Sad news
What a shock it was last week for us all with the drowning in Francois Lake. Especially when it’s a local. We have had a number of drownings and the sad part of it all is they are folks I know. Our family have lived by Francois Lake for over 60 years and we have enjoyed every minute of it a;though there has been in the past horrible situations like this one.
It’s a beautiful lake and every day there are changes. But it also can be a dangerous lake. It’s big with depth of over 800 feet, it’s cold and there is also a current that makes it more dangerous. It lays east and west and due to its 75 miles in length it can blow up into a dangerous situation.
Our family have had some bad scares. It’s years ago now but my wife Jo and I got into a couple of bad storms. One storm we were taking water in over the stern. It was a storm that came up so fast with waves over five feet high and we had a 35 horse motor and a big boat.
When your boat starts to take in water watch out. Many folks have had some very dangerous situations and unfortunately we will continue to have accidents as long as we have people boating and fishing. You can not be careful enough.
My hope and prayer is they will recover the body so the loved ones can at least have peace of mind.
Fox in the hen house
The foxes that live on the lake side of the landing road are living high on the hog as they got into Margaret and Richard’s chicken house and killed everyone of their laying hens, 17 in all. Rick and Marie have also had some foxes raid the chicken yard. The foxes are smart, they use the road to travel on as they know you can’t shoot on the road or over the road so they play it safe. They will some time get careless and a bullet will catch up to them.
John Keefe reported seeing the biggest black bear he had ever seen close to his property. It was digging up a huge anthill. John was very close to it but it just kept on digging, not showing any fear.
Little visit
What a pleasant surprise last week to have Anne Little and her husband drop in for a visit. Anne is the granddaughter of Capt. Bruce Little, one of the first captains of the first ferries to cross Francois Lake in the 20s. They made their home at Southbank and raised their family there. Three sons Roy, Harry and Doug. Anne’s father was Doug Little. The family left Southbank and Bruce was on the Kelowna ferry as captain.
In the 40s Bruce came back to Southbank to run the Francois Lake ferry as captain once again. As I was at a loose end at the time and I worked on the ferry as handyman. He was a nice man to work for. Bruce moved back to Kelowna again to run the ferry where he retired. When Jo and I were on our honeymoon we stayed with Bruce and his wife. We really enjoyed our stay as my wife Jo grew up with the Little family at Southbank.
Doug Little was born at Southbank in 1920. Anne and her husband Paul Read make their home in Edmonton and Calgary and will be coming out for another visit again. The family still have property at Southbank. There are not too many folks left who will remember the Little family as it’s now over 90 years ago.
Doctor leaving
It was a bit of a shock to see on the front page of our local paper the sad news that we are gong to lose our only full time doctor. We are all asking this question, why? What are we doing wrong? Burns Lake serves a huge area and our hospital and our doctors are our lifeblood. What happens when we get our new hospital? Will we still have doctor problems? I will put in a quote from our last paper “Burns Lake has not yet enjoyed the success other northern communities have had in attracting doctors.” Again I ask this question, why?
We must get to the root of the problem as it’s very important to the welfare of our great country, the Lakes District. If I have spoken out of turn please tell me as I have the welfare of our community at heart.
B
As I get older I think of the good old days of my life and it’s been good. I would like to live it again. Lots of mistakes but still would like another try at it. I would even marry the same woman as I loved her so much.
Growing up on the prairie was good, hard times. We were 35 miles from the Unity Hospital and 11 miles from the Macklin Hospital. No car, no phone, just horses and good ones as they had to be good.
With a Dr. Kyde, a horse and buggy doctor and what a fine caring man he was. A little story dad told me. This was before I was born and dad was married. Dad’s brother Will and his wife Gulie had T.B. and were dying. The nearest hospital and doctor was Unity. It was winter and uncle Will took dad’s saddle horse, little Tommy, and rode him the 70 miles round trip. Dr. Kyle also drove his team to the Eyehill home but he was too late, Aunt Gulie did not last very long after that.
She was pregnant and she lost the baby and he was to be called Peter, that’s who my brother Peter was named after.
Nice grad
I have the local paper open in front of me with all the grad pictures. They are all so handsome looking and so proud too. So they should be as it’s a new door opening for them with a new life.
My advice to them do not let this opportunity pass you by as it can never be taken away from you once you have it.
A little saying
There is only one door handle on the door of your heart, only one bolt they are on your side, the inside of your heart. You must listen for the angels to throw open the latch and open up that door.
Things may be tough and not going the way you think they should so always remember God loves you a great deal and so do I.