Chapleau Moments

by MichaelJ. Morris

Whenever it gets close to Christmas, no matterwhereIam,mythoughtsturntogrowing up in Chapleau, and the Dr. G. E. 'Ted' Young display that was referred to as "our Disneyland" Indeeditwas!

This year has been no different with a boostfromLeoVezinaandHarrietBouillon.Leo postedaphotofromoneofthedisplaysonLouise Tremblay's Chapleau History and Genealogy page on Facebook and Harriet suggested he contactmerephotosshehadsentmesomeyears ago.IsawtheirpostsandhereIameventhoughI mayrepeatmyselfabitfromearliercolumns.

Togetstarted,whenIwasgrowingupin Chapleau and had come down with one of the commonchildhooddiseases,aftermymotherleft for school, I would suggest to my grandmother thatwecallDr.Youngwhoforsurewouldcome andmakemebetter.

DrG.E.'Ted'Youngstrodelikecolossusthrough ChapleaulifeincludingpopularChristmasdisplay

Almost momentarily, or so it seemed, Dr. Young would appearwithhisblackbag,andsit besidemybed.takemypulseand temperature, and my favorite, takeouthisstethoscopeandand have me take deep breaths to makesureIwasstillalive.Then he would talk with Nanny, my grandmother, Edith Hunt, who assuredmeshewouldfollowhis instructions and in due course, I would be "all better" and head backtoschool.

When my dog Rex was hit by a car while I was still in public school, I carried him into the house, in tears, shouting at mymother,MurielE.Morris,"CallDr.Young." She did and once again, it seemed within moments, he arrived. After examining Rex, he told me to put a blanket near the wood stove as well as food and water, and let him be. Amazingly, Rex recovered and lived another 10 years.Dr.Younghaddoneitagain.

George Edward "Ted" Young, who served Chapleau and area for 50 years as a medicaldoctor,wasbornonNovember2,1914, diedatage95onNovember14,2010.

Foralmostacentury,borninChapleau to George and Mabel Young, he strode like a colossusthrougheveryaspectofcommunitylife -- as a young athlete who became famous for swimming to Mulligan's Bay, as an officer in Number 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps,asamedicalstudentatQueen'sUniversity who came home to practise for six months in 1942 and remained 50 years before he retired in 1994, as the builderoftheChapleaubeach,as amemberoftownshipcouncil,asacabletelevision pioneer, and as one who wasconstantlyundertakingnew projects, many of which were never quite completed. He was also a founding member of the Chapleau Rotary Club and servedasitssecondpresident.

He started his famous Christmasdisplaysshortlyafter he launched his practise in the home originally built and owned by G.B. Nicholson, the community's first reeve, and lumberbaron.

After I posted some photos on Louise Tremblay's popular page, the comments aboutDr.Youngstartedandhad reached close to 50 when I Cont’donP.5