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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
When a garage on 101 Street went up in flames on Nov. 18, a piece of Fort Simpson history went with it.

Charred remains are all that is left of the garage on 101 Street in Fort Simpson that was formerly known as The Dog House. The building burned on Nov. 18. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Many longtime residents of the village can remember the days when the garage was known as The Dog House. Mike Chemerys owned the garage and the nearby house on the lot during The Dog House days, between 1988 and 2006.

The building served as a combination of a man cave and a music venue that led to the creation of at least two bands. The Dog House also features in some wild stories, some unsuitable for print.

Always something happening

"I lived in The Dog House," said Chemerys, who now lives in Dawson Creek, B.C.

There was always something happening at The Dog House. People would gather there to work on snowmobiles, fix cars and drink beer.

"It was an entertainment place," Chemerys said.

When cable Internet came to the village Chemerys ran a line into the garage. Men would gather there to daub TV bingo cards in secret because they didn't want to admit to playing. It worked well until someone won and had to call in to claim their prize, he said.

A king-sized sheet that acted as a screen and a projector also turned The Dog House into a sports venue. The Grey Cup, UFC fights and boxing events were often screened. Playing video games was also a popular pastime.

The Dog House also featured in the formation of Tracks and Trails, a snowmobile association in the village that raised prize money for snowmobile drag races and held popular dances.

Parties were also a common occurrence in The Dog House. The building got its name during the aftermath of a birthday party.

Paul MacKenzie, an apprentice mechanic at A&A Services, was helping to clean up the next day when he made the fateful remark.

"Mike, you need to call this place The Dog House," Chemerys recalls him saying.

"It kind of like stuck after that."

Music was also a big part of The Dog House scene.

Chemerys auditioned for and was accepted into a band that played in a building that Marvin Bourque owned on main street. When Bourque left the village, he asked Chemerys to take over the payments on the PA and band equipment he owned.

Chemerys moved the equipment to The Dog House where the band RPM was formed in the early 1990s. The founding members included Phil MacKenzie, Kathie O'Hare, Richard Wright, Chemerys and a butcher from the Hudson Bay store, who played drums. Dave Walsh later became the drummer and Rob Prosper replaced Wright.

All the practices took place in The Dog House and people would come over and listen and sometimes bring their own instruments and jam.

"The door was always open," said Chemerys.

The band went on to play gigs in the village and at the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik in approximately 1996.

After Phil and O'Hare moved to Fort Smith, where MacKenzie died of a heart attack shortly thereafter, the music scene in Fort Simpson quietened down for awhile. People were devastated by the loss of MacKenzie, said Chemerys.

Things picked up again when Mel Sabourin, Carl Lafferty, Johnny Cazon, Fabian Hardisty, Rob Prosper and Chemerys formed Dog House Bound in the late 1990s. The Dog House was the band's home base.

"Sometimes we'd spend four nights a week rehearsing," said Lafferty who played rhythm guitar, a bit of mandolin and did most of the vocals.

"There was always something going on in there."

Despite all of the music, there were few complaints from the neighbours although once or twice the RCMP came and asked the band to keep it down, Lafferty said.

'It was just fun to be part of something'

Lafferty remembers the band fondly.

"It was just fun to be part of something," he said.

It was hard to find people who could play instruments or musicians who were willing to play publicly and drummers were particularly hard to come by.

For awhile Dog House Bound resorted to using an electronic drummer that included a disk of pre-recorded beat patterns.

"It didn't complain, it never got tired and it never got drunk," he said.

The electronic drummer actually helped the band because musicians had to stay on time with it, Lafferty said.

Lafferty said it was sad to see a piece of local history go up in flames when The Dog House burned. Chemerys said he was devastated when he got a phone call on Nov. 18 informing him that the building was on fire.

"I feel sorry for Chris (Stipdonk) and his wife," he said, referring to the current owners.

To keep the building and the memories alive Chemerys has started a Facebook page for The Dog House. It contains pictures of the garage and the people who frequented it as they were in The Dog House's hey day.

The office of the NWT Fire Marshall is investigating the blaze.

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