Community Memories

From Red and Mary Sangster

 

 

 

     Red Sangster first came to Thompson as an employee of Paddy Harrison, working as a mechanic underground at the Moak Lake site.  He returned in 1961 when INCO began production, and worked as a mechanic at the mill for a period of 6 months.  His pay rate, he recalls, was around $2.00 an hour.  Working conditions were good.  His description of camp living was similar to many other early employees.  He stayed in a tent, 5 men to a tent.  There were 5000 of us in the camp.  We had to line up for everything - showers, meals etc.  The food was good.  Crawley - McCracken provided the meals.  After 6 months with INCO, Red went to work for the Local Government District as a grader operator.  He had worked as a grader operator for the Highways Dept. out of Flin Flon and they transferred him to the L.G.D.  He worked for them for 18 years, grading roads and removing snow in the winter.

     Red was heavily involved in sports in the community, both as a participant and as part of his job; as well as putting in many hours of volunteer work.  The first sports facilities here were an outdoor rink and a ballpark in the Juniper area.  Red's past experience in running sports teams in Flin Flon was invaluable.  He managed the curling rink here for 10 years, and made the ice.  The old curling rink, the arena and the recreation hall were built from materials from Bird, MB.  They had worked every evening; unloading steel.  They had played either ball or hockey every night.  There was no place for dances until the recreation centre was built.  In 1975 they joined the Manitoba Hockey League and in 64 they joined the Northern Manitoba Baseball league. They would travel on weekends.  There was Creighton, two teams from Flin Flon, the Pas, Cranberry Portage and Beausejour in the League.  Red was proud of the victories of his teams, either as a player or manager.  They won the Polar League championship in 68.  Last year their team was put in the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame.  In 94, Red was put in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Last year, the Manitoba Hockey Federation gave him a jacket.

     In 62 Red took the first hockey team down to Virden, to play in the Manitoba Play-offs. It was a Midget team of boys, 12 -14 years old.  They had traveled by train.

     In the early years, they had six hardball teams, all ages, and the same in hockey.  They had a great soccer league.  They had German, Greek, Italian and Canadian teams. Sometimes there were fights and they would have to call the police.  They had a pretty good lacrosse team too. The boys went to Vancouver one year, Red tells.  Besides the recognition in sports from the Manitoba Hall of Fame, Red has also been honored by having a sports field named after him.

     Red also worked as City Recreation Director for 3 years.  When Mary and the children arrived on July 2, 1961 it was snowing, then it rained for two weeks and there was mud everywhere.  Mary worked at The Bay for 5 ½ years in the stock room and the claims dept.

     When asked about conditions at the time, Mary commented, "We didn't have a car so I walked to work.  There was no TV. all the lodges such as Elks, Lions, Masons and Shriners were getting organized so there was always something to do."  Mary also ran a concession at the arena for 9 ½ years.  It was a very busy time.  She used to mix about 200 pounds of hamburger a week.  French fries sold like crazy.  She had a staff of 17 schoolgirls.  It was fun.  For the girls, pay was around 65 cents an hour and the cook got $3.00 an hour.

     Their children adapted well to life in Thompson.  Their son Jack played hockey, their girls went to figure skating and ballet.  Later their girls worked at The Bay, and their daughter Brenda also worked at the Strand Theatre for awhile.

     Both Red and Mary remembered the fire north of town in 62 or 63.  It started on the other side of the bridge and spread towards the airport.  When asked about the transient population Mary commented that some people worked for a while to make enough money and then took off.  They thought the winters were longer and colder in the 60s than they are now.

     Their first home was on 3 Wolf.  In 69 they moved to a big show home on Rainbow Crescent.  Their present residence at Paint Lake became their permanent home in 1986.

When asked about their retirement years, Mary and Red both plan to stay put.            

     "Thompson has been good for everybody, but nowadays people put in their 30 years and leave.  I wouldn't do that.  You don't start all over again someplace else!"