He was a maintenance guy. ... So it- it's the preser-- the perspective of the students, and- and someone that works there could probably seen a lot of things. ... He could see how bold the kids really were.

And now, in Grade-Two, I- I-guess I got- but I didn't, I was- didn't ah, I was bold, or-something. Anyway, I got the- y-- at that time, they had- all the nuns had straps on their hand. And there was one nun that they took the strap away from. But I got slapped for something. ... Anyway I went home and told my mother. Well, that didn't- that didn't- go very well! 'Cause I got punished at home!

So then I showed him the note and he knew he was in trouble and ah, yeah, so the skipping school business got to be um, a habit there for a while and ah but later he outgrew it, it was just- for a- for a little while, and I guess that was ... some of his friends, I-guess, they just wanted to get together and do something bold, I guess, or-something.

We would have to walk, we had- we had to go to church, eh? ... Tired, walking, no shoes, hot. ... You-know? We were not, ah- we were kind of bold too. There was a hotel in Wilno. ... And, ah, (laughs) a bunch of us kids would stick our heads in there and shout inside the door and then run like crazy down the road so they wouldn't catch us. Why we ever did that I- I still don't understand it to this day, you-know? Why would we open the door and these guys were standing- or sitting in there and drinking, eh? ... I guess we wanted to see what was going on and then to- to see who else was in there. So we'd shout at them to disturb them so- (laughs) ...

So we could go on Friday's and we could spend this money on whatever we wanted that our teacher had boughten for the class- Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And we got this money from doing like, well on tests I think, like um- and maybe on how we participated with each other, working together- Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: I d-- I'm not sure but we got this money-

Cause I remember when daddy used to cull pulp- pulp and he put it in a boxcar so he had a train coming to it.

And that's- and then- it would- it'd come up a chute, and then my brother and I were in the boxcar, and we would pile the- pile the lumber in the boxcar. And we used to put thirty-six-thousand feet of lumber in that boxcar. Started from the bottom, and build a platform, and- <3> Mm-hm. <013> And, ah, that would take- phew, about a- a day, to pile a- one boxcar. <3> Really? <013> Yeah, they had railway tracks all the way down to- the- all the way down to the lakeshore down there. And, ah, they had one boxcar after another boxcar.

We have a Madawaska-Valley brogue. And you probably think I speak different.

Speaker: We fished a lot. Ah, I never did hunt but we- we- we brought home, ah, brook-trout for- for- for supper. Interviewer: So what was the best catch you ever got? Speaker: Ooh, the best catch. Probably about four or five brook-trout.

Speaker: Ultimate frisbee too um- Interviewer: (laughs) Speaker: But like um- and broomball, yeah, but those are- I'm not- those aren't real- oh and baseball-

Speaker: Um, yeah, we'd play, like, ah, broomball, I-don't- do you know what that is? You're on the ice with these, like, kind of special shoes, with grip on them, and you have a- like a- broom-like pole, I guess, and then on the end it's like a hard plastic thing, and there's a big- big blue ball. And you have to hit it into the net.

Ah I was out working out west, and I was a brush-cutter, just kind of clearing around trees and what not and bears would come out and just out of curiosity come and check us out, and not put us in any danger or anything, but just kind of- curious, you-know?

Speaker: No, never, no no it was my own car. I had a car for only a month (laughs) yeah, so I was like "Fuck" and then- it was wrote off, so I'm like "Ah I just bought this car and now I owe all this money on this car, what do I do?" So that's when I went out west and was a brush cutter out there. Interviewer: What is a brush cutter? Speaker: Ah you just- you know where they- they would do a clear cut in the bush, clear cut all the trees down then they go in and plant smaller trees?

Speaker: And ah, I put the saddle on the horse, played around with it a little bit, petted it up got to know it, and ah got out on the road leaving the farm, it kind of didn't want to leave, so it bucked couple of times, then it was perfect. And I had that horse for years and years and years and years.

Speaker 1: And my grandfather lived not too far from the school so I'd leave, ah, the- the horse and sleigh there and he'd look after it during the day and feed it and- and get it all ready for me when I walked back to- to his house (clears throat) and then I'd drive the horse and- and, ah- and, ah, sleigh with- w-- of course with my sister as well back home again. So, ah, some days were pretty cold where we'd- we'd, ah, tuck in underneath the, ah- we called it a buffalo, ah, blanket in those days 'cause it was made out of, ah- ah, I guess it was made out of hide with- Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not sure what kind of hide it was. I'm not sure- Speaker 1: Hair. I'm not sure what kind of hide it was. Speaker 2: I don't think it was buffalo hide, it probably was some other hide- Speaker 1: They called it buffalo hide but it was, ah- it was definitely a heavy type of, ah, hide blanket that you'd hide underneath and, ah- and- and stay warm. And so that was quite interesting.

Interviewer: And are these homesteads- are these ah lands still owned by Kashubians? Interviewer: Yes. Most- most of them are- most of them are yes. But they're like bush-lots. Right? But you will see as you're walking on this trail here, going up the hill, if you don't see the hill here but, and ah- and they call this the Prussian-Hills, because our ancestors were Prussian right?

Interviewer: Was he born and raised here or? Speaker: No, no my ah- okay when- when ah this land that was not being used, a lot of these original ah owners of these- this land, they ended up ah selling them right? As bush lots, and ah my uncle bought a piece of property which is on the other side of the mountain, or the hill, and ah just for a bush lot. Now I don't know who the original owners- y-- you-know ...

I was never in the schola in the seminary, that was a- the group which would sing special types of- Calliphony and all that type-of-stuff.

We would have to walk, we had- we had to go to church, eh? There was, ah, like, ah, some catechism being taught, eh? And we- so we had to walk there. Everything was walking. No rides.

And then when we were going to catechism- we used to walk to catechism to Barry's-Bay.