...my father's farm. Been out there once or twice, but- ah- (clears throat) he- he left the farm way back in, oh, nineteen- roughly nineteen-eighteen, someplace in that area. And then my father, who was a very interesting man, he ah, worked in a- in a lumber camp, he was the chef, eh, and he did all that, he did it for a few years ...

And then they would do the sawing and everything else in there, they had a planing mill, and- it was a very very big operation. And, ah, it eventually didn't- they- the companies moved someplace out of that, after that. And ah, they also... before the hydro came in here, they had the, ah- they had their own electricity here in town.

... he took a huge swap with his paw right on the grate and just scared the heck out of me. And then the- and it's, ah- it's quite a thing to see a- a b-- an angry bear, ah, ah, who would prefer to be someplace else other than in that culvert trap. (laughs)

Speaker: Well, there was no police anyway in town, just the- Interviewer: Yeah, I guess not. Speaker: If the town cop, he'd be busy someplace, or- Interviewer: Yeah.

Oh yes we were sneaky and we had to be sneaky because other than that we had nothing, you-know? ... Ah, we'd wait for mother and dad to go away some place and then we'd boil some homemade candies, you-know? (laughs)

So I didn't know how to tell the operator how to- you-know, so I just told her in plain English, I, ah, do as much as I could. I just told that she was supposed to- my sister was living some place in Ottawa and this-and-this was her name, and if she could get in touch with it. Ah, with her, you-know? And, ah, so she did.

So they- ah, so anyway, ah, then the R-C-M-P came over and they wanted, ah, that- that key for the cedar chest and- and all the stuff was hidden away in- in the sawdust some place, you-know? ... And, ah, I- I kept on telling them that there was- there was none, you-know? And they searched everything but they didn't find it. And here my mother was walking around with the key in her purse here.

Ah, there was a group of teachers that went on this outing. ... And, ah, I think we went to some place- Temiskaming, I guess, we went to on the train. ... I think we got the train in Mattawa and then went t-- to- for the- Temiskaming. I think they've discontinued that. And then there was another one we went some place in Hull, I think.

Interviewer: Yeah. So how did you start learning? ... Speaker: um, I was talking to somebody and I said, "They're starting embroidery," 'cause I had read it in I think the church bulletin or someplace, "They're starting embroidery in, um- in Wilno," and Zoe was- heard me say that and she says, "Yes, come." ... (Laughs) She's very persuasive.

You-know what. I'm going to take the stones off and so they would be a stone-boat, just a flat piece of um, like a float you-know? And ah this would go behind the horses and then you just put the stones there, take them to a fence, take them off and it's- it's all hard work.

Absolutely, absolutely, the haying, the gathering wheat, tooking wheat as they called them, putting them up in- things-like-that.

Let's see, I got the strap for jumping over the school fence and going and retrieving a one of the a great big bee's nest, I thought the- I thought the teacher would really like to have that. (laughs) So it wasn't really for getting the- that I got strapped for getting the bee's ne-- o-- o-- or because of the bee's nest, I was strapped because I jumped over the fence. ... Ah, besides getting the strap (laughs) for a bee's nest.

Yeah, so I got the strap for that, um smoking. Got the strap for smoking. ... I got the strap for that. So I you-know, justly so. I- you-know. And your parents thought, "Well," you-know I-mean, their response was, "He deserved it."

Let's see, I got the strap for jumping over the school fence and going and retrieving a one of the a great big bee's nest, I thought the- I thought the teacher would really like to have that. (laughs) So it wasn't really for getting the- that I got strapped for getting the bee's ne-- o-- o-- or because of the bee's nest, I was strapped because I jumped over the fence. ... Ah, besides getting the strap (laughs) for a bee's nest.

Yes I had a nun in grade-one. Got the strap five times. Interviewer: What did you do? Speaker: I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker: Oh yeah, we got the s-- we got the strap. My dad- yeah, we did something we weren't suppose to, we- we got the strap. There were no too, ifs, ands or buts about it. And the strap was about that long. ... And it hurt. ... Speaker 2: Um, a big- it's a big belt like that. ... Speaker: And that's what he used for a strap. We got it once and we would remember it the next day (laughs).

Well there was, you-know, speaking of the strap, I-mean you've heard some stories too where ah ah there- there was the bold kids, and they would get strapped for whatever they they were mischiefing, right? For me, I ended up getting the strap because I was bold. (laughs)

Well there was, you-know, speaking of the strap, I-mean you've heard some stories too where ah ah there- there was the bold kids, and they would get strapped for whatever they they were mischiefing, right? For me, I ended up getting the strap because I was bold. (laughs)

Interviewer: What happened if you did something bad. Speaker: Got the strap. Interviewer: Did you ever get the strap? Speaker: Yeah. Interviewer: What did you do? Speaker: Pulled my hand away?

A lot of people- a lot of old teachers are getting sued and-what-not 'cause abuse- she'd strap for anything. She just loved the strap. And I remember this one day we couldn't answer a math question, the whole c-- nobody in the class could answer it. She was so angry, she was so mad, she made everybody stand up and she strapped everybody, the whole thirty-five students.