Jack McKinley was born on Manitoulin Island at Gorbay in 1924. Because I had never heard of this place I checked it out on the internet. Manitoulin Island is a Canadian lake island in Lake Huron in the province of Ontario. It is the largest lake island in the world.
The McKinley family moved to Prince George in 1939 and started a successful second hand store right where Bater Electric used to be.
The entire family had musical talent. Here is Jack McKinley's story as he told it to me. "My dad was an old time fiddler. My brother played the fiddle, my mother played the piano and I played the accordion. We played anywhere and anytime and made some extra money on the side.
We used to play in the old CCF Hall, which is now the Old Eagles Hall. We played for many events in the Giscome Hall and occasionally we would play at Aleza Lake. My father used to rent the hall for $5.00 and then we would put on the dance. The admission to get in was cheap but generally they just walked in and wouldn't pay at all.
I have five children, two boys and three girls.
I started trucking in 1966. I worked in Penny for ten years and during the summer I worked on the new highway being built to McBride. My winter work was logging for Pat and John Martin Logging.
When I look back I realize that the work we did back then was totally amazing. For example: In 1968 they dammed up Lake Williston (now the largest lake in British Columbia) for the W.A.C. Bennett Dam Project. It was our job to build ice bridges that spanned over several miles across the lake near the Parsnip River area. We logged the trees, hauled them out onto the ice and tied them together to make a road for the logging companies. We never heard of any other man made ice bridge that was as long as the ones we built. This is the type of work that I did until my back gave out. I had back surgery in 1975. It was that surgery that took me from logging straight to the piano bench.
From 1978 to 1992 I played the piano for a living. I used to work in the hotels and restaurants as an entertainer, but mostly for the Log House Restaurant, located on Tabor Lake. I played at the Simon Fraser Lounge and at Savalas. I never took a lesson and many people told me that they thought that I was a genius. That was such a compliment that I just let them believe it.
I recently turned 89 and I still tune pianos especially for senior centres. When I am able to I play piano along with the Elastic Band. We have eight or nine people most of the time, playing with us. My fingers are getting a little stiff but I still enjoy it. We do old time music or most anything to get your toe tapping and I still play by ear to this day. We do the Elks Hall, Vanier Hall, the schools, the senior centers and many senior homes. The members of the Elastic Band don't really get paid. We just pool the money and buy equipment or have a good social with our wives.
I married Ev Boudreau in 1946. She passed away in 1998. I then married Evelyn Moores-McKinley in 2003 and we are enjoying a wonderful life together.
So goes my story of a life lived to the fullest. There were sad times and happy times but life was good especially in the earlier years. We did not have to lock our doors or our cars back then. Everyone was trustworthy. I enjoy a good life. We still love to go the Elder Citizens Recreation Centre and hang out with the crowd and sometimes I still try to entertain them on the piano."
Send me your seniors' information at: [email protected]
