YK Past Blast

by Fran Hurcomb The circus came to town in 1982 and set up in the parking lot of the Community Arena. For many northerners, it was their first encounter with an elephant. Nancy Magrum took a ride along with her kids and their friends.

by Fran Hurcomb Mechanics at Raecom Air (located where Air Tindi is today) work on the motor of a Single Otter aircraft in 1986.

by Fran Hurcomb Santa, aka George Cleary, takes a well-deserved break at the Gerry Murphy Christmas skate in 1999. George fulfilled this role for many years.

Every summer for several years, an Old Town group photo was organized in the Woodyard. Anyone who wanted to be in the photo was welcome. How many faces can you identify in this one?

Commercial fisherman Johnny Nault lived with his family on Jolliffe Island for many years during the ’80s and ’90s. He is pictured here with the faithful “Esprit” in 1985.

Slugger was a well-known character in Old Town. Porkchop was his pet pig for the summer of 1982 and ran loose with a pack of local dogs. He disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the autumn.

The 150-mile Canadian Championship Dog Derby has been a Yellowknife institution for 60 years. Over this time, many different starting places and routes have been tried. In the 1990s, the race took off from Back Bay in Old Town. Grant and Richard Beck led the way out of the chutes.

Nancy Buckley was a well-known fisherlady on Great Slave lake, first based in Hay River and then in Yellowknife. She and her husband Archie ran the fish barge on Joliffe Island and supplied most of the fresh fish in Yellowknife. She died in 2007 at the age of 46.

For over 30 years, this festival of music, food, good shopping deals and shaving cream took place every June on the closest Friday evening to Solstice. Franklin Avenue was closed off and everyone came out to wander around in a huge crowd and celebrate the longest day. The event disappeared about 5 years ago due to lack

As the Yellowknife Rec Hockey league gets underway, here’s a memory from the Gerry Murphy days. Hutch ran the “Murphdome” for years and was well known to anyone who skated in Yellowknife. The arena was demolished in 2004 after 54 years of use.

The Northern Breed Motorcycle Club of Yellowknife held a huge parade from Yellowknife’s Old Town out to the sandpits to kick off their weekend long celebration. A City by-law car led the way, followed closely by Bob Carpenter, Ted Kidston, Jim O’Neil and the rest of the crew.

In the late 1960s, Michel shot a duck out of season and was taken to court. The result of this case was that he was fined $1, while the government had to pay a bill of over $1 million in court costs. He began the long battle for aboriginal hunting rights that continues today. He died

Yellowknifers still like their July 1 parades, but they lack the intimacy of what they did 40 years ago. Looking down Franklin Avenue, (from today’s Northern United Place) note The Bay store on the right, the Capital Theatre, the original Yellowknife Public School, and the newly-built Laing Building. The front float celebrates the Hudson’s Bay

The game’s changed a bit from this time, when kids grabbed their sticks – sometimes carved from a crooked willow branch – and boots and anything handy for goalposts. Traffic always gave us the right of way, and if we didn’t have pucks or balls, there was always a good supply of frozen dog turds