Martineau River: Hauling Logs and Ice – Chapter 2 of 5
Photo (Cold Lake History on Web): Cutting, hauling and storing ice was a yearly ritual at a time when refrigerators consisted of an insulated box filled with ice.
Link to Next Post: A Winter Dash to the Hospital
Link to Last Post: Martineau River Logging Camp (Start of Part II)
Link to Family Stories Index
Winter, 1945
My stomach was churning and my head splitting. I did not say anything to Uncle Tonnie but I could feel my stomach pushing into my throat. Suddenly, Uncle Tonnie stopped the truck. I fumbled with the door handle and as soon as it opened, I jumped out. When the cold winter air hit me I bent over and threw up on the pure white snow that lined the side of the road.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: A Winter Dash to the Hospital
Link to Last Post: Martineau River Logging Camp (Start of Part II)
Link to Family Stories Index
(1507)
Martineau River: A Winter Dash to the Hospital – Chapter 3 of 5
Photo (Cold Lake Hospital Files). Dr. Savage was the difference between life and death as my sister lay critically ill.
Link to Next Post: Wolves in the Wilderness
Link to Last Post: Hauling Logs and Ice
Link to Family Stories Index
Martineau River – Deep Winter, 1945
In early February, things took a dangerous turn. Mom clearly remembered the day:
“Louise became very ill. She was running a high fever and after a few hours was going into convulsions. She was so little and helpless. Dave and I knew we had to get her to the hospital in Cold Lake as quickly as possible. About 5:00 am, Dave talked it over with Tonnie and both were worried the roads from the Camp to the north side of Cold Lake would be blocked with drifting snow as no one had driven to town recently. They felt, however, the ice road across the lake would be OK as it was regularly ploughed. She continued:
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: Wolves in the Wilderness
Link to Last Post: Hauling Logs and Ice
Link to Family Stories Index
(1821)
Fight for Survival – A Canoe Trip Turns Deadly
Photo: The calm expanse spreading before us belied the trecherous waters that lay beyond.
Saturday, June 7, 1997
Over the roar of the surging water, I hollered to Lynn, “Drop your paddle, grab a tree root and hold on hard or we’re going over.”
In the bow, Lynn turned. She had been holding her paddle against a tree stump to keep us clear but we were broadside in the creek and rocking badly. Her face was ashen – we were in immanent danger of being thrown into the raging water.
The same direction was given to Sean who was gripping the centre yoke so tight his knuckles had turned white, “Sean, slide over, grab that root and help your mom.”
My voice must have conveyed the urgency, for as frightened he was, he did exactly as told, something he was not always prone to do. Trapped in the stern, just a few feet from the root, my paddle was less than useless. If we didn’t manage to break free and swamped, well…
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Marie Lake: A Final Farewell – Chapter 11 of 11
Photo (by Mom): Mr. Goodrich (L), Louise, Dad (C) and I prepare for lunch while Dad and Mr. Goodrich were doing some work along the lake. It would be our last summer in that idyllic setting.
Early Spring, 1949
On the final day, as we were about to leave in the boat, a small seaplane circled lazily overhead. Then, to our surprise, it landed in front of our home and taxied in. While I had seen a few seaplanes around Cold Lake, none had ever landed at Marie Lake and I had never been close to one.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: Old School House (The start of Part IV)
Link to Last Post: Winter Trip to Cold Lake
Link to Family Stories Index
(1965)
McNeill Life Stories and Joomla Going their Separate Ways
Dear Friends,
Due to irreconcilable differences, McNeill Life Stories and the Joomla platform upon which it was built, will be going their separate ways with the separation agreement becoming effective around the middle of July, 2013.
Since its humble beginnings in 2010, McNeill Life Stories has grown to host a collection of nearly 200 short stories, editorials, travelogues and miscellaneous posts which have attracted over 300,000 visitors.
While there was a concerted effort to work out the differences between the two parties, it became evident the two had grown apart when Joomla announced it was moving forward with Version 2.5 without providing any linkage back to Version 1.5, the platform upon which the blog was built. Many thousands of similarly affected partners were simply left in the lurch. For Joomla, it seems the ‘five year itch’ kicked in earlier than expected.
In consultation with Sean McNeill of McNeill Solutions, a decision was made to move forward with a new Word Press platform, one that Sean has been successfully using over the past few years. The staff at Media One, who created the original site, have been most helpful in facilitating the change.
While several challenges have yet to be overcome, it appears the task will be accomplished without the loss of any information currently contained on the site.
Blog post links, such as those which appear on Google and in other directories, must be manually transformed to reflect the new site parameters. This is a labour intensive task in which each link must be manually transformed to the new site parameters.
After going live, McNeill Solutions, will be tasked adding a number of new user interface options which will assist in navigating the site in order to make it more user friendly.
If, after all posts have been transferred, you notice a link that is not working, points to the wrong article or is otherwise in error, please leave a note in the comments section of the story or send an email to harold@mcneillifestories.com.
When the site goes live, a new series of detective stories, The MacLeish Chronicles, will make its debut. In the first story, A Matter of Principle, Detective Sergeant MacLeish and his partner Detective Bard, tackle a series of burglaries in which they match wits with an engaging young professional from the south-eastern United States.
We look forward to your continued engagement after the site transitions to its new home.
Harold and Lynn McNeill
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Marie Lake: Back to Hauling Logs – Chapter 9 of 11
Photo (Cousin Helen Pylypow) Uncle Denny Dewan with a load of logs. During the early years many family members gained extra money by logging in the winter. My Dad did that for much of his life. This story tells about the first experience Louise and I had in hauling logs on our own.
Late Fall, 1948
Dad was behind in his work due to injuries suffered in car accident that summer. As winter was upon us, Louise and I asked if we would be allowed to cut and haul some fire wood, a job dad had usually completed by this time. The snow had arrived early that year and by mid-November, after Louise had turned five, there was nearly two feet on the ground in some places.
When we approached Dad said ‘OK’ but Mom, of course, was not all that thrilled with the idea. She had previously watched us haul manure for her garden and lumber for our playhouse, so I suppose she figured we could do it even if she did not like the idea of us heading off into the bush with the team of horses for a full day.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: Winter Trip to Cold Lake
Link to Last Post: On Thin Ice
Link to Family Stories Index
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Marie Lake: One Thin Ice
Photo (From the photo files of a High School buddy, Guy Venne). This logging truck when through the ice just off the waterfront from the town of Cold Lake. It was totally submerged in about 50 feet of water. The photo here shows the final stage of the truck being lifted back onto the ice. The following story is about my Uncle, Warren Harwood, and his step-son, Emerson Dewan, facing a life or death situation when travelling across the thin ice of Marie Lake to visit our home.
Fall, 1948
“For God’s sake Warren, you’ve gotta jump, the car’s going under!” Emerson hollered as he began to pull the door open. “What to hell made him think he drive on thin ice.” he thought.
Driving at 30 mph, Warren could hardly see as water sprayed across the windshield. Emerson, standing on the running board, was soaked to the skin, freezing and afraid for his life. A few seconds later the engine flooded and as the car sputtered to a halt, the ice cracked and water began to spurt up through the cracks.
Outside, Emerson could see they were going under but couldn’t jump until he helped Warren out. As he pulled, Warren pushed and when part way out, a shard of ice jammed against the door. There was no way Warren’s short, stocky body could squeeze through. Emerson pulled with all his might as the car slowly began to sink.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: Hauling Logs
Link to Last Post: Crash on Highway 28
Link to Family Stories Index
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Marie Lake: Crash on Highway 28 – Chapter 7 of 11
Family Photos via Mom’s Photo Keepsakes (July, 1948). I always remembered this photo and by good fortune on January 2, 2016, it magically appeared in a photo album my sister Dianne McNeill had preserved. It now stands as the lead photo in this story of this accident that nearly killed our father, Dave McNeill and injured several others. The photo was taken in the Cold Lake Hospital just before Dad was transferred to Edmonton for emergency surgery.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing
Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link to Next Post: Link to On Thin Ice
Link to Last Post: Link to My Best Friend
Link to Family Stories Index
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