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Christmas tree topped headframe
Mayor's father used to mount festive ornament at Con Mine

Evan Kiyoshi French
Northern News Services
Friday, April 1, 2016

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When he looks at the Robertson Headframe, Mayor Mark Heyck says he sees his father, Heiko Heyck, who worked various positions at the mine between 1955 and 1991. Heyck said he can't remember exactly when, but one holiday season after he started working at the mine his father had a "bright" idea.

Headframe Relationships:
Preceding the destruction of the Robertson Headframe, the paper is profiling Yellowknifers and their relationships to the structure. If you have a story e-mail newsdesk@nnsl.com or call 867-766-8295.

"He thought that given the size of the structure and the visibility from so far away that it might be nice during the Christmas season to put a tree up on top and light it up for the community," said Heyck. "So he and one or two other fellows ... in the first couple of years, they actually hauled a really big pine tree up the side of the headframe and lit that up."

After hoisting the giant tree 200 feet into the air in the middle of winter a couple seasons in a row, Heyck said the men decided there was a better way to go about decorating.

"After the ordeal of that, they realized that from ground level you really couldn't see the tree," he said. "All you could see was the lights. So instead, they decided to bring a bunch of two-by-fours up to the top and construct a frame that would look like the shape of a tree. That was a longtime tradition that I know I always enjoyed seeing."

Heyck said when his father retired in 1991, the family left the city for a time, so he does not know what became of the Christmas tree tradition.

"I can't recall exactly how long after it survived," he said. "I know at one point they put a membrane on top to keep the roof from leaking. So I know at that point the top was no longer accessible."

Heyck said his father died several years ago but he will always have fond memories of him and the headframe.

"He was a pretty gregarious guy, so they often tasked him with touring visiting dignitaries around the headframe and underground," said Heyck. "So he was actually one of the people who took Margo Kidder on a tour of the headframe in 1984, during Yellowknife's 50th anniversary. Given my dad's connection to it, I see him when I see the headframe. It's going to be sad to see it go but it's one of those pieces of mining infrastructure that is going to leave Yellowknife with the mine if somebody doesn't step forward."

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