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Members of the Pine Point Reunion Committee include, from left, Barry Cooper; Lori Lafferty, treasurer; Frank Lafferty, vice-president; Shirley Hancock, secretary; Calvin Lizotte, president; and Barb Hancock-Cooper. They are holding special commemorative vehicle plates made for the reunion. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
Pine Point reunion set for August Former residents to mark 25th year since mining town shut down
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 17, 2013
PINE POINT
Former residents of Pine Point will reunite this summer to mark the 25th year since the mining community was closed down.
The reunion will be held from Aug. 1 to 5 on the old Pine Point town site, about 90 kilometres east of Hay River.
The idea for a 25th anniversary reunion originated two years ago when Barb Hancock-Cooper of Hay River was chatting on the Internet about Pine Point with a southern friend, who had posted some pictures of empty lots in the abandoned community.
"I said, 'In two years it will be 25 years, so it will be now or never,'" she said, adding the idea of a reunion took off from there.
Hancock-Cooper and a group of former Pine Point residents now living in Hay River have registered as a society as the Pine Point Reunion Committee to organize the event, which is titled Pine Point Coming Home.
Calvin Lizotte, the president of the reunion committee, said about 350 people are expected to camp out at the old town site for the weekend in tents, campers and motor homes.
While the reunion is organized for former residents, he said it is open to everyone.
Frank Lafferty, the vice-president of the committee, said the reunion will be a lot of fun.
"We're just trying to make it a family-oriented event," he said.
Among the planned activities are a fish fry, jam sessions, a Pine Days parade, children's games, a craft sale, a family dance, a town tribute and more.
Pine Point was a lead/zinc mining town from the early 1960s until the Cominco operation closed and residents were told to leave the community by the end of August 1988.
"A lot of people don't understand that we were just kicked out," said Hancock-Cooper.
The peak population for Pine Point was about 1,200.
These days, there are just two cabins where Pine Point once stood, although there are still the remains of streets and pits from the mining operation. The former residents on the reunion committee have fond memories of Pine Point.
"It was a special place to live," said Shirley Hancock, the secretary of the committee.
Others remember it as a friendly community and a great sports town.
There have been two previous reunions of former residents. The first in Edmonton in 1992 attracted about 1,500 people, while about 50 people attended a much smaller get-together in 2000 in Pine Point.
The Pine Point Reunion Committee received $5,000 in funding from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment for the upcoming event. It is also seeking support from the business sector in Hay River and elsewhere.
Lafferty said the people of Pine Point supported many NWT businesses, especially those in Hay River.
The committee is also raising money to pay for the reunion through a registration fee and the sale of souvenir items.
The funds will help cover expenses such as a steak dinner, firewood, water, garbage disposal and portable showers.
Organizers are also looking for volunteers to help with the various activities.
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