And she was really close to him and she just couldn't handle it anymore so she got out of Finland and came to Canada and she knew a person in Burks that was operating a boarding-house at the time and so she became a chamber-maid of sorts behind Burks in the boonies and- and I assume that's where she met my grandfather.

Speaker: And then he came to Canada and he didn't decide he wanted to be that at all. How he exactly got going in- in the painting, I don't really know just what took place there. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: But um, it's kind-of sad that we didn't know more about our dad's bringing up, eh? Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: He was very very well-educated. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And ah apparently he knew the spices. He could make a- a paper- my mother- my mother would tell us that he could make a paper bag that would hold water.

Interviewer: What kind of sports? Speaker: Well baseball and ah broomball and ah-

Interviewer: broomball. Speaker: Broom- yeah broomball on skates. Ah grade four to eight I was at Swastika-Public-School. Four-room-school, two grades in each room, ah grade eight we had four grade eight students, I don't remember how many were in grade seven I was pretty small. Um and we always had of course soft-ball and well at the time, girls weren't allowed to play hockey, so we played broomball on skates. Ah rather than, I-mean traditionally you're on boots.

Um (laughs) but um we're in the- and it was very great because it was a old um- in the old arena and as kids you didn't get to play there very much 'cause your in town there was a big broomball league and a boy's-hockey of course that occupied a lot of the ice-time and um what else would there be?

he outdoor rinks I mean we played like um I don't know the schools now, but we you-know for broomball and-so-on we had our outdoor rink in Swastika. We had to shovel it ourselves. Um for the most part- I don't think the janitors did that, I wouldn't think so. I- I remember we shovelled the rinks and ah that's where we played broomball and boys played hockey 'cause girls weren't allowed at the time- I was allowed in Kenogami, but not.

And they finally were allowing girls into minor hockey. So it was fourteen years after. It was a (inc) fairly large gap. Um but um no we played, like you said broomball on skates which was a compromise they said.

I remember when we played broomball without helmets. But mom made me wear helmet when I was playing- going back to elementary-school, no helmets.

A lot of the times you'd play broomball 'cause the ice wasn't terribly good for skates, but um ah yeah we, you-know, get out there and play.

But the problem- there were problems, why she said- Erin said that there's ah generally broomball because broomball doesn't require very good ice.

But ah ah they had at that time in Kirkland, they had ah kind-of ah competition among the schools that- for the girls, instead of hockey they played broomball, but they played it on skates. Interviewer: Oh. Speaker: Sp-- sp-- it sped the game up. It was like hockey with ball, but you're on- on- on skates. It's much much faster than the broomball, but not quite as fast as hockey.

But they had ah- oh and on the reserve too, (inc) broomball was in there eh? But r-- real broomball, not skates eh? And ah Erin's gang the- I wish I could find the- see if I- knew where the picture was. That's pretty well your broomball team. But the little kids- the boys had ho-- went in- they got skates and went in and played hockey against the N-M-R kids in town. If you get to town. There was no league or-anything. But if we got to town- we knew the- the pilot in there and the game-warden or the game-wardens and they were good at this kind of stuff. They- they go out of their way to fit you in eh? To get the kids in there. And ah they- they would- Erin's gang- I don't think they ever lost, they tied a couple of times, but they generally won on the broomball.

Speaker: I-mean, I played hockey until I was twelve and then I wasn't allowed to in those days because girls weren't allowed to play hockey. Interviewer: No. Speaker: Yeah and I played broomball. Interviewer: Oh tell me about that, I don't know what that is. Speaker: You don't know what broomball is? Well instead of ah- you play with running shoes on. And it was on the outdoor rink in Swastika. We had an outdoor rink in Swastika. And ah you- you have broomball shoes which we running shoes but they had a special sole on them. And you had a broom which was cut off. The bristles were cut off to where- that. And you had a ball about that size and ah you hit it. Interviewer: Wow. Speaker: And I- and it- and everybody played it. It went- went 'til we were growing up. We were grown up women with children and we still played broomball.

Speaker: But on ground you have to roll. ... So that you don't hurt anything, you have to keep going with the speed until you actually slow yourself down. So I rolled, when I got bucked off the horse (laughs) and nothing was hurt, I just had a h-- really huge bruise on my leg but I got back on him and I've seen that a lot with our horseback riding team.

(laughs) and nothing was hurt, I just had a h-- really huge bruise on my leg but I got back on him and I've seen that a lot with our horseback riding team. ... Where people have been- not actually that much, about three people. Three people have been bucked off a horse. And the biggest thing is that you have to get back on the horse. They haven't and I feel really bad for them because I- I got bucked off and I didn't want to get back on him but (laughs). ... Yeah (laughs), he's my horse. ... I love him.

Oh no, we were still friends there. We were just always like- bug with him and stuff.

...and so when you went to school, I can remember g-- you-know, somebody k-- kid in- in school coming from Italy, eh? And the poor little bugger couldn't- couldn't understand English, eh? So we would- we would be more compassionate to him, eh? To- to help- help him eh? And- and ah, so it was ah, it was a very good ah, thing like that.

So finally they find it in the drawer in the kitchen or-something amongs-- amongst of another pile of paper you-know? Buggers you-know? If somebody sent me a hundred bucks for Chripe's sake, I'd go through a field of glass on my bare hands and knees for Chripe's sake to get it, you-know? And here- here, "Oh, ah you-know, it's nothing, you-know?" So you-know what we do now?

...and so I told him the joke. He says, "Oh, that God-darn bugger," he says, "He went and told that to the kids at school."

Speaker: At Home-Hardware, Kirkland-Lake. Interviewer: So did it keep your business up? Speaker: So they come in and- and oh, everybody go to it and, "Oh! Oh, you bugger." (Laughs)