When Jim was seventeen years old, he was accepted into Junior Forest Rangers of Ontario. To be a Junior Forest Ranger, you had to be seventeen. Not sixteen, and not eighteen. This was a special program for this single age group; a program where boys from around the province could apply to work for the summer for the princely sum of five dollars per day, plus room and board.
For Jim, this was like being accepted to West Point. He was, and continues to be incredibly proud of being a part of it. Jim was stationed at Sibley Provincial Park, near Thunder Bay. In 1988 Sibley was renamed to be Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Jim took the train, alone, from Niagara, to Thunder Bay, with a transfer at Union Station in Toronto. A twenty-four-hour train trip, alone as a seventeen year old, heading to a job where he had only a name to meet at the other end, was an accomplishment in itself. But as a Junior Forest Ranger, many other accomplishments were awaiting to be achieved by him and the other young men in his group. Jim and the others learned to do everything from clearing forest to create campgrounds, emptying trash, trail maintenance and animal surveys, to learning to fight forest fires. The forest fire training was most memorable for Jim.
Each summer, each provincial park hosting the Junior Forest Ranger program, selected five Junior Forest Rangers from their group, to make up a team to compete in the annual forest fighting competition. Jim was part of Sibley’s team. Teams came from all across the province to compete in the challenge. Although Jim has explained the job of each member of his team in detail, and explained the format of the competition in detail, all I really know are two things. First, Jim was appointed to be in position number four on his team, a job involving hauling a heavy part of hose among other things. Second, his team won the competition.
It isn’t hard for me to imagine how much this would have meant to five, seventeen year old boys. In Jim’s case this was the summer after the passing of his father. I’m sure he was trying to figure out his place in the world. Knowing for certain he was team member number four, and knowing exactly what was expected of him, made his place very clear, if only for a summer.
I can picture these boys, feeling much more like grown men, as they tried out for, and then made, the team, trained for the competition, and then won. There was no such thing as social media in those days, in fact, I’ve never even seen a picture of that summer. Clearly, the competition was not about fame, or being liked or admired. They were competing in the woods. No parent made the trip to spectate. It was simply a matter of pride. Pride in being selected, pride in competing, and pride in winning.
When the competition was complete, and the course cleaned up, Jim’s team’s supervisor, on the way back to camp, stopped off with them at Silver Islet General Store. This was a little camping store, serving the then Sibley Provincial Park campground. Jim recalls the supervisor buying them each an ice cream to celebrate. The owner of the store was there when the boys went in. He clearly understood that something special had just happened and he asked them where they had been. When they explained what they had accomplished he looked toward the ceiling. On it were signatures of people who had accomplished a variety of feats. He said to the boys, ‘There is a spot up there for you’. He gave them a marker and instructed them to climb upon a table and sign their names. They were bursting with pride, signing their individual names under their title, “The Fire Fightin’ Five”.
Jim has often recalled this special time and has wondered how long those signatures lasted.
A friend of ours, Vanessa, moved to Thunder Bay about ten years ago. Jim told her about his time there as a teenager, and about his name on the ceiling. She thought it would be fun to go and try to find it sometime. She and her family took a little trip over to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park to see it. The first time they went, the store was closed. Same with the second time. And the third. The only thing that could be reported was that the little store had clearly undergone change in ownership, and with that, a major renovation.
Jim knew that any decent renovation would have included a change to the wood ceiling. Even though he had not been there since the summer of 1972, when Jim heard about the renovation to the store, he felt a little nostalgic about having his tiny piece of small-town history erased.
Last summer, when Vanessa and her family were on a day trip to Sleeping Giant, they decided to check in on the new store. She sent Jim a message later that same day. Jim had been right. When the store underwent the new ownership, the ceiling, along with everything else had been replaced. However, what Jim had not expected was that the new owners, seeing the names on the ceiling, did some research into the history of how they came to be there.
It is my humble opinion, never having met these owners, and knowing nothing about them, that they are the perfect new owners for this establishment. Not only did they have some sense that these names must have, at one time, held some importance, they also made the decision to carry the history of the area into the new store. For on a plaque, hanging on the wall, were engraved the names of the “Fire Fightin’ Five”.
For Jim, this was like being accepted to West Point. He was, and continues to be incredibly proud of being a part of it. Jim was stationed at Sibley Provincial Park, near Thunder Bay. In 1988 Sibley was renamed to be Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Jim took the train, alone, from Niagara, to Thunder Bay, with a transfer at Union Station in Toronto. A twenty-four-hour train trip, alone as a seventeen year old, heading to a job where he had only a name to meet at the other end, was an accomplishment in itself. But as a Junior Forest Ranger, many other accomplishments were awaiting to be achieved by him and the other young men in his group. Jim and the others learned to do everything from clearing forest to create campgrounds, emptying trash, trail maintenance and animal surveys, to learning to fight forest fires. The forest fire training was most memorable for Jim.
Each summer, each provincial park hosting the Junior Forest Ranger program, selected five Junior Forest Rangers from their group, to make up a team to compete in the annual forest fighting competition. Jim was part of Sibley’s team. Teams came from all across the province to compete in the challenge. Although Jim has explained the job of each member of his team in detail, and explained the format of the competition in detail, all I really know are two things. First, Jim was appointed to be in position number four on his team, a job involving hauling a heavy part of hose among other things. Second, his team won the competition.
It isn’t hard for me to imagine how much this would have meant to five, seventeen year old boys. In Jim’s case this was the summer after the passing of his father. I’m sure he was trying to figure out his place in the world. Knowing for certain he was team member number four, and knowing exactly what was expected of him, made his place very clear, if only for a summer.
I can picture these boys, feeling much more like grown men, as they tried out for, and then made, the team, trained for the competition, and then won. There was no such thing as social media in those days, in fact, I’ve never even seen a picture of that summer. Clearly, the competition was not about fame, or being liked or admired. They were competing in the woods. No parent made the trip to spectate. It was simply a matter of pride. Pride in being selected, pride in competing, and pride in winning.
When the competition was complete, and the course cleaned up, Jim’s team’s supervisor, on the way back to camp, stopped off with them at Silver Islet General Store. This was a little camping store, serving the then Sibley Provincial Park campground. Jim recalls the supervisor buying them each an ice cream to celebrate. The owner of the store was there when the boys went in. He clearly understood that something special had just happened and he asked them where they had been. When they explained what they had accomplished he looked toward the ceiling. On it were signatures of people who had accomplished a variety of feats. He said to the boys, ‘There is a spot up there for you’. He gave them a marker and instructed them to climb upon a table and sign their names. They were bursting with pride, signing their individual names under their title, “The Fire Fightin’ Five”.
Jim has often recalled this special time and has wondered how long those signatures lasted.
A friend of ours, Vanessa, moved to Thunder Bay about ten years ago. Jim told her about his time there as a teenager, and about his name on the ceiling. She thought it would be fun to go and try to find it sometime. She and her family took a little trip over to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park to see it. The first time they went, the store was closed. Same with the second time. And the third. The only thing that could be reported was that the little store had clearly undergone change in ownership, and with that, a major renovation.
Jim knew that any decent renovation would have included a change to the wood ceiling. Even though he had not been there since the summer of 1972, when Jim heard about the renovation to the store, he felt a little nostalgic about having his tiny piece of small-town history erased.
Last summer, when Vanessa and her family were on a day trip to Sleeping Giant, they decided to check in on the new store. She sent Jim a message later that same day. Jim had been right. When the store underwent the new ownership, the ceiling, along with everything else had been replaced. However, what Jim had not expected was that the new owners, seeing the names on the ceiling, did some research into the history of how they came to be there.
It is my humble opinion, never having met these owners, and knowing nothing about them, that they are the perfect new owners for this establishment. Not only did they have some sense that these names must have, at one time, held some importance, they also made the decision to carry the history of the area into the new store. For on a plaque, hanging on the wall, were engraved the names of the “Fire Fightin’ Five”.
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I know how important this time of life was to Jim. And how important the event was. And most of all, how important it was for him to have been recognized by virtue of climbing on the table and signing his name. What impresses me even more is the insight the original store owner had to recognize how important this event was to these kids. He thought it was important enough that he invited them to be signed witnesses of their own lives. He gave them the chance to pause, and to witness what they themselves had done. And even if it was important only in their own eyes, he gave these young men the space to allow the feeling of being seen, and to inform how they would show up in the world, confident, competent, and self-assured, for the rest of their lives.
I of course, wish that each of us could have a fire fightin’ competition moment. But more than that, I wish that we would pause, and become signed witnesses to our own lives when we accomplish things meaningful to ourselves. And I wish we each would recognize such moments when they occur for others, and that we might have the insight and courage to act on our intuition and make space to celebrate these tiny, monumental, life-creating moments for ourselves and others in our lives.
And I am so grateful that the new owners, had the grace to understand the importance of keeping that firefighting competition of 1972 alive, and Vanessa for reporting back, to revive such a wonderful memory!.
My inquiry for you this week is, ‘Where is there space for a signature on the ceiling in your life?’
Elizabeth is a certified professional Leadership Coach, and the owner of Critchley Coaching. She is the founder and president of the Canadian charity, RDL Building Hope Society. She works with corporations, non-profits and the public sector, providing leadership coaching. She creates and facilitates custom workshops for all sizes of groups and has expertise in facilitating Strategic Plans for organizations. Contact Elizabeth to learn how to sign the ceiling.
I of course, wish that each of us could have a fire fightin’ competition moment. But more than that, I wish that we would pause, and become signed witnesses to our own lives when we accomplish things meaningful to ourselves. And I wish we each would recognize such moments when they occur for others, and that we might have the insight and courage to act on our intuition and make space to celebrate these tiny, monumental, life-creating moments for ourselves and others in our lives.
And I am so grateful that the new owners, had the grace to understand the importance of keeping that firefighting competition of 1972 alive, and Vanessa for reporting back, to revive such a wonderful memory!.
My inquiry for you this week is, ‘Where is there space for a signature on the ceiling in your life?’
Elizabeth is a certified professional Leadership Coach, and the owner of Critchley Coaching. She is the founder and president of the Canadian charity, RDL Building Hope Society. She works with corporations, non-profits and the public sector, providing leadership coaching. She creates and facilitates custom workshops for all sizes of groups and has expertise in facilitating Strategic Plans for organizations. Contact Elizabeth to learn how to sign the ceiling.
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