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SawStolRe

Past Articles May 2001

Feature Article July 18, 2001

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SawStolReListening in on the Sawyer-Stoll reunion

The Sawyer-Stoll reunion in Cloyne

by David Brison

A large crowd, estimated at 300, turned out for a reunion of former Sawyer-Stoll employees in Cloyne on Saturday. The event was sponsored by the Cloyne and District Historical Society in recognition of the major role that the Sawyer-Stoll lumber company had in the region.

A number of dignitaries addressed the crowd and reminisced about their memories of the lumber company and the Massanoga base camp they set up in North Frontenac near what is now known as Stoll Lake. However, the heart of the event for most of those who attended was recognizing people with whom they had worked 40 or 50 years ago, and sharing old experiences. Their memories were aided by an outstanding collection of photographs many of them from the Johnston collection.

SawStolReMPP Leona Dombrowsky speaks

Mary (Johnston ) Johnson, the daughter of Wallace Johnston, came to Tweed in 1938 when her father started the new mill at Massanoga. Her family spent every summer at Massanoga, and during the war years they lived there year round. She shared many of her memories with the crowd, comprised mostly of former employees.

In a portion of her talk, she spoke of the blacksmith shop, We were fascinated by the blacksmith shop and the boiler, where slabs and sawdust were burned to make steam to run the mill, and to power the entire village in the early years. And on the bottom floor of the mill building were the giant wheels and huge belts, turning to run all the machines, spitting steam, dripping grease on our heads. Walking under there with Dad was always particularly scary.

SawStolReSpeaking with Leona

North Frontenac councillor Ed Buck brought greetings from his council. Ed worked and lived at Massanoga during the winter of 1964-65. They had to have a government person to scale lumber. I scaled 2.5 million feet of lumber that winter, said Ed, who added that he had very positive memories of the work.

SawStolReParticipant Mary Johns

Sawyer-Stoll set up a planning mill in Kaladar, and eventually the pallet operation in Tweed. MPP Leona Dombrowsky, who grew up near Tweed, talked of her memories of that operation and of the lumber trucks going through the village.

Sawyer-Stoll touched many peoples lives directly and indirectly, but none more so than Graydon MacCrimmon, who started work for the company in 1941, and retired from the Tweed pallet and box operation in 1991. Graydon worked in the office, and has a wealth of memories of the work done and the men who did it. He presently lives in one of the former company homes in Kaladar.

SawStolReOld timers talking...

Ian Brumell, who with Marg Axford did much of the organizing for the well-planned event, mentioned in his remarks that the site where the reunion was held (at the Cloyne Community Hall, adjacent to the Pioneer Museum) was also the site of the lumbermens picnics. In 1947, Canadian figure skating champion Barbara Ann Scott appeared at a lumbermans picnic, and the following year 10,000 people attended the picnic.

Entertainment was provided by Odie and the Boys a country music and bluegrass group. The big entertainment was the rare opportunity to meet old friends and share memories of the lumbering days. For those of us who are relative newcomers, the reunion was a vivid reminder of the history of lumbering in our region a history that was brought alive by the people who were active participants.

The full text of Mary Johnsons talk, along with photos, will be available on the NewsWeb next week: www.inkingston.com/lolnw .
With the participation of the Government of Canada