Now and Then: A Celebration of Life on Manitoulin, Mnaachtoong Maadsewin
Bill and Linda Strain—The beautiful Strain home sits right on Bass Lake within the town of Sheguiandah. A lovely panoramic vista of the lake lies to the back and a vast expanse of green grass lies to the west. The couple was well prepared with a multitude of family portraits and documents. The writer was also privileged to be welcomed by Max, their Shih-tzu pup. This was followed by the sharing of their family story. Linda was cross trained for a multitude of banking roles ranging from teller to financial and administrative work. Bill was a teacher in Espanola for thirty years and helped promote the Island Fish and Games club as both member and president for many years. A letter from the late Rainbow District School Board trustee Larry Killens in 2011 shows the impact this club had on students, “I wish to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for placing education and learning about the ecology and nurturing of our environment on the front burner for our present and future generations.”
“My paternal grandparents are Lindsay and Sarah (Stringer) Ferguson,” Linda offers as introduction. “Grandfather was a farmer in the Green Bay area. He was also a teacher and councilor for Howland Township. They ran the post office and a half-way house for Island travelers going off-island. Maternal grandparents, John, and Barbara (Bayer) Egan also farmed in the Green Bay area.”
“Percy, and Dorothy (Egan) Ferguson, my parents, farmed as well. Dad was a talented musician. He played the violin and often hosted musical evenings where he instructed the local kids and played music. Mother would make nice snacks for all of them. Both parents were highly active in the Green Bay United Church. “I was born at home on February 1, 1942. I have four siblings, Bob and Barb were twins. Bob and Tom have passed away. Bob had been a ‘pricer’ for a big wholesale company in Calgary. Barb is in her late 80s. She taught Kindergarten in Sudbury and on Manitoulin and was the accompanist and choir leader in the Little Current United Church and I joined the choir. Ed is a farmer in Green Bay. My youngest brother is Ed.”
“Charlotte Dunlop taught at the one room Green Bay school for about 40 of us, from grades one through seven. In Grades 6 to 7, she would send me to the quieter cloakroom to help some of the younger students read and do arithmetic. I enjoyed helping them. At recess, we played hopscotch, baseball and anti-I-over where we threw a ball over the roof to others on the far side. Today, the school has been converted to a home and it is privately owned.”
“There are many Ferguson aunts and uncles on Manitoulin. We were raised like a big family. Annual celebrations were held at different homes, including ours. The church was often the focal point for many events. Another popular time to get together was haying and threshing times. The men would gather the hay in the fields and the ladies would help them or prepare food for everyone.”
High school was in Little Current. “I liked all my subjects, except Latin,” Linda continued. “I still connect with a lot of friends, both on Manitoulin and Birch Island. Pauline Andrews was one, but she has died.” By the time Linda was taking grade 13 subjects, she had been working part time at Currie’s Drug Store for six summers.
“I started seeing Bill about this time, after I got to know his father Dave, our bus driver. When school was out, I was often one of the first to get to the bus and Dave and I would chat. He would tell me about his son who was going to school in Hamilton for Grade 10 at the time. He was impressed with me and felt that his son and I should get together. “Somehow, he felt that I could do no wrong,” Linda added, smiling. “His dad chose me for Bill.” Bill returned to Little Current for Grades 11 to 13 Linda became co-editor of the school paper and vice-president of student council. Bill became the president.
“Our first date was a high school baseball tournament in Gore Bay.” Linda and a few others joined Bill in his dad’s ’58 Chevy. Afterwards, Bill dropped Linda off last. “What are you doing for the rest of the weekend?” Bill asked her. “I have no plans at present,” she responded. They attended the dance in Mindemoya on Friday night and the Sandfield dance on Saturday night. “I had church early on Sunday and I was pretty tired by then, but I knew my father expected me to attend and so I did.”
Linda and Bill continued to date but took different paths for a while. Linda took a business and secretarial course at Sheridan Business and Technology School in Sudbury. She was 19 when she finished and came home to work at Currie’s for one more summer. “That fall I started working at the Bank of Montreal in Little Current.” Bill, meanwhile, was at the Haileybury School of Mining near Cobalt.
One day, after they had been apart for a while, Bill, by then at Northern College, got a phone call from Linda. “Can you give me a ride back to the island?” It was serendipity that the two connected again. When they got home, Bill asked, “What are you doing tonight?” The two re-connected and this eventually led to their wedding on August 20, 1966, at the Little Current United Church. Harold Morphet was the best man, and his wife Brenda, a friend of Linda’s, participated too. About 150 people attended. A smaller group enjoyed the delicious dinner at the The Inn Hotel (now the Shaftesbury Inn). A dance at the Legion followed. After their wedding, they drove to Toronto where it was 95 degrees. They had two weeks to get to the South Dakota School of Mines where Bill would get his BSc in engineering.
Bill shares his story. “Paternal Great-Great Grandfather George Washington Strain lived in Gordon township and he is buried there. Grandfather Bill Strain and his wife Birdie (who came from Michigan,) also farmed in Gordon Township until they sold the farm and moved to Toronto. Grandfather Bill was also the Reeve of Gordon Township. I met him once. Maternal grandparents Johnson and Mabel (Williams) Noble were farmers and Johnson was also a horse trader. Their son Bordie started the famous furniture store on the Noble farm.”
“My parents are David and Dorothy (Noble) Strain. I was born on April 3, 1942, in a Sudbury hospital. My iron levels were low but that soon cleared up.” He had two brothers, Gary, and Harold. Harold died in a snowmobile accident on a nighttime trip to Killarney over ice. They couldn’t see the tree line after dark and, sadly, wound up in the water.”
Bill attended a one-room school in Sheguiandah and Mrs. Andrews was his teacher. Bill recalls an incident when he was about 14 years old. “We had to get to town for some immunizations. There were no busses available so dad said to me, ‘take the car into town and take as many kids as you can with you.’ It was likely the polio ‘shot’ they were to get.”
“I remember getting a 410 shotgun when I was 14 or 15. It was Christmas morning and the gun was leaning up against the fireplace. I was super excited and happy to get my own gun. In 1948 we moved to Sheguiandah. Our house was near a quartzite quarry where dad was working at the time. He had two trucks and a couple of employees. The supervisor asked him to build a cottage on the property and rent it to him. Then another worker asked for a cottage to be built there as well. That is how White Haven Resort began. I can remember working there at 10 years of age. “I had to take a block of ice daily, to each of ten cottages. Sometimes I would get a 25-cent tip. I was still ten when I started ‘guiding’ for the guests who fished. We had no motors so I had to paddle the boats and I got one dollar for the day.”
Hockey was popular. “Once our high school team was asked to attend a high school tournament in Chapleau. I was in grade eight. Austin Smith of Little Current was our coach. We were used to playing lots of exhibition games. When we didn’t get off the train in Chapleau, the locals in the pool hall assumed we were not coming, but we arrived in five or six cars instead. We won all three games in that tournament.”
High school was in Hamilton for Grade 10 where Bill had a chance to try out for the Junior Hamilton Red Wings. He made the cut in the second try-out. He stayed there for a year but then dislocated his shoulder and left the team. He remembers an incredibly competitive atmosphere. Bill attended high school in Little Current for Grades 11 to 13. He played for the Sheg Bears and they won the Pearson Trophy for three years in a row from 1959 to 1961. “After three years you get to keep the trophy. It still sits in a glass enclosure in the Little Current Complex.”
Bill met his sweetheart, Linda Ferguson in high school and they married in 1966. The couple lived on Manitoulin after Bill finished his engineering degree in South Dakota. He attended the University of Toronto for a teacher`s certificate. Bill subsequently taught geology and math at the Espanola High School for 30 years. Raising and planting walleye were also an interest. He started this sideline with Gary Clark at the old provincial hatchery at Sandfield. He was interested in producing walleye fingerlings from eggs. In 1971, Bill joined OFAH (the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.) The couple built a house on Glen Street in Little Current. Bill sold real estate for Peter Lush and J.James Bousquet Realty. The Little Current Fish and Game Club eventually built a hatchery in Sheguiandah, and walleye eggs hatched into fry that were used to stock the area lakes by 1986. Bill was part of the Little Current Fish and Game Club and was president for 19 years.
In 1980, Bill and Linda had taken over White Haven Cottage, running the lodge and producing walleye fingerlings in the hatchery there as well. “I remember our dog Taz,” Bill explains. “One day, in the living room, he was whining non-stop. I let him out. He was still whining outside so we came out and saw two paddle boats upside down with an offshore wind. There were people in the water. We quickly got into our boat and moved upwind of them to let the wind take us to them. It was a couple with two children, a boy and a girl. I was a little nervous, as I had suffered a heart attack a year earlier, but we saved them. The little girl, about 8, had to be pulled out by her hair, she was so tired. Her brother was a little older and it was easier to get him into the boat. The parents were retrieved last. They were staying at a resort next door. They came to us the following day and wanted a photo. I gave them a photo of Taz.”
“A girl working with us, Ingrid Madahbee, brought her little baby, `KC` with her and Linda often helped to take care of KC who grew up to love the Strains. They often cared for her while her parents had other appointments. KC was married here at Bass Lake. Recently a former Espanola student, Jason Patreau, recognized Bill. Bill was in the Red Dog restaurant in Whitefish Falls so when he went to pay his bill, he discovered Jason had paid it. “Kelly Strong, another former student worked in a gold mine in Northern Ontario and later became a vice president of International Nickel (Valle). Kelly later sent a letter thanking me for pointing him in the right direction.”
The couple has three children, Todd, Julie, and Laurie. Todd is a tool and die maker for Magna International. He lives in London with his wife Patti, a dental technician. They have two children, Will and Taylor, both of who are in university. Will is in finance at Western and Taylor is in business school. Daughter Julie is a pharmacist in Thunder Bay where she works with nursing homes. Her husband Tom is a civil engineer. They have two boys, Brett who finished college and is doing library work and Chase who is in his first year at the university in Thunder Bay. He wants to teach. Laurie manages the cancer clinic in the radiation department at Health Sciences North. Her husband Matt owns ‘MP Plumbing’ in Sudbury. They now own White Haven Cottages. They have three children, Ryan in his third year at Laurentian, Sean is an apprentice plumber and Ashley is in high school in Lively.
The Little Current Fish and Game Club started a program with the schoolkids and the principal Mrs. Stringer, at the Little Current Public School. “Now we are doing this education with nine schools.” Bill continues. “ Seaija Deschene, in charge of Manitoulin Streams, has helped us out in the past with teaching the kids too. The Fish and Game Club has won awards from the Rainbow and District School Board, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and NEMI council. Bill retired as president of the club two years ago. Lou and Julie Shortt have taken over the leadership role, with Julie assisting Lou as president. They are doing an excellent job.”
“We have a good relationship with the grandkids,” Linda adds, “They call me the Crazy Grandmother.” They often come up to me and pat my head saying, ‘I love you.’ I play with them, five boys and two girls. I enjoy their company so much. They often asked to come here for functions. Once, our invited grandchild, KC asked if they could dress here for the wedding. It was a fun day. On an earlier trip with three grandsons climbing up Frazer Bay Mountain, Bill explained there might be bears there, so don’t panic, stay together. Soon after he heard a few chuckles, and ‘Don’t worry guys, we can all outrun grandpa.’”
Were you named after anyone? Linda “Marguerite’ after my mother. My grandfather Lindsay may be where ‘Linda’ came from. Bill: ‘Johnson’ is my middle name, after my grandfather.” Most important event? “Getting educated and having our family with strong lasting connections.” Favourite pets? “Taz and Max, our Shih-tzus. Max is the last of five Shih-tzus.” Responsibilities as a child? Linda: “Making porridge while mum was in the barn. I wasn’t good at it, and it was often lumpy. Bill: taking ice to the cabins and taking out the garbage.”
Favourite season? “Summer, no schoolwork and meeting lots of people visiting the camp, no snow, new life.” Favourite collections? “Fossils and rocks for Bill and Royal Doulton figurines starting at my 16th birthday with a gift from Mr. Currie.” Favourite book? “Manitoulin History books and western novels like Louis Lamour for Bill and Gone with the Wind for Linda.” Television shows: “Everybody Loves Raymond and the Big Bang Theory.” Linda also enjoys watching curling, which she used to do herself before the kids were born.” What are you most proud of? Bill: “Our children, grandchildren, and Linda.” Linda adds that they have personally had a good life so far and that she is ‘proud of Bill’ too.”
First hourly wage? Linda: “$5 a week at the drug story and $1100 a year at the bank in Little Current.” “Awards? Bill: “Fish and Game Club and the Larry Wallace Memorial in 2013.” Strengths? Both are hard workers. Linda enjoys cooking and baking. Bill was a good teacher and helped with the administration of the Fish and Games Club with a group of good supporting people. “ I am enormously proud of the Fish and Game Club members; we have a great team spirit. Our many accomplishments include: initiation of a night river watch program to protect spawning walleye; construction of several spawning beds for walleye, rainbow and salmon; construction of a viewing stand over the fish ladder for the trout and salmon to migrate to the Bass Like Stream; and an award-winning educational program for grade four students. ”
Linda and Bill are very both community-orientated, helping with fundraisers. Bill: plowing 18 driveways in the winter. “If they insist on paying, I simply ask them to send a cheque to the LCF & G Club so we can buy rods and reels for the grade four classes on Manitoulin.” Both make friends easily. “Is there anything you would do differently if you could go back in time? Both: “No” Anyone who inspired you? Bill: “My supportive father bought me a Volkswagen when I went to Haileybury. Also Mrs. Andrews, my teacher. and Eldridge Meyers a handyman and farmer, a fantastic worker and good friend who helped us at White Haven.” Lastly your recipe for happiness? “Ride along easy and stay positive.”
“We love the Island. We have been to a lot of interesting places, but this is the best one. People here are fantastic, and we enjoy a great environment. We have seen some significant poverty in places like Arizona and we appreciate what we have here. Big cities and highways don’t feel safe anymore. We spent 12 winters in Florida and have enjoyed some cruises, but we feel this is still the absolute best place. We built this retirement house in Sheguiandah five years ago. We are comfortable with good neighbours and plan to stay here in our Manitoulin paradise for the duration.”
