Logging

A handful of old negatives were saved for me thanks to my cousin, Sandra Wiles, after my uncle, Peter Morris, passed away in 2002. No one at the time knew what they were of or whether he had even made them, but luckily I tucked them away. What the impressively large celluloids contained, when I finally processed them just this spring, is an amazing step back in time--a drop-in visit with Mossy Vale folk going about their lives in the 1940s. This post and one or two to come will feature an important occupation at Mossy Vale: logging. In this post Peter and his brother Bill are hauling logs off Birch Island, destined for local mills and as far away as Carrot River and likely Nipawin. Though their voices are unfortunately no longer here to provide commentary, my mother and Uncle Frank (Morris) tell of The Pas Lumber Company camps in the vicinity; impressively large and self-sufficient, capable of accommodating a hundred or more workers. Apparently pigs were even raised there. Frank recalls the dangers of carrying logs over the ice and how the horses could be quickly detached and freed if an over-weighted sleigh broke through.

Miss Young

Edith (Young) Vereschagin taught at Mossy Vale School the second year it was open (1944-45), and she returned the next year. Edith was an enthusiastic, accomplished writer and artist; assets which her students must have found both inspiring and motivating. She was my Uncle Jack Morris's teacher. Years after Mossy Vale, Edith told with a smile, of a "situation" that arose during her tenure. My uncle, who had misbehaved somewhat inappropriately, was dismissed early one day by Edith, with a note for my grandmother, explaining the misdemeanor. Jack didn't come back to school the following day but when he returned the next, he relayed that his mom intended to pay a visit to the school that noon to see Miss Young. Apparently, she and all of the students were not to do anything, or go anywhere, until she arrived. My Romanian-born grandmother, a rotund woman with completely broken english, and generally spoken with extra volume to compensate, could appear fairly intimidating, more so to those who crossed her. Edith, feared the worst. Anticipating the wrath of an overly protective parent, her hour of dread finally arrived. But what my grandmother brought to school that lunch hour, was a healthy dose of support and appreciation in the form of enough home-cooked food to feed an army.

Photo courtesy: A. Byers

Mossy Vale Church

The Pas Trail Mission Field was established in 1932. The first minister to serve the area was Stuart East. In the late 1930s the Anglican Church held services. Two weddings were held at St. John's Anglican Church at Mossy Vale (built in 1940): Geordie and Katie Smith, and Eldon and Joyce Adamson. Church was held every summer at the church from 1952 until 1962; a year after most Mossy Valers had gone, and as our little district was being disassembled and flooding was already in progress.

This one minute movie, edited from home movies made by my aunt and uncle, Madeline and Harry Schroeder, about 1960, brings to life the ride down the sandy road to the church. My grandfather, Florea (Frank Sr.) Morris, makes a brief appearance along the side of the road near the site of his old homestead which he was visiting that day. The house that the Morris's built and which was located across the road from the church, is briefly and partially visible through the trees as the camera pans by. In the churchyard some of the congregation (my aunt decked in a stylish hat) visit after the service, as was always the practice.

Movie clips courtesy: M. and H. Schroeder

1957 Mossy Vale Mailing Label

My dad, Geordie Smith, held on to this reminder of his farming days at Mossy Vale. Now, more than fifty years after the disappearance of the community, and with memories similarly-faded for some of us who lived there, the mailing label on this publication helps to confirm that Mossy Vale was once "quite" real. (Click on the image to view a larger version.)

The heading (in red) for the lead story of the journal is interesting in it's own right--a sort of non-intentional omen for the soon to be announced "water" development that would signal the end of Mossy Vale.

Birch Island Beavers (1957)

"The most feared ball team in the area," remarks Hjalmer Larson. "We were all pretty heavy hitters. Good memories!"

From Left (back): Marvin Reimer, Allan Grassing, Morris Mitchell, Dennis Anklovitch, Andrew Hamilton. (Front): Ellis Hamilton (coach), Arnie Cameron (student minister—and incredibly good shortstop according to Andrew), Hjalmer Larson, Lavern Larson, Forest Anklovich, Murray Anklovitch (coach)

Photo courtesy: V. Weighill

Horseback Riders

The two horses in this well-composed picture snapped by Clara (Hamilton) are Princess and Doidge (large Percheron). On this day they were the main mode of transport for these young people.

From left: Wesley Dalke, Bernice Bell, (both visiting cousins of the Hamiltons), Alice Reimer, Verna Reimer, Walter Hamilton, Marvin Reimer, Andrew Hamilton. Era probably early 1950s.

Photo courtesy: C. Weighill