David Clutchey

Toke Street David Clutchey

It was the mid-1940's. A time of war, a time of Peace. In a gold mining town in Northern Ontario, a group of semi delinquents struggled with both. Yet in their own hilarious way, they found a method of coping with lofty expectations, a dysfunctional school system, and unrequited loves. Their exploits blurred the lines of the law, sometimes above, sometimes below, and sometimes in between.

The motley group of adolescents led by Mucker DelGuidice, Soupbone Southam, Ole Hansen, and Dink Knowles cluttered the front of Ross' Groceries and Everything Else store on Toke Street where they hatched the plots that changed lives, including their own.

Their domain included Gillies Lake whose ownership they claimed by virtue of squatter's rights. Here their canoes plied the waters in summer and their skates sliced the frozen ice in winter.

The new Hollinger houses on Cherry Street, and Patricia Boulevard, and the homes on Toke Street and Lakeshore Road were their shelters.

Nothing could break their bonds or come between them except, Jeannie.

Only the sharpest of men, a Toke street resident-lawyer kept them out of jail.

Their travels led them to a legendary lady, whose own life was marred with tragedy. She was Princess Maggie Leclair, a Chippewa who lived on Kamiscotia mountain. A soothsayer.

Little did they know that for many, a warm night in September would be their last night on the shores of Gillies Lake.