I’d heard of Williams Lake residential school before. By 1965. Then one year they came to our school and all I remember was they had a Scottish pipe Band which was all girls. And they played for us in our Rec room one day and it was loud. This was about 1966. And their drums sound different than ours.
Williams Lake is approximately 150 south of Prince George in northern British Columbia. Lejac at Fraser Lake is about 100 miles west of Prince George. And almost every year there was an exchange between the two residential schools at Lejac and St. Joseph’s, the residential school just south of Williams Lake. St. Joseph’s brought their pipe Band or their girls or boys teams to Lejac for the weekend. Sometimes Lejac travelled the 250 miles which was an all-day trip just to get there and spend the whole weekend at their school bringing the Band or teams for a weekend of fun and games.
One year, in about 1968, we put together a hockey team made up of all us Intermediate and Senior boys and then travelled to Williams Lake to play hockey against their team. It was one of the first time I ever went on a road trip for anything. That evening we were sent to one of their dorms and we were told to pick a spot on the floor in between their bunks and that’s where we slept. Me and Gilbert we hung out together sometimes at residential school and we met one of the boys from Williams Lake residential school who we latched onto. We asked him everything about their school and how they do things there. His name was Rene Elkins. He was me and Gilbert our guide at Williams Lake.
Gilbert Chingee is an older boy from McLeod Lake in Senior Dorm at our school. Gilbert is Lester’s older brother.
That Saturday we played hockey against their team at the arena in town. It was a pretty even game. Can’t remember who won. But I remember their coffee wasn’t as good as ours. Also their school wasn’t as big as Lejac. Our school was H-U-G-E!
One year, maybe in 1967 they sent their girls to Lejac for the weekend. There was this big huge grudge match between their girls and our girls. In the game of ringette. We had a court up at the old barn at Lejac where students from all the classes enjoyed games of ringette or sometimes did gymnastics. And the girls had a game that Saturday. The barn was packed as all the students from our school watched the game. Some of us students climbed the balcony overlooking the court.
And man were they rough!! Their girls and our girls took it all very personally and they were just about scrapping! Banging each other into the walls, hitting each other hard as they could and trying not to lose. Sister Ann Rosario was very tall. She was the Senior Girls dorm supervisor. She was also the referee for the game and had to try and keep the girls separated and apart, trying to maintain some degree of control. These girls were all on the verge of breaking out into outright fist fights were it not for Sister Ann. Their girls were very tough and so were the girls of Lejac. None of them took any crap. Those were the girls.
Williams Lake is approximately 150 south of Prince George in northern British Columbia. Lejac at Fraser Lake is about 100 miles west of Prince George. And almost every year there was an exchange between the two residential schools at Lejac and St. Joseph’s, the residential school just south of Williams Lake. St. Joseph’s brought their pipe Band or their girls or boys teams to Lejac for the weekend. Sometimes Lejac travelled the 250 miles which was an all-day trip just to get there and spend the whole weekend at their school bringing the Band or teams for a weekend of fun and games.
One year, in about 1968, we put together a hockey team made up of all us Intermediate and Senior boys and then travelled to Williams Lake to play hockey against their team. It was one of the first time I ever went on a road trip for anything. That evening we were sent to one of their dorms and we were told to pick a spot on the floor in between their bunks and that’s where we slept. Me and Gilbert we hung out together sometimes at residential school and we met one of the boys from Williams Lake residential school who we latched onto. We asked him everything about their school and how they do things there. His name was Rene Elkins. He was me and Gilbert our guide at Williams Lake.
Gilbert Chingee is an older boy from McLeod Lake in Senior Dorm at our school. Gilbert is Lester’s older brother.
That Saturday we played hockey against their team at the arena in town. It was a pretty even game. Can’t remember who won. But I remember their coffee wasn’t as good as ours. Also their school wasn’t as big as Lejac. Our school was H-U-G-E!
One year, maybe in 1967 they sent their girls to Lejac for the weekend. There was this big huge grudge match between their girls and our girls. In the game of ringette. We had a court up at the old barn at Lejac where students from all the classes enjoyed games of ringette or sometimes did gymnastics. And the girls had a game that Saturday. The barn was packed as all the students from our school watched the game. Some of us students climbed the balcony overlooking the court.
And man were they rough!! Their girls and our girls took it all very personally and they were just about scrapping! Banging each other into the walls, hitting each other hard as they could and trying not to lose. Sister Ann Rosario was very tall. She was the Senior Girls dorm supervisor. She was also the referee for the game and had to try and keep the girls separated and apart, trying to maintain some degree of control. These girls were all on the verge of breaking out into outright fist fights were it not for Sister Ann. Their girls were very tough and so were the girls of Lejac. None of them took any crap. Those were the girls.
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