#Wawa ONtario OPP

[blue-car-road-tripper]

There once was a cow who escaped a transport accident. He was sighted along highway 17 North roaming free and enjoying his freedom. Nobody thought he would survive a northern Ontario winter, especially up beside Lake Superior. But, he did!!!!

He was tracked and found and along with him they found two escaped steers. Guess I won’t have to look for him on my travels now 😆🚙

STORY BELOW ⬇️

UPDATE:

Wawa cow tracking updates! To those who thought the cow left on highway may not have survived the winter or thought was shot. It was not!

Thank you to the team effort groups organized in assisting tracking the cow. We named him Tucker. (Reference article cottage life)

Thank you to the man, woman, sons, all organizers in group networking, drivers, trucker, and trackers, dispatch, opp, wawa gas station, plow guys, and tips!

TUCKER SURVIVED THE WINTER, He also was not alone. Two steers where found for the month end of may reported in, and picked up! No news, fake news, and good news….. 🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮 it was an eventful few months learning about and tracking, to almost wits end our groups tried. Thank you to the finders! The survival skills adapted on these steers. Miracle is the name of the other steer.

#roadtrip #summer #highway #travel #travel ontario #lake superior provincial park #batchawana bay #lake superior

[garryspolicememories]

                    Policing Memories of

           Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                            Part XXI

                          Promotional Competition

                   Corporal to Sergeant 1978

     Sometime in the latter part of 1978 the Ontario Provincial Police announced that there would be a promotional process for those seeking a promotion from Corporal to Sergeant. I had really enjoyed my time at Wawa Detachment and in many ways thought I could spend the rest of my life there, however at the same time I realized I needed more of a challenge.  I decided to put all of my efforts into obtaining a promotion and hopefully receiving a position as a Detachment Commander. The promotional process consisted of three parts. First you had to get a positive assessment from your immediate superiors and District Headquarters. Second you had to pass an examination, and third you appeared before a 5-man board following which you would either receive a pass or fail. Prior exams had been based mainly on policing knowledge and knowledge in general.

     The documentation that followed the announcement advised that the promotional process involving an exam would be different in that those that elected to compete would be given a number of books to study for a period ;of a couple of months. The examination would take place with the questions based on the material given to us. It would be necessary to answer each question in essay form.

     The above information was an eye opening experience for me as I only had a minimum of grade ten educations when I joined the Ontario Provincial Police force. My High School education had ended 25 years prior. I prepared a study room in one of the unused bedrooms of our home. I then made an appointment with one of the English teachers at the Michipicoten High School. On meeting with him I told him of my situation and asked him to tell me how to build or write an essay. He was most helpful and I still have a basic drawing he used to explain to me how to build an essay.

The next thing I did was sit down in my study room and list all the means I could think of to remember something. Basically it was a simple list of one’s senses and how to use or stimulate them.  I gathered together sufficient writing paper, a comfortable chair, desk lamp, tape recorder and pens and pencils.

     When the books finally arrived, I found them to be mainly on Psychology. I had to start right at the beginning, as I was not even sure, how to spell Psychology.  Most of the material was to do with leadership styles, theories and hierarchy of needs as written by Peter Drucker  and Abraham Maslow. I processed much of the material by rote, by writing, reading, taping etc. I would go to my study room whenever I came home from work, would work at it until I was called for mealtime. At night I would remain in the room until 11 or 12. Then go to bed with the tape player plugged into my ear playing what I had recorded, until I fell asleep. I continued this for the full two months, including weekends and days off. I know my children and spouse were ready for a break when I finished.

     The day of the examination finally arrived and there were thirty of us wrote. If my memory is correct it was a couple of months before the results were finally sent out. There were only two of us that passed.

     I believe it was sometime in the next month or so I was required to go down to Blind River where I was given an aptitude assessment by a Force Psychologist.

     The next phase of the process required me to appear before a five-man board made up of senior officers. This was to be held at Sault Ste Marie District Headquarters. My luck changed at this point as I came down with a severe case of the flu. I managed to get back to work the day before the date of the scheduled board attendance. I called to District Headquarters to confirm that I would attend as instructed and spoke to Inspector King Speicher. King Speicher was without a doubt the best counselor that I ever spoke to on the OPP. I had counseled with him in the past and was always amazed when I had found an answer to my problem. He never gave you an answer; he would just listen and ask questions. He would let you find the answer. When I told him about being off work for the better part of a week with the flu. He advised me to not appear at the Sault Ste Marie. He said you have just got out of sick bed you wont be at your best. They will have another board sitting at a later date. I was anxious to get the board over with, but heeded his advice and did not appear at the Soo.

     I received word a little over a month later that I was to appear before the board at Kenora District Headquarters. On the appointed date I took a flight from  Sault Ste Marie to Thunderbay to Dryden in a 737 type aircraft. At Dryden I changed to a smaller Twin Otter for the flight to Kenora. On my arrival at Kenora the Detachment Commander advised me that I was scheduled to appear before the board in 45 minutes. I was to appear in dress uniform.  I considered pushing the panic button at this point, as I had travelled with my sam brown belt and hardware in my suitcase and my uniform in a clothes bag. They had transferred my suitcase at Dryden but not my clothes bag; it had travelled on to Winnipeg. I was reminded I was in the north. I arrived as a stranger in Kenora, but when I explained my predicament to the duty Sergeant, he jumped into full gear. They outfitted me with one of their members dress uniforms almost immediately. I was hurried but was dressed and I thought ready to take on the board within the allotted time.

     To appear before the five-man board you knock on the door, when you are invited into the room, you march in briskly salute and come to attention. You stand in that manner until you are invited to sit down in a chair. Sitting in the chair you are facing the five superior officers who are seated behind a table facing you. They usually question you one at a time as to how you would deal with various scenarios. We usually refer to it as the hot seat.

     In my case I knocked on the door was invited in, I marched in briskly, came to attention and saluted. The first words spoken were out of the mouth of a particular Chief Superintendent from Toronto. He said: Corporal your belt buckle is improperly presented. He was right. I requested permission to be seated. I was instructed to do so.  I sat down pulled up my pant legs so they could clearly see my socks and said: Gentlemen I may as well confess! I told them my story as to what had happened to my uniform and how with the assistance of the local Detachment and with much haste I had arrived before them. In my rush to get ready I had not completed the full attachment of the belt buckle on my Sam Brown. I had lost my dark socks in the transfer and was wearing a pair of bright green plaid socks. They seemed to accept my explanation for those errors then started one by one throwing different scenarios at me and asking me how I would deal with them. I found these pretty basic, as I had been acting Detachment Commander on many occasions. When you gave an answer to the scenario they had presented. They would try to get you to change your mind by adding additional information to their scenario. If that information changed the circumstances to such a degree it warranted a different answer I would change my solution. In most cases I remained with my original answer. On completion of my board examination I returned to Wawa without further problems.

     I should mention that one thing I learned during my time in Wawa and Hornpayne, was one should not hesitate if offered a Northern Posting. The people, members and work in general will be an eye opening experience that you will never regret or forget.

     I believe it was a couple of months later that I learned I had been successful in all phases of the promotional process and that my name would be placed on an eligibility list for promotion to Sergeant. It was only a month or so later that I received a phone call from Deputy Commissioner Bill Lidstone. I was at work when I received the call. He was quite happy to advise me that I was being offered Niagara Falls Detachment. He asked me to have a talk with my wife and let him know in a couple of days if I wished to accept it. I thanked him very much for the offer, but advised him I wished to decline the offer, as it was a little further south than I wished to go. He seemed rather perturbed by my answer. In thinking back I realized I was lucky I was not sent to the very far north. Like Ellsmere Island. At any rate, about a month later I received documentation saying I would be promoted effective the 25 March 1980 and posted as Detachment Commander at Bala Detachment in the District of Muskoka.

     It was less than five years later that the OPP did away with the Corporal’s Rank and made all Corporal’s automatically Sergeant’s. I never did quite figure out the reason for this and felt the force lost something in the process. By that time I had been promoted to Staff Sergeant and those that had been Sergeant’s were promoted to the first level of Staff Sergeant.

     I am attaching a photograph that was taken at our home in Wawa. It reminds me of one of the many fun times we had there. I believe it was the Wawa Legion, who use to fly in a crates of live Lobsters every year and we could have a Lobster feast. Pictured here is our son Kim on my right and Shawn on my left.

If you wish to read my previous submissions, they are all stored at the following URL: <garryspolicememories.tumblr.com>

[nobelmemories]

                                           Part VI

      More Nobel Memories – Along The Nobel Road

     I have inserted two photographs. The first being the Hammel homestead as it is today, the second is of the homesteaders William James “Billy” Hammel and his wife Jessman “ Emily” Hailstone and their three daughters. Elizabeth, Berta, Mable.  The two boys Charlie and Gordon were not in the Photograph.

           My starting point for this session is the laneway that runs from present day Nobel Rd to Hammel Avenue. I think we use to call it Cecs Lane.  As most  of the old timers know the confectionary store located there was owned by Cec Mayotte. Pretty well everything in that part of Nobel was supplied by Cec’s Confectionary. Cec was a shrewd business man business man and had his hand in many ventures. He was also an excellent dry wall and plasterer.  His companion was Dot Edwards who usually could be found behind the counter in the Confectionary store.  Dot had two boys that I remember Jimmy was the oldest and Reg a year or two younger. Reg was a likeable sort and was involved in hockey and other sports. I never chummed with Reg, but we often would be in the same crowds and spoke often. The last time I seen Reg was about 1952 or 53. In 1979 I was on the OPP stationed at Wawa Ontario. I was acting Detachment Commander at the time. One weekend we received a call that an airplane had crashed on Midgin Lake about 25 miles south east of Wawa. This was a fly in lake about ten miles off the Highway. I sent a Constable down to investigate with instructions to call me and fill me in when he returned. About six hours later I received the call from the Constable, he filled me in on his investigation and the notifications he had made. Then he informed me that the pilot knew me and wanted to talk to me. The Pilot came on the phone and it was Reg Edwards. It turned out that he had screwed up and did several things wrong which led to the crash but the good thing was he and his three passengers were not hurt. Before he hung up he said to me Garry I have always remembered something you told me about girls. He never did tell me just what I had told him, but I have always wondered what great piece of advice it was. I have been married for almost 59 years and my wife Rhoda will tell you that I still don’t understand women. Can you just imagine, it was something I said to him when I was 15 or 16 years old and he remembered it for another 27 years?

     Now Jimmy Edwards was tarred with a different brush. He taught me a lesson which I have never forgotten.  Jimmy had a reputation for being a bit of a bully and a dirty fighter. One night at the High School I picked a fight with him. I thought I was going to teach him a lesson. Jimmy was a pretty good boxer but I thought I could handle that part. Anyway we sparred around a little bit and I was planning on giving him an Elephant Fling. It is a wrestling move where you grab the opponent’s right wrist with your left hand, put your right hand under his left armpit, pull, lift and twist.

If done properly, he goes up in the air does a summersault and lands on his back. It usually ends the fight. I was dancing around with my right fist cocked and my left hand open. Jimmy threw a right heading for my nose and I blocked it with my open left hand. His fist struck my hand where the joint is that joins your thumb to your hand. I did not realize what had happened, but my thumb joint was suddenly in the palm of my hand. I made a fist and struck him with my left hand and suddenly was on my knees with the pain. Jimmy stopped fighting, took one look and said you better get to a doctor. Now if he had been a dirty fighter, he certainly had me at a disadvantage. So the lesson learned was never ever pick a fight. When you lose it is double embarrassing. Don’t say someone is a dirty fighter unless you can prove it. By the way it took three doctors to put the thumb back into place.

     Moving on west on Hammel Ave from Cec’s Lane was the Galipeau’s. Alex and Nora were the parents, and I remember Roger and Milly as being two of the children. Roger was a little younger than I, but was always happy and friendly. Roger became a very good hockey player and was quite successful as a teacher and a lawyer. I did not know this but stumbled onto the fact that he was inducted into the Bobby Orr Hall of fame in 2010. Anyone querying his name will see just how successful he was. Sadly he passed to Cancer in 1997. He certainly came from humble beginnings at Nobel and reading his story will make any local person proud.

     I know there were more houses as we travelled on west on Hammel Ave., but I don’t remember who they were. I do remember a certain maple tree as you start down the hill on the north side of the road. It came up out of the ground and hooked to the right like a chair back. As a young boy I went to the Nobel United Church Sunday School and I seldom walked by that I did not stop and admire that tree. That was close to 72 years ago and the tree is still there, just grown closer to the ground. Speaking of Sunday School, how many of you older people still have your pins for perfect  attendance. I have both the silver and gold ones.

     The next place I remember from the 1940’s is the Hammel Place. It is presently located at 125 Hammel Ave. and is occupied by my friends Bob & Isabel Hammel. In the 1940’s it was occupied by Ed & Maggie Hammel. Ed was a Master Mechanic at DIL during the war. He was well respected for his work both at DIL and his shop which was located just west of his house at the edge of the road.

     I remember when I was eight or nine years old. My Dad had a 1928 Chevrolet. It had a crack about 10” long in the front fender. The metal in those fenders was quite thick. Dad took me with him and we drove up to Ed’s to get it welded. Ed took the wheel off and welded the fender from the underside. It’s not everyone who can do overhead welding. Ed’s weld was a thing of beauty, every bead was like a wishbone, all neat and in a perfect row. They put the wheel back on and Dad was on his knee’s looking at the weld. He could not resist reaching up and touching it. He quickly pulled back his hand and stood up and I noticed he put his hand in his pocket. He thanked Ed and paid him for the job and we left. As we were driving down the road, Dad lifted up his hand and looked at his fingers. The skin was burnt off the tips of three of them. I said that must hurt, Dad said: when you do something stupid you don’t advertise it! I often thought of that in later years when I likewise did something stupid. Ed’s shop was something very special even compared with shops of today. He had just about ever tool you could imagine. There was grinders, saws, drill presses, lathes and more. The fascinating thing was that they were all driven by an old gasoline hit and miss motor. A series of belts and pulleys were distributed around the shop so they could all be engaged as they were needed using the same drive source.

     In later years I worked at Stanrock Mine during the uranium boom at ELLIOT Lake and also spent a few years working as a Lead Burner at the Sulphuric acid plant at Cutler. It did not seem to matter where I went in the north I would run across someone who had worked with or knew of Ed Hammel.

     I remember my Uncle Harry telling me that when he worked with him, Ed developed a way to successfully weld cast iron. He built a small furnace that he could preheat the cast iron, then lift up the top, lean in and weld it while it was still hot. This prevented it from cracking as it cooled.

◦                It was sad, years later that I learned that old age did not treat him well. He developed memory problems. He had walked the land behind his farm most of his life. He first got turned around on the rocks behind his farm and was found I believe on Hwy 124 near Waubamic. Sometime later he walked in the same area, but never was found. Many people have searched the area hoping to find his remains. At one time the Canadian Army had a search for him. To date all searches have been unsuccessful.

     Ed & Maggie had two daughters, Isabel & Beryl. I think in the 40’s Beryl lived in the house that was located between their shop and their house. The thing I remember is that there was a very tasty crabapple tree beside Beryl’s house that the kids from the school would visit quite often. This resulted in an announcement being made at school that the Apple tree was on private property and we were not to pick the apples. I think it helped, Some!

     I recently visited Bob and Isabel Hammel nee Gougeon and learned some very interesting information. I am not sure whether Hammel Ave., is named after Ed or just the family, either way it is well deserved. To begin with six generations of Hammel.s have lived on that property. The first generation began with the marriage of Willam James “Billy” Hammel and Emily Hailstone. I am assuming that this took place in the early 1880’s. I am told there were three girls and two boy as a result of this union. I only learned of the name of one of the girls, who was named Mable. The boys were Charlie and ED. These were second generation. Charlie and Ena nee Fenton had two boys, Gordon and Jim. Ed and Maggie had two girls, Isabel and Beryl. These were third generation. Gordon and Agnes nee Thompson had a boy, Bob and a girl Wilma, these were fourth generation. Bob and Isabel nee Gougeon had a boy Chuck, fifth generation and finally Chuck had a boy Cameron who would be the sixth generation. The Hammel’s have continued to contribute to the growth of the Municipality for these many years. Gerry Hammel one of Billy Hammel’s grandsons was killed in one of the tow explosions that took place at Nobel. He lost his life in 1940.

     The next home that I remember from the forties is the old United Church Manse. The first name that comes to mind was Tristrams.  The father was the church minister and I remember two boys one was Tom I believe and the older brother was John. John worked for a number of years in the carpenter trade. I remember the old Shebeshekong Church that my mother and dad were married in was located on the right hand side of Hwy 559 just before the hill that Hare’s road is on. The church was built in 1911. I believe it was during the Easter holiday of 1949 John Tristram and Slim Colberg had taken a contract to tear down the church. They hired me to remove the nails to salvage the boards. I was paid 59 cents and hour. I also was given the old organ which I tore for the wood.

     The last building I remember on what was then called the side road and now Hammel Ave, was the United Church where I went to Sunday school. It did not have the added room on then. The Nobel Consolidated School was there with the old annex beside that I attended grade four in. Then on past the present circle that now ends Hammel Ave was the old brown school. It was situated just about where Avro Arrow road now exists. My mother attended that school in grade eight and said she was taught by Ruby Cook. My brother also attended there and I believe his teacher was a Mr Mendelson. In the 1940’s the side road continued out past the school to Hwy 69 then also called the Nobel Rd.

      If you wish to view my previous submissions under this title, please go to the following URL: https://nobelmemories.tumblr.com

                                                   Garry Crawford

[dankr-cannabis]

Wawa Speeding Stop by OPP Leads to Charges for Thunder Bay Man

Wawa Speeding Stop by OPP Leads to Charges for Thunder Bay Man

Article by NetNewsLedger

A Thunder Bay man faces a number of charges following an OPP traffic stop for speeding near Wawa Ontario. His passenger, a man from Barrie Ontario was also arrested and charged with having proceeds of a crime in his possession.

OPP reports that on June 29, 2020, at approximately 7:30 pm EDT, a member of the Superior East Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police was…

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[garryspolicememories]

                  Policing Memories of

           Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                            Part XX

    Search for Two Hunters Lost in Pukaskwa

     Forest For 13 Days – Wawa Detachment.

                     The HUNTERS STORY

     If Memory serves me correctly it was on October the 9th., in the late 1970’s. Carl Norman, 36 and Ronald Frese, 28 of Akron Ohio were flown into a Fly-in camp on a small lake near Jostle Lake, about twenty air miles west of Wawa, Ontario. The two men were flown in by White River Air Service to do some moose hunting. I believe Moose Season was to open the following day. The two men were advised that their flying service would be making periodic fly-overs as their time progressed. If there was an emergency or they shot a moose that needed taken out, they were to run up a flag on a pole that was installed at the camp. The camp itself was a simple tent camp set up on a wooden platform on a rock outcrop overlooking the lake. The interior contained the bare necessities of a stove, small table stand  etc. and two rough wooden bunks. Washing and cooking utensils.

     When the aircraft left Norman and Frese put there sleeping gear and packsacks containing their clothing food and other supplies into the camp. They decided that they would do a reconnoiter of the lake and surrounding area to see if there was any moose sign. They were already dressed in hunting gear, so they took their rifles and worked there way down the north side of the lake. On reaching a point approximately ¾ of the way down the lake, they came upon a cow moose with her calf standing in the shallow water. They shot the cow and wounded the calf, it ran off. They cleaned out their kill and retrieved a small boat that was at the camp, dragged the moose down the lake to the campsite and hung the moose in a tree. The two men had gotten quite wet in the process, they stripped off their wet hunting gear and changed into dry spare clothing they had brought with them.  One was dressed in dress shoes a white T-shirt and a light jean jacket. The other was similarly dressed but just a shirt and no jacket.

     I guess they were pretty excited about their kill and decided to go back and see if they could find the wounded calf. Only one of them took a rifle. On returning to the scene of their kill it was getting near dark. They started working their way back from the lake and when they reached a point approximately 500 yards north of the lake they came upon the calf and made their second kill. On bleeding the calf it was quite dark. One of the men took off his cap red hunting cap and placed it on top of a stump near the calf.

     The two men then proceeded to return to their camp, which was in an easterly direction from the calf kill. They had no compass but did have a flashlight. Instead of heading east, they unknowingly headed southwest, they had completely lost their direction. They continued as far as they could that night and I believe the flashlight went dead. The following day they decided they had better conserve what they had and stay where they were for the time being. It is believed they stayed at this location for three days. They had the rifle, an axe, and the dead flashlight. They did not have any matches, food, compass, heavy clothing or proper footwear. They were getting quite hungry at this point. They took the battery out of the flashlight and used it as a water container. They found if they drank lots of water they felt some relief from the hunger. One of the two had marine survival training. They used the axe to gather evergreen boughs and made a type of igloo with a very small opening. The floor was also covered with fine boughs for bedding. At night the two men cuddled to help conserve their body heat. They were unable to make a fire. The third or fourth day one of the men shot a partridge, which they tried to eat raw. This was futile as they were unable to keep the raw meat in their stomach. The men advised that they were starting to feel quite weak, but found by laying in the sun on the flat rocks they felt rejuvenated.

     It was about the fifth day without seeing any help, Norman and Frese had established some direction and decided to start to walk towards the highway, which they knew was in an easterly direction. They continued working their way east for a couple of more days and were getting pretty weak at this point. They built another similar shelter to the first one on a high cliff overlooking a ravine. One night a moose interrupted their sleep. The two men had pealed some poles and laid then out in an opening to form an H for help. By the twelfth night of their ordeal the two men decided they would get up in the morning and start walking towards the highway and continue until they dropped.

     It was during the thirteenth day the two men were lost that they heard a helicopter. They rushed out of their shelter and waved to the circling helicopter. I later interviewed the two men at the Lady Dunn Hospital in Wawa. One of the men had temporarily lost his voice and was unable to talk. The other advised me about their rescue. He stated: That pilot really knew what he was doing. He came down just like a big fly. He put one of his skids on the edge of the cliff and just hovered there. We quickly climbed on board. I found this latter statement somewhat amusing, as it was told with what I would call a very heavy Kentucky drawl.

     One of the men had lost 20 lbs. and the other 25 lbs. during their adventure. The two men were very appreciative of the members involved in their search and rescue, promising to raise money on their return to Ohio, which they would contribute to the Soo Search and Rescue and any other volunteer groups involved. Their tone changed somewhat when the Wawa Ministry of Natural Resources for taking the moose during the closed season charged them.

                                 The Search

     I believe it was on the 17th., of October White River Air Service decided to check on their hunter’s. The two men had been lost for seven days at this point. I would think their week’s hunt was ending and their aircraft had witnessed no flag signal. On checking the cabin they found a moose hanging in a tree and obvious signs that the men’s bunks had never been slept in. Their pilot returned to Wawa and it was reported to Wawa Detachment. It was obvious from the pilot’s report that something had happened to the two men. Either they had become lost or something more serious had happened. Because of the rugged wilderness involved and the isolation of this area a search was in order.  

     Myself as search coordinator and the Detachment Commander Sergeant Lorne Neve implemented a plan for logistics. We took into consideration the area concerned, equipment needed, tools, maps, flagging tape,  axes and shovels, transportation, supplies for accommodation, food, cooking,  and manpower.  By the late 70’s most Detachments had some personnel who were trained in Search and Rescue work. A request was made to White River and Hornepayne Detachment for volunteers and trained personnel. A similar request was made to the Wawa Ministry of Natural Resources for men and assistance with transportation and tents, sleeping and cooking equipment. A telephone call was placed to Mac Nicholson the director of the Sault Ste Marie Search and Rescue Centre for assistance with their manpower. I should mention that this group is a completely volunteer organization, which book time off work without pay and volunteer their services. A request was also made for the attendance of the OPP Helicopter. Finally a grocery list was compiled to feed out search team. Our Detachment Custodian at that time was Brian Ringrose. Brian Volunteered to be our search team’s Cook.

     Late on the afternoon of the 17th., White River Air Service flew Constables Tex Luoma, Don Lewko , Don Harrison and myself in to the location of the outpost cabin. We took along a small amount of food, sleeping bags and personal equipment. On our arrival we found the dead moose hanging behind the camp. It was obvious that the men had not been back to the camp since their arrival and they had made a change of clothing. A quick reconnoiter along the north side of the lake was made just prior to dark and we located where the cow moose had been taken and some tracks. I remember that there was some concern about who was going to get the two bunks. There was no worry though as we located some used lumber behind the camp and each bunk was extended to allow two members at each bunk. Lol.

     On the morning of the 18th. , the OPP Helicopter arrived from Toronto with two pilots aboard, Constables Norm Kerr and Dwayne Sedgwick. Additional members arrived from Sault Ste Marie Search and Rescue. Members of Wawa Ministry of Natural Resources, White River and Hornepayne Detachments. A line search was commenced from the location where the moose had been killed. A line search requires a fair amount of discipline.

     The leader on the outside of the line runs on a compass line marking his progress with marking tape as he moves along. The man on the other end of the line also marks our passage with marking tape and keeps a tally of the distance travelled. The remaining members form a line off of the leader. Each person must keep and equal distance from his neighbour, depending on the terrain, this distance is usually 6 to 10 feet. Additionally the line must be kept as straight as possible. If anything is observed eg. tracks broken branches, article of clothing or any of item that would indicated someone’s passage. Then the line would be halted and the leader or other appointed person would be responsible for checking the item out, recording its location and when satisfied start the line again.

      When a predetermined distance has been covered the line is reversed and ran parallel to the first line with the first man in the line following the marking tape and the person on the outside of the line again marking the outside line with marking tape and doing a tally. In this search, two members were dispatched to the north to the Hydro Line with instructions to run on a fixed bearing and mark their trail with flagging tape to checkout the Power Line right of way for any sign. The remaining members were used on the line search.

     The exception being Brian Ringrose and one other person who remained at the campsite to set up accommodation and a cooking area.

     It was early on in the search when the force helicopter spotted something red in the thick bush. The item was just slightly ahead of the search line. This turned out to be one of the lost hunter’s hunting cap placed on top of a stump. The dead calf moose was located a short distance away. Tracks were located on the west side of our search area later that day which caused us to lean our search towards the southwest.

I believe it was on the third day the search line located a man made shelter and parts of a flashlight and the remains of a partridge cleaning, approximately two miles to the south west of the fly-in camp. The search was continued with indications the two individuals had moved south then east.

      The fourth day as I remember was pretty uneventful with the search team working south and east from the location of fly-in camp and south of the lake.

     I remember later in the afternoon of the fourth day the helicopter had to return to Wawa to pick up a reload of fuel. We were in the air ahead of the search team and I radioed into Wawa Detachment with instructions to the dispatcher to advise Sergeant Neve that I had a special request for additional groceries.

     The team was working under very difficult conditions. The work was very tiring and uncomfortable. At times they would be walking on the ice through the ponds and muskeg at others they would be climbing cliffs. At other times they would break through the ice and get wet. I wanted to keep their spirits up and as I had done on other searches I tried to get them a little treat. One of the requests for groceries was kind of coded as much of the district could hear my radio broadcast. So my simple instructions were to request Sergeant Neve to pick up two dozen brown eggs from the In an Out Store. When we completed the area we were searching we returned for the much needed fuel and groceries. When we landed, Sergeant Neve met us with the groceries and when I looked there were two dozen white eggs. I explained to Lorne what my request had been and he was somewhat discussed, as the dispatcher had failed to give my description. (Two dozen brown eggs from the In and Out Store.) He had simply written down 2 doz. Eggs. The matter was quickly solved as Constable Jeff Lamb was off duty, had seen the helicopter landing and had dropped into the airport to see how we were doing. He made a quick trip with his Harley and retrieved the case of beer for us. I will never forget the looks of the scene when I returned to the fly-in camp. Brian Ringrose had built himself a circular stone fireplace. He had cut up a bunch of white birch and burnt it down to a huge pile of red charcoal coals. He had barbecued pork chops to a golden perfection. Everyone was gathered around sitting on the rock waiting for supper. There was enough beer to go a round. Everyone was smiling and tired but satisfied.

     The following day Norm and Dwayne were searching and area south and east from our campsite when the observed the lost hunters on top of a cliff. There was no open landing spot, so they elected to do a hovering pick-up. This is somewhat difficult, but I am sure it would be somewhat easier when there were two pilots to fly talk and observe. These two men in my opinion were the two best helicopter pilots I had flown with. I remember Dwayne telling me afterwards that he was somewhat concerned as the two men had been lost for thirteen days under very difficult conditions. No food, no heat and improperly clothed. Many men in these circumstances might be effected mentally. Well;  here they are hovering with just one skid touching the edge of the cliff. The one man climbed aboard okay but the other man rushed over still carrying his axe, they tried to get him to throw it away, but he wouldn’t. The two men did abandon their rifle, which had been of little use to them, but they kept the axe, which had probably saved their lives’. The two men were flown back to Wawa were they were admitted to the Lady Dunn Hospital. The one man who had lost his voice was okay after a couple of days. They had some injuries to their feet but other than that were fine after a couple of days. As I have said before they were charged and convicted for hunting out of season. Following my interview at the hospital I never heard from them again.

                               Photo Attached

     I have attached a picture that was taken on the night before our last day. Time has passed and like anyone else my memory has faded. I have forgotten the names of many in the picture. I leave that for others to identify. As I remember beginning on the front left. With red cap u/k, Constable Doug Arthur, just showing a head is Constable Don Harrison, The next fellow headed up the Soo S.& R. last name was McDonald, Corporal Ernie Bondarenko,u/k. Standing with green took Corporal Garry Crawford Search Co-coordinator, u/k with red jacket, Second row sitting no hat u/k, Constable Don Lewko, Uk. Standing back row on left, Ron Botham of MNR, next 4 u/k. Standing with blue shirt and cup in hand Constable Tex Luoma. The remainder I do not remember their names. As you can see some of us look rougher than others after our ordeal. Most of these members volunteered for this job, they showed the true spirit of the north. Thanks to you all.

     Volunteers were plentiful in the north. I was always amazed, if one had a breakdown on the Highway the first car that came along was sure to stop and offer assistance. I feel sorry for OPP Officers who never have the opportunity to serve in the north. They are missing a great deal.

[garryspolicememories]

                                 Policing Memories of

             Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                           Part XVII

            Armed Robbery Lighthouse Restaurant

     One afternoon shift in the latter half of 1970’s I was at the Wawa Detachment Office. I was advised by dispatch that there had been an armed robbery at the Lighthouse Restaurant south of Montreal River. The culprits had left northbound. Corporal Gerry Thompson from the Sault Ste Marie Detachment was in the area, had responded to the report and was in pursuit of the culprits vehicle; northbound on Highway #17.

     I grabbed my rifle jumped in a cruiser and headed south. At the same time I requested our radio operator to dispatch a second vehicle containing Constables Tex Luoma and Don Harrison to the Old Woman River Bridge which was about twenty miles south of Wawa. My instructions were for them to wait at the bridge for further instructions. I proceeded as far south as Red Rock Ranger Station and waited.  There was a straight stretch for the better part of a mile south from my location. My thought was to have a clear view with no other cars involved when I stopped the vehicle. When I seen the wanted car coming with Gerry in pursuit, I pulled my cruiser crossways on the centerline of the highway. I attempted to flag the wanted car down. An occupant leaned out the window and started firing at me. I took cover behind the cruiser. The culprit’s car swung onto the shoulder down on the bank and around my cruiser. I fired a shot at the fleeing car as it pulled back onto the highway. I thought I had shot the rear window out at that point, but it may have exploded as the culprit shot back. Gerry hardly slowed, he followed the culprits car around the cruiser. I radioed the cruiser at the Old Woman Bridge and told them that when they seen the wanted car with us in pursuit, with no cars in front. They were to put their cruiser crossways in the middle of the Bridge. Then take cover. My thought was to leave no opening for them to get by. The quicker we stopped them the fewer people would be involved. They had indicated to me by the gun fire that they were not going to give up easily. They had a choice, Stop, go in the river, or run into the cruiser on the bridge.

     Gerry and My adrenaline was flowing pretty good at this point. Something I had learned over the years, was to try to slow down when you found yourself in this situation. One way was to force yourself to talk very slowly, the other was self talk. In gives you time to think and rationalize a little better and remember your training.

      So here we are barreling down the highway and I radioed Gerry and said something like: How – are – you – doing – Gerry? Gerry’s response: Hey! These – guys – are – shooting- at -me. Hey! I – think – they – just – hit – my - radiator. My response: Maybe- your – too - close.

     As we dropped onto the flat before Old Woman Bridge I could see our cruiser with all lights activated on the middle of the bridge.  I guess the culprits saw it too, as they suddenly pulled off the road down into the east ditch and travelled right over close to the bush line.

  Gerry came to a stop crossways on the shoulder with his headlights on the side rear of the vehicle. I skidded past him and stopped with my headlight lights on the front side of the vehicle. We then had the four occupants of the vehicle exit it and lay face down on the ground with their arms and legs outstretched. They were handcuffed and questioned. We could find no firearms. As we got backup, we searched back down the road and shoulders with out finding any. One of the four then admitted that a fifth subject with the gun had exited their vehicle and ran into the bush. Neither Gerry nor I had seen him go.

     Tex Luoma and Don Harrison arrived on the scene within a couple of minutes. I seem to remember Don saying something about Gerry and I being a little strange. Lol.

     We did not feel it was advisable to try and follow the suspect into the bush at night. We decided to move our roadblocks a couple of miles north and south of the scene. They were to stop all vehicles and tell them under no circumstances to stop between the two roadblocks. We then used plain cars to do a constant patrol through the area. Lorne Neve the Detachment Commander had been advised at this point and he accompanied me in one of the plain cars patrolling the area.

     Just after daybreak we were patrolling south on Highway #17 down the Hill to Old Woman Bay. At the point where you can first see the Old Woman Beach, we could see a person walking north on the beach. The subject was about ½ a mile away at this point.  We drove into the Beach Parking Lot. Lorne headed for the Beach with the intent of making his way towards the person. I headed south on a trail that parallels the beach. I was carefully making my way with the intent of intercepting the individual. I reached a point about 300 yards south of the parking lot, when I seen the suspect hiding behind a clump of dirt, he had his rifle up and was attempting to sight in on me.

( We learned later that the rifle was a .303 military rifle that had both the barrel and the stock sawed off. In order to sight it, one had to hold it away from them and sight down the barrel)

     The instant I seen the individual was sighting on me, I threw my rifle to my shoulder and fired. The suspects rifle flew into the air at least 15 feet over his head. I thought I had somehow hit the rifle. The suspect then stood up with his hands extended over his head. I was approximately fifty yards from him. I ordered him to walk out to the path very slowly, then had him lay face  down with his hands extended. I then moved up and handcuffed him. At that point I rolled him over and I gasped. The suspect was no more than sixteen years old, I had two teenage boys at home. I was using my own personal rifle which I carried on the trap line. I was very accurate with it and seldom missed a shot. Only his head and top of his shoulders were visible when I shot. I had aimed for the center of his forehead.

     Lorne and I returned the individual to Wawa and lodged him in the Detachment Cells. The excitement was over for the time being. On checking the individual a short time later, I asked him if there was anything he needed. He replied that he would sure like a pop. We did not have a pop machine in the Detachment, but the good thing was that Gerry Thompson was still there. I checked Gerry’s bag and sure enough he had a quantity of COKE. I took one and gave it to the suspect. Gerry has never forgiven me. I know because just last year he mentioned that incident. He said: That guy tried to kill me! What did you do? You gave him one of my coke. I really don’t believe he was that upset, because he has remained a steadfast friend over the past fifty some years.

     The rifle I was using was a .308 cal. Winchester lever action. Model 88. I carried it most of the time while in the bush, but I used reloaded shells.  The day following this incident I took it out to the pit where we did our firearms training to try to figure out why I had missed my shot. I learned pretty quickly what had happened. At fifty yards the reloaded shells were right on. I had used military rounds from the Detachment that were 7.62 mm. These were meant for the old sniper rifle that most Detachments use to be issued with, but were much hotter than my reloads. At 50 yards they hit about 1 ½ “ high. I guessed my shot most likely passed through his hair. That was enough. He wanted to give up.

     The accused was charged by Sault Ste Marie OPP for the robbery at the Lighthouse Restaurant and then returned to the Toronto Area where he was convicted for several other robberies and sentenced to a lengthy period in a Federal Institution.

     I was grateful in one way that I had missed my shot and was not responsible for the life of a young teenager, but felt he would most likely continue his life of crime.

   The story does not end there. I was promoted to Sergeant in the early spring of 1980 and posted to Bala Detachment as Detachment Commander. A couple of years later this same suspect escaped from a federal institution at Kingston Ontario. Constable Ray Negus was on patrol in the Old Woman Bay parking lot and seen a vehicle which had been stolen at Kingston Ontario. The story as I heard it was that Ray had waited out of sight of the stolen car. Sure enough the culprit returned to the stolen car and Ray arrested him. He had hidden the money he stole from the Lighthouse restaurant in the sand along Old Woman River and had returned with the intention of retrieving it. The Old Woman River floods every spring and the sand bars and shoreline change. No money was ever found. The name of the accused has not stayed in my memory, however I often wonder if he ever made anything of himself or did he as I expected just continue a life of crime.

     I have included a photograph of Lorne Neve and myself with this submission. I am not to sure just when it was taken, but it appears something was in the planning stage. I am sure it will bring back some good memories to some who read this.

                 A Drowning With A Message

     How often I have wished that during my time as an active police officer, I had a camera or phone with a camera as we have today. There were so many times that I seen or witnessed something that I would have recorded

     One day in the summer during the 1970’s we received a call at Wawa Detachment from Camp Lochalsh on Wabatongushi Lake. They reported that one of their guests had gone through the chutes at the dam on their lake and was believed to have drowned.

    Arrangements were made for the use of a Beaver aircraft with Airdale flying services. Ray Negus was the investigating officer. Ed Zelionis District Dive Master and one other diver was dispatched from the south. We flew up and landed on the lake below the dam. Dave Little the owner/manager of Camp Lochalsh was waiting at the lake.

     If my memory is correct, two people had been fishing in a boat just above the dam. One of the men had stood up to relieve himself. The boat had drifted through the chutes upset and continued down the river and rapids. One of the men had been able to get to the shore. The other disappeared. On arrival the two divers suited up and began their recovery operation. Beginning where the boat had upset then working their way down the river to the second lake. Ray and I waited on the shore acting to assist where we could. The divers had been working for a couple of hours with no success. I decided to take the boat that was at the landing and have a look down the lake. As several stop logs had been replaced in the dam after the accident, it was feasible that the earlier high volume  of water at the time of the accident had flushed the body down the lake.

     Dave Little accompanied me and we started down the lake. When we reached a point about ½ a mile down the west side of the lake we found the body.  It was floating vertical in about 8 feet of water. His pants were down around his ankles and they were snagged on a root on the bottom. His head was about three feet under the water. There was a 66 ounce whisky bottle that was ¾’s empty floating immediately above the body. A photo would have given a great safety message. Don’t drink and go boating!

     We had a bit of difficulty getting the body into our boat, but finally succeeded, wrapped it in an emergency blanket and rowed back up the lake. As we came back to the landing where Ray was waiting I seem to remember Ray having a little accident. The flat rock down to the water was sloped and covered in moss. As Ray rushed down to catch the boat it moved and poor Ray fell into the lake.  Ray probably has a different version, but its my story. What made it bad was Ray was in uniform and we still had to fly over to Camp Lochalsh for him to interview a couple of people. He was true to form and finished his investigation without having any more mishaps.

     If you wish to read my previous submissions, they are all stored at the following URL: <garryspolicememories.tumblr.com>

[garryspolicememories]

                  Policing Memories of

             Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                            Part XVI

     In the early spring of 1974 I was selected to attend a Search and Rescue Course with the Canadian Military. I must admit that I was probably the one in the back row with my hand straight up, yelling : Pick Me! Pick Me! I loved being in the Northern Bush. Whether it was on the trap line, hunting or another fishing expedition.

     If my memory is correct, by that time I had completed my diving training with Ed Zelionis and had convinced my wife that we just had to have our own aircraft. We bought a Cessna 150 which we leased back to the local flying school. Part of the lease was an agreement that I obtain my pilot’s license for the sum of $200.00. Everything worked out fine. I even put the aircraft in my wife’s name, but unfortunately she did not like flying. So we sold the plane and built a new house.

     The Search and Rescue Training took place in the Champlain Provincial Park north of Mattawa, Ontario. They set us up in small groups of  3 or 4. Each group had their own tent. The fire season was already high, so we had to do our own cooking on Coleman stoves. The first part of the course was classroom indoctrination. The part that stayed with me the rest of my life was the part where they emphasized, that in a survival or wilderness situation the first thing you do is to take stock of what you have at hand. What is available? Then make a plan of how you will use those items. I have never forgotten that as it applies in so many different situations. We were supposed to exist during the course on minimal  food etc. At the same time as our course was being run there was an advanced Course in the same park with cooks and plenty of provisions. Lets just say we ate well.

    The search and rescue training itself was excellent and probably is still followed today with a few adaptions. I know for the searches I coordinated over the following years we usually used a line formation, which covered an area back and fourth marking the area with flagging tape as you covered the ground. One adaption I learned to do was take one or two people who were good with a compass and send them out to predetermined locations. This was especially good in cases of small children or the elderly. I would have these people mark their route with a different coloured flagging tape. The locations would be determined by the lay of the land, the light conditions and time of the day the person became lost. The topography quite often will funnel a lost person to travel in a certain direction. They are also inclined to follow the light source. I found that quite often we would be searching too small an area. The target would not be circling but would travel in a straight direction. At the same time the main search party would pick up any clues as they carefully searched the main area. Discipline on a search line is very important. The line must hold. When a clue is observed the line stops and the clue is examined whether it is a track, article of clothing or a broken branch. One or two persons are specifically assigned do the examination and documentation.

            A Search at Mile 22 CNR TRACK WEST OF

                              HORNEPAYE, ON

              One search I sadly remember occurred in the late fall during the latter part of the 1970’s. I was dispatched to Hornpayne Detachment area. Where a learned that a young native woman who worked in the roundhouse at the CNR Sheds at Hornepayne, had travelled up to her grandparents cabin to spend a few days with them. The cabin was located on the north side of the CNR Line 22 miles west of Hornpayne and south west of Nagagami Lake. The young woman had left in the afternoon to check rabbit snares north of the cabin. A heavy snowstorm had blown in and she had not returned. All trains passing that area had blown their whistles while passing that area and she had failed to appear.

     If my memory is correct, a couple of days had passed between her going missing and our responding due to the communication problem of getting word out. I proceeded to the scene via CN rail with a large search party comprised of OPP members and several native elders. We had something like 22 people on the line. They did an amazing job. Most OPP members would visualize an area of about ten to twenty feet ahead of them as they moved along in line. The native elders always seemed to be looking a hundred feet ahead. They often would notice a bent or broken branch long before we would get to it. It had snowed at least three times between the time the lady went missing and our search commenced, so there was no way of following her tracks. However we would locate areas where she had been. We would find shadow tracks in the settled snow where we could follow her for perhaps ten feet or so then lose the direction. At one point we even were able to dig her frozen foot print out. It was composed of packed and frozen snow. We also located a sweater which she had dropped and in another location her axe. The final area that we were able to positively identify was a thick growth of cedar. She had crowded into the grove, sat down on a clump of snow, then taken cedar branches and folded them over and twisted them into an egg shaped ball. The CNR trains had continued blowing their horns during our search. We found out early on that they would have been of no help to the woman. The sound ricocheted off the surrounding hills. It never seemed to be coming from the tracks, but would circle you as the train went on down the tracks. This of course would have the opposite effect to giving the lady a direction. If she tried to follow the tracks, she would have circled instead. That is what we found she had in fact done.

     The last day of our search we knew another heavy snowstorm was coming in and it would obliterate any sign. In the afternoon heavy wet snow started to fall. We decided to make a deep drive down towards the river that flows out of Nagagami Lake. I remember I was concerned after the noon break that if we stopped too long with the wet clothes and cooling weather that some of our people would get into hyperthermia. I knew from experience that they also would lose energy. So what I would do would be to call a smoke break, as soon as those smokers lit up I would call for them to move forward. We made our run north then the return sweep. When we reached the area we had already covered, we made a beeline for the CNR Tracks. It was getting pretty cold by this time. It was quite dark by the time we reached the tracks. I knew all of our people were out of the bush and we were walking down the tracks to wait at the cabin for the next eastbound train to picks us up. I remember two men were walking ahead of us. One of them was Errol Patterson. Now those who know Errol will remember he had a pretty dry sense of humour. It was cold the crew were tired and probably feeling a little down because of our lack of success. My Christian names are Garry David. All of a sudden I heard Errol exclaim in the cold darkness. Somebody should tell that G—D---- CRAWFORD that slavery went out in the 1800’s. I still have a little chuckle to this day. I’m sorry Errol but you all did an excellent job. We took turns warming up at that little cabin. We were picked up by an eastbound freight train and returned to Hornpayne that night. It was a disappointed crew. The heavy snow that followed on and off for the rest of that winter stopped any further search. Plans were made to return in the spring and attempt a recovery.

     The following spring in early May Norm Kerr and I returned to the area by helicopter. I remember we found a small field near the railway tracks and Norm practiced hovering at a few feet above the ground, while I got out out onto the landing skid carrying my chain saw. I weighted about 225 lbs. at the time, so it made some difference in the balance of the helicopter. When he got use to the feel of my movement and weight change, we flew into the area where I wished to commence our search from. The area was mostly muskeg with many black spruce trees about 30’ high. We found a spot where there was a large boulder probably dropped there by the glaciers. I remember he went into a hover over the boulder concentrating on a broken spruce tree for reference. I got out of the helicopter onto the skid then jumped the five feet or so to the top of the big boulder. I looked back at the helicopter and Norm was in total concentration. I reached up and slapped the skid twice and Norm took off. When he returned in a half hour or so I had dropped enough trees and made a cross pattern of poles that he could land on the muskeg. We made two landing pads in this manner, and then returned to Wawa.

     I had made arrangements with the CNR railway to set up a work train complete with cooking facilities and sleeping quarters on a siding near our starting point. We returned about a week later with a compliment of approximately 22 OPP members. Brian Ringrose was our cook. Most of the crew drove to Hornpayne and the CNR provided transportation to the siding where we were set up. Norm Kerr had arrived with the helicopter and ferried the men into our landing spots. If my memory serves me right, we continued the search for three more days; with no luck. On the fourth day we received word that we would have to stop the search as the helicopter was needed elsewhere. We received the word around noon on the fourth day. I contacted the crew by radio and advised them of the situation.  They were pretty disappointed and asked if they could continue their search for the remainder of the day. We filled a packsack with some nourishment, flew over to their location and lowered it to the team in the bush.

It was a pretty disappointed group that returned to our siding that night. This was the only bush search I coordinated in all my years on the OPP that was not successful. The only thing I could think of was that the young woman had stepped into a sinkhole and could not be seen.  There were plenty of these areas in the muskeg.    

                   Could I have Made a Difference

       As I said earlier in my stories we had many good members in Wawa Detachment. One of them was Walter Purdy. He hailed from the Maritimes, came to Wawa married a local girl and was one of the longest serving members at the Detachment. He had that cheerful maritime personality which people were quick to pick up on. It was common at that Detachment to have someone come in off the road and compliment an officer for a job well done.  I can remember more than once, a person coming in that wished to compliment Walter on his professionalism and manner after he had issued them a ticket for a traffic infraction. We didn’t get to many of those. I heard one incident where he had stopped a person for speeding, issued the ticket and as he returned to the violator’s car; a voice from inside the car said something to the effect: Stop Officer wait a minute! As Walter hesitated, a lady jumped out of the car ran around to the driver’s side and said: Okay now! She wanted a picture as Walter served the ticket, to commemorate their trip.

     One of the memories I had with Walter concerned our attending to a firearm discharge complaint at a home in Hawk Junction one night in the latter part of the 1970’s. We were both familiar with the subject of the complaint. He was a heavy drinker and was known for his dislike of any form of authority. The alleged perpetrator had been drinking was very belligerent and threatening. We seized all firearms in the house and he made death threats towards us for our action. During the altercation, his wife and children were present and witnessed the whole performance. I will mention one of those children in the following paragraph.

     In 1993 I had retired and was teaching in the Law and Security program at Cambrian College at Sudbury.

     On the night of October 7th.1993 Constable Joe MacDonald of the Sudbury Police force made a routine traffic stop on Gordon St., in Sudbury. Peter Pennett and Clinton Suzack occupied the car. Suzack was wanted for a parole violation. A gunfight ensued.  Constable MacDonald received a vicious beating that included a broken leg. This was finalized by his execution by gunfire. Constable MacDonald had emptied his revolver and succeeded in shooting Suzack twice in the chest and Pennett once in the hand. Suzack and Pennett were both convicted of 1st degree murder and sentence to 25 yrs. in prison. Hopefully they will never get parole.

     At the time of this incident police officers were still issued with .38 special calibre revolvers as they were in my time. This firearm was known to often be ineffective in stopping a violent offender. They only held six bullets and were slow to reload even with a speed reloader.

     Following this incident Nancy MacDonald Joe’s widow started lobbying for better firearms. I believe a lot of the credit for the more powerful and better all around weapons that are carried by police officers today, goes to her.

     Each day as I returned to teach at Cambrian College I passed the area where Constable MacDonald died I had to wonder, Could we have done something different all those years before that would have made a difference. The attached picture is that of Constable Joe MacDonald. May his memory go on.

     If you wish to read my previous submissions, they are all stored at the following URL: <garryspolicememories.tumblr.com>

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                                       Policing Memories of

                                 Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                                                 Part XV

     When I first arrived in Wawa in the Spring of 1971, to the best of my recollection there were no civilian radio dispatchers. I believe it was sometime in the next year or so that they started hiring dispatchers. I mention them because they are the unsung hero’s. They are the lifeline for the field officer. They are the ones who would answer the phone and get the necessary information that could mean life or death to so many. The caller in a domestic dispute, or life defining incident. The Officers who would be dispatched to know just what they were walking into. The information they received and dispatched could make all the difference. They received little or no training. They worried about the civilians and their officers on the road. They knew what was happening, where the dangers were and did what they could to support us. If they had not heard from an officer for a certain length of time you would get a check call. At the end of the day, they had to take all of these pressures home with them and they were not to speak to anyone about them. Please remember them and thank them where you can.

     I am listing the names I remember in the early days, some of them moved on the Sault Ste Marie and other Districts. I apologize for any I have missed or have mistakenly listed. These are the ones that come to mind. I thank you all for having our back. Olga McCluskie, Joyce West, Ray White, Roly MacDonald, Dave Doucette, Mullen, Kathy Toop, Rose O’Hearn, Marilyn James. I can remember so many times I would have conversations with these people that were so helpful. The smart ones would ask a question in a very diplomatic way, so often they would make you take a  second look at your decisions and adjust accordingly.

      Linda Skorniak was our secretary and filled in, in so many ways. Brian Ringrose was one of the custodians who was our chief cook on some of our larger bush searchers. Without his volunteering we would have had a pretty hungry group. He always added to the espirits of the group

     I have to tell a little story that comes to mind when I think of Linda Skorniak. One day I was working in the back end of the Constables Office. Linda was also in the office at that time. A lady came in to the front desk and on seeing me she asked Linda if I was Corporal Al Jordan.

     Linda replied: No Al Jordan is a really good looking guy. I forget just what the lady wanted, but between the two of us we satisfied her query and she left the office. I then said to Linda: Linda I overheard what you said to that lady about Al. If Al is the really good looking one, what the hell am I. Linda kind of stammered then replied: Oh you are a more rugged looking guy. To this day I am still trying to understand whether that is good or bad.  I do know I appreciated Linda.                                

         The Sinking of The Edmund Fitzgerald

     The Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains the largest to have sunk in Lake Superior. This occurred in Canadian Waters Off Whitefish Point. The following day there were many OPP members involved in walking the shoreline in search of debris or survivors from that wreck. No one was ever found from the wreck. Gordon lightfoot wrote his song: The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald a couple of years later which most Canadians can recall.

     During the summer of 1977 we received word at Wawa Detachment that a human leg bone had washed up on a small beach on the west end of Michipicoten Island. Michipicoten Island is located in Lake Superior about 60 km off shore from Wawa.  A request was submitted for the use of a force helicopter. Permission was given and an OPP helicopter piloted by Norm Kerr was dispatched to Wawa. Ed Zelionis District Dive Master, Bud Brennan of DHQ Identification Branch and myself, proceeded to the scene. A human leg was recovered, all of the bones were still attached with the exception of the last little toe appendage. A search was made of the beach and shallow water area for further items. Ed and Bud remained at the scene while Norm and I flew to the West End lighthouse where I arranged with the light keepers to make periodic searches of the beach should further remains wash up. The beach was quite narrow. On our return to the beach from the lighthouse, Norm made his round out over the water. He then drifted the helicopter sideways at an altitude of just a few feet. His intention was to set the helicopter down as soon as we were over the beach.

   When Ed had completed his dive he had removed his wet suit and left it lay on the beach to dry. We had not noticed it and as we edged closer to the beach, the rotor wash started to lift the wet suit. The danger being, if it was to lift either into the main rotor of the tail rotor, it could result in serious consequences. Norm attempted to back away from the wet suit. As he did there was a very loud bang. We were parallel to the beach; which meant the back up action moved us down the beach. There was a dead spruce tree that hung out over the beach. We had hit it. Norm and I both had mikes on. I remember when I heard the bang, Norm said: Do you know what that was? My reply was very quick. Ya sit her down, sit her Down.

I had to laugh afterwards as Norm is an excellent pilot and he did not need me to tell him what to do. All I could think of was, we had hit with the tail rotor. Damage to that would cause the helicopter to start to spin. Spinning and crashing you don’t stand much chance as the jolt when you stop usually breaks your neck. Needless to say Norm did a good job of recovering and did set the helicopter down on the beach. I remember examining the main rotor. It had several small wrinkles in it at one point. Norm advised it was fit to fly and we were able to return to Wawa. Before we left Bud Brennan took a photograph of the three of us sitting on the beach. If you look carefully you can see the white end of the overhanging spruce tree behind the helicopter. The photograph from L to R shows Ed Zelionis hugging his wet suit Lol, Garry Crawford and Norm Kerr the pilot.

     We did not have DNA analysis available at that time, so there was no way of making a definite determination as to where the leg had come from. It did make a lot of since that the there was a high probability that it came from the wreckage of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The extremely cold water of the lake would explain the remains surviving intact for that length of time. The counter clockwise circulation of the lake current would explain how it ended up on that small beach so far out on the lake. An examination revealed that the find was from a man estimated to be approximately 65 yrs of age.

     Lake Superior is extremely deep, however the currents are effected by weather to great depths. I remember another case where a fishing boat had sunk and Ed Zelionis had recovered the bodies. The boat had sunk in excess of fifty feet of water. I believe it was a month or so later Ed was approached by the fishing company to assist in recovering the boat. The boat had been relatively undamaged when Ed made the original recovery, however when he returned to recover the boat. There was extensive damage where the boat had rolled over several times on the bottom.

     A Typical Drowning Recovery In 1970’s

     Prior to the mid 1960’s most under water drowning recoveries were made using Dragging Irons. These were lengths of pipes with short lengths of chain attached that had large treble hooks attached that we use to refer to as Sturgeon Hooks. Where a search area was identified a series of parallel passes would be made dragging the irons behind a boat. The hooks would hopefully snag on the victim allowing his recovery. They were quite difficult to use as they snagged on everything they passed over.

     In the latter part of the 1960’s the OPP decided to form Underwater Recovery Teams. I think it was George Orser from Kenora who travelled around doing the testing and selection for the job. I remember I was a very strong swimmer and wanted to try out for the group. When they did the testing for the Sudbury District Members, I attended but was not allowed to take the test, mainly because I had no experience using scuba equipment. The main part of the original test consisted of putting on the tanks mask etc. Diving to the bottom in about fifteen feet of water removing mask and tanks. Then putting your mask back on clearing the mask and repositioning the tank on your back. I thought I could hold my breath long enough to do all those activities even if I didn’t use the scuba. George justifiably rejected my opportunity. Little did I realize at that time just how much scuba diving required you to know.

     In later years I did obtain some knowledge of that occupation. I also learned that scuba diving should not be done by the faint at heart or the fool hardy. There are numerous dangers to be aware of. As an example most people that have not taken up the sport do not realize that a lung full of air from a tank of compressed air at 30’ doubles its volume at surface. So if you are working at 30’ and your tank went empty, then you returned to surface holding your breath you would seriously damage your lungs or worse. The deeper you dive the more the expansion and the greater the danger. One must always keep breathing as you come to surface or exhale if out of air as the air you have increases as you come up. Working for extended period at depth requires you to use a careful formula to avoid air in your blood or what they call the bends which can also be fatal.

     I remember in the mid 1970’s receiving a call at Wawa Detachment that there had been an alleged drowning on Hobon Lake, south of Franz, Ontario. I proceeded via a bush road to Hobon Lake with Ed Zelionis and one other District Diver whose name I can not recall at this time. Our equipment consisted of about a fourteen foot outboard boat with a 15 hp motor. The two divers; diving equipment including extra tanks. About 150” of ½” rope. A large number of javex bottles with string attached. Two diving fins which were made out of 5/8” plywood. They were approximately 2’wide and a 1’ deep, with straight sides and back, curved from the centre area down back to the sides. There was a slot cut from the front centre almost to the centre of the board where there was a hole to attach one end of the tow rope. There were hand holds cut about centre on both sides.

     The first thing one does when attending a body recovery site is to try to make an educated guess as to just where the body may be. This is done considering where the person may have entered the water, plus taking into consideration the water temperature, wind direction, current, What they may have consumed etc. and body buoyancy. Any of these things can effect where the body may be. I have seen cases of fast water where the body is recovered right at their point of entry and others where they were recovered twenty miles away. Usually one starts at the established point of entry plus and you work your way down stream or downwind from that point. I say plus because there is always that chance that your information is a little incorrect and the person entered the water upstream or upwind from where your information led you to believe.

     In the recovery at Hobon Lake, the occurrence involved a Native man who had allegedly fallen out of a canoe about half way up the Lake. We started taking into consideration where the canoe came on shore and working upwind from that point. I ran the boat. We attached one end of the rope to the back corners of the transom, placing one rope on each side. Each of the divers took one of the fins on the end of the rope and was dragged behind, using the fins to take them up or down and side to side. The visibility of the water dictated just how wide a strip we could cover on each pass. Hobon Lake is a long narrow lake. So we started at centre of the lake and worked towards the shore on the side where the canoe had been found and upwind. I dropped off Javex bottles as I proceeded south in this case. The attached string had a weight secured to the bottom which anchored the bottles in place as I dropped one. This gave me direction and reference. As I reached a point where I would return, I would similarly mark it and make a parallel return pass. We had to be careful as there were fallen trees etc, on the bottom that I could not see. A close watch was kept on the diver’s bubbles. I remember on one pass having to stop as one of the divers had been pulled into a down tree that tangled up his line. We had completed about ¾ of the selected area when the body was recovered. I remember that with all of the diving equipment, and the three of us there was no room in the boat for the deceased. We placed him in canoe and towed him down the lake to where we had left our truck. We then carried him and the canoe up to the truck and placed him in the box of the truck, wrapping him in an emergency blanket. The body was then transported out the bush road to Dubreuville; where we were met by a local undertaker. Who then transported the deceased in his hearst to Wawa. I mention this as in so many cases during my career I was either party to or actually involved in a strange method of removing a deceased. In some cases it was in the box of a pick up truck, others holding them upright on a snowmobile, tied to a stretcher then lowered out a window. In one case before snowmobiles I remember using and old army truck that had a mounted A frame and no box. We wrapped the deceased in a mattress wrapping chain around to hold everything in place. Then laid it over the front fender like a deer. There was no disrespect meant. It was simply a matter of making do with what we had. I also remember a skier who froze to death being brought out frozen in a sitting position in a helicopter. These were things we had to do.

     A question I remember being asked by people who witnessed some of the macabre situations that we were involved with was: What do you do at the end of the day? My answer was always the same. As police officers, you do what you have to do. If you are lucky and have a clear conscience. You do what everybody else does. You go home cook your supper, go for a walk or cut the grass. You enjoy your family, the same as everyone else.

     If you wish to read my previous submissions, they are all stored at the following URL: <garryspolicememories.tumblr.com>

[garryspolicememories]

                Policing Memories of           Garry Crawford Circa 1962                          Part XII It was on June 14, 1971. I had just reported to the Superintendent at Sault Ste Marie D.H.Q., dropped off Sergeant Major Orville Waito and headed north on Highway #17 towards Wawa. If anyone has not travelled this section of Highway #17, it is one of the most beautiful scenic highways in Ontario. I remember my excitement growing as I travelled up past the Goulais River and when I first seen the majesty of Lake Superior. The immensity of the lake along with rugged shoreline and background of the mountains was breath taking. I drove by miles of beaches and I was amazed that I did not see a soul on them. The road constantly dips inland for a mile or two then you pop back out to another explosion of scenery at the Lake. Little did I realize that this beautiful country would be our home for the next nine wonderful years! I travelled by Harmony Bay, Batchewana Bay, Pancake Bay, Mamanse Harbour, Alona Bay and finally the Montreal River the half waypoint to Wawa. This was where I later learned the division point was between Sault Ste Marie and Wawa Detachments. At Montreal River the road goes up a steep incline for a mile and a quarter as you travel through an area of hill tops and lakes to Kenny Lake then the road drops down again to the Agawa Bay area where you follow along the great lake again, running inland past Doc Greig Lake, Red Rock until it finally pops back out again at Old Woman Bay. On reaching this point I had already crossed many large rivers. I would later memorize all the rivers and tick them off; in my mind, as I travelled north or south between Wawa and Sault Ste Marie. On crossing the Old Woman River the road took another steep incline and left the lake for a distance passing Baby and Fenton Lake, then over the Michipicoten River and finally the Wawa Detachment on the top of the hill It is on the service road just to the south of the town of Wawa. On reaching Wawa Detachment which is approximately two and a half hours north of Sault Ste Marie. I was greeted by the then Detachment Commander Patty Bingham. I became the third Corporal serving under Patty. The other two Corporals were Bill Duncan and Bill Freeth. Constables that immediately come to mind were Ray Negus, Ed Zelionis, Walter Purdy, Jeff Lamb, Joe Poderys, Spence Coutu, Tim Jones, Don Lewko, Carmen Foster, Tex Luoma, Tom Richber and Ray Rose. There were many others that I remember, however I believe they came later. I took a room at the Beaver Motel the first night and proceeded to orient myself to the Town of Wawa itself. The town of Wawa had their own municipal police force at that time. It was called the Michipicoten Township Police Force and the Chief was Scott McCrae. The Town is situated on a height of land between the Magpie River Valley and Wawa Lake, which lays east of the town for a distance of seven miles. Highway #101 runs from Highway #17 to the Town of Wawa, then east along the south shore of Wawa Lake to Chapleau and Timmins. The Wawa Golf Coarse lies in the Magpie River Valley to the West of the town and at elevation perhaps 200 feet lower. I remember that first night, driving out to the William Teddy Park; about a mile east of Wawa and just off Highway #101. The park was named after a native man who had first discovered gold in the creek that borders the park. I got out of my car and walked over to the shore where the picnic table had been that we used some three years earlier, where I had made a wish to be posted there. I don’t remember expressing that wish to anyone else other than my wife and sister and brother-in-law. However I was so thrilled that luck had brought me there. I looked back westerly at the town of Wawa itself and marveled at is beauty. Almost the whole length of the town has a sand beach at its edge. On reporting for duty the following day I learned, that the Detachment while not policing the town of Wawa at that time, had a very large area. To the east we covered out Highway #101 to the Sudbury Algoma district line, then into the town of Missanabie on the CNR. This patrol also included the mining hamlet of Renabie. This was a distance of approximately 85 miles from Wawa. We were required by agreement to patrol that area on each shift. The town of Hawk Junction is located about 12 miles out Highway #101 on the Algoma Central Railway. There seem to be a large number of occurrences that required our attendance in that area. Our area also went south on Hwy #17 to the Montreal River a distance of approximately 70 miles. To the North of Wawa we were responsible for 30 miles of Highway #17. Michipicoten Township police covered the land area that was included in their Municipal area for a distance of ten miles north of Wawa, our Detachment was responsible for all that other land area. We also initially had the town of Dubreuville. This was later made a one man Detachment. I should mention that following the appointment of the one man Detachment at Dubreuville, I was lucky again and assigned to supervise and monitor it. For the majority of my years at Wawa I had the pleasure of having Bob Pilon as the Constable posted there. Bob required very little supervising and at each visit I made, it was like visiting old friends, it was always a joy. On some occasions my wife made the trip with me and would visit Bob’s wife. One thing that stands out in my memory was the first week I was in Wawa, there were 11 moose motor vehicle collisions on our 30 mile stretch of the North Highway #17 alone. That was not counting those on Highway #101 and many more on the southern stretch of Highway #17. This I learned was quite normal for the area. I also learned that the dead moose provided a ready meat supply for many of the Constables and some of the Corporals. My boys use to tell me: You raised us on steak and weaned us on hamburger. They were not referring to beef steak. These types of accidents would continue all year but were especially bad in the spring of the year. There is some who say the moose congregate at the Highway because of salt used in the previous winter, and also that the flies chase the moose out of the bush to open areas. The fact is they sure like the highways. While the main work at Wawa was traffic enforcement and motor vehicle accidents, there was always a large number of break and enter and theft investigations, as the large wilderness area had very many tourist resorts and camps. We also had many lost person searches, drowning’s and accidental deaths to investigate. Wawa had three air services flying out of Wawa Lake. They were Airedale, White River Air and Watson’s. George Theriault flew out of Hawk Lake at Hawk Junction. I and many of the members of Wawa Detchment flew at one time or another with these services. Sometimes on investigations and sometimes for pleasure. The first month or two at Wawa I was busy obtaining accommodation, for my family and I, plus arranging for the necessary move from Warren to Wawa. We owned our house in Warren and at that time the force only paid for real estate fees. We were able to obtain the services of a real estate company from Sudbury, however they never did bring a customer or help with the sale. We finally succeeded in selling our home by advertising in the Sudbury Star. We found a home at 20 Superior Ave., in Wawa that had been moved down from the Renabie Mine town site, placed on a new basement and completely refinished. The only problem was the home would not be completed for another month. With the home in Warren sold, we arranged with a mover to move our furniture then store it until our new home was available. At that time we owned a Starcraft hardtop pop up trailer, so we moved it to the William Teddy Park on Highway #101. We moved into our trailer in July 1971, with our two boys age 8 and 10 years. My wife was just not quite sure of what I was getting her into. The house was still not completed when the mover finally came, but the builder agreed to let us use the two bedrooms to store all of our furniture while he completed the house. Looking back, it was a really good experience for us camping at William Teddy Park. As I write this article my wife and I have enjoyed a happy marriage for 60 years, however I must admit it takes a very special person to endure some of the things that happen to the spouse of an OPP member, especially during a northern posting. The first year or so at Wawa much of my time was taken up attending further training courses both in Brampton and Aylmer. The first being a Corporal Development Course, followed by a Criminal Investigation Course. During these courses my wife was left in Wawa adjusting to her new home. It was she who made our home a home and kept our family stong. The first winter in Wawa there was very heavy snowfall, if I remember correctly there was a total of 17 feet of snowfall. Highway #17 was closed many times. It was over a hundred and fifty miles to Sault Ste Marie, many of those miles ran close to the lake. Snow effect snow combined with the strong winds would cause complete whiteout conditions. So often when the roads were closed I would get a phone call, the person on the phone would inquire about the road conditions to the Soo. When I advised they were closed, they would argue with me as they wished to take the chance and go. I remember one day taking the family out for a snowmobile run. We stopped in a cleared area and I jumped off my machine, I sunk in the snow to a point where it was above my waist. I was happy the machine I was riding was close enough to me to assist my crawling back up and onto the snowmobile. I will continue this adventure in my next submission. If you wish to read my previous submissions, they are all stored at the following URL: <garryspolicememories.tumblr.com>

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Wawa OPP: Toronto Man Charged with Impaired

#WawaOPP TorontoMan Charged w/ Impaired @OPP_NER @CanStopCrime @SSMCrimeStopper @LawEnforceToday @Wawa_Ontario @MADDOnline @stopddnow

WAWA, ON – On Saturday September 2, 2017, at approximately 10:25 pm members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Superior East Wawa Detachment received a traffic complaint in relation to a motor vehicle travelling in the wrong lane on Highway 17 approximately 8 kilometers south of Wawa Ontario. Officers located the motor vehicle in question and spoke to the male driver. Investigation revealed…

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#Highway 17 #Ontario Provincial Police #OPP Superior East Wawa Detachment #Richard Sage LONGCLAWS #Wawa ontario #wawa ontario daily news #wawa ontario daily newspaper #Wawa Ontario Highway 17 #Wawa ontario law enforcement #Wawa Ontario News #wawa ontario newspaper #Wawa ONtario OPP #Wawa Ontario Police #Wawa OPP: Toronto Man Charged with Impaired

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                                      Policing Memories of

           Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                         Part XIII

               The Rookie from Killarney

     As I look back to the year 1972 I remember some of the good times I enjoyed with my fellow members of the OPP. One of those was Morgan Pitfield who was born and raised in Killarney Ontario. I call him a rookie because he had a little less seniority than I. He was stationed in Sudbury when I first met him and became active and proved himself as a good investigator. He eventually was posted as a Constable Detachment Commander back at his home town of Killarney. To most people this would seem as an isolated posting. However; there were not many months that went by that you did not hear of Morgan being involved in some kind of an altercation or investigation.

    When I went through the promotional process from Constable to Corporal usually Morgan was going through the same beside me. On completion, I was promoted and posted to Wawa, Morgan was eventually promoted and posted to Monitowaning on Manitoulin Island. Morgan and I would run into each other either on course or while on a pleasure trip. Morgan had a weird sense of humour and as I was similarly endowed, we frequently played a practical joke on each other. He probably played the best one I have ever had pulled on me. I had bought a new Buick LaSabre in the summer of 1971. In mid April of 1972 I happened to be on a Supervisory Course at the Ontario Police College at Aylmer. Morgan Pitfield of Manitowaning was on the same course with me as was Don MCMillan of Soo PD and Bob Patterson from GHQ Special Services. The four of us would quite regularly gather in my room, have a drink after supper and play cards. The course was pretty straightforward and did not require a whole lot of work after class. Just a short time before Morgan came down he had got into some kind of an altercation with a plate glass door. In the process he had obtained a very serious cut to the palm of his hand requiring many stitches.

      We had just played a round or two of cards, when Morgan announces he had to go to down town Aylmer; to see a doctor; and have the stitches removed  from his hand. Morgan asked me if he could borrow my new Buick to make the trip. I was pretty proud of this car, I had nick named it THE TANK. It was really nice to drive but it was big and did somewhat resemble a tank. I really liked Morgan, so I did not hesitate to loan him the car.  It was about half an hour later there was a noise at the door. There stood Morgan, he had left with a light coloured trench coat on. The coat was now dirty and he had it wrapped around his arm like a bandage and was holding the arm. He had dirt all over his face and a real worried look on his face. He said: Garry can I see you outside, I had a little trouble with your car. I was sitting at the back of the table, I scrambled to my feet and made for the door. Morgan turned and walked back out of the building. I was following him as fast as I could. All I could think was he must have gotten into an accident, he had liquor on his breath, Oh my gosh! He has left the scene of an accident. I was just about hyperventilating at this point. Thinking of all the trouble we would be in. As Morgan got out the door, he dropped on the porch steps, all doubled over and started laughing. He said something like: I really got you this time.

     He finally admitted that he had gone and got the stitches out and had formed this plan after he got back to the college. Just before he came up the steps he rubbed his hand in some dirt, rubbed in over his face and his coat.

     Morgan and I would bump into one another through our careers. He finally retired and moved back to a home in Killarney. I use to try to make a point once a year of going to Killarney for their favourite fish and chips. I would try to have a short visit with Morgan each time. The last time I went I stopped in, but he was in a fight of his life with that dreaded  big C. Morgan has passed now but I think of him often. He was a great police officer and a super person. I regret I never got even for his great joke.

                              FAST EDDY

     Ed Zelionis was one of the Constables at Wawa Detachment. He had been there for what seemed like forever. He had met and married his wife Kathy in Wawa. He was the District Dive Master for the OPP and was very active in the local flying circles. He got nicked named fast Eddy because everything he did was fast. The thing that I found over the years, was that Eddy would act fast but under very stressful situations he could remain calm and think and act. I don’tmean to say that he never was wrong, he made mistakes as did I. I will tell a couple of stories about Fast Eddy.

     I remember Dave Cox in Wawa purchasing a Cessna 170A aircraft. Dave owned and operated an Esso Service station just south of Wawa. He had open heart surgery and for that reason he could not fly his aircraft on his own, but there was nothing stopping him from flying with a qualified pilot in the seat beside him. One day while at the airport Dave came down and wanted a flying lesson. Ed volunteered to be his pilot instructor.

     Dave was at the controls, Ed was in the seat beside him I was in the back seat behind Dave and another pilot was in the seat behind Eddy. Eddy had walked Dave through the walk around and seen that he checked everything properly. Dave did his warm up under Ed’s direction we moved down the runway and Dave took the plane up. The plane was climbing too fast and I overheard Ed say to Dave: Push the nose down. He said it two more times very quickly and I heard Dave say I cannot. Ed said no more, he took the butt of his hand and slammed it against the controls on his side of the plane. The plane quickly dropped its nose and stabilized.

     If we had continued our climb at that steep angle, the aircraft would have stalled and we would have crashed . With the plane acting normally we had a short flight then landed back at Wawa. On examining the elevator at the tail of the aircraft, we were able the see what had happened.

     The runway at that time was not paved. While making our take off run the aircraft had kicked up a sharp stone that wedged itself in the hinge of the elevator. If it had not been for Ed’s quick reaction we definitely would have crashed. When he smacked his hand against the control, it had caused the aluminum at the hinge to bend enough and let the stone fall out.

     There were several times I either witnessed or heard a story of Ed acting similarly. He got in several jackpots during my years there, but he always seemed to make the last minute decisions that counted. I became involved as a search and rescue coordinator after being there a few years. I remember one night I was home and acting Detachment Commander. I received a call around 5PM from the Detachment. The person calling advised that Ed had been scheduled to report for duty at 4PM. He had not arrived and when the dispatcher phoned his residence he learned from Kathy that Ed had left early and was going to make a short flight before going in to work. A check at the airport revealed his plane was not there. I called several of my pilot friends and ask them to meet me at the airport. The temperature that night was about -35oF with a strong wind blowing. We had a quick meeting and decided because of the cold, if there had been a crash and injuries the person would not survive long. Trenton search and rescue would take hours to be in the area, so we decided to make an immediate search of the lakes using our landing lights. We took four planes and using Wawa as a central area divided the area off into four quadrants. Each plane was assigned an area to search and starting from the east side would do a north south grid checking the lakes in their section. In this way we hoped to avoid being near each other. Each plane was to keep others advised by radio as to their positions. I jumped in with Don Davidson in a Cessna 180. We had searched for a little over an hour when we received word that Ed had walked out and was at the Helen Mine Office. On our return to Wawa we passed over a small lake located just north of the mountain that the mine offices are situated on. Ed’s plane could clearly be seen on the lake. Ed was transported to the hospital for a check up then transported to his home. I learned the full story the following day. Ed was dressed for work as I remember when he took his flight. He only had his work boots with pullover galoshes. He did have his Parka I believe. He was flying north of the mine when the carburetor froze up and the motor stopped. He made a dead stick landing on the frozen lake. There was approximately 4 feet of snow on the lake surface. Ed was successful in getting the motor started again, however he could not make a take off run because the snow was too deep. He shut the motor down and took a pair of bear paw snowshoes he had in the airplane and packed down a runway on the lake. This took quite a bit of time. He had taken a couple of garbage bags and pulled then on over his galoshes to keep the snow out of his boots. It was extremely cold, by the time he had packed the runway down, the airplane would not start again.

     Ed elected to walk up to the mine office; which was over a mile away and top of the mountain. I would estimate the mountain at that point is close to a thousand feet high. It was extremely deep snow; because of the drifting on the hillside. Ed no doubt was into deep hyperthermia, he was successful and made it to the offices. They were closed when he arrived but luckily for him, there were two ladies who were employed to clean the offices at night. The two ladies were wise in the ways of the north and quickly stripped Ed of his wet cold clothes and had him sitting in warmed blankets with his feet in a tub of warm water and drinking warm soup. I guess it was some sight. The two ladies were talking to each other and one said: You know I can remember about ten years ago a pilot had the same thing happen where he had his engine stop. He also made it up to the offices hear. A very tired cold Eddy spoke up: Yes that was me!

      The story does not quite end there, as Ed told me when he went home that night. He could not go to sleep. It was just stubborn determined action on his part that he survived. He said that on his way up the mountain there was a dozen times he wanted to just lay down. He knew if he did he would not survive. When he went to bed at home he was exhausted, he would start to dose off and would think that he was just dreaming and wake himself up to travel on. He had trouble distinguishing between reality and a dream. He was still fighting in his mind to survive and make the top of the mountain. I have thought of his experience often over the years and thank the stars that Ed is the stubborn person that he is. We had a lot of good people who served in Wawa I hope to tell you about some other experiences in future submissions.

If you wish to read my previous submissions, they are all stored at the following URL: <garryspolicememories.tumblr.com

[garryspolicememories]

                                        Policing Memories of

              Garry Crawford Circa 1962

                            Part VI

     I have attached a photo  of members of our 1963 Recruit Class No. 6 at the Aylmer Police College. The class consisted of members of Municipal and OPP forces from all over Ontario. It was amazing how the class members bonded over the term of the class. One of the humorous stories I remember happened on a day when we were taking PT training outside. Someone spotted a Jackrabbit. We decided as a group we would try to catch it. It was a big jackrabbit. We formed a big circle and slowly started to make it smaller. The rabbit ignored us at first but as we got closer it froze.  The circle was down to about 10 feet in diameter, when he decided to move. I did not think he could move that fast. He took two bounces, one on the ground and one on one of the fellows back and he was gone. We had quite a discussion later. We were thinking what would have happened if one of us had caught the rabbit. The have exceptionally long legs and sharp claws. I think it would have been something like grabbing a wild cat by the tail.

     It was around mid June that we had our graduation ceremony and all headed back to our respective postings. I was especially excited as I was returning with all of this new knowledge. My wife had presented us with another boy, and we had a new house. It was a busy weekend, packing up our family and moving back to Warren. I had not mentioned that the new house had no water in it. The facilities consisted of an outhouse that was attached to a woodshed fastened to the back of the house. There was a raised walkway from the back door through the woodshed to the outhouse, but that was as modern as it got. The previous owners did not have a well, but had a cistern in the basement that they had collected rainwater in. It was then pumped to the kitchen sink. There was no water now. The town of Warren had just recently installed a water system from a drilled well. There was a water line that crossed the front of our property. We did not have money for a backhoe. So I had to work with what I had. I think it was my first day in the house and I got out my shovel and started digging a trench for the water line from the house to the water line. I remember I had just started when my boss Dick Wood appeared on the scene. He asked if I had a second shovel and the two of us went to work. It was starting to get dark when we finished and I still have to smile when I remember the look on Dick’s face as I reached down and gave him a pull out of the ditch.

     Within a couple of days we had hot and cold running water in the house. I made a septic system for the sink and a new automatic washing machine with two well tile and about five feet of perforated pipe. Not quite by todays standards, but it worked. We bought the washing machine and had the installation done by Chuck Drimmie a tradesman who lived down the street and sold and installed appliances. I believe at that time he also looked after the town water system.

     I served a total of nine years at Warren Detchment as a Constable and had many an interesting adventure. One that comes to mind concerned another citizen who lived north of Hwy 17 in the Markstay area. We will call him Ziggy for the purposes of this story. He lived alone on a small farm. He was of Scandinavian decent. He only had one arm, the other was off between the shoulder and the elbow. I had met him on one of my patrols in the back country. I found out later that he had lost the arm as the result of a suicide attempt. He had attempted to shoot himself in the chest, had instead shot himself in the arm. His best friend and neighbour, Joe who lived across the road had heard the shot and gone to investigate. Ziggy was attempting to drink fly tox when he found him. Ziggy survived but lost his arm. Some people will read this and think that I am kind of a callus person and perhaps I am, but I have learned to not be too judgmental of these things. It is human nature to be depressed at times, how you are able to handle it depends on what you can do to prevent that feeling of loneness. I believe that anyone is susceptible to depression and if the circumstances are right we could take the easy way out, or should I say the perceived easy way out. To get on with the story I have attached a second photograph that shows the actual two chairs that Ziggy and Joe were sitting in one day having a little party. Joe was actually Ziggy’s brother-in-law from the old country. The marriage had not lasted. The two men are drunk and Joe starts teasing Ziggy about not being able to handle his sister. Ziggy suddenly grabs a paring knife off of the table and plunges it into Joes chest. He then pulls the knife back out and hands the knife to Joe, saying I stabbed you, now you stab me.

     A long story short, I am dispatched, the ambulance is dispatched. Upon our arrival there are bubbles coming out the hole in Joe’s chest, we apply a battle dressing with vaselene applied to stop the air leakage. Joe goes to hospital and survives. I charge Ziggy with attempted murder. Ziggy pleads guilty to the charge and elects to be tried by Prov. Judge alone. The Judge hears all of the evidence then finds Ziggy guilty as charged. He fines him $500.00 and has him sign a bond to keep the peace be of good behavior and stay away from Joe. About a month later I am in the area and stop in to see how Ziggy is doing.

     Joe and Ziggy are sitting in the same chairs polishing off a bottle of wine. I could have charged Ziggy and taken him back to court, but I thought it was a waste of everyones time. I ask them if they had made peace with each other and they laughed and said they had. I spent a little more time with them then left. Years later I was stationed at Wawa, Ontario and had occasion to run into one of the old Constables from Warren. He advised me that things had remained calm between the two friends. However Ziggy had suffered a brain aneurysm while out in a field near his house. When he was found they discovered that he had cleared an area approximately 50 feet in diameter trying to pull himself along with his one arm. He know doubt wanted to survive.  

                     I Could Not Help But Laugh

     During the 1960,s Bootleggers  were still in demand. Warren Detachment like most others had their share of them. One of ours was Joe B. in Hagar. With Bootleggers the main thing was control. Joe B. got out of control when he started selling to the teenagers. We had to take action. The local dance hall was not too far away and I think old Joe thought he had too handy of a market to miss out. I had warned him a couple times about selling to minors. When he continued we started a surveillance on his residence; checking and finding the result of his sales following their contact. He was raided, liquor was seized and I charged him accordingly. Joe was 84 yrs. old. He had pretty good health and he attributed it to his medicine. The medicine consisted of a set of beaver castor in a mason jar sitting in a sunny window. He had poured a little whisky over the castors and just let it sit. He told me he took a teaspoon full every day.

     Joe was not too pleased with me for charging him, but when the court day arrived he did appear in the Sudbury Court before His Honour Judge Tony Falzetta. Judge Falzetta was one of the best judges in my opinion I ever testified before. The proceedings were into full swing and those involved were testifying as to their observations and involvement. I had completed my testimony but Joe B. had interrupted me on several occasions. The Judge had admonished him each time. It was obvious he was not going to stop. The Judge was being as lenient as he could but wanted the interruptions to stop. He instructed me to stand behind Mr. B and when I seen he was going to interrupt, I was to just tap Joe on the shoulder. I did as instructed and when the officer on the stand made a statement Joe did not want to hear he jumped to his feet and objected. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and yelled at me: GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME I AM FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE!

     I bit my lip the judge pounded his gavel and we had a ten minute recess. Poor old Joe B. was convicted when we resumed. If I remember correctly he obtained a $50.00 fine. I am not sure but I may have given him a ride back to Hagar. Such was justice in those days.

[ontarionewsnorth]

Superior East OPP Investigating Plane Crash in Hawk Junction

Superior East OPP Investigating Plane Crash in Hawk Junction

WAWA, ON– On July 11, 2019 at around 9:00 a.m., members of the Superior East Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to the scene of a plane crash in the Town of Hawk Junction, Ontario. 

Montgomery Road, is currently closed to allow emergency crews to conduct their investigation and OPP is asking the public to please avoid the area. 

  Further information will be…

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#superior east opp #Wawa ontario

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VEHICLE THEFT LEADS TO MULTIPLE CHARGES

WAWA, ON – On May 11, 2019 at approximately 4:25 p.m., members of the Superior East Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a theft from a business in Wawa, Ontario. Two suspects were reported to have taken a motor vehicle from a local business without paying their tow bill. Officers conducted patrols but were unable to locate the…

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#Highway 17 #superior east opp #Wawa ontario #White River Ontario

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Two Wawa Residents Charged for Drug Trafficking

@OPP_NER Two #WawaOntario Residents Charged for Drug Trafficking @CanStopCrime @SSMCrimeStopper @LawEnforceToday

WAWA, ON – On Wednesday December 19, 2018, members of the Superior East Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) with the assistance of the Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU) and the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau (OCEB), executed a search warrant at a residence on Regina Crescent in Wawa, Ontario.

As a result of the search, police seized approximately 40 tablets of suspected fentanyl and a small…

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#Community Street Crime Unit #Controlled Drugs and Substances Act #daily newspaper #Law Enforcement #news #northern ontario #Ontario Court of Justice #OPP CSCU #OPP OCEB #Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau #police OPP #superior east ontario provincial police #superior east opp #Traffick in Schedule I #Wawa ontario