The Adventures of Cardigan - Growing Up In The Bush
I know there are a few out there that can relate to growing up in the Bush but not many. Especially in this day and age. Lots of bush out there but no one living there. Sure you have the odd house in the middle of nowhere, Little House in the Bush. Maybe a trapper shack or something like that, but I'm talking about a Bush Camp that has a Bunkhouse, cookery, recreation hall and a house for the Foreman and his family. I can't forget the animals, majestic, wild BIG and small animals.
I grew up in one of those camps. There were 2. I don't remember much; Camps 53, 54 and 12 in Northern Ontario. Camp 54 had a few families and and a garbage man named Meetro. He used to come by with his tractor to pick up the garbage and always stopping at our house. As soon as I heard the tractor I would run outside and sit one the steps waiting for him. Didn't matter if I had wet diapers or no diaper at all. He always brought me a treat and we would sit on the step and share a bag of chips, candy bar or whatever he came up with, then he'd head off to pick up the rest of the trash. That was my excitement every day. Not bad for an 18 month old.
We packed up and moved onto another camp, leaving Meetro behind. I missed him and still wonder what became of him. Next stop was Stevens Ontario. There is nothing there anymore, houses were leveled and now overgrown with trees. It's still on the map if you zoom in on it. I'd like to just go and see it one last time. I'm hoping there will at lease be a small momento there.
It was a nice place to live, there were about 18 families that lived there. It had a store, a recreation hall and a one room school / church. Every child from grade 1 to 8 had the same teacher. He was a wonderful man and had many ladies chasing after him. I was still too young to go to school but I remember the kids complaining about coming home with homework; they had to memorize something every day.
There was someone living at the old train station. The man had a son and daughter. Mike was best friends with my brother Tom who is 8 years old than me, they were mischievous. The daughter Liz was older and was crazy about my oldest brother Jack. He was 17 years older. I don't know how they stayed friends with all the tricks he played on her. Jack bought his first car. They would go for a drive and he would stall the car and say they were out of gas. Liz would get out and push the car for about a mile and suddenly the car would start. Liz had taken me and another boy under her wing to pretend we were her kids. She would curl my hair, and bake cakes for Stevie and me. It was the worst cake you could ever imagine. A 10 pound- pound cake. She could cook other things but that wasn't one of them.
Mike and Tom were pranksters and always doing something. One time at the Saturday night movie at the recreation hall, they sawed the leg off two chairs that one woman sat at every week. She wasn't very nice to many people and they figured they would get her back. No one suspected anything. As she went to sit in her seats she went crashing to the floor. The adults were all in shock and helping her up while the kids ran, laughing hysterically. We didn't have the movie that night or for a month after.
That was tragic because we only had tv for 1 1/2 hours a night. News, Zorro and then test pattern. Can you imagine we'd turn the tv on and stare at test pattern for hours?!
Even though we were in remote areas and didn't have a lot to do we were happy. We made our own fun. The women would get together and share recipes, and gossip. The kids all played together and the older ones always watched out for the little ones. Life was good!
I grew up in one of those camps. There were 2. I don't remember much; Camps 53, 54 and 12 in Northern Ontario. Camp 54 had a few families and and a garbage man named Meetro. He used to come by with his tractor to pick up the garbage and always stopping at our house. As soon as I heard the tractor I would run outside and sit one the steps waiting for him. Didn't matter if I had wet diapers or no diaper at all. He always brought me a treat and we would sit on the step and share a bag of chips, candy bar or whatever he came up with, then he'd head off to pick up the rest of the trash. That was my excitement every day. Not bad for an 18 month old.
We packed up and moved onto another camp, leaving Meetro behind. I missed him and still wonder what became of him. Next stop was Stevens Ontario. There is nothing there anymore, houses were leveled and now overgrown with trees. It's still on the map if you zoom in on it. I'd like to just go and see it one last time. I'm hoping there will at lease be a small momento there.
It was a nice place to live, there were about 18 families that lived there. It had a store, a recreation hall and a one room school / church. Every child from grade 1 to 8 had the same teacher. He was a wonderful man and had many ladies chasing after him. I was still too young to go to school but I remember the kids complaining about coming home with homework; they had to memorize something every day.
There was someone living at the old train station. The man had a son and daughter. Mike was best friends with my brother Tom who is 8 years old than me, they were mischievous. The daughter Liz was older and was crazy about my oldest brother Jack. He was 17 years older. I don't know how they stayed friends with all the tricks he played on her. Jack bought his first car. They would go for a drive and he would stall the car and say they were out of gas. Liz would get out and push the car for about a mile and suddenly the car would start. Liz had taken me and another boy under her wing to pretend we were her kids. She would curl my hair, and bake cakes for Stevie and me. It was the worst cake you could ever imagine. A 10 pound- pound cake. She could cook other things but that wasn't one of them.
Mike and Tom were pranksters and always doing something. One time at the Saturday night movie at the recreation hall, they sawed the leg off two chairs that one woman sat at every week. She wasn't very nice to many people and they figured they would get her back. No one suspected anything. As she went to sit in her seats she went crashing to the floor. The adults were all in shock and helping her up while the kids ran, laughing hysterically. We didn't have the movie that night or for a month after.
That was tragic because we only had tv for 1 1/2 hours a night. News, Zorro and then test pattern. Can you imagine we'd turn the tv on and stare at test pattern for hours?!
Even though we were in remote areas and didn't have a lot to do we were happy. We made our own fun. The women would get together and share recipes, and gossip. The kids all played together and the older ones always watched out for the little ones. Life was good!
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