonderful place on earth.

I just looked at the duplex photo above and that’s the way mining towns were built- Clear cut & build the houses. Time was money. Houses were pure gold. They didn’t mess around with leaving the trees around for esthetics. I guess they figured  there were enough surrounding us for hundreds of miles… and we certainly didn’t need trees for shade in summer. I wonder if towns are still built like that.