BIRCH ISLAND—The threat of rain forced the annual Lafarge Community Fish Fry to move to the Whitefish River First Nation (WRFN) Community Centre from its idyllic location below the Lafarge terminal, but the change in venue and rain did nothing to dampen the spirits or the appetites in play.
Terminal manager Howie Scruton acted as master of ceremonies for the fish fry and a host of Lafarge luminaries, among them Lafarge Eastern District CEO David Redfern and Vice President Andrew Stewart, who oversees the company’s many cement plants.
Mr. Scruton and the entire Lafarge management team on hand were effusive in their praise of their former plant manager, the late Father George Gardner, who remained an active liaison between Lafarge and the WRFN community, as was WRFN Ogimaa Rodney Nahwegahbow.
Ogimaa Nahwegahbow spoke of the many years Fr. George worked in the community both before and after his retirement from Lafarge, truly engaging with the community and channeling Santa for the children every Christmas.
“It’s really a pleasure to have everybody here for such a great event,” said Ogimaa Nahwegahbow. “I want to just say thank you to our elders, our community members, of course the Lafarge team who have been sponsoring this event.”
“I also want to recognize George Gardner who initiated this event,” said Ogimaa Nahwegahbow, before also invoking the memories of the many people in the community who have begun their spirit journeys over the past year. (Whitefish River has lost 29 community members, on and off reserve, since the end of last March.)
Lafarge CEO David Redfern was invited to the microphone to deliver comments on behalf of the company.
“It’s a real pleasure to be here,” said Mr. Redfern. “Thank you, Howie, for putting this together. This doesn’t happen everywhere. This is a really special event that happens for the park and is really an example of what can be done in partnership with yourself, chief, and the elders and everyone here.”
“It’s only my second event,” noted Mr. Redfern, whose previous visit was for the 50th anniversary of the formation of the partnership with WRFN. “I was fortunate to have the first event with George still there and get to share it with him.”
Mr. Redfern said the fish fry is an enjoyable event, and “I really enjoy coming and meeting people, it’s also about building trust and I want to thank everyone for coming out and I thank everyone for supporting us in the community and really looking forward to growing together. Thank you.”
“I want to bring Wayne Huska up to speak,” said Mr. Scruton. “I don’t know if many of you know, but George was married to his wife Mary–, and Mary Gardner’s son Wayne is going to say a few words on behalf of George who we lost in early January. I know that last year when we were at the fish fry he was a little bit under the weather.”
Mr. Huska described his grandfather as being more than just a grandfather, citing his amazing personality. “He loved people,” said Mr. Huska. “He loved and respected God and he loved this community. This was his family and he truly loved it.”
Mr. Gardner lost his beloved wife Mary and, at the urging of friends who were priests, and despite being over 65, he undertook the studies to enter the priesthood.
He recalled being dismayed when his grandfather sold the cottage that had been Mr. Huska’s go-to place each summer in his youth, and then going on to buy property near where the terminal was being built. He soon came to love the area as well, however. When Mr. Huska first came to visit the terminal location, Ogimaa Nahwegahbow’s father Adam was one of the first employees and each of the original employees have gone on to become close friends.
“I remember walking out to the site, we couldn’t drive all the way to the terminal and the surveyors couldn’t get there with their trucks, but we parked George’s car halfway and we had to walk up. I remember the survey flags were all in one area and it looked like a field of rape wheat. I was mesmerized by the LaCloche mountain range and the water. George was explaining everything, and then he looks over, he goes ‘wait, what the hell are you doing over there? Look over here,’” laughed Mr. Huska. “Here he is trying to explain what was going on and I’m just looking at the lake, the water—it’s just so beautiful.”
“I said ‘okay,’ and I walk over,” recalled Mr. Huska. “He’s going on and on and my head was just drifting back to the view. I couldn’t pass it up and he’d get mad again and I said, ‘George this is absolutely gorgeous.’”
The terminal was Fr. Gardner’s passion from day one and he would not fail to regale anyone who would stand still about its virtues.
“When he was done working, he couldn’t leave,” noted Mr. Huska. “He had to stay here and he said, ‘this is my family and I’m going to stay here. I’m going to live where my cottage is and I can be here with my family.’ And that’s just what he did. I miss him and I know from talking to a few of you here today you do too.”
“George had an Indian name provided to him,” said Ogimaa Nahwegahbow. “That was Wassegijig, ‘the light of day,’ and that was given to him because of what he represented—he was the light of day. Those of you will remember how he participated and did things. I think that’s how we engage life and he really put a lot of life in everything he did. If you remember, he was our Santa Claus up until this last year. He did a good job.”
The fish fry was also a great opportunity to honour and award the terminal employees for the amazing feat of more than 50 years without a lost time accident. Receiving the awards from Lafarge VP Stewart were Jeff McGregor, Gaston Paibomsai, Jessica Paibomsai and Patrick Snowden.
“This is one of the biggest records that we have in North America,” said Mr. Scruton before calling the terminal employees up to the front of the hall. “Fifty-three years without a lost time accident at the terminal is quite an accomplishment.”
“This is an award for the employees for working very consciously on their jobs and we really want to appreciate all their hard efforts,” said Mr. Stewart. “It’s nice to make new cement, sell it and build things with it, but doing it safely is by far better. Yours is an incredible history of working safely.”
The pavilion where the Lafarge Fish Fry is usually held is located just a few yards from Fr. George’s beloved terminal on Whitefish Bay and bears a large sign memorializing the beloved priest.
