Wednesday, December 24, 1982 : THE TRIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAKE, 8.6, ee Page 8 BIG CREEK Official School Opening Features Surprise Concert On Residents of Big Creek were treat- ed to an original and very entertain ing Christhhas Concert held in the school Thursday night. The official opening of the school was used as | the reason for the gathering t-! gether as the concert itself and all = This 3-hp McCulloch chain saw weighs only 25 1b. complete! Cuts sawlogs, pulp, cordwood, posts, ete. Trims, limbs and fells trees. Saws in any position without adjustment! Has automatic clutch, kickproof rewind starter, many other features! SEE IT TODAY! Cole & Clear Anton's Pele Yard cake was. made and decorated by / Mrs. Wilson. A TRUCK LOAD of Christmas trees Jett here last week for tie coast. They were cut by Bruce Watt on his own property and taken cut by Doug Barker of Chilliwack. Program its details was kept a deep, dark secret. A remarkable feat in itself for thirteen children — and their teacher. The darkness prevailed until the very opening of the program. Guests were ushered in with flashlights by] MRS. AN} Sherwood Henry and Billy Hutch. |turned Saturday from a v After a humorous introductory] relatives at Big Bar. poem by the teacher, Miss Gwen Fletcher, the pupils presented the “Night Before Christmas’ as Miss Fletcher read the poem in the back- ground. Carol singing followed and then. that much awaited event, the arrival of Santa: After Santa had continued on his FIVE HUNDRED head of calves were recently brought up from the Chileo Ranch to the Bell, where they will be taken care of through tie winter. NA HIGGINBOTTOM re- it with VISITORS to town lately were Mr. and Mrs. C. Henry, Murray Tay- lor, R. Church. J. Bonner, J. Cassél- man, F. Witte and W. Bambrick. MRS. TOM WILSON was taken to Williams Lake hospital Monday suf- fering from a nasal hemorrage. Sle returned home Wednesday, ENDS 47 YEAR Familiar sight in the local jhas been Hope Patenaude, | December 10. t SERVICE... ._ veteran operator enaude is the man responsible for a return to popularity of ‘Domimon' ammunition back in the early days in this part of the country. It seems that the first company to produce the ‘Dominion’ line were not having much success with their pro- duct and marksmen just wouldn't use the shells. Then the company wae bought out and the new firm worled hard to convince sportsmen that their product was now one of the best. In line with these attempts, a com- pany salesman was in Quesnel just before the Hudson’s Bay Company championship shoot and picking out the most likely man, he tried to p suade him to use Dominion shells the following day in the competition The man was Hope Patenaude and the offer made to him was that if be would use Dominion shells in the competition, the company would give him a case of shells absolutely free —Photo by Blackwell's telephone office over the years who retired The salesman had to work hard y, Miss Fletcher very ably con- ducted a little audience participa- under the tree to various adults. For Murray Taylor there was a pair 5 e of boxing gloves to assist him in 2) e at ar er S am in work punching cow Another ex- ample; our school representative W. Just over 50 years ago th pleted into Harper’s Camp and people had the magic of instant Bambrick received a very wooden School Board, all his own, suitably inscribed. Coffee and refreshments terminat-| tne frst ed the evening's fun. operator at Harper's Camp, or Horsefly as it was to be known in later years, was a local WILSON| young man of 17 summers who had been trained especially for the job. MR. and MRS. J. T. were hosts Sunday evening at a re- ception in honor of Mr. and Mrs.| His name was Hope Patenaude and Oscar Dupont who returned from|e had been well trained in the tele- their honeymoon Friday. Most of} STapher’s stuttering language by lis Big Creek attended to offer congrat-| father, a one-time operator in East- ulations and good wishes to the|¢ Canada who had spent the winter ous courle. before training his son to be ready tor the completion of the new line. After opening of gifts and cutting} Young Hope must have liked the WILLIAMS LAKE guests. of eake by the bride and groom, re-|dife, because with the exception of freshments were served to all the] three years he was to continue as an The lovely 3-tier wedding] operator for the next 50 years. On December 10th, 1952, this senior man on the Dominion Government Cross of Always th REVELS' “Revelstoke Lag English Dark Both Beers Awarded for the Dom‘nion of Can. Brussels, Belgium 1951 Also English 3-X Stout “Ask tor these popular Brands by name” Brewed with Pure Rocky Mountain Water ENTERPRISE BREWERY LIMITED | line left his key in the Williams Lake office with 47 years of service behind him. It also happened to be his 44th | wedding anniyersar, SAW A LOT OF CARIBOO During the interyening years Hope saw a lot of the Cariboo and a lot more of its passing parade, He left Horsefly in 1908 and was ie er Honour he did a stint at Blackwater, return- ing to the 150 for 15° years before 4 coming to the Williams Lake office. Coming to Williams Lake was fs something like coming home too, When Hope first came to the Cariboo at the age of nine, his father was manager of the 150 Mile Store and \in 1896 leased the former Pinchheck ranch where our town now stands. The family stayed here four years and then moved out to Horsefly. Back in the days when Hope first started operating, the man with the key was an important fellow in the e BEST BUY TOKE, B. community. There were no telephones Year be one of con: NO forming groups in your re: keep in closer touch with your dis - ° Season's Greetings ‘to all Social Credit groups, their members, future members and friends, may your New PROSPERITY and SECURITY with FREEDOM OW from your Your executive is most anxious to hear from groups and/or members, especially those you posted on Social Credit activities and to convey rict problems through proper channels. and news of the world’ or news of | neighboring communities came over the ‘wire.’ The retired operator re- members when the news of the San Francisco earthquake crackled out. Horsefly residents had more than a passing interest in the tragedy be- cause a daughter of one of the mine owners was visiting the United States centre at the time. LINEMAN The old-time operators were their own linemen too. If snow or some other trick of nature broke the cop- per link, the operator had to start out and find the break and repair it. Each operator was responsible for half the distance between his own post and the next‘one, which could entajl a lot of territory. Along the Cariboo Trail and the side lines there were operators at Ashchroft, Clinton, 108 Mile, 115 Mile, Soda Creek, Alexandria and Quesnel. From Ques- nel a line went to Barkerville and east of here operators were located stituency president, JIM McKELVIE, Wells, B.C. TE interested in spective areas so we may you and assist in keeping J. McKelvie. world at their disposal through the singing telegraper’s ‘key.’ tion show of her own. With approp- 2 covmreevenetss em Qperator Handied First Telegrap e first telegraph line was com- that mining centre of some 400 communication with the outside Forks. When the operator was doub- ling as a lineman he used saddle horse, or snow shoes if it was neces- sary in the winter time to look for trouble. This state of affairs existed for some time in the Cariboo, Hope r. members. The first cars to appear were too expensive for a working man to operate, particularly over our roads. He recalls that the first cars to appear on the ‘road’ were the Winton Sixes brought in by the B.C. Express Company in 1910. Tires were the big obstacle in successful maintenance as they were made per- fectly smooth with no tread on them.! When they werent vainly trying to propell the vehicle out of a mud hole they were usually in a state of col- lapse. Hope remembers the stages going up the road with eight or ten spare tires attached to them. He also remembers when Arthur Haddock re- ceived the first tires in the country prith tread on them and made history frben one went 1500 miles and was J ii one-piece. The tire manufac- fing company had him. send the tire back and gave him a new one. MISSING PHONE Hope has another story about his Quesnel days when he was post master as well as operator and work- ed on the latter job from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and was on 24 hour a day mail duty. This one concerns the mysteri- because Hope wanted more than any- thing else to win the shoot, but he finally got the young competitor to agree. Of course Hope went on to wia and he received his case of ammuni- tion. Needless to say marksmen in the Cariboo again started using the popular make of shells. Z In 1908 Hope married Catherine Rose. who was born at 150 Mile. a well-known trap shooter in his|Was the daughter of Fred Rose, con- youth and this love of outdoor sport| Stable at the 150 in those days. The may in some measure explain why !Patenaudes have one daughter, Mrs. today, although he is nearly 67, he|Doug Mallete of Williams Lake, and has the energy of a much younger|a son, Spencer, at Boston Bar. man, St. Nick’s Spirit It is thought that St. Nicholas He has the Cariboo Observer Cup and the Hudson Bay Championship of Cariboo trophy to back up his marksmanship claims. And those | died about 345 A.D., and for 30 were won in the days when trap aud} days following his festival day his range work were outstanding sport | eetah apie Foamed the earth, ae : illing the hearts of mankind wi attractions in the Cariboo, love ‘and generosity. He gave the USED NEW SHELLS gifts without thought of return— | the true spirit of St. Nicholas and Christmas. In regard to shooting, Hope Pa’ May we flash you this message of gpod cheer — “A Jolly Christmas and a Happy New Yea Huston Agencies Ken Huston Claude Huston ous disappearance of the first tele-, phone to be shipped into Quesnel. This was in 1910 when the first composite or ‘howler’ type phones were being installed along the road and Hope had been informa by bis superiors that one was on the way for Quesnel. Weeks went by and the phone never showed up. The express company began to check and could trace the piece of equipment to Soda Creek, but from where it took to the river boat there was just no sign of it. The shipper’s description of the package gave the first hint of where it might have disappeared. The phone had been carefully packed in a whi key box, and in those days the riv steamers carried fairly large ship- ments of whiskey boxes containing the real article. It is believed that someone made off with the govern- ment’s box in the belief that the markings on the exterior indicatea the true nature of its contents and probably threw the queer looking contraption into the river when he opened the box in pleasant antici- pation. Hope has contributed his bit to community activities during the years. For the last 15 years he was at the 150 Mile he served as secie- at Horsefly, Bullion and Quesnel tary of the school board. He was also may it be yours to the fullest extent The Famous Bakery ission, $1.50 each Music BLAS ANNUAL NEW YEAR'S EVE. FROLIC Wednesday, December 3lst Dancing 10 p.m. to ? by Larry House’s Orchestra Bring in the New Year at the Elks Hall