Doris & Brother

A picture of Doris Solonas and Brother McCormick posing for a photo op on the girls' side (?) about 1970-71. photo courtesy of Doris Jackson of McLeod Lake

Father Fitzgerald

That's Father Fitzgerald on the left and myself on the right in 1998 at my niece's wedding in Burns Lake. He came to Lejac in the late 1960s and was the Principal at our school. He also said mass on Sundays. He was a very nice guy....very laid back. Didn't really get too excited about things. Me and Harley became good friends with him over the years and always enjoyed a good laugh with him. 

One time Harley Chingee and I started teaching him some Indian words. Of course we told him it means 'Hi, how are you?' Of course he runs off and repeats what we taught him to the girls. Then he asked someone how come the girls keep running away from him. Next I heard the boys said Father Fitzgerald was looking for me and Harley because we were teaching him 'dirty words'.

Jim just told me Father passed away about three weeks ago in Vancouver. So so sorry Father.

More ice

Another picture of the guys cutting the ice for that 'diving platform' Brothers James was trying to build in February 1963. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

You need to change your address on the blog site.

Re cutting the ice at Fraser lake (latest photo). It was one of my hair brained ideas to build a diving platform. The wood cage in the background was put in the hole in the ice and filled with rock as a base for the diving platform, however the spring ice movement pretty well thrashed the idea.

Hope this finds you and yours in good health and in a good space,  Jim

Cutting the ice

A photo from the early 1960s of a couple boys using a buck saw to cut the ice down at the lake below our school. I always wondered what they were using the ice for. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

A hockey game

Another picture of some of the boys scrimmaging. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Scrimmage....

A picture of some of the boys playing a game of hockey, circa 1965. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Lejac hockey uniform

I remember those red Lejac uniforms. Also the 'Lejac' emblem on this boy's jersey. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

December 1963

Here is a photo of the boys cleaning off the hockey rink. I would have been 7 years old in December that year and a student at Lejac. this photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

April 1961

 

A young boy stands proudly with his trophy at Lejac Indian Residential School. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

hockey stars

Three famous Lejac hockey stars pose one last time before the spring melt out at the rink.

Bantams

Peewees...

These boys are about 11-12 years old and likely in Peewees. The teams from Lejac played other teams mostly from Burns Lake, Vanderhoof and Prince George. The Bantams in1972 went all the way to the Provincials and got beat out by Prince George who went on to win the  BC provincial championship. Lejac lost in overtime. this photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

March 1964

The Peewee hockey team at Lejac pose for year-end pictures on what little ice is left. photo courtesy of Jim  Callanan

Hockey pictures.....

Boys pose for year-end team photos. These photos are from March 1964 in the old rink. photos courtesy of Jim Callanan

Another one of Father....

Father Fitzgerald

Father Fitzgerald was our school principal at Lejac Indian Residential School in 1971. Became good friends with him over the years. Here, Father and I hook up once more for some cake and a famous photo shoot at my niece's wedding at Burns Lake in 1998. photo courtesy of verne solonas, Administrator

Or maybe spring

Fall time...

Henry Joseph, Ivan Chingee, Teddy Joseph and unknown (boy standing). Photo is from mid 1960s at Lejac. courtesy of Jim Callanan

Snow

That is the snow that was shoveled off the rink. It is so high they had to dig a trench to get to the boards. This photo is from the early or mid 1960s at Lejac. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

After school..

A few boys playing in a trench dug out in the snow near the rinks. That is a lot of snow. Free time after school and on weekends was an opportunity to escape and explore the school for the little ones at Lejac. courtesy of Jim Callanan

Some of the boys....

Here is a photo of Brother James and a few of the boys from Senior dorm on the boys' side. Hockey was an important part of our education and development at residential school. Many of the boys became excellent hockey players. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Sister Ann Rosario

I stopped by the St. Thomas church in North Battleford, Saskatchewan a few days ago (early August, 2012) to see if anyone knew where Sister Ann Rosario was. There was a nun there who said she was in Chilliwack, BC but apparently not doing very well due to kidney failure. I really liked Sister Ann. She was one of the girls supervisors at Lejac in the 1960s. She was also a good friend of my oldest sister, Myrtle. My prayers are with Sister Ann. Cheers all. administrator

First Communion June 1964

Some of the girls in First Communion in June 1964 at Lejac. First Communion was always so exciting for the kids. A time for celebration! We all looked forward to it! photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

still here....

I'm sorry to all my Followers and visitors but we haven't posted anything for a while. Just waiting for my internet to come back on. So much for 'Telus'!! I have a box of slides which I want to convert to pictures. Hope to get that done soon. In the meantime, cheers. administrator

Early residential school years...

First Communion in June 1964. Here we are celebrating following the ceremonies with a nice lunch at the girls' Rec room. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Me, George & Stewart

A picture of Verne Solonas, George Patrick (in the middle) and Stewart Dennis at their First Communion in June 1964 at Lejac Indian Residential School. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

My early residential school years

my early residential school years

Early residential school years

Canoe trip

Here are photos of some of the boys on their canoe trip with Brother McCormick in about 1969. Looks like they had more fun swimming! A lot of log jams. photos courtesy of Jim Callanan

Who is following our BLOG?

To date we have had 11,809 visitors to this blog from Canada, 2,306 from the US, 303 from the UK, 277 Philippines, 241 India, 237 Russia, 111 Ukraine, 92 Germany, 66 Malaysia, 61 from France.

Today we have also had hits from Indonesia, United Arab Emirates and Iran! This week we have had visitors from Bulgaria and Latvia. This month our visitors also came from Georgia, Thailand and Turkey!
posted by our Administrator

GHOST TOWN 1969

I'm pretty sure we posted this photo already a while back. It's a picture of the Babine guys at one of the cabins the Senior boys built in about 1968-69 at Ghost Town a couple miles from Lejac where we used to go camping. That's Victor Williams on the left with Paul West, and possibly Roger West and either Walter Madam or Alec West. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Dorm....

Here is a photo which gives you a good idea of what our dorms were like at residential school. They added bunk beds later due to the number of students registering at the school in the late 1960s. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

One of the boys....

I think this may be Douglas Morris of Tache, circa 1960. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Brother & the Boys

Brother Callanan is instructing the boys looks like in the Rec room. Not sure what he is showing them. We learned a lot of things from our supervisors and teachers at residential school. this photo from early 1960s

Brother James

Brother James is calling the numbers for bingo at Rec room. Bingo was always a fun nite for us boys especially on cold winter nites. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

George Patrick

Here is a photo of George Patrick of Stony Creek (Saikuz) in November 1962 at Lejac Indian Residential School. That was a year before my time at Lejac. photo courtesy of Jim Callanan

Operation Reindeer

On Operation Reindeer

Verne, I have been following your blog faithfully checking in every few days. Operation Reindeer never went to Lejac, they concentrated all their efforts on the school in Whitehorse, which I think was called Lower Post IRS. They used to fly from Prince George in a DC-3 to Whitehorse. I think it was a Lion's club effort. I asked one of the sale-smen who used to come to Lejac if we could get something going for Lejac and subsequently he

took it upon himself to start the Scrooge & Marley Club. There sole function was to donate their time and money to put on a Christmas Party for the boys and girls of Lejac. They also paid for sleeping bags so we could go camping. They were a very kind bunch of business people. Keep up the good work.

Peace, Jim (thank you Jim for your comments)

1964 Operation Reindeer

The Children

Young children so excited with the gifts they receive at Christmas because of Operation Reindeer. That looks like Oliver Prince of Fort on the left.

BINGO NITE

It's Bingo Night at Rec Room at Lejac with Brother James calling the numbers. Students often had such fun nights at residential school to give us something to do.

OUR NEWEST FOLLOWER

Welcome to our newest 'Follower' Stanley Tom.

An Angel

 A cute Angel during the week to be Jolly! Thank you to Operation Reindeer, 1964.

1964

A couple of gentlemen with Operation Reindeer at Christmas, 1964

Operation Reindeer cont'd

Some pretty happy kids!!

A collage from Residential School

Open up the photo in a 'new window' then 'save as' to one of your folders. That way you have a copy of the original which we scanned

Don't hit the 'underlined' words

Sorry folks but I must've pressed some button because in the text on some of our postings, you come across a word that is underlined. You hit that and some Government page comes up. No idea how that happened. 


Just don't hit the underlined words or you'll end up at this govt site.

Popcorn Nuggets....

A young boy enjoying some popcorn nuggets during Operation Reindeer. 'Tis the season to be Jolly!