Moose Tracks 2.0

[Eynhallow 412]

Isau DaMoose Moose Tracks (2)

 

As alluded to in my previous article, the DaMoose family relocated to the area of Bummer’s Roost.  Originally this small clearing in the bush was called “Mecunoma”. Ojibwe for “We have found a road.”  The location was a popular resting place for trappers and indigenous people.  In 1863 Alfred Russell and Dick Mannering came North to do some trapping.  Dick was less than fond of hard work and became known as “Dick the Bummer”.  Legend has it that it was Dick himself who scrawled “Bummer’s Roost” with charcoal on a shingle and tacked it to a tree.  In 1865 Russell had built and licenced a hotel called The Russell House, but the colorful name of Bummer’s Roost lived on.

 

 

Young Isau began playing semi-organized hockey with the Bummer’s Roost Junior Smugglers which played against teams made up of children from the neighboring communities.  Hockey at this stage of life was much as one would expect.  Toss a puck on the ice and 10 little bodies swarm to it and chase it about.  Isau had a lot of fun at this stage of his hockey development.  In fact, when asked later in his life “When did you have the most fun playing hockey?”, he commented that this was likely the most enjoyable.

Due to economic considerations, life for the DaMoose family was quite transient and in a few short years young Isau found himself in another smaller than hamlet-sized community, Fire River.  There is little history of Fire River, other than it was a siding on the Canadian National Railway between Dishnish and Argolis. You have indubitably heard the old hack about having to walk to school...in a snowstorm….in your pyjamas...uphill both ways.  Well, it was sort of like that for Isau to play hockey as his team, the Fire River Dragons, had to take a covered jitney to get from place to place in order to play against other teams, the Oba Warriors, the Jogues Jokes and the Peterbell Tinkerbells (a girls team that trounced the Dragons on a regular basis). 

 

 

It was at this point that Isau encountered his first “real” coach, Gunnar Gunnarson, or Coach GG.  Rumour had it that Coach GG had immigrated to Northern Ontario from the small country of Andorra.  Apparently GG had played with, and subsequently coached a hockey team from Grau Roig.  There was some conjecture as to whether or not the team actually played any games as Grau Roig was an unpopulated place in the Pyrenees.  Nevertheless, Coach GG willingly gave of his time to coach the children of Fire River the subtler nuances of hockey. Being European Coach GG favored a skill game as opposed to the traditional Northern Ontario physical variety.  And, so, Isua began to develop his skill of shooting, skating and passing.  The concept of a 200 foot game became part of Isau’s repertoire. 

 

Once again the job market forced the DaMoose family to have to relocate.  They came back south to the ghost town of Swords, a story which will be continued in a future issue.

 

517  Words

[diacope 2 764]

I like the concept of a player that is from a town that small, haha. I'm able to relate pretty easily as the town I grew up in currently has around 70 people. The use of graphics is something that I appreciate in a media spot, it makes it a lot more engaging for the reader. Looking forward to the next edition. 10/10 article.

[Eynhallow 412]

Thanls @a_Ferk Moose Tracks 3.0 is currently in the crackpot.  BTW, all the place mentioned do, in fact, exist.  Some are little more than a broken sign or a rail\way siding, but they were all communities of a sort at one time.

[diacope 2 764]

4 hours ago, Eynhallow said:

Thanls @a_Ferk Moose Tracks 3.0 is currently in the crackpot.  BTW, all the place mentioned do, in fact, exist.  Some are little more than a broken sign or a rail\way siding, but they were all communities of a sort at one time.

We have four communities like that around here that don't exist anymore. 

 

One is just a sign, one just has the old town hall, one still has a building and the old post office, and one is a ghost town. 

 

It's cool that all the places you mentioned is/were a community at one time.

Edited December 21, 2020 by a_Ferk
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