Name: Eugene HanshawInterviewer: William Hanshaw, Grade 9Interview:Question: How are you?Answer: Not bad, sir.Question: What's your name?Answer: Eugene Phillip HanshawQuestion: When were you born?Answer: January 9, 1934.Question: Where were you born?Answer: HalifaxQuestion: Have you always lived in this area?Answer: Yes, I have always lived in this area.Question: How long have you lived here?Answer: I have lived here 70 years.Question: Does most of your family live around here?Answer: No, my personal family. Not my brothers and sisters.Question: When you went to school in this area, where did you go?Answer: Oakdene SchoolQuestion: What kind of school was it?Answer: It was a good school. It went from grade primary, ah, to grade 12. Let's see…it was a good discipline school. You went there to learn. If you broke the rules you would probably get a ruler or strap. My grade primary and grade one teacher was Miss Schmidt. Grades four and five was Eleanor Morine, grades six and seven was Ella Johnstone. Some of these rooms had upwards to 44 people. You did as you were told or else you went to the head of class and had a strapping, mostly boys. If you didn't get your work done for the day you stayed in, sometimes to 5:00 or 5:30.Question: Were you the kind to act up in class?Answer: Not really…just thought I knew more than the teachers.Question: Who was your favourite teacher?Answer: Ella Johnstone.Question: Did you ever try to move your hand away from the strap?Answer: No, because they held your hand. I only had the strap a couple of times. Some of them got strapped lots of times. Phillip Gates, you could strap him all day long.Question: Did you finish school? If not, how far did you go and how old were you when you quit and what did you do after you quit?Answer: I finished grade six. I tried grade 7 a couple of tomes. Learnt more till grade 6 than they do today. After I left school, I went to work in a mill at the age of 16. I was 15 when I quit school.Question: Was racism a problem in your school?Answer: No, racism wasn't a problem in Bear River school, or I should say I got along with everyone.Question: Roughly how many times a month did you get to leave town?Answer: I never got anywhere till I was 12 or 13. Then we would go to Digby Friday nights to a show on back of a three-ton truck. Only place I remember going before that was down Franklin's Pond with my sister, Ruth and her husband for ice to make ice cream. Nobody went anywhere them days.Question: What was there in Bear River for industries and stores?Answer: One lumber mill; B.A. Alcorn Ltd. And one barrel stave mill. Bear River Packet used to come in to Bear River from Saint John with groceries and supplies. Pulp boats used to come in for wood from the Lincoln Pulp Company. There was a Drug Store and 8 stores plus two service stations. Five of the stores sold feed for cattle and horses, now there is no place to buy feed for miles. Oh yeah, there was two barbers; two to four doctors; one dentist, one or two days a week. Had a hotel (Grand Central); telephone office; three tennis courts that I knew of, one behind the Lovett Lodge, one on corner of Exhibition Road (where Charlie Hall lives now) and one up at Cunningham's on Chute Road. We had the Royal Bank. The house where Charlie Andrews lived sold feed. Dad built that.Question: Any bars?Answer: No; bars were not legal.Question: Was Digby bigger than Bear River at the time?Answer: Digby was bigger.Question: Has Bear River grew or became smaller since you were younger?Answer: Smaller, business wise.Question: How has it?Answer: No store. Only one store in Bear River and one service station.Question: What did you do for fun when you were a kid growing up?Answer: In the wintertime, skated and sledding down Sissiboo Hill. No cars to bother you in them days. Summertime we went fishing, helped people get in hay and swimming.Question: How long has your family been here?Answer: Since 1850. They came from Germany, I think.Question: What memories or memory stands out about this town and your family?Answer: Just everything in general, nothing in particular.Question: Did you have any traditions in your family?Answer: Had to be rich people to have a tradition. Went to Carnival and Bear River Exhibition every year.Question: What affect did WWII have on this area?Answer: Took a lot of the young people from the area. Brought Cornwallis in here made work.Interviewed February 26, 2004 by William Hanshaw