Posts Tagged ‘Frank Yochim’
Cold Lake High: Cars, Girls, Rock and Roll
Photo Collage: There was never enough time to do it all. Cars, girls, rock and roll were all part of the freedoms that came in the 1950’s. If was a unique time in the Canada, and we made the best of it. The majority even managed to graduate with distinction. I was one of the non-distincts, however, my sister, Louise McNeill, graduated with a distinct distinction, that being the 1961 Honour Role. This post makes it clear why I failed to do so.
(Photo selection: Jimmy Martineau, Gordie Wusyk, Billy Martineau and drummer in the background, Gary McGlaughlin, playing at the Tropicana Night Club. Below, the Pinsky Cadillac. Harold McNeill and Aaron Pinsky in a “cool” shot at the Roundel Hotel. Sitting across from us is Dorothy Hartman, an awesome dance partner. We worked out the fine points of the back over flip as shown in the photo top right (Dance photos from the web).
1. Introduction
Perhaps the best way to pick my way through the final two segments of the Cold Lake High School Years is by selecting random memories. Not to worry, I will be discrete while keeping the history and stories interesting as possible. The post is not meant as a titillating account of a small town as in Peyton Place, but seeks instead to provide an account of how I950’s High School kids in a small town at the edge of the wilderness on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border lived and loved.
For the most part, private matters between consenting students during our time in Cold Lake High would stay in Cold Lake High. That does not mean I won’t pick around the edges.
Peyton Place: The sizzling movie version of the best-selling book was released in 1957, just in time for our coming of age. While the movie was toned down, it still raised eyebrows and was soundly condemned in many quarters. By today’s standards, it would be relatively tame.
The full story, including this Chapter, is now in book form;
This Book is available from
Kindle Direct Publishing

Book 2 -Trails North an and West: The Pioneer Way 1824-2024 is now available from Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) You can search by book title or author name. A preview of the first seventeen pages is provided (link on bottom left on the KDP order page). The preview also includes the Table of Contents.
Note: When ordering four or fewer books, they will be printed and shipped within Canada. An order of 5 or more books may be printed and shipped from the United States. Postage is included in the purchase price when ordering from either country.
If you are thinking of sending books as gifts to others, you may consider having those books mailed directly to the recipient(s), by Amazon, at time of ordering. In this way, you would avoid Canada Post fees which currently run about $20.00 (plus tax) for one or two books, if enclosed in a single mailer.
For more background information on the story, go to the lead story on this blog.
Cheers,
Harold
Link Here for Chapter 1 of the High School Years
Link Here for Chapter 2 of the High School Years
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Big Kinosoo: The Rush is On – Legend Becomes Reality – Chapter 3 of 6

Photo: Copy of framed photo in the dining room at the home of my sister Louise and her husband Frank Yochim. This is Franks Cold Lake Marina as it looked in the late 1960s after being moved to the Main Dock. For thirty years my brother-in-law, along with members of the family operated the Marina and following his retirement, his son Lorin Yochim took over for several years before heading out to explore the world.
Link to Next Post: DHC-3 Fish Attack.
Link to Last Post: Monster Fish
Link Back to Adventures Index
Big Kinosoo: First Half of the 1900s
Photos: Mr. Labatt, left, and Mr. Z.A. Lefebvre, with three monster trout caught in Cold Lake between 1915 and 1918. It is not hard to imagine there were, and still are, fish larger than these in Cold Lake. Pictures were copied from “Treasured Scales of the Kinosoo”, a compilation of the history of Cold Lake by Laura Dean Skarsen.

The Rush is On
Many who arrived in Cold Lake early in the 20th Century to take up the search for the Big Kinosoo, decided to stay. Many became trappers, loggers, farmers, cattlemen, while others opened businesses in order to raise money to continue their search for the big fish. In their search they caught many other big fish, but never the Big Kinosoo. He was, by all accounts, one very elusive fish. By the middle of the century, many new residents were taking jobs building the new Canadian Forces Air Base west of town. Still later, hundreds of these workers accepted more permanent positions when the base became operational.
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