Moisie, QC

1973 - 1978

LCol. JR Barrette, CD August 1974 to July 1976

LCol. NG Poire, CD July 1976 to December 1977

LCol RR Robert, CD December 1977 -

It was during these last years that the village of Moisie, which had been occupied for over a hundred years, was ordered demolished because of the danger to its’ occupants from flooding. By the autumn of 1977, the last houses of this once proud village were expropriated, and a new chapter for the area unfolded. Into its’ pages will be written a new provincial park to be built on the Moisie Village site, complete with picnic areas, a lovely beach and campsites to be used for the benefit of all citizens.

Major construction projects during these last five years have been curtailed throughout the Canadian Forces and of course, CFS Moisie has been no exception to this austerity programme. The only significant project which was let during this period has been the $800,000 Sewage Treatment Plant. Construction was started during the summer of 1977, and is expected to be completed before the end of 1978, This treatment system will be one of the most modern of its’ type, and is known as an active sludge system.

Fishing has been such a popular summer sport at Moisie that it seems the Station required not only one official Fishing Club, but another (no so) official Club! This second Club, the PPC (Privy Community Council) was formed during 1973 by a number of individuals who somehow felt the need (or urge) to institute a more "select" club. This particular story about two members of the PCC, unfolded one late, late, late (3 a.m.?) evening during the fishing season when MCpl Len Cunningham, his dog, and another member of the PCC were returning to the PCC from the Station Fishing Clubhouse. As related, their 12’ boat was about halfway across the river when Len decided to answer the call of nature, and unceremoniously moved towards the transom to "do his thing" standing up. For some reason, the dog moved from his spot near the bow of the boat to the stern. This motion caused a most unfortunate misbalance in the boat, for with the three at the stern, the small craft began taking in water at a most unprecedented rate, and quickly went under. Their desperate calls for help soon brought aid from the Station Fishing Club, but in the chaos which followed, only one of the three boats moored at the dock could be started. This single boat maneuvered towards the floating debris, but in the dark, the pilot of the "rescue" boat managed to clip Len’s ear with an oar when he reached out for him. Needless to say, without a light to assist them, they were unable to retrieve such miscellaneous items as the gas tank, the life preservers, their oars, etc. Them’s the hazards of life on da river, huh boys?

A water course such as the Moisie seems to lend itself quite readily to summer frivolities. In the Spring of 1973, a canoe race down the Moisie River was organized, and it appeared as though Spring fever overtook Captain Hudson, the TMO, for he and one of his friends decided that they would partake in the venture. Now, it so seems that Captain Hudson had somehow misunderstood the rules of the race, for no sooner had his canoe been paddled out of view of the starting line than he placed his 2 h.p. outboard on the gunwhale and roared off leaving all other contestants far behind in no time at all. For those of you who do not know the Moisie River (and it was said that Captain Hudson was one of these) I shall add here that it is quite spotted with sandbars and shoals. To the unexpecting, it is quite possible to topple your canoe if you are speeding along quite merrily and you hit one! The truth of the matter was that, Captain Hudson’s canoe went over, the motor was torn from the gunwhale and becoming lost forever in the drink, and he and his companion were soon to be picked up by a kind passer-by in his launch.

Undoubtedly the most humorous stories to be told of this era (at least the only one we were allowed to write) occurred on 15 May 1976 during a DMCC Section Mixed caplan fishing party. It appears that the haul of fish must have been very abundant, for the fishermen (and fisherwomen) decided that a celebration on the grandest scale was in order. They quickly assembled a multitude of firewood, set the whole thing ablaze, and proceeded to feast on the "boiled meal" before them. It has been said that the sweet elixir of "Caribou" was found to be most appropriate to the date and time, and much merriment was to be had by everyone. Well almost everyone…. The party continued on, until about 2 a.m., Captain Eric Stevens, the CGOpsO, (the section’s boss) looked bleary-eyes over the throng, took a second look, then said to his 2 i/c Sgt. Earl Ganon, "Boy, quite some crowd, huh Earl?" "Yep", say, who’s working midnights tonight?" To this question, Cpl. M L’Heureux and Cpl. JJ Guillemette shyly responded, "We are, Sir". As I have said before, almost everyone had fun that night. (The evening shifts overtime was paid in full the next night).

Non-official construction projects over the past five years have fared quite well, particularly concerning the Station’s cross-country skiing Club and softball facilities. As has been the case with most northern radar sites, cross-country skiing has overtaken snowmobiling as the number one outdoor winter sport. To this end, the cross-country ski club has developed a series of excellent ski trials which have been used very vigorously since their construction. Thanks to the splendid support (not to mention carpentry abilities) given by Sgt. Gary Pettis and MCpl. Gaetan Lavoie, the interior of the beach house was renovated to include a cross-country skiing club during the winter of 1977. The Rene Simard Ballpark as well, was upgraded with the inclusion of night lighting, a project which has increased the felexibility of the park.

This spring (1978) saw construction start on a Station Wood Hobby Shop in the recently vacated FPS-6B Height Finder Tower. It is expected to open early in the fall.

The Search and Rescue cell has maintained its’ ever-ready posture as a ground search team. On several occasions throughout this period they have assisted in locating lost persons, and their expertise in this field has been greatly appreciated.

The unfortunate fact of the matter concerning swimming along these lovely shores is the strong Moisie River current, particularly during the ebb tide precludes the full scale use of the river for swimming.

This detail was obtained from Section Three of the 1953-1978 Moisie Anniversary - 25 Years of Service Book. A copy of the 1953-1978 Moisie book was loaned to us by Deanna Gilbert and the material has been typed for use on the Pinetree Line web site in December 1998.