Recollections

[Al B]

A couple more from wartime.  WWII  "The war to end all wars"........

                                                             
                                                   BOCARATONCLUB
   After Radio School, in Madison Wisc., I was sent to Radar school in Boca Raton, Florida.  Population at that time was 9, all black, and there was a Holy Roller church in the middle somewheres. 
   There was also a luxury club, built my an oil mongul ,  who lived in Pennsylvania.  He was very rich, but he came from the wrong side of the tracks. There were many clubs in Palm Beach and along the Florida coast.    But none of them would allow this oil man to join their clubs.  SO
   He went to Boca Raton, and built his own.   It became the most luxurious club on the East Coast, and I guess it still is.  Many rich people at the time became interested and wanted to join.  He would let a few of them join,  just so he could have some fun.   He had a real nice movie theater, where in the center of the floor, he had his own seat, and when the movie was to start, music played, an in great display, and sometimes 15 minutes late he would walk in with his entourage, he would  wrap his cane on the floor and the movie would start.  I also heard the he charged $55,000 to join and so much per month. 
   The reason we were there is because he let the Military use his large swimming pool  for water training.   
   While in Boca Raton, another short story. 
            A runway had been built, near the ocean, where Pilots and crews were trained.  I’m not too sure of the particulars, but on one flight the pilot  had advised the crew, that he would blow a horn in case of an emergency.   On the first blast, the crews would put on their parachutes.  And they should jump on the second blast.  Well, there is always one nut in the crowd.  On the first blast, he put on his chute and out the door.
   This runway ended near the Everglades, which is a jungle.,and he landed somewheres.  The Air Force had the whole field out in force to find that man.  Well, it took two days before he was found, and I’m sure he must have received some kind of punishment.  Oh well                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                                        ISLE OF CAPRI
   After we had been overseas for about one year, the military felt that we were tired, and we should go visit the Isle of Capri, to rest.   At the time I was stationed in Foggia, and I was  chosen to spend two weeks in  Capri at the governments expense. The whole Island had been taken over by the Military.  A great deal.   I would leave on a Saturday and return in two weeks.
   To get to Capri, I had to travel 90 miles to the harbor of Naples.    There I got on a small boat, 20 pr 30 people, and on to Capri, 20 miles away.  A small Island in the harbor of Naples.  We landed in the small town of   Marina Grande ( a new name)  We proceded to our hotel, name The La Palma Hotel, unpacked and walked around the town.   Near the dock was an elevator system, which could take  us to an elevated city above the waterfront.   Tha name of the system was  FENICULI, FENECULA.   When one went up, the other went down, and so on and on.    The elevated city was named ANNA CAPRI. 
   I was told to be sure and visit the Blue Groto, which is a small cave about one mile from the waterfront.  I rented a small oar boat, and a person to row me out to the cave.  When we got to the cave, about one mile away,  we had to time our entrance with the waves, because the entrance was small, and the hole was  only big enough to let us in when the wave was right.  A tricky maneuver.  Anyway, we made it in and the sight was all blue and very nice indeed.    To return we had to judge the wave in the same manner.  The total cost was very modest.
   One morning, I was told I could take a ride on a small donkey, and go to the castle on top of the mountain where a king of Rome had a castle.   His name was TIBERIUS CEASER. He lived quite a life.  He would bring young virgins from the mainland to his castle, rape them, and then throw them over a cliff nearby, 300 ft deep into the ocean.    According to our guide, this is a true story. 
   On another occasion, we walked up to  Anna Capri and entered through a gate guarded by two marble lions.  One on each side of the gate.  The lions have been there for many, many years.  It is considered good luck to pat them on  the rear as you pass by.  The guide told us that since Europeans are shorter than the Americans, they patted lower on the lions back, and that had produced a worn place on the lions back.   Americans were taller, and the worn place was higher.   Very evident.  We visited more, and then returned to the waterfront and the hotel.   If I remember right, the name of the hotel was LA PALMA. 
   Water on the Island was very hard to come by, so we drank wine most of the time.  So we all were tipsey most of the time.  The military had converted a building into a USO, much like a night club, where you could hang around, eat, once in a while a dance,and listen to music.  The person who ran the place, was the wife of a famous lawyer from Naples.  I only saw him twice.  But his wife was from France, and she spoke fluent French.  We had long discusions about the war.  And besides she had a very pretty daughter about 16 or 17 years old who was living with her.  She also could speak fluent french.   ( I also remember at one point, I ran out of money, but I had brought 4 or 5 cartons of cigarettes which I easily sold for $20 a carton.  Again easy money.).
   Naples was a very bombed out place.  The Germans bombed it, and we bombed it.  The harbor was full of disabled and bombed ships.  They  were not removed when I was in the area.   Maybe later.  Anyway after two weeks of resting I returned to Foggia, where it took two weeks to recover from my vacation.   I will remember the ISLE OF CAPRI for a long time.            LOUIS A. CYR

[Al B]

A couple more.  Kinda out of sequence, but still a worthy read....

                                                          Farm 3.doc 
______________________________________________________________   Hello everyone,    
   Here I am again and I think I have the sending and attachment finally working.   So I will continue. 
   Last time  I was writing about the potatoe house that my father built. As I was growing up, I spent many hours  in the building. On top, towards the house was a large door, opened in the summer, but closed in the winter. On the bottom part was  a smaller door, and a sort of entrance where we kept a stove to heat the building in winter.   The stove had a flat surface, where we could peel potatoes and slice them and cook them on the flat surface..  If you have never tried them  cooked that way , you should try it.  Very good.   We also cooked thin slices of Salt Pork that way.  Maybe that is why we grew up so strong.  Remember, the strongest man in the world at that time was Louis Cyr from Montreal.  Oh well, another story.
   In the spring we had to cut the potatoe seed by hand.  We had a rack, where we shoveled the potatoes, they would roll down the rack to a stop, and we would grab them and cut them up.  Every piece had to have an eye on it, because if it didn’t, it would not grow when put in the ground.  This was all done on the bottom part of the building, near the stove.  No other heating system.   I forgot the part where we would cut the seed with knives made by my father.  He would take a small file, grind it down to the wanted size, mount it on the rack, and we would slide the potatoe thru the file, and cut the seed with the eye in it.   We had two knives, one on each side of the rack.  The seed would fall into a potatoe barrel.    Nowadays, they have a nice  automatic machine to do the job.  Many times faster.
   In the early days we would plant 25 to 30 acres. Not a whole lot of potatoes.  However as I was growing up, when I was about 4 years old, my father decided to get a job at Fraser’s in Madawaska.    This was in 1925.  The mill was being built and they were hiring all the people who wanted to work.  Potatoes in those days were not selling very well, and from what I gathered later on, my father would have probably lost the farm, because he could not pay the taxes.  Only an ambitious man would earn money from a factory, so he could keep the farm.   I’m glad he did, because of what he did, the farm stayed in the family. 
   A short story about how we got the farm in the first place.  My grandfather, Olivier, married Eulali Albert, who lived nearby, who I believe gave Olivier that piece of land.  I’m not sure about this, and Mike seems to have another story about this.  In any case, there is not much paper work to have the real story.             (TO BE CONTINUED)



Aprill 2006                                                                  FARM 11

   At this point in my farm stories, I think it is time to build Mike’s office. We decided to make 24 X 36 the finished size it should be.  It would have a full cellar, with a couple of windows, the main floor would be one big room, except for a small bathroom, with a toilet, lavatory, and a fan for the ceiling.  We also decided that the walls would be well insulated, as well as the ceiling, and the walls of the concrete foundation. 
   Now  we need some lumber.   Mike has a good connection with the Irving people from Canada, who happen to have a lumber mill in St. Leanord, N.B. across the St. John River from Van Buren.   So Mike’s good friend advises  us, that they have good lumber, un-planed full 2 X 9’s, almost any length we want.  This was a surplus left over from a big order from Japan.  And Mike could have it for a very good price.  So we rent a tractor-trailer and we haul it to the farm near our big garage, which was built in 1987.  Mike also bought some cedar planking to be used for the walls inside, from the Allagash region. .    Most of the needed materials were purchased at the local Central Supply Store in Town.
   We then hired a power shovel from Ed. Pelletier and Son, with an expert operator who dug the foundation in very short time.    Next step was to hire a good concrete man to lay the foundation, pour the floor with a proper drainpipe, and an exit for the sewer pipe, and an entrance for water and power. While digging the foundation, we found old wooden pipes, which were used to bring water to the barn.  These were small trees, about 6 feet long, and were bored with a special auger, were put end to end and sealed with some kind of tree sap.   After all these years, they were still in very good condition.
    Good carpenters are hard to find, especially on a short notice.  But I was in luck.  My good friend Albert Ouellette operates a big General Construction Company.  He told me that three of his best carpenters were laid off for two or three weeks, because of a slow down period.  So I hired all three of them.  Albert Michaud, Pitt Michaud and Bee Michaud, all brothers.   The foundation had cured, we had installed two inch Blue Board all around the concrete, so we were ready to raise the office structure.  I also had five men, who would be helpers to those master carpenters.  I did not want to pay a high price to those masters to do walk around and look for material.   The helpers were Mike Cyr, Louis Cyr, Greg Cyr, Herman Cyr, Al Hebert, and maybe a few others.   We were a good crew. 
   On a given day work was started.  7 AM.  The floor and the stairs to the cellar was first.  In having master carpenters, Pit decided to build the stairs outside the foundation.   He took a few measurements, we went outside, I was his helper, and in no time the stair was built, and what surprised me, was that we took it to the office and it fit the first time.   Now we put up the walls.  . Remember all the lumber was plus two inches thick and nine and one half inches wide.  So the walls were very thick.  Under normal building, we usually us 2 X 6’s.  Albert said we were wasting lumber, but we convinced him that we had paid very little for the big lumber. I remember he grumbled all the time about the big lumber.  The walls were surrounded with plywood, all the joints were sealed, and even insulation on the outside was installed.  The inside walls were finished, and super insulated.   Then came the roof, then the outside vinyl, the eves and within three days the outside of the office was complete.  An amazing job.   This included the doors, the Anderson Windows, a small porch, and now to finish the inside, and build a chimney. 
   The inside needed a small bathroom, a toilet, a lavatory, a small water heater for hot water, and the finish for the walls and tiles for the ceiling.  Another two days and this was all done. The plumbing was done by Mike and I, so was the electrical, the phone system and the heating system.  We did a lot of the work without the master carpenters.  Only Bee did a lot of the finish work.  He was a master at that.   Herman and I installed a VENMAR system for air circulation because the building was so tight.  .  Mike also had a rug installed on the main floor.   The whole office was furnished with excellent material from Loring Air Force base, who was having auctions almost every week.  Map cases, files, safes, tables, drafting tables, and many things needed to furnish an office.   All very high priced government material, which we bought for peanuts.   Mike has probably the best looking and the best equipped surveying office north of Bangor. 

   The complete building cost around $40,000.  The building is easy to heat in the winter, and is cool in the summer.  It was built in 1989 and Mike moved in around July 4th.   As it stands today, February 20, 2006,  it is it top condition and it will be 20 years old in 2009.   His business is very good, and most lawyers believe he is tops in his field.  I do too!!!
   
   

[Al B]

April 2006                                                                         FARM9

   It was not often, but I remember we had a death in the family, and we had a wake in the house .  My Grandmother Eulalie, died and as it was the custom in those days, we kept the body for three days before the funeral.  There were no funeral homes in the early days, so everything was done in the home. I remember it was winter, because Lilly and I and the neighbor’s kids were sliding on the small hill in front of the house.  I should add here that Come Albert lived at the bottom of the hill from our house, and his farm was on the other side of the road.   He had quite a few kids, Jeanne, Cecile, Annette, Conrad, George, Levite and there was a Grandpa living with them.  The mother’s name was Zabetha.    They also had a big house, and a big barn and a few small sheds and a lot of animals.
   Up the road from our house, living at the bottom of Pelletier Road so called, was my Uncle Regis Hebert, and he also was a farmer.    He had an employee named Donat who used to work for my father once in a while.   He was always soft on his daughter Annie.  I remember my father and mother had a party one night in winter at our house.  Our house always seemed to be a great place for parties.  Anyway, Donat was still in love with Annie.   It was winter, and all the people who came kept their horses in the barn.   After the party, Donat volunteered to drive Annie home.  So my father and others dressed up a man, who wore a big fur coat, a big fur hat, and Donat drove up with the sleigh and started the one mile ride to Annie’s house. One thing led to another and Donat started to get amorous. By the time they got to Pelletier Road, Donat had figured out the ploy.   He was quite disturbed, got Annie home, came back to our farm, and no one saw him for three days.  He kept to himself and slept in the barn.  My father always said he was a very good farm hand.
   A little up Pelletier Road was another small farmer named Gilbert Michaud.   He did not do much farming except work for other neighbors.   The next neighbor up that road was Paul Bouchard, also a farmer.  He lived just about where Mark McDermott now lives.   That road continues and comes to Madawaska by 11th Ave,. 
If you continued on Gagnon Road, past Pelletier Road, the next farm on the left side of the road was Rene Hebert.    On the left side was a blacksmith shop owned by Mathias Albert.  His place was one of the few places to get your horses shod.  Continue on and on top of the hill was Fortune Hebert, an other small farmer.  From there I get lost with the names of the owners./   But there were farmers all the way to Beaulieu Road.  Near Fortune Hebert, was Dionne corner which connected with Frenchville.    Also many farmers on that road.
   It took many years for Gagnon Road to develop the way it is.  When my father died, I started selling lots on Gagnon Road, and now most lots have been sold.  The farm has been divided up and in the future, I suppose more lots will be sold.

                                             To be Continued 

[Mooseherder]

Some sad news to report about Our very special Mr. Cyr.
Looks like he led a very extra-ordinary full life. I hope we have more of his Stories coming.

http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/aroostook.aspx?articleid=148750&zoneid=175

[Al B]

Mooseherder, thanks for posting that.  I knew it was there, but  had trouble finding it, for some reason. 

He was my, soon to be daughter in law's, grandfather.  Sadly, her other grandfather passed away only 3 day's earlier.

I will post more of his writings.  Have just been off my feed lately.