The Past Businesses |
Kingfisher Hall 1949-1987 During the early days of the Hupel and Kingfisher Communities near Mabel Lake, twenty-two miles east of Enderby, the little log school house was not only a place of learning but served also as a hall for meetings, dances, concerts, church services, card parties, weddings, political rallies, basket socials, bazaars and other affairs. An incident that occurred when the Helping Hand Club held its first bazaar there quoting from an article written by Eva Monkhouse, "The schoolhouse was packed with people. In one corner there was tea-cup reading and fortunes being told by "Gypsy" Eva Simard in a colourful costume with a candle burning on the table for its eerie effect. Suddenly her veil caught fire to her costume. There was a moment of panic with patrons rushing towards the door as the frantic women tried to beat out the flames, until Ernie Chantler threw his coat about her and smothered the flames before much harm was done. However, this incident sparked the resolve of the residents to build a more adequate recreation building." A meeting was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Bramble to discuss the feasibility of building a hall for the Community, to which everyone agreed. However, it wasn't until the fall of 1949 that the construction of it began. First a letter was written to the Deputy Registrar of Societies in Victoria to obtain the necessary permit to build the hall. Then the acre of land, donated by Wilfred Simard, had to be surveyed and registered in the name of the Kingfisher Community Club. Lindsy and Midston of Vernon drew up the Constitution, consisting of 39 by-laws, for the Club, dated 23 November, 1949. The first Charter Members were: Russel Large, Ed Tipton, Wilfred Simard, Agnes (Dale) Abbey, and Martha Chantler, who served as Officers for the first two years. Now the building of the hall began with everyone in the Valley lending a hand, voluntarily, towards its construction. Logs for the lumber were cut on Crown Land north of the Kemp place towards Noreen Lake and skidded to Kingfisher Sawmills, owned by Harold Acutt and Ed Tipton, to be sawn into lumber, free of charge. Hand picked birch trees were to be used for the flooring which was hauled to Armstrong Sawmills in Enderby to be dry-piled and then planed, but due to a fire at the mill this birch lumber was destroyed. However, Jack Smith of Armstrong Sawmills replaced the birch with fir flooring free, of charge. To help pay for necessary materials, loans in the form of debentures were sold at $5.00 each, to be paid back in the year 2000! Gravel for the foundation footings was hauled in an old 1929 Model A dump truck by Emile Potrie. Sand for the cement was brought from the nearby river in wheelbarrows by Nelson and Brian Tipton. Wilfred Simard supplied the cement mixer and soon up went the walls. Others helping at this time were: Bill Bigney, Russel Large, Ed Meers, Larry Fitzgerald, George and Ernie Potrie, Roy Phelps, Otto Tober, Ralph Stevenson, (who made the windows), Ernie and Fred Chantler, Floyd Bramble and Herb Calvert (who planed the lumber for the walls and ceiling). If there were others who helped at the time, please accept my apologies for not remembering. Everyone worked hard in order to have the Hall finished, partly at least, in time for its first function -- the wedding of Anna Bramble and Wally Hlina -- on April 29, 1950. The roofing was completed on time and the walls built high enough that the people wouldn't fall between the two-by-sixes! Mrs. Hoffman paid for the roofing materials as her contribution towards the Hall. After that, the walls and ceiling were completed and later an addition was built to be used as a classroom that is now the kitchen. Since than a room has been added in which to store: tables, chairs and other supplies, also, a porch at the back of the Hall. Many improvements have been made over the years, the latest of which being the double-paned windows made and installed by John Everatt. The ladies of the Community have helped from the beginning in many ways; by putting on dances, concerts, bazaars, and other forms of entertainment, to raise money to pay for the Hall's improvements over the years. The Kingfisher Community Hall has become a very busy place with something going on almost every day, such as teaching of art by Colin Brookes and Brian Lussin, karate lessons by Jeffery Fast, and even golf lessons, as well as badminton once a week, plus many other functions. What a good thing we had those dedicated people who, thirty-seven years ago, decided to build a hall for the Community! Isobel Simard |