Chippewa turns 90

Holly Gareau has a lot of fond memories of Chippewa Park.

The 81-year-old sat under a tree to shade herself while she watched the opening ceremonies for the 90th anniversary of the park on Sunday. She said next week will be her own birthday. The coming occasion reminded her of all the times she had her birthday parties at Chippewa.  

At her parties, Gareau and her friends would spread blankets out onto the grass for picnics, and swim in the lake.

She said it was great to have a park area like Chippewa to go to.

“I’ve been coming to the park for as long as I can remember,” Gareau said. “The water helped when we could swim over. That was a big thing for us. This is a beautiful spot especially with all the changes and refurbishing.”

Chippewa Park opened in 1921 as a park for what was then the city of Fort William. The park underwent developments with playground equipment, a zoo, a pavilion and amusement rides.

Ruth Makris said she missed the dances that were held at the pavilion.

The 74-year-old came to the park to hear Roy Coran’s Jazz Big Band. She said there aren’t many jazz bands in town so she was happy to hear that Roy Coran was stopping by.

She added that it was great to see Chippewa celebrate 90 years.

“I think it is great that the park has lasted this long,” Makris said. “People have a lot of picnics out here and now they have opened up the break water so kids can go swimming.”

Leo Lafontaine, vice-president of the Friends of Chippewa Park, said there were times when he didn’t know if the park would survive because of budget cuts. Despite those cuts, the park always found a way to survive.

The dances used to be the biggest draw but now more visitors bring their children to the amusement park or to the beach.

 “We also put in a lot of work and development into the RV park and that helps to keep people here and keep the interest up,” Lafontaine said.

“One of the things that help to promote the park is events such as Benny Birch's birthday party. Sometimes people haven’t been out to the park in a long time bring their kids or grandkids to the event helps. The park is very well used.”