Preserving & Promoting the Heritage of Longlac District, Ontario

Interviewed by Doreen Chapman, a charter member of the LHS. 

Until they recently moved to Thunder Bay, the lives of Harry and Catherine Stanley were very productive for Longlac. 

Harry arrived in Canada from Scotland in December, 1950, and Gordon Cosens of Longlac Pulp & Paper hired him in Toronto. Harry arrived by train ready for work on January 8, 1951.  Cath arrived in Longlac on May 5 the same year with their son, Kenneth, and daughter, Mairi.  Cath gave birth to Mairi in Scotland to assure her dual citizenship.  Both offspring now teach west of Thunder Bay. 

For many years Harry managed the tree nursery for Kimberly-Clark of Canada.  People often referred to the operation as “Harry’s nursery”.  It was the only private seed orchard which produced seed for local planting.  The first tree was planted from seed in 1954.  Up to its closing in July, 1986, the nursery produced more than 30 million black and white spruce seedlings. 

Harry had a loyal staff of nine women who worked with him almost the entire lifetime of the nursery.  Their duties included clearing seed beds, pulling weeds, and planting seeds.  During the spring and summer seasons, it was hard work. 

There are no other people I know that are such Scotsmen to the core.  Their highland dance skills are professional calibre.  For several years they ran dance classes for young teens in Longlac. Called the Kimberly-Clark Scottish Country Dancers and dressed in kilts, they won top honours at the Geraldton Music Festival in 1965 and 1966. 

Cath was an active member of St. John in the Wilderness Church until they left.  The Longlac History Centre has some of their family dance pictures as well as a detailed account of the tree nursery written by a local journalist.