Elder had varied life

Page 10

FISHING LAKE - Musician, laborer, soldier, handyman, hardware salesman. Joe Daigneault has been them all.

Daigneault was born in St. Lina, Alberta, in 1917, on a homestead quarter that

was purchased by his father for $10. By the time he was 14, he was working for a living. "I worked for $1 a day," he said. "It wasn't much but it was enough to live on."

Groceries were a lot cheaper than today. A loaf of bread was five cents and eggs sold for 10 cents a dozen. A person could outfit themselves with a fairly good shirt, jeans, and a pair of runners for about $2.50.

In 1936, following in the footprints of an older brother, Daigneault arrived in Fishing Lake. He helped out at local training post operated by his brother.

Over a midmorning coffee, Daigneault remembered how things were.

A supervisor at Fishing Lake raised cattle near the shore of Frog Lake. Many local men were hired to clear the land in the area to plant crops for feed. People moving into the settlement were given two or three of the purebred cattle to start their own herds. Some settlers sold their animals or ate them. A few cows on the settlement today may be from those original animals.

In 1940, Daigneault volunteered his services to fight in the Second World War. He was given tests and classified as A1. A year later he was called to serve his country. Daigneault took his basic training in Calgary before being transferred to Halifax. There he was chosen to attend military school for officer training, before going overseas.

During his enlistment in the army, Daigneault asked for and received permission to marry. Three days after his wedding he returned to his unit and wouldn't be back home for a number of years.

"When we came back, we kissed the ground in Halifax," said Daigneault. The son he had only heard about was already a big boy when he returned.

In the years that followed, Joe Daigneault played music in a band for awhile until family pressures convinced him to give it up. He spent about a year on the Vancouver coast working in a hardware store but eventually returned home to Fishing Lake.

Back in Fishing Lake, he purchased himself a small house and, like so many other men of that time, found jobs wherever possible travelling away from home.

Daigneault worked as a handyman "fixing windows and things" in the second school building on the settlement.

"There wasn't even a fence around the school like there is now, children had to chase away cows from the playground before they could play ball."

One main road in the area came to a dead end just a mile and a half north of the present townsite of Fishing Lake.

The first log school house on the settlement also served as a church in the early days. After a wedding ceremony, a dance took place in the same building.

There were a lot of community dances in those days.

"It was the only pastime they had I guess, was dancing and drinking homebrew. Everyone played the fiddle."

Two years ago Daigneault moved into a new house. He added a log porch against one side and the beginnings of a log shed sit in the back yard. Retired with a pension, Daigneault lives a quiet comfortable life on the Fishing Lake settlement.