The Rooming House
The following is Don Barrie’s annual Christmas story.
From The Peterborough
Examiner sports staff, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
The four boys were near the same age and were like brothers, which two were.
They lived just north of the Canadian General Electric plant. It was just after the end of the Second World War. Two of the boys’ fathers were veterans and all four dads worked at the CGE.
Two of the boys were in Grade 6, one in Grade 7 and one in Grade 8, all at Prince of Wales Public School. They were all athletic but not good enough to play on any teams, either at school or in the community. Road hockey in the winter and baseball in a backyard field in the summer were their main activities.
They lived on two busy streets, Park Street and Sherbrooke Street, so road hockey had to be played elsewhere. There was a dead end street a block away with a street light that was ideal.
Unfortunately, it was in front of the rooming house that had been a no-go zone as they grew up. Parents and older kids warned them to give the place a wide berth. No reasons were ever given; “Just stay away from that place,” they were told.
The two brothers shared a paper route. The rooming house was on the route. Through the week they just threw the paper on the verandah but on Fridays they had to collect the 25 cents for the week. Five nickels were always sitting under the flower pot on a small table on the verandah. They had little contact with the roomers.
There were five roomers in the house. Two were younger, apparently were veterans of the war and unable to work for some reason. Another guy was permanently on crutches and two were older men who just sat in chairs out front in the summer and in the front window in the winter. The two younger guys had bikes which they rode downtown every day.
Starting that winter when the boys were playing road hockey in front of the rooming house the two younger guys would occasionally come out and chat with them. They usually carried a beer and were smoking. The boys quickly realized they had nothing to be concerned about these men, in fact, they liked them.
Winter came early that year after the war. The boys had received their hockey sticks from the CGE Employees Christmas party. The one-piece models were perfect for road hockey. About a week before Christmas the boys were playing in front of the house when one of the younger roomers came out.
“Do you guys have skates?” he asked. They all did.
“Down behind the house,” he said, “that small creek has created a pretty nice sheet of ice. I think it would be great for skating.”
The next day when the two brothers delivered the paper, they went down to the pond with the young roomer. It was a smooth piece of ice, solid and with few bumps. The next day, after school and delivering their papers, the four boys snuck their skates out of their homes and met at the rooming house. They had about 45 minutes of daylight before the CGE whistle blew and they needed to head home for supper. They had a great game of two-on-two with the two young roomers playing goal in their boots; one with a broom, the other with a shovel.
A few days later the roomers shovelled the rink after a snowfall.
After school for the rest of the week they had great sessions of hockey. The boys left their skates in a back shed of the rooming house. On the Saturday before Christmas they played on the pond for most of the day. The two young guys left early to go downtown to get a small case of beer.
The boys learned each Saturday the five roomers sat around the old radio in the front room of the house, drank a few beers each and listened to Foster Hewitt broadcast the Maple Leafs game from Toronto. They bet nickels on who would score the next goal; the winner paying for the paper that week. As for the upcoming Christmas season, the roomers told the boys they had no plans.
Across from where the brothers lived was a small grocery store. They often delivered groceries to shut-ins for the owner and helped around the store. Each Christmas the owner sold Christmas trees. A farmer would bring in a few trees with his horse-drawn wagon and set them up along the wall of the store. The boys would help the farmer unload the trees. They always brought a carrot or apple for his horse, Clyde.
It was while unloading the second load of trees the boys hatched their plan. It took some preparation and a lot of secrecy.
On Christmas Eve day which was a Saturday, the farmer made his last delivery of trees. The boys were all waiting. Earlier the grocer had donated a small turkey, some potatoes and two cans of peas and carrots plus a cake. The mother of the two brothers was let in on their plans and prepared the food.
The boys, carrying the food in a cardboard box, jumped on the back of the farmer’s wagon and headed off with the bells around Clyde’s neck ringing. Clyde seemed extra perky this day. They stopped in front of the rooming house. The ringing bells drew the roomers out to the verandah. They had been all sitting around the radio preparing for the hockey game broadcast.
The farmer brought in a Christmas tree and set it up. The boys each had a few decorations to put on it. They set down the box with the food on a nearby table. The men were really in awe. They just sat and looked in amazement what these four young boys had done. One roomer brought in some plates and utensils from the kitchen. Another carved the turkey. The boys gave each man a small gift.
“You can’t open these until tomorrow morning,” the one boy said.
As the roomers dug into their dinner, the boys and the farmer wished them a Merry Christmas and left. The roomers thanked them profusely.
On the street the boys thanked the farmer for his help, gave Clyde another carrot and watched the two drive down the street.
The boys were all smiles when they looked where the wagon had sat. Clyde had left the boys his gift. They had enough road apples to last the holidays.
Merry Christmas.
Don Barrie is a retired teacher, former Buffalo Sabres scout and a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame. His column appears each Saturday in The Examiner.