Upon his retirement in 1987, Bonnetrouge needed to find something to do with all the extra time.

And the now 69-year-old eventually turned to playing the violin.

Bonnetrouge says he didn't really want to retire. "I kept going back, even when they told me I couldn't work," he says. "I really like work."

Retiring at 54 was too early, he says. "Your mind says you could, but your body can't."

During his working life, Bonnetrouge had suffered several serious injuries, which contributed to his early retirement.

The final straw was injuring his back when the heavy equipment he was operating crashed into the Mackenzie River as he was preparing the ice road.

"That really finished me," he says, noting the back injury left him in bed for a year and a half. "I couldn't move."

Bonnetrouge had worked 21 years with the GNWT as a heavy equipment operator, following eight years with the federal government.

After recovering from his injury, he recalls he looked for something to do. But he admits to not being good at woodworking or crafts, and is not much of a television watcher.

"I thought I'd pick up a violin," he says, noting he had tried the violin when he was younger, but had let it go.

Playing the violin also helps him think about life, he explains. "Music helps me straighten out my mind."

It also helps him deal with the constant pain he has from his injuries, especially in his back and neck, he says. "It helps me forget about the pain. Music has helped me a lot."

Beginning in 1990, Bonnetrouge says it took him quite a while to learn to play the violin, but he now has several trophies from carnivals and talent shows to prove that he learned quite well.

Playing in public was also difficult, but he conquered his stage fright. "When I get going, then I'm OK."

Bonnetrouge says he plays mostly old-time music -- jigs, waltzes and two-steps.

"I don't want to say that I'm good, but, as long as I'm doing something I want to do, that's all that counts."