Bridge player extraordinaire and longtime member of the American Contract Bridge League Carl Mitchell says that to his knowledge he is the only Gold Life Master of the ACBL with 2,500 sanctioned masterpoints here in Prince George. Here is his brief history.
Carl was born in 1933 in Galahad, Alta. His father was a butcher who delivered to his customers by horse and buggy until he purchased an old Ford Model T.
The family eventually moved to Strome, Alta. where his father worked in a flour mill.
When Carl was 12 years old his father was invited to come to Crescent Spur with a promise of a job at the Leboe Lumber Company.
Carl said, "Burt Leboe, the owner of the company, was a former school teacher in Alberta. He knew my parents because he taught my mother when she was in school; it was his policy to hire workers that he was connected with.
"My father worked for Alvin Leboe in the woods as a faller and built our family home in Crescent Spur at the same time.
"We did not have a school in Crescent Spur so 12 other children and I walked three miles to and from school every day on the railroad track to get to our school in Loos. There were no roads and very few trains back then so walking the railroad tracks was relatively safe. After Grade 8 I took Grade 9 by correspondence and by then I was able to take the train into McBride 34 miles away to finish my grades 10 and 11.
"My first job, when I was about 15 years old, was to start up a donkey engine that was used to pull a long conveyer that carried logs from the river to the sawmill. It was my job to watch over the conveyer and shut off the engine when a chain broke - which worked out to be about three times a week. I was paid a handsome sum of 50 cents an hour for this job - while I read comic books all day.
"I started a log scaling job with a Crescent Spur sawmill while I was still in Grade 11 and worked there until 1954 when I enlisted with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."
Actually, Carl made it known that he was going to join the navy to serve his country, an RCMP officer - Cpl. Maxwell - told him that he could do better by joining the RCMP.
Carl said, "I was surprised by that vote of confidence. I was kind of naughty in high school and never thought for a minute that Cpl. Maxwell would recommend me. On the other hand, he treated all the young people fair and always gave us a second (and the last) chance if he caught us 16-year-olds with a bottle of beer. He introduced me to the recruiting officer and they accepted me.
"The training was intense but I graduated and I was on my way. I chose the direction of working with the horses and the musical ride. I was practicing for the musical ride and for some reason the horse stopped in his tracks when it came to a jump and I went over and the horse didn't. The resulting injury was tragic in more ways than one because it prevented me from staying in the Mounties and I was medically discharged.
"My dream job was gone so I went back to log scaling for the rest of my working career."
Carl was initially introduced to Jenny Rabczak by his sister. Jenny was his sister's school friend and also her roommate; they married in 1958.
They moved to Cornell Mills where Jenny worked at the post office and Carl worked as a scaler. They lived there until the mill shut down. Carl worked in the Pine Pass area for one year until Upper Fraser Sawmills hired him for full time work at Upper Fraser.
Jenny was born in Wainwright, Alta. in 1937. She raised the children and worked in the office for the Prince George Homemakers, a homecare and personal support service, dispatching the caregivers as needed.
When the children were ready for high school, they knew it was time to move into Prince George. By this time, Upper Fraser Sawmills was bought out by Northwood and Carl transferred into Prince George for a log scaling supervisory position at Northwood in 1972.
He was at times hired by insurance companies or a bank to help settle court disputes over the miscellaneous sales of salvaged and found logs along the river banks or floating in a lake. In the end, it was the timber mark identified on the logs that eventually settled each court case and the company with the timber mark on the log was the rightful owner.
Carl said, "Scaling was privatized in the early '80s. My job at Northwood included hiring the contractors; the contractors did their own hiring and dispatching of the log scalers and they paid their scalers directly.
"Northwood was always a good company to work for. When Canfor and Northwood merged, I had the opportunity to stay with the new company but I decided to retire instead. I retired in 2001 at the age of 68."
Carl and Jenny had four children; Carolyn (Greg) Dakin, Stanley (Arlette), Ken (Sherry) and Ellen who in turn gave them 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
They lived in the Spruceland area on Manson Crescent from 1972-2007 and later moved into a condo in College Heights. Sadly, Jenny passed away in 2009 after 51 years of marriage.
Carl was involved with the B.C. Senior Games and competed in softball during the summer, along with Syl and Linda Meise for approximately 10 years and joined a curling team in the winter.
He has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for the past 46 years. He is a grand deputy knight and served as their treasurer for many years.
Carl had some health issues and eventually moved into the Chateau. He got active and enjoyed three healthy meals each day and his health started to improve.
Bridge is his passion and he has been playing the game since the age of 20. He plays online and at the bridge club on Brunswick Street.
Carl ended by saying, "I had health issues and I had trouble getting around so I played duplicate bridge with a passion and obtained my Gold Life Master Status. I played six very competitive games a day both online and with other experts. To make a long story short it took me 15 years to reach my Gold Life Master Status.
"I had a good life and raised a great family. There were some ups and downs along the way but we got through it all. One of my biggest disappointments was being medically discharged from the RCMP after all that extensive training. I hit it lucky to get in with Northwood with my scaling profession. I am enjoying my retirement and I hope to hit it lucky again and regain better health."
